Perusing the recent blog contributions this afternoon has been delightful! Thanks for your contributions that keep us up to date and laughing. We love the stories and the photos!
Dad has been trying to make sense of not being able to smell. It's rather interesting that he cannot smell a thing, but he can taste. He cut up a strong onion the other day with no side effects - no tears at all! Since I've always been told that our sense of smell has a lot to do with our sense of taste, it doesn't make much sense that you can have one without the other. But, 'tis true, at least for Dad. Hopefully, it won't stick around much longer. Emma is still struggling with not being able to smell or taste - which was a very unpleasant thing to experience during Thanksgiving time. She did get hints of flavor when eating pistachio salad and some pie. So, although she isn't extremely fond of sweets, that's what she can taste (a little). It is a very strange symptom of this silly virus. It's actually the only symptom Dad and Emma have had! Well, I guess Dad had a sore throat for a couple of days and Emma felt achy and had a scratchy throat for a few hours. We are grateful that it hasn't been worse here and sorry that the Harts have felt more sick with the virus.
It was fun to have the Nilsson children here while their parents were traveling to Wyoming to pick up the latest addition to the donkey herd. We hiked and played and watched a movie and made Thanksgiving preparations. We were grateful to listen to President Nelson's message with our grandchildren and to receive his invitation to focus on gratitude, which was a sweet, timely, important message that touched our hearts. That has made a wonderful difference this past week in our Thanksgiving celebrations.
When it was discovered that Emma did indeed have a symptom of Covid, plans quickly changed to have our early Thanksgiving dinner in Idaho instead of at our home. The food was delicious and Addy made much of the meal herself. I guess it doesn't much matter when you have a Thanksgiving dinner if it represents the gratitude you feel for so many incredible blessings!
We had plans to spend a few days at the Mannings this past week, but when Dad's sense of smell vanished, he stayed home and I went to AF by myself. It is always very entertaining to be with Wesley and Chet. I laughed until I was sore as I watched them act out the "Moses supposes" song from Singin' in the Rain, complete with slaps on the floor or fireplace hearth and tap dancing (with pennies taped to the bottom of shoes) on the tile!! So very delightful! Those boys kept me in stitches the whole time I was there. We read stories, ran errands, played outside, took care of the chickens and went fishing off the top bunk bed. Very fun!
Favorite memories from recent weeks, some of the many things we are grateful for:
- Emma's Zoom Bridal Showers! Thanks to everyone for making the effort to be there and support her! - FaceTime with JJ and T&T! Such a happy, darling baby boy! -- Watching Emma and Cameron make a coffee table for their new apartment. Very nice. - Dad having a physical and the doctor telling him he is reasonably healthy (Dad's words) :) - Hangouts with the Flakes - Jenn smiles and finds the most optimistic and positive things to say even when she's had zero sleep! And those little ones... so cute and delightful! - Dad getting an obstinate stain out of my new pants with gasoline! I had tried everything and had not let him use his "go-to" trick until nothing else worked. It worked! That was also when we discovered he had lost his sense of smell - when he couldn't smell the odor his method left on my pants!
Emma and Cameron's new coffee table!
