And here we have Idaho...

Well, I've been hanging out here in Burley, Idaho, for the past two weeks.  After unpacking our stuff in Colorado (and causing more trauma by leaving our poor dog yet again), we got out of the smoke and headed to Utah.  It was perfect timing since my nephew was returning from serving an LDS mission to Paraguay that weekend.  So we got to see all my family and also were able to see some of Rheid's family including our niece and her husband who are headed to Vietnam on a work adventure.  We were truly blessed as our truck's radiator sprung a leak and blew fluid all over our SUV two blocks from Rheid's parents house.  To make it all the way across the country and break down right at our destination was a miracle--a tender mercy.

But not so lucky for us was the fire that broke out in Utah County the day we left Fort Collins.  Here we were leaving a wildfire just to head into more smoke.  Ugh.  By the time we left Utah, two more fires erupted and we were glad to get outta there.  Plus another fire in Colorado at the Springs left us wondering when the fires would ever stop.  We are so grateful that hardworking firefighters were helped with some much needed rain back home and that things are looking so much better there now.  Another tender mercy.

We celebrated the 4th by watching the Rupert parade in the morning and the fireworks in Burley that evening.  It was a good show, much better than the ones I grew up with here. We used to be excited with one explosion about every 30 seconds or so.  And even then, half of the fireworks were just the loud explosion type that went off without warning and scared you to death.

Rheid has had a chance to go fishing with my dad while my mom and I have been doing some genealogy.  One day I even got to meet up with my old college roommate who was visiting from Canada. It's been years since we've seen each other and we both happened to be in Idaho visiting family at the same time. Yet another tender mercy.

Just trying to de-stress and work down the anxiety by trying not to think about transplant for awhile.  I'm still walking every day around the neighborhood and doing some additional exercises to stay strong.  I miss my transplant friends in North Carolina and pray for them every day.  Heard that Mary Lou (blogged about going to see the Bennett Place with her and her husband a few blogs back) got her new lung and is doing well.  What a blessing for her.  Two friends, David and Pat, who got their lungs earlier and were struggling are now improving slowly but surely.  More tender mercies.