the Grand Canyon

October 13th - we visited the Grand Canyon.  Although both Steve and I have been before, we thought we should visit while here on our mission.  It turned out, weather-wise, to be an interesting weekend to go.  Arizona was enjoying a cold front and, I believe, residual moisture from another Pacific tropical storm (not as intense as Rosa, though) so our weekend was cool, cloudy, and at times rainy.  This is a view from Highway 180 out of Flagstaff on our way.  You can see snow was falling on the mountains.

Temperatures at the Grand Canyon were cool and the light breeze made us glad we had long sleeves - and a jacket for me.  We never got rain while we were there, thankfully, but it was mostly cloudy with an occasional peek of the sun.  We spent about five hours there - riding the shuttle to various points, taking a very short walk on the path along the rim.  Because of Steve's back, regularly sitting down was a high priority.  It was fun to hear all the different languages being spoken and to see all the dogs that people brought!  

There are elk all over the park

We left at sunset and drove south.  The clouds created an amazing sunset.   I tried to capture some of it as Steve was driving.  The second one is snow-covered San Francisco peak that the sun just lit up like fire as it was setting

We stayed in the cute little town of Williams in a hotel called the Canyon Country Inn.  See below.  Our room window is the top right.  With the lace curtains and rose pink decor, it felt just like we were sleeping in grandma's attic.   We went to the Williams ward for church on Sunday.  There is a great set of missionaries assigned to that ward - Elders Kearl and Karl - and they are teaching a few people.  One woman brought her friend who brought her little 18-month daughter, Serenity.  Well, Serenity took a shining to me and, by the end of third hour, she was sitting on my lap.  Made me happy.

Williams is on the old Route 66 but, instead of dying when the interstate bypassed it, it kept the Route 66 flavor alive and it is a charming little town.  You can see from the picture I took from the church parking lot that it is up in the pines.  

We drove back down to Phoenix via Oak Creek Canyon which, in spite of a light rain, was just a feast for the eyes.  (think Ogden or Provo canyon).  It took us through Sedona that looked even more beautiful with the red rock against the dark cloudy sky.  We side-stepped over to Cottonwood to deliver some packages to our missionaries assigned there (Elders Hirschi, Hill, Larsson, and Johnson) before heading to Anthem.

The only sour spot to the whole day was the traffic on I-17.  At several points on our way down into the Phoenix valley, we were either at a dead stop or a slow crawl - a combination of a couple of accidents, rain, and everyone returning fro their Fall Break.  But, it gave us a chance to visit with Julina since we were stopped near Camp Verde and cell phone towers.  And, it gave me a chance to take lots of dramatic sunset photos out the window.

Rosa, I love you!

Hurricane Rosa turned normally dry and dusty Phoenix into a watery wonderland.  

It flooded some roads - but none of the ones we normally travel on - and it washed out a portion of the main highway from Flagstaff to Page which closed it down for a couple of days.  But, overall, it was just lovely and wet.  

Then, yesterday, another front blew over dropping temperatures enough to open windows and doors and, last night, it brought more rain, complete with thunder.   This is what the sky looked like this morning.

I am so grateful for this week's departure from the usual Arizona October weather.

As for the week's activities:  Steve and I both visited the dentist for routine cleanings and checkup.  Our old teeth are still hanging in there - no dentures yet :)

We invited a new family in the ward over for cookies on Monday night.  The dad, Nathan, is from St. Johns and he is a cello player looking to take lessons so he started those on Wednesday.  He's definitely more advanced than my usual students.  He and his wife, Corie, have four adorable children that almost match the Southerland grandchildren - boy, girl, boy, girl with similar age ranges.  

We had to move our temple date to Thursday night since the temple is closed this weekend due to General Conference.  And, speaking of, it has been a glorious weekend of conference so far.  I can get behind the two-hour Sunday meeting block with more time at home to do gospel study.  I am looking forward to President Nelson's message (s) today.  

The mission office was rather slow this week - more time for family history and pottery Youtube videos.  These three sisters popped in mid-week so I took a picture.

Sisters Aubrie Stevens, Sedona Tooley, and Summer Hall

Steve got the green light

Steve had his two-week follow-up visit with the surgeon's office on Thursday and he is doing very well.  He can now drive and go into the mission office.  He can walk for exercise but still can't ride a bike. And he still has to wear his brace.   I can't tell you how great it is to have someone to talk to while driving to and from the mission office. 

Other than this big news, there is not much to tell....

I had to take my cello bow to be repaired.  Part of the wood on the frog broke off a few months ago and I finally decided I better get it looked at.  Silly me thought I could just get a new frog.  Wrong.  Evidently, with good bows, the frog is built to the specific stick.  And, evidently, my bow is worth the approximately $200 it will cost to fix it. 

My sister Juli came down on Saturday to visit and to go to the temple and run an errand or two.  That was a nice surprise as she was originally planning to come down next week during her fall break.  But, thunderstorms are predicted all next week and she is dog-sitting for Jesse and his Dex is just like our Trissy was in storms so she didn't want to risk property damage while she was down in Phoenix. 

