July 1980 - from my journal

July 1980

1 - started Mandy on cereal

1,2,3  Baseball tournament

9- Grandpa Reed Dickson hospital

11,12  Camp up Hardscrabble

14 - our anniversary

16 - Chet and Joan's party

23,24,25,26 mixed baseball tournament

26 - Dinner at Joan and Chet's

27 - Layne's birthday

29 - Rog and Dad's and Kelly's birthdays

30 - Mark's birthday and Court of Honor (Eagle?)

31 - Lagoon

July 8, 1980

Amanda will be 3 months old tomorrow.  I can hardly believe that time has passed so fast.  I love Mandy so much. Having Ambure, and then losing her has taught me allot about just how precious these little spirits are.  Amanda is so sweet and has the best disposition a mom could want for a baby.  I'm tending Lucas Adams now, but only for 2 more days.    We are so poor, but I guess we really don't mind it because we're happy.  But it's such a worry wondering how we're gonna pay the bills.  I paid our tithing today, and it was really hard.  Roger made $537.00, but only brought home $337.00 because of taxes ( I hate them!)  So we pay $53.00 tithing, and $231.00 for truck payment, plus we have over $80.00 in bills that have to be paid and there's nothing left.  No money for food or gas.  Well I know if you pay your tithing, the Lord will provide. So I'm just praying that he'll look down and find a miracle for us.  A sort of miracle happened yesterday.  Roger got a job putting Cable TV into houses in Ogden.  We hope this will be just a temporary job, but we can't wait around forever waiting for Evanston to call.  Malan Johnson and Dennis Peterson got on up there and I sure wish they'd call Roger and Layne too.  We're going camping up Hardscrabble Canyon this weekend with Linda and Bruce and LuAnn and Ben and Randy and Lynette and all their kids.  We'll be sleeping in a tent, so I hope Mandy stays warm.  Lately Roger and I have been so happy and loving to each other.  I do love Roger with all my heart and sometimes I treat him so rotten.  He's the best husband.  I'm just listening to my favorite song on the radio now, it's "Stand By Me".  Mickey Gilley sings it, and it was in "Urban Cowboy".   Our anniversary is in 6 days on the 14th.  Just think, 3 years of being married.  Not all of our married life has been happy, in fact I guess most of it has been pretty hard and sad.  But times are getting better.  I can tell.  I want so hard to live the gospel.  I want to raise our kids up good and in the church.  I still hope that someday we can be married in the temple and sealed together for time and all eternity.  Roger still smokes, and I've got to quit swearing.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying those are all our sins, we have many, but I'm getting so I can pray again to our Heavenly Father and I feel so good about it.  For awhile there, I wasn't praying, and I'm so glad I can again.  I don't begrudge our tithing for God gives us everything we have.

July 9, 1980

Grandpa Dickson was operated on today at St. Benedict's Hospital.  His operation was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and something went wrong and they messed up the operation a little bit.  So tonight we just got a call, and they're taking him back into surgery at 9:00 p.m.  I am so worried.  Dad and Uncle Norris went down to give him a blessing and I hope and pray that everything goes alright.  I've been trying to call mom but her phone has been busy for the last half an hour.  Roger's first day on the job yesterday was the pits!  All he did all day was dig dirt for 8 hours straight.   Well anyway, to make a long story short, Roger's back hurts him really bad and so he went to the chiropractor and he gave him a disability slip, so now Roger doesn't have to work there and we can still collect unemployment.  Amanda is in bed now, and Roger has gone over to see who's talking on mom's phone.  I sure hope everything goes alright with Grandpa Dickson.  We love him SO much and I want Mandy to grow up knowing him  Grandpa and Grandma mean so much to us, and they give us so much love.  They are such good people.  Grandpa has the greatest stories to tell us about his childhood.

July - Roger started work at Wonder Bread Bakery in Ogden.

July 26, 1980

Boy, allot sure has happened since I last wrote.  Roger has FINALLY got a new job.   We are so happy and excited to think it's finally happened.  Wonder Bread Bakery hired him, and he's working in the Shipping Department. He really loves it, and this job has good benefits.  Rog is sheetrocking with Layne today though.  I'm baking bread.  I've just scrubbed my kitchen, and I'm gonna clean my car later.

July 31, 1980

Today is Thursday.  Everyone is going to Lagoon because it's our Stake Lagoon Day.  Amanda has really been out-of-sorts this past week, and especially yesterday and last night, so we aren't going to Lagoon.  Roger is to work and I'm just home being a housewife and mom. (It sure is fun)  Tonight we're having Jan. and Dwight, and Joan and Chet down for ice cream and cake to celebrate Roger's birthday 2 days ago.  I gave him a calculator and he also got a wallet, a shirt, and some t-shirts from everybody else.  Something's wrong with Mandy, and we don't quite know what it is.  For about a week now, she's just been a changed baby.  She gets so onry at night, and I wish she could talk so she could tell us what's wrong.  It's been really hot and I don't know if she's getting enough milk nursing from me.  I started feeding her a little Similac formula to supplement her just this morning.  Last night she woke up just screaming with a temperature of 102*, and this morning it was still a little over 100*  Amanda moans and groans all the time and she's started to suck her finger ALL the time.  I started my period last week and I was so surprised, because I haven't had one for over a year and I thought I wouldn't as long as I'm nursing.  So maybe I'm losing my milk.  I sure hope not, but I guess I'll be giving her Similac along with my milk to satisfy her.  She's been on cereals for about a month and they seem to agree with her and I started her on squash a few days ago and for all I know, that could be what her problem is.  I'm not giving her any solids today and tomorrow and see what happens.