Five Months of July

For our anniversary on 9 July 2017, I posted photos of our Sunday travels, including church in Blanding on the way home from Colorado and New Mexico.  I did most of the driving on Kay's days of rest.  She is truly my beautiful, eternal companion!

In 2018, we celebrated our anniversary on a mission p-day break by Anchor Bay, New Baltimore MI.  There was peace by the water that July.

Anniversary Special 2019: A fun train ride from Ogden.  As I walked around the Salt Lake Temple and sat in the Assembly Hall, special memories of Kay, her father, and Grandmother Cannon brought me joy.

On the first Tuesday of July 2020, I posted a progress report including a tire repair at an Ogden bike shop.  And it was a special day, feeling close to my sweetheart Kay.

It seems like every July is about our life together — especially on our 50th in 2021.  Our family met at my place in Bountiful for entertainment and ice cream, then over at our family-tradition restaurant for the buffet dinner.  Next day, Kay’s siblings met at brother Lon’s in Holladay and shared precious memories as tributes after a superb feast.  (My assigned talk focused on music.)  We knew it was young Kay who made us all smile.  Homemade lemon ice cream, their family tradition, was icing on the cake.  How sweet it is — the time of our life ... especially in the memorable month of July!

Pioneer Day Sampler

We go back in time to celebrate sacrifice and success.  So, here are fast-food excerpts from years ago.

[2012] We remember the pioneers, some of whom are my Cannon and Rich ancestors.  Pioneer stories are intrinsic (“belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing”  -- Merriam-Webster) to the history of Utah, as well as other areas all over the world.  ...  Something close to two thousand Latter-day Saints in thirteen companies had arrived at the Salt Lake Valley before the end of 1847.”  -- George Q. Cannon – A Biography (©1999, Deseret Book Company) by Davis Bitton, page 55)

[2013] The highlight of the day for Kay & me was attending, with dear friends who saved second-row seats, the free annual concert put on by Layton City ...  Riders in the Sky performed in the amphitheater to a standing-room-only crowd ... and also the fireworks afterward.

[2014] "... the Riches [and Cannons] arrived at their destination ... on October 2, 1847. The company ... numbered about two thousand persons.”(Charles Coulson Rich / Pioneer Builder of the West by John Henry Evans, ©1936, p. 131)

[2017] About ten days of celebration ended on the 24th of July ...  We honor the Mormon pioneers who endured the westward trek to Utah, some dying along the way, others arriving in 1847 and subsequent years before the railroad.

[2018] Ben Tullis wrote for the Deseret News (July 23, 2014, seen now on deseretnews.com):  “What life was like for the Mormon pioneers after entering the Salt Lake Valley”. ... President Young ... looked down at the Salt Lake Valley from Emigration Canyon on [Saturday] July 24. ... he said, “It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on.”

[2019] Pioneers Close to My Heart: ...  Charles C. Rich, an Apostle and a leader in the second group.  George Q. Cannon and his siblings ...  John Taylor, George Q’s uncle who taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Cannon Family in Liverpool, England, 1840.  Ira Nathaniel Hinckley, called by President Brigham Young in April 1867, to build strategic Cove Fort at Cove Creek, central Utah.  My family and I are grateful for our pioneer heritage.  We honor the women, men, and children who endured the trek west “with faith in every footstep”.

Working Out

How many times have you heard, “Things will work out all right.”  Or maybe, “Everything will work out in the end.”  Reassuring, encouraging, hopeful, or wishful thinking.  I know — that can be a stretch.  Sometimes we  just get what we expect, such as a favorable outcome.

I believe in the power of positive thinking, sometimes saying, “Don’t worry; be happy.”  After all, it’s a great life we have here ... with the right attitude.

For example, the weekly Tai Chi workout in our apartments’ activity room helps us seniors maintain a healthy mindset.  Stretching exercises and mental workouts called brain games are on our daily schedules.  Life seems to be working out alright for me, especially when I take time for healthy meals in our dining room — no fast food there!

Celebration with pictures

A day full of sweet memories, celebrating our 51st wedding anniversary.

Pictures say more than I can think to write tonight ... with love for my eternal companion, Kay.

 

on a walk around our block

in Roseville Michigan 2018

Independent Living

It isn’t just for seniors in apartment communities like mine, designed for “independent living”.

Peace

Freedom!

Lifelong education

Interfaith celebrations

Abundance in the promised land

Summer outdoor concerts 

(Kay & I enjoyed them at Deer Valley Resort, Snowbird, Kenley Centennial Amphitheater, and finally with Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Ford House by Lake St. Clair.)

God bless our United States of America!