Steve and I were invited to dinner at Jerald and Jenene Poulson's place Saturday night.  They are the parents of our mission president's wife and are working in the mission office.   She made tamales and they were delicious. 

An exterminator came on Tuesday to spray for scorpions.  So far, so good...

Below is a photo taken at the mission office of some of the senior missionaries:
Sisters Jenene Poulson, Jennifer Harris, me, and Patricia Brown

Mission Conference

First of all, Steve is recovering quite well from his surgery.  He has graduated from the walker to a cane. And he has moved away from the high-powered pain meds to just acetaminophen.  He saw his primary care provider on Friday who pronounced the scar was healing nicely.  He will see the surgeon this Thursday and hopefully get the green-light to return to the mission office.  Although, he has been working on mission business from home all last week, thanks to screen mirroring with the computer at home and the one at work.   And, he has his phone with him to field calls from repair shops and missionaries. 

I went to the dermatologist to discuss the removal procedure of the little skin cancer on my cheek and he proposed just freezing it and see if that takes care of it.  I agreed and we'll see where we are in six months.  Sure a lot simpler than a Mohs procedure.

Cade and Colby Ellsworth received their temple endowments yesterday in the Gilbert Temple.  Steve wasn't quite up to attending so I just went.  It was a really nice experience.   I also had a great visit with Jerri afterwords. 

The Arizona Phoenix Mission had its annual General Authority mission tour this past week.  Elder Lynn G. Robbins was here from Tuesday through Friday.  Thursday had two multi-zone conferences - four met in the morning and four met in the afternoon.  I was asked to put together a choir for each session.  I chose two hymn arrangements from the Hymplicity series and assigned myself to be the accompanist since we don't have many skilled pianists right now and they wouldn't have time to practice, anyway.  I also assigned a musically skilled missionary to lead the impromptu choir (we only had 30 minutes to rehearse).  Elder Talbot is a former drum major and he conducted the morning group expertly.  Elder Choate is a trained vocalist and, aside from rushing the tempo a bit, he did a good job (at least he could hear the down beats and if his beats 2,3,and 4 were a bit off, he was always right there with count 1).  Wednesday and Friday, Elder Robbins held leadership meetings.  That meant on those days that the office was filled with missionaries collecting mail and supplies.  Those times are my favorite.

What! Why? How?

Back in August, Steve had a "yearly physical" in order to earn a $25 gift card from his insurance company (we had already missed the $50 window).  From the extensive questions plied by the nurse, an X-ray for a chronic hip pain and an MRI for chronic back pain and weakness was ordered.  The X-ray was normal but the MRI showed significant narrowing in a portion of his lower spinal canal and a bulging of one of his discs.  This was all revealed to us by an orthopedic surgeon.  Solution?  Surgery.  Which is how Steve ended up at Honor hospital on Shea in Scottsdale Tuesday morning for an operation on his back.  His condition is sometimes called stenosis of the back.  The official description of the surgical procedure is "L4-5 Posterior decompression fusion with right transforaminal".  I just looked up "transforaminal" and that doesn't really describe the removal of bone buildup that the doctor did to open up the spinal canal.  While the hip X-ray showed no problems, the doctor believed that his hip pain was caused by the back issue.   We both realized that this was a pretty drastic action to do while on a mission but Steve's condition was not going to improve and was only going to get worse.  The pain caused him to awaken at least once (often twice) every night to take pain medicine.   The plan was two days in the hospital and at least two weeks recovering at home before returning to the mission office.  Steve had it set up so he could access his work computer from home and he always has his cell phone on him to field calls from missionaries.  

So, surgery was scheduled for mid-day Tuesday, September 11th.  The procedure went well, according to Dr. Field.  Steve came home Thursday mid-day and now he is just healing and getting stronger.  While he was in the hospital, I did a LOT of driving.  Anthem is north.  The mission office is west.  The hospital was east.  Each a 30-minute drive from the other.  I was at the hospital all day Tuesday, not returning home until after 9:00 pm.  I went twice on Wednesday with the mission office and a trip back home in between.  And, then on Thursday, I went from the mission office to pick him up, drive him up to Anthem, and then back to the office to finish the day.  

Aside from this big news, there is not a lot to report.  I did find a scorpion in my sink on Wednesday morning.  And, I believe he had been hiding in a scarf.  I am shaking out my everything more diligently ever since!  

I have watched a lot of movies this week.  I rented and finished the last 30 minutes of "Avengers: Infinity War" on Tuesday.  (I watched most of it on the plane last week).  I re-watched "No Reservations" on Netflix on Wednesday.  On Friday, Steve and I watched "The Stray" and "Blast from the Past" on Saturday night.  Two were re-watches (No Reservations and Blast From the Past) and they never get old.  "The Stray" was pretty good.  It is an autobiographical tale written and directed by Mitch Davis, the LDS film-maker who also did "The Other Side of Heaven".  And, "Infinity War" was quite powerful.  

