Our Trip Up North

We had a most enjoyable Easter season. My foot seems happier than it has been in ten months; for that I am very grateful! We had a lovely Easter celebration with the Noorda Family. Sherry prepared a delicious gourmet meal and had beautiful decorations with fresh flowers. We do enjoy watching those boys grow up and develop into such fine young men. We are so proud of each of them. John and I and our friends Debbie and Mike Spackman spent a weekend in Brigham City. The plan was to enjoy a session at the temple on Friday night and then eat at Maddox on the way home Saturday. I missed out on the temple experience, due to a bout of tachycardia, but I didn't miss out on our yummy chicken dinner! We made a short trip to the Logan area and bought some Gossner's cheese and then shopped at the Pepperidge Farm Outlet and bought a few cookies. A most delightful weekend with some special friends. Belana flew out for a week to check out some college campuses, so we got to see her for a couple of days and nights. We have lost several people in our circle to death lately: Judy Leavitt, Leroy Evenson, Linda Brake, Barbara Soulier, John Foster. It appears that the next great adventure for those of us over sixty is the walk through death's door. I just hope it doesn't come too quickly!!

Our Trip Down South

John and I decided to leave northern Utah and head south. We drove to St. George on Friday and then spent Saturday with our good friends the Evans. We went to a session in the temple, had our "birthday dinner" at Red Lobster (all four of us have March birthdays!) and enjoyed a tour of their new home (we even were honored to see their daughter's home). They and their daughter, Aleisha, have lovely homes. They were all so gracious in giving us tours. We do miss them, but are so happy they are able to enjoy their retirement years in such a nice spot. The weather was warm....about 70 degrees....and we drove home in a storm! It is still snowing... I can't believe it! It was about 33 degrees as we entered Sandy. Our birthdays were celebrated by our family in a wonderful way; five hours times ten bodies of hard labor in our yard! I am so impressed with what was accomplished! Two areas of sod were lifted by Jeff and Mike, Jason worked the rototiller in the garden, Sher trimmed the roses and pulled lots of weeds, Nick, Jason, and Erin were troupers at hauling chunks of concrete to the dumpster, Katie helped with flowerbeds and supervised Jenna, Rachel and Matty and then helped Sher wash FIVE cars! Jenna, Erin and Rachel helped me wash the handrails and flooring of the deck, wash the summer furniture and bring it up to the deck. Whew! I may have forgotten some of the chores, but let me tell you, this family enjoys working together. We sure do love them all!! Pizza and grapes and root beer helped fuel us all for another couple of hours' work! Jeff and Mike even gave a hand to Nate as he was cutting down his tree. He had helped break up some of our concrete, so it was a nice turnaround to share labor! We will have to wait for it to warm up before planting any flowers. Thankfully, all of my bulbs out front are blooming, so that cheers everyone up! Spring is "officially" here, but Mother Nature has ideas of her own. The weatherman says we will have rain and snow for most of this upcoming week! Oh, well, we need the water, right? Well, we were fortunate to have two days of the promise of warmth to come. St. George is a great place this time of year, but there is no way this northwest girl could live there during their hot summer days!

Happy Holidays!

Well, after John and I shared a five-week cold....that's right....five weeks, we were able to enjoy quite a few celebrations for the holidays. We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert, (sadly, Mike and Katie were our taxi and couldn't find parking...that will change next year!), we attended a lovely Christmas dinner sponsored by the Kultura Club (lots of barbershop singing), attended an outstanding concert by the "Piano Guys" (gift from Mike and Katie), had a lovely turkey dinner at Sherry and Jeff's on a Sunday close to Christmas (where we were given lovely gifts to the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City), had breakfast at the younger McKea's on Christmas Eve, watched the same group open gifts early on Christmas Day, attended "The Hobbit" with the Noorda's on Christmas afternoon, followed by a nice ham dinner, attended a "Mannheim Steamroller" concert after the big day in Symphony Hall, played a piano-organ duet, "What Child id This" with Erin in her ward (she played the organ, using her own stops and the pedal), and finally welcomed in the New Year by having the McKea clan over for New Year's Eve! Now, I ask you, was that enough fun to capture in one month? We had a wonderful holiday season! Heartfelt thanks for sharing it with such a great family! We have certainly been blessed with such devoted, cheerful, and talented people to call our own!

Giving Thanks!

Well, we are back home after a great week with Tammy, Dayle and family! We flew in today, quite early! We nearly missed the plane! What an exciting trip. We had a huge turkey - of 24 pounds! Happily, we got to visit with Dayle's parents; we hadn't seen them for over a year! We each wrote Julie a note to be sent to cheer her for the holiday! She is serving an L.D.S. mission for the next eighteen months. Hope she had a nice dinner! We played quite a few games; shopping, eating, staying up late, watching videos all comprised the activities of the week! Early in November John and I took a little weekend trip to Brigham City and Logan. Stopped to go thru new temple, but "recommend" had expired! Saturday we visited Greg and took him to lunch - at "Firehouse Pizza". Very tasty! We sure love that boy. He is having a great time at college! Glad to be home and anxious to decorate for Christmas! We are planning on having the young McKea's help us! They love to help us put up the tree!

