Promised Pics of Bryce Canyon

As promised, I have put a few pictures up of what we saw on our trip in July to Bryce Canyon. I'm not very good at posting them, like Evan. Maybe I'll get with it and learn how. Until then...don't you think Malek is a great photographer!

Today we went to Shane's priesthood session at 8:00 a.m. It was combined with the Relief Society because they had a special guest. It was an actual descendant of Joseph Smith, I believe through Hyrum Smith. He showed us some great artifacts. Some of them included the bloodstained shirt that Hyrum wore the day he was shot. He also had the pants and vest that Hyrum wore. There was a family dinner bell, a pair of great spectacles, a sword from when they were in the military, and the watch that Hyrum had inside his vest pocket when he was shot in the back. The face of it of course, had been destroyed. And my favorite item was the actual box that the gold plates were in for a time. It had Alvin's name carved on it. The speaker told the story of how Joseph used the box and how the Angel Moroni had told him years earlier that it needed to be a locked box. He didn't have a locked box when he brought the plates home, but later he was able to get a lock for it. It was a neat experience, especially to share it with Malek. I was so greatful that Shane and Deb invited us to come. Malek enjoyed it too, although at this time he does not show great emotion toward spiritual things. My prayers are continually with him that one day he will gain a strong testimony of the gospel. I sincerely know that it is true and I have felt the Spirit witness it to me many times. I love the gospel and I am amazed that I was blessed enough to be born in the covenant. I think about dad's father, my grandfather, and how he was converted to the Church. That was only two generations ago!

Today, the missionaries are coming for dinner at 5:00 pm, and then the hometeachers are coming at 6:00 p.m, and we still have to go to sacrament meeting at 1:00 p.m. Malek is all churched out today, but it has been a good day for me. Until next time, Mel

Malek enjoying lunch - Rocky posing

Me and my baby

Looks a lot like a tooth

Bryce Canyon - Photo by Malek 7-09

Hospital Visit

Once again, yours truly had to make a run to the ER. Saturday morning I awoke with tremendous pain in my right side. I just dealt with it until Monday when I decided to visit the nurse at work to see what it was. It hadn't subsided at all and it was quite painful. They told me I needed to go to the ER to get it checked out. Malek came and got me and we went to St. Marks. At first they thought it could be the gall bladder, then they thought it could be kidney stones, but it was neither, it was a muscle spasm. I never in my wildest dreams thought that was what it was. I had had a muscle spasm in my jaw before and it didn't feel anything like this one. It felt like knives were stabbing me from the inside out. The morphine they gave me helped as long as I layed still, but my breathing was so shallow, they had to give me oxygen too. I couldn't take a deep breath at all. Anyway, I returned to work the next day. It is now Wednesday, day 5 of the spasm and it still has not gone away, but it has settled down to the point that I can work. I am hoping it won't take too long before I can take a deep breath again. It was good timing because Malek actually thought school started that day, but it turned out that it started on Wednesday. He was able to stay with me the whole time. He was such a trooper. He took great care of me. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

Malek and I went to Roger Christensen's daughter's wedding reception last Friday. It was in the stakehouse gymnasium, but it was the most elegantly decorated that I have ever seen. Roger hugged Malek. They both have talked to each other before and had established a good relationship. I was so happy to see them hug. He has been getting thoughts of what is nice for a wedding for his future and he keeps asking me "The woman pays for most of it, right?" What can I say? There is etiquette and then there is practicality. Actually, I am hopeful that he will make a good choice for a wife one day. We can worry about the rest later. It was nice to see how the Christensen's decorated though. The whole occassion was quite nice.

Our Summer Vacation

Some people travel all over the world for their summer vacations. Although that sounds like a dream come true, I could not afford to do that financially or with the vacation time I have accrued at work. This year I took a week off work for my vacation. I haven't done this for many many years, but thought it was a good idea to get away and to get some things done at home. We left on Monday for Bryce Canyon and took Rocky with us. Rocky has never travelled more than a 15 minute drive to the vet. It was like packing a baby. We put a sheet on the back seat, put his kennel with his special blankey and toys in it. I had his treats, dishes and water behind the seat too. He actually did pretty well. He cried for awhile, then Malek held him because I was driving. Rocky really wanted to sit on my lap, but Malek kept him at bay since that wasn't safe. We stopped in Beaver for gas and to let Rocky out for his business. He was happy to get out, but it was really hot and I had to make sure he stayed hydrated. He wouldn't drink water out of his bowl, so I poured a little in my hand, and he licked it right up. (Yes, I washed my hands afterward.) He got back in the car and put his face in front of the air conditioner to cool off. We also brought a water bottle to "mist" him and keep him cooled down. He did spend some time in his kennel sleeping.

When we got to Ruby's Inn, we discovered that they did not allow pets in the main building of the hotel. Well, that is where my original reservation was because I wanted a whirlpool tub for my fibromyalgia. They had other outlying buildings that did not have the whirlpool but pets were allowed there. I explained that I had reserved the whirlpool room in the main lodge because of my fibromyalgia and that their website said they accepted pets and made no mention of the no pets in the main lodge rule. They made an exception and allowed it. I must say, Rocky was a perfect gentleman and made no messes. He was very good about telling us when he needed to go and we took him outside. He even stayed in his kennel without barking for an hour while Malek and I went to dinner. We sure got a lot of compliments on him. By the way, the whirlpool was totally awsome! Someday, I would love to have one in my own bathroom!

We ran into another snafu regarding pets though. Malek and I had planned to take the simplest trail with Rocky and found out that pets aren't allowed on the trails either. Oh brother! So, we drove to each of the designated sites and got out, let Rocky out, and took pictures of the beautiful canyon. This actually worked out for the better because I don't think we would have seen all the views if we had walked only the one trail. Even though bringing Rocky seemed to be an obstacle, we worked around it and were very glad we brought him. We really bonded.

We took several pictures and I'll have to post a few when we get them developed. But I did want to write about our experience while it was fresh on my mind. We got home late Wednesday afternoon. I had a major headache all the way home. By the time I got home, it was a migraine. Thursday was a blur to me. I remember trying to get to the doctor to get a shot, but my doctor was out of town. So I asked them to look in my file and see if they could prescribe something and call it in to the pharmacy. They did. I was so grateful. I slept the rest of the day Thursday and most of Friday. I think I will change my schedule at work to 1 1/2 days of sick leave.

Friday afternoon my head felt better and so I took the challenge of cleaning out the garage - a task that was on my list of things to do while I was off work. There were some items I had to throw out and some items I am giving to Malek's girlfriend to sell at their garage sale next week. Most of it is just junk that will end up at the DI if it is not sold. My other planned task for my time off was to clean out my file cabinet. I hope I can at least begin that tomorrow. However, Saturday is scheduled to be a very busy day for both Malek and I and I hope that I will find the energy to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

Monday will be here soon enough and I'll have to return to work. I am so grateful for work, but it sure has been nice to have this time off.