Hurricane-force Winds; Many Trees Down

One day I heard a loud noise outside and it was coming our way. Of course the Gladys in me came out and I went to investigate what was going on. (Remember Gladys Kravitz in Bewitched who was always peering out her window spying on her neighbors??) 

I didn't peer out my window, I sat in the garage and watched the action going on at the manhole right in front of our house. I wished all our grandsons were here to watch what I was watching because they love big trucks.

The workers unwound hundreds of feet of the blue hose down into the manhole and then the loudest roaring noise came from the truck. 

The hose then got rewound onto the truck and off they went a little ways down the street to the next manhole and did the same thing. During that blowout, a worker walked up the street to our manhole, opened it up, listened to the loud noise and then a huge gust of dirt and air came up out of the manhole. 

Right after that happened, Glen came charging out the door asking what was going on! He said the toilets had just gurgled up and wondered what caused it. 

Let's just say that when I went to investigate the toilet situation, there was a very diminished amount of water in the toilet bowl and the rest of it had blown up and all over the toilet seat and toilet lid. It was disgusting. Thank goodness all the toilets had "clean" water in the bowls when they all erupted like a geyser. 

Here's another disaster I experienced. I attempted to make an imitation of the mouth-watering Texas Roadhouse rolls that are so absolutely delicious. I followed one of the recipes I found on the internet. It was a bust!! The rolls were dry and tasted nothing like my favorite restaurant rolls!!

I did not want the rolls to get the best of me, so I tried a different recipe claiming it was the most accurate of the "trying-to-be-like-Roadhouse-rolls" recipes. Another bust!! Talk about disappointing!!

Let's face it--I was just trying to keep myself busy while Dallas and Rebecca's family was on vacation. I am so tired of staying home and had begged them and Glen to let us go with them, but Glen said one of those days he had several work appointments he could not cancel. So, the vacation was another bust for me!!

They went to see Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and Bear Country. They sent a few photos to show us the fun we were missing out on.

We used to have a tradition (or it just happened that way and we now call it a tradition) of eating at Red Lobster before Fast Sunday. We hadn't been keeping up with tradition all through Covid isolation, until now! Red Lobster take-out date night it was for us Saturday night.

The first Sunday of the month means Fast Sunday. Look at my man wearing regular shoes on BOTH feet!! He has advanced in his healing enough to wear shoes in the house. When he goes somewhere, he puts on the boot. 

I told him he looks like a real man once again!! The process of healing has been slow-going, but we are thankful he has gotten to this point. Hurrah!!

When we received an invitation to go to Winders' backyard for peach cobbler that evening, I jumped at the chance. I am getting so stir crazy and missing being with people that I insisted we join in with our friends.

It was a lovely time together sitting in their backyard, eating cobbler, chatting together and feeling the wonderful feeling of being around such kind and loving people. 

We tried out a photo of just the girls to see if we would show up in the dark.

When we had the men join us, the back row looks a little ghostly. Love these people so much!! We knew Bruno Kossin had recently had shoulder surgery, but didn't know he has very recently had heart problems and has had 8 stents put in. That was scary to hear and we were glad to see he is all right.

Rick Winder also had shoulder surgery and is pretty much mostly recovered from that. Debi Winder has had an awful bout of vertigo and still feels like she's car sick all the time. Glen is in the process of his foot surgery healing. Jan Evans just had her second knee replaced. She is doing well, but it sure is a healing process with lots of bruising, swelling and pain. 

The rest of us were feeling very thankful we are not dealing with any health issues at the moment!  

Dallas was a champ and came over on his Labor Day holiday, the day after they got home from their vacation, and mowed our lawn. 

The rest of the family could not come because Madison had been sick. When Rebecca called the doctor asking if she needed to be checked for Covid, the doctor told her yes. 

So, to be safe, they all stayed home and it was lonely without them. Turns out the test was negative (just as we suspected), but