As I sit down each week to write this brief history of our adventures while serving as Senior Missionaries here in the Arizona, Gilbert mission, I shake my head and say, "I can't believe another week has gone by!"
AS I sat down by my good friends in church this morning I told them I was surprised to see them there since they just left for a trip to Utah and Idaho last Sunday and I thought they were going to be gone for at least a couple of weeks. She laughed and said, "We were gone almost 2 weeks - we left two weeks ago today and we just got back on Wednesday." So now I am at the point where I will need to start saying,"I can't believe two more weeks have gone by!"
We kept busy at the office this week trying to finish up preparations for the 28 missionaries that will be arriving on 23rd and at the same time trying to survive our remodeling project at home!
Monday night we came home from the office to find that our construction man had started to lay the tile that will be the flooring throughout most of the house. The "mud" was not set yet so we had to make sure we stepped over the tile - but I sure was glad to see the progress!!!!
Tuesday night we came home and found that he had put the grout and the drain in the shower - the glass company would show up on Thursday to install the glass wall.
We were also threatened with ominous looking storm clouds when we arrived home on Tuesday and it was only a couple of hours until the rain came down really hard for about 20 minutes - made it nice and sticky with some Virginia-like humidity :)
Wednesday when I arrived at the office, I noticed this lone bird sitting out on a dead branch (instead of in the leaves) just looking around like it was surveying the surrounding territory.....it was pretty funny to just watch it bob its head around :)
About 1 p.m. on Wednesday, just after Elder Ashton arrived back from running an errand, a couple of the Sister Missionaries brought Sister Sorenson's bike in. She has been in the field since May 31 and recently slid into third base while playing softball on preparation day. She got lots of abrasions on her leg and one of them got pretty badly infected and had just healed up. They were riding their bikes to the church and a lady coming out of a strip mall parking lot was trying to enter the roadway. The Sisters thought she saw them and was waiting for them, but apparently she didn't see them because as soon as they started across the driveway, she drove out and hit Sister Sorenson. It's a good thing both the bike and the car were not traveling very fast or there could have been serious injuries to more than the bike. As it was, Sister Sorenson ended up breaking open her just healed sore and with lots more abrasions and bruises on her other leg. I felt really bad for her but she said even though the driver who hit her didn't stay around to help her, there were lots of members, a man and several young mothers, who appeared out of the stores in the strip mall and helped them out. She was so thankful for their help.
This is the wheel from her bike - only this was broken and her brakes messed up a little - Elder Ashton will soon have the bike back on the road but didn't have the parts to fix the brakes so he took it to the bike shop. He also took this crunched up tire in and asked them if they could straighten it just to see their reaction :) He loves to have a little fun with his work.
Wednesday night we arrived home to find about 1/2 of the family room with tile laid - YEA!!! Progress makes me happy :)
Even more beautiful than the freshly laid tile that greeted us Wednesday evening was this beautiful sunset that peaked above the roof of our neighbor's home across the street.
A minute later the sun had moved a little and it looked like the trees were on fire. I love this beautiful earth we live on!
Thursday evening we came home to freshly installed carpeting in the three bedrooms.....I like it and I like more progress even more!!!
The new "murphy" bed pulled down onto the new carpeting.
As we draw closer to this influx of 28 new missionaries in a couple of weeks, there are many decisions that need to be made about new areas, additional housing space, etc. Friday afternoon, President Wheeler (left) and his counselor, President Lowder,(right) stand at the work table and discuss upcoming events. I am thankful to be healthy enough to help in all this work.....and LOVE working with the young missionaries.
Friday all of our kitchen cabinets and the vanity in the master bathroom were removed and taken by habitat for humanity. They will sell them in a second hand store and use the money to help build homes for low income families. So, for now we have NO cabinets, NO countertops, and NO large mirrors, and NO sinks! We do have one functioning shower, one functioning bathtub, and one functioning toilet. For now we are brushing our teeth in the bathtub, and hoping the glimpse we can get of ourselves in my make-up mirror make us somewhat presentable. What an adventure - I might even consider auditioning for the TV show "Survivor" - never mind - I think that show was on about 15 years ago ;-)
You can see that we have about 10 inches on one end of the table where we can eat, the rest is covered with things out of the kitchen cabinets, and multiple boxes are also full.
Saturday we traveled to St Johns (our son Colby was our chauffeur) for the wedding of our grand-daughter, Sydney Ashton, to the grandson, Ryder Nielsen) of one of my dearest friends while we lived in SJ for 20 years.
Left to right in the picture - Luke Ashton (great grandson), Cade Ashton (grandson and brother of the bride), Ryan Ashton (son and father of the bride) Ryder Nielsen (the groom), Sydney Ashton (the beautiful bride), Lauren Ashton (granddaughter and sister of the bride) Marcie Ashton (daughter-in-law and mother of the bride), Jorden Ashton (granddaughter-in-law and wife of Cade). The five year old great grandson Griffen was too busy playing with his young cousins and could not be bothered for pictures.
Another picture of the Ashton side of the bridal party - with smiles all around except for Luke ;-)
Also in "attendance at the wedding were these beautiful black-eyed Susan flowers and the geraniums above. My daughter-in-law, Marcie, has a gift with growing beautiful flowers and Ryan keeps his lawn green and plush so the back-yard setting for the wedding was beautiful!
I'm hoping to see more progress on construction this coming week - with the end getting closer so I think We Will Survive!
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