Autumn Leaves

Well, summer is officially over! The leaves are about all off our maple and aspen trees. The yellow, orange, and red colors in the valley of all the different bushes and trees are just striking! Soon the trees will be "bare-naked"! I had a call from Gordon informing me that our handicapped brother, Neil, will have surgery in about three weeks to remove his bladder due to cancer. It will be a challenge for the group home workers to keep him clean. Neil will just not understand what has happened to him. Julie has been out on her mission for a full month and is still a "girl on fire"!! She is so enthusiastic and loves her trainer. I am glad she is doing well; she will be so good for Washington D.C. and it will be good for her! Greg seems to be doing well in Logan. John and I will visit the Brigham City temple and then see Greg next weekend. It will be nice to get out of town. Debbie Spackman and I renewed our Hale Theatre tickets today and then went to lunch. We really enjoy sharing the shows with Mike and Debbie. They have added a lot to our lives. Belana is a senior this year, so she gets to take college entrance tests and apply for scholarships and colleges. Lots of work ahead of her! This December will mark three years that John has spent working in the temple; he seems to really enjoy the work and associations there. I need to get to the temple to see the new things there, but my healing foot has tied me down a bit. Perhaps within the next couple of weeks I can get brave! I guess I must admit that my foot is feeling a tiny bit better. It is sure a slow process. I have decided that only the bathroom and kitchen will get a thorough cleaning this year. Can't do it all, yet. I will use a feather duster to knock out any spider highways along the ceiling, but that will have to do. We have made reservations to fly to Tammy and Dayle's for Thanksgiving. We had credit with Southwest and needed to use it or lose it, so we are leaving town for a week. Happy day!

A Song In My Heart

Time just flies when you're having fun....or when you have limited mobility! My foot is slowly getting stronger, but it is slow. I do hope it is worth it as time goes by! Yesterday, I had my piano students come to our house for a "student recital". They all played well and were proud to share the music they have practiced this summer. I sent them out the door with a little bag of cookies and they left with a smile! Today, Erin left her comfort zone and played the prelude music for her ward sacrament meeting. She played three hymns in the green simplified hymn book, even using the pedal. I about popped my buttons in pride! Here she is just twelve-years-old playing quite confidently; I was fourteen when I first sat on the organ bench. I have high hopes for her! Julie called tonight to say she had received our check for some of her mission expenses; perhaps she can use the funds for a warm winter coat. We will miss not being in Washington State for her farewell address, but she will get lots of support from the other grandparents and her family and friends! She will be a terrific missionary; Washington D.C. will be happy to have her serve there! Yesterday we attended the funeral for Judy Leavitt, a long-time neighbor. She had lived here longer than we have, and we have been here 43 years! Sad to say goodbye. I guess we have left the "new baby", "baptism", "graduation", "marriage" era of our own children; they are now going thru all of the above. We find ourselves seeing old friends at funerals more frequently than at the above-mentioned events! My, but the circle of life turns constantly. We will be having the family here tomorrow for a Labor Day BBQ! We haven't had the Noorda family here for months. Sher is so busy with Young Women and her boys' sports and piano lessons that is has been hard for her to get away. Tomorrow is the day! We will also have the McKea clan come. We will miss Greg now that he is at Utah State for the school year. He has truly entered a new chapter of his life. Well, the summer is slowly fading into fall and the temperatures are gradually dropping. Soon we will be too cold and wishing for a little warmth! Such is the flow of time. May winter be cozy for us all!

It's "Catch-up Time!"

Well, here it is August and I haven't written a thing about June! I guess it's time to "catch up"! Our big adventure in June was joining Mike and Debbie for a road trip to Mt. Rushmore! We travelled about 1600 miles in five days. We got to visit Martin's Cove, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument. We had a great time; John even got lucky and found a rock shop to check out. I had a couple of Summer School Piano Sessions; we learned how to conduct music in 3/4 and 4/4 time. We all had a great time! Also, just for fun I have taken 2-3 piano students to the chapel to learn about the organ. Everyone mastered one hymn on the organ. A great experience for them. I had another surgery....a third one on my right foot. Another titanium screw. I sure hope it holds fast. I don't want to do this again. John has been a jewel to help me these past 6 weeks! Lots of washing, ironing, cooking, shopping, cleaning, etc. I really do appreciate him! Our eldest grand-daughter received her mission call to the "Washington D.C. South Mission". She reports to the M.T.C. on September 18th. Her cousin, Greg, is headed to Utah State for his Freshman year there. Lots of changes for our extended family. We wish them well!! I guess I should mention our family reunion at the Davis Cabin in Brian Head. We have been so blessed to be able to have our whole family under one roof for four days! Lots of 4-wheeling, Dutch Oven cooking, "Minute-to-win-it" games, good food and great company. I learned something about pioneers from this weekend together! John's garden looks fantastic! Looks like lots of potatoes and tomatoes are coming! Can't wait for potato salad, salsa, and bacon-tomato sandwiches! It's six weeks since my surgery and I was happy to be able to finally drive myself to the store today. My foot feels as if it's healing well, but the doctor reminds me to be careful and patient. Guess I have my "walking orders"! :-)