June 2026

 

Our Hummingbird feeder hangs in a beautiful setting from our flowering pear tree. We are beginning to have more and more hummingbirds visit and have been trying to get a picture of them as they hover around it, however . . . It is difficult !! 

The feeder is too far away from our patio to get a clear picture and also, from the patio, all the trees in the background make it difficult to see the birds in a picture. We have to get up higher so the feeder has the fence in the background making the bird easier to see. We love watching them as they flit to and from the feeder and with Linda's determination, she will continue her efforts to get a better picture.

Thursday 6/4

Today we attended two temples. 

Before our mission in Nauvoo, we worked in the Boise Temple for 5 1/2 years. When we returned, in 2017, the Meridian Temple was just about ready to open and it would be "our" temple. We haven't been back to the Boise Temple since then. For the next two weeks, the Meridian Temple is closed for its Semi-annual cleaning sooo . . . 

Today we did an endowment session in the Boise Temple. 

We arrived at the temple early and when we came to the recommend desk we were greeted by our cousin, Wenden Waite. We got to know him and his wife, Laura, when he was the Boise Temple President. We were working in the temple at the time and it was fun to be able to learn about him and our family connections. He is now a sealer in this temple. We had a short, but nice, visit with him before our session. It was fun to go back to this temple, after eight years, and reflect on the experiences we had while serving there. 

Even though the Meridian Temple is closed, we were assigned to help clean the temple tonight from 9:30 to Midnight. We left home at 9:15 and when we arrived the whole interior parking lot was completely roped off so we had to park on the outer perimeter.  Once inside, we were directed to the basement where we picked up our scrubs. We moved on to the ordinance workers dressing room where we changed into the scrubs then went to the meeting room and waited to begin. We had a song, prayer, and spiritual thought before receiving our assignments. We were asked to vacuum the front door entryway, both outside and inside and both the main entrance and the baptistry entrance. Next, we cleaned the drinking fountains on two floors and last of all we vacuumed a hallway that had new carpet installed earlier today. Due to a nice big crew, we finished early, got changed, and were home by 11:15. Being inside the temple during a closure was strange. All the furniture was pushed back against the walls, all the area rugs were rolled up. There were Wet Paint signs all around and a lot of areas dawned "do not enter" signs.

Saturday 6/13

Kevin's family is coming for a visit next week. He and his family will arrive tomorrow, Sunday, so today, we have been busy getting ready !

Steve has been working on cleaning up this BBQ grill since Wednesday. He was able to finish it up today !!

It has been at least a year since we last used the grill and when we opened it up, there was a lot of rust, sooo, Steve got to work. He wiped things down with an old rag then sent the grates to Soaking in hot soapy water. The next day, he used his tools to sand and file away the rust.

Now he is done and it looks GREAT

In addition to mopping, vacuuming, and cleaning, here are a few of the things we have done in the house today.

We put two 12-inch leaves in the kitchen table then brought the extra chairs down from upstairs. We rearranged the office and set up two twin-size air mattresses for the boys. Next we moved a few things around in the playroom and opened up the futon for the girls. Linda finalized the menu and agenda for the week and baked three dozen rolls for tomorrow night's dinner and six dozen chocolate chip cookies to take with us on Matt's boat on Monday. It is going to be a fun and exciting week!

We love watching our hummingbirds.

Today there was a beautiful green hummingbird hanging out in our front yard... He is surely confused. We have this very nice feeder, with fresh nectar, hanging in our backyard, but this little guy keeps trying to feed from the lamp by our front door. 

Sunday 6/14

Today is Flag Day . . . .

It was a Red, White, and Blue kind of day at Church

Sunday 6/14 - Friday 6/19  . . .  A Visit From Kevin's Family

Here are some of the activities we did this week

We went boating at Lake Lowell and set up the hot tub that Trudi & George gifted Matt a few years ago. Until now, it has been all boxed up. It took some work, but we got it all set up and had fun using it all week long.

One morning we did a rock painting activity with everyone. Kevin, Steve, and Connor installed new rope lighting on top of our kitchen cabinets. We had a bar-b-que and we played "Corn Hole" and "Pop and Catch"

We celebrated Steve's birthday (and Father's Day) and played Pictionary. We spent one afternoon at TOPGOLF in Meridian.

 Sydney & Shea made mini pies, chocolate and strawberry, for dessert and on Thursday we headed to the large, Freedom Park, pond right here in Star.

We kept busy all week and had lots of fun making memories together.

If you didn't already see it, there is another post, "A visit from Kevin's Family" that has more pictures and details.

 

Sunday 6/21

Today is Father's Day

Steve wore his new "airplane" tie to church today . . . it looked nice. After sacrament meeting, the ward had a fun handout for the men. In a cellophane bag they had a package of microwave POPcorn and a can of soda POP. On the outside was an attached card that read " You're the best POP ever". 

Steve has received fun Happy Father's Day wishes from all the kids.

Friday 6/26

This morning Linda looked out the window and saw some movement in our back planter. It wasn't big enough to be a squirrel and she thought it might be a bird but it didn't ever fly away. She decided to venture out to see what it was.

As she approached, she could see dirt flying and this little guy poking his head out of the ground. Our pest control company has been called and will be out to take care of the situation. We haven't had any gophers for a very long time.

Our pest control company came on

Monday 6/29

Saturday 6/27

A few days ago we received an email, from the post office, with the picture of a letter that was to be delivered that day... it was not delivered. We waited a couple of days before texting the sender to let them know.

Today we received this text message, and picture, from them. The letter was a thank you note from a grand-niece for a wedding gift. 

Sunday 6/28         

This morning we had our first raspberries with our breakfast !!       

 Yummmm             

Monday 6/29

Today we did our 4th of July decorating

First thing that went up was our beautiful American Flag

Next . . . . Outside decorations

and last of all . . . .

A few decorations inside the house.

Tuesday 6/30

On June 14th, as we were preparing dinner and waiting for the arrival of Kevin's family, Our kitchen sink backed up and the garbage disposal began to leak . . . a lot! We unclogged the drain, however the disposal continued to leak . . .  a new garbage disposal was now in our future.

Today, Matt installed a new disposal for us. For 17 days blue painter's tape crisscrossed the right side of our sink with the message "Do NOT Use" written on it. Now the tape is gone and the new disposal is ready to use !!

It was a good way to end the month. We have loved our June. It was busy, but it was wonderful. Now we are ready to move on to a new month and new adventures.