July 5, 2017: Day 226

Tom's birthday and celebrating the 4th.

It is hard to believe it has been 5 days since I posted.  We left for Cascade on Friday the 30th and plan to stay up here until July 9th.  We don't have wifi up here and sometimes it is really difficult for me to use my phone as a hotspot because the the network is not always consistent here in the mountains.

Yesterday was the 4th of July.  We have my daughter and son-in-law here with us with their kids, including their foster boys now 4 and 5 and their dog.  We are celebrating Trey's 5th birthday and Tom's.  My sister is here too.   Trixie is getting lots of new experiences with the whole family around and another dog. We have learned that she is territorial and every time Cody, our grand dog, comes on the deck she will snarl.  The first day we had a dog fight.  Needless to say we have been doing a lot of dog training these past few days.  She is coming along, a little every day.  They can now be on the deck together but we have to watch her like a hawk.

Celebrating Trey's  (in the center) birthday.

Yesterday was really fun.  We all went to the parade.  It is really down home.  Anyone can be in it. The big event is the fire truck.  It came through spraying everyone in the crowd.  This year there was a truck pulling a long bed trailerwith snow  since there is still snow at the top of the mountains. People  on the  long bed trailer were throwing snowballs at the crowd and the crowd were throwing them back.  The kids caught candy that was tossed and Doug caught a water bottle. Later Angie, Kate and I took the kids on the raft down the river  and pretended we were pirates with the little boys. We saw deer, osprey, fish, and ducks, and played on the sandbars.  Doug stayed home and took care of Trixie. Then we had a barbecue and celebrated Tom's birthday followed by watching the fire works on the lake.  A good time was had by everyone.

At the parade sitting in the back of the pick-up

Doug has been using his walker mostly in our little place.  Getting lots of practice getting up and down from his chair inside, to the deck chair and to his scooter. If he is in the hot sun very long he gets tired.  I think he is frustrated things are not easier for him. Everyday we are going for long strolls on the river.  Trixie has learned to swim and loves it. It is fun to watch her total exuberance. Doug would love to able to be fishing and in the river more.  Hopefully one day he will have more mobility and can do more. We keep working towards that and praying for it.

This evening, Tom's band is playing in McCall.  We will all go up and hang-out for a while, eat pizza and drink beer.  Then the family returns home tomorrow.  It will seem really quiet with everyone gone.  We will have a few days to rest and I will do some long overdue yard work before returning home on Sunday.

Doug, with his new water bottle at the parade

We pray;

God, we give thanks for the many blessing we have as we reflect on this Independence Day.  We give thanks for all the opportunities we have in this country.  We give thanks for lives of liberty and freedom.  We give thanks for family, sunny days and time to relax and rest.   We give thanks for play.
Be with all who suffer this day, for all who live in places of unrest.  Be with all who long for personal independence.  God, bless America, as we continue to live into the dream of freedom and prosperity for all.  Give us hearts for love and peace and help us to carry that love and peace to all that we meet, regardless of who they are or where they live.  In your name we ask it.  Amen

Cole, as Mr. America