Steve pre-surgery (I made him grin like that)

Steve post-surgery and post-recovery just hanging out in a
"holding area".  He was finally getting to eat again (he ordered a tuna sandwich to be delivered to his room - which it was.  But, then it sat in his "unprepared" room for so long that had to be re-ordered when he actually got to his room because it took so long to be cleaned and and ready)

Steve leaving the hospital on Thursday.  Yes, that is a walker....

The front of the hospital.  Steve's room window is the one on the top far right 

 

My unwelcome visitor

Farewell to sweet Sadie

Our poor little Sadie went to heaven last Tuesday.  Her sweet little body, with three legs that couldn't work, was just finished.  I made a quick trip to St. Louis to be with Beckie and Steven as she left this world.   I flew out Tuesday morning, Beckie picked me up from the airport.  And then we went to Kyle and Micah's house where Beckie is temporarily staying (since her landlord sold her home out from under her and she quickly needed living quarters).  For the rest of the afternoon, I just held my little dog - who was so emaciated and clearly in distress (panting, unable to settle).  Surely she recognized my scent but she was too much in pain to acknowledge me.  But that was OK, it was just good to hold her one last time.  Steven arrived around 4:30 and the vet came at about 5:30.  She was fresh out of MU vet school and was so capable and sweet.  The process went smoothly and we laid her to rest in a little doggie paw print cloth bag that I had made and Steven took her back to Columbia to be buried in our back yard.  Beckie was such a tender caregiver and I am so grateful for her sacrifices for Sadie.  

But, before he drove back, we all gathered at a BBQ restaurant on Delmar for dinner.  Emily and kids were already there.  Joe came a bit later.  

I spent the night at Emily's and had a wonderful Wednesday morning with her and Noah, Lucy, Quinn, and Larkin.  Noah and I played piano duets.  He played his cello.  I taught him how to play a part of the Imperial March and he figured out the rest.  We took photos out in the back yard.  I picked three vine-ripened tomatoes from Emily's garden to bring back to Arizona.  I basked in all the green.  And then, it was time to drop the kids off at school and take me back to the airport.  It was such a short trip but it recharged my batteries for the rest of our mission.  

 

 The rest of the week just flew by.  I didn't sleep well the night before Labor Day because I was thinking of all the loose ends that needed to be tied up at the office before I left on Tuesday.  So, although the office was closed on Monday, we went down anyway to take care of some things.  We combined that trip with our weekly grocery shopping.  Thursday and Friday were, not surprisingly, quite busy as I caught up with baptism reports and final preparations for our transfer on the 11th.  We did manage to relax in front of "Black Panther" on Friday night.  Saturday, yesterday, we went to the 9:00 temple session and then we entertained Jim and Karen Ravert (the old BYU friend who is serving in the Tucson mission) here at the house with lunch and they taught us how to apply Roots Magic and Puzzila to our family history efforts.  They left at 4:00 and we spent the rest of the day tying up more loose ends before the next big event - Steve's back surgery on Tuesday.  Stay tuned.....

The last gasps of August

Happy Labor Day weekend!  Hooray for 3-day weekends.  

It is hot here....still.  But, psychologically, having August over feels cooler.  You have heard of S.A.D.?  Seasonal Affective Disorder?  People without enough sunshine in the winter get depressed?  Well, I think it also works with summer heat.  People with too much heat get depressed.  I had a little bit of that in July.  I really don't want to experience another Phoenix summer - ever. 

Thankfully, the air conditioning situation has been resolved.  They actually installed a small air conditioner in the seminary classroom.  And, they replaced the old, poorly functioning thermostat with a nice, easy-to-understand programmable one.  And, now we are all comfortable.

The backyard bougainvillea is in bloom again.  So pretty!

The mission office looks like a used truck lot.  These are all being de-commissioned.  You can imagine the paper chase Steve is going through to make it so.

With new cars comes the need for new mission key chains and so I ordered 500 of them with a brand-new Arizona Phoenix Mission logo to arrive on Friday.  But, guess what?  They printed the OLD logo instead.  Thankfully, they will rectify the problem and we will get our new logo.  And, now we have 1000 new key chains.  Enough to last into the millennium!

We had my cousin Dave Fraedrich and his wife Shelley over for dinner last night.  It was great to catch up.  Soon, I will need to arrange another Fraedrich cousin gathering - once the snowbird cousins arrive.

I went to a dermatologist on Thursday to have her look at a spot on my cheek.  She took a small biopsy and we'll know in about a week if it is something to worry about.  I am certainly NOT worrying about it now as I've had Sadie on my mind this past week.  Her life is drawing to a close and I am flying to St. Louis on Tuesday to be with her as we let her go.  Beckie (and Kyle and Micah) has been so good to deal with her physical ailments these past few months and I am so grateful for her sacrifices to take care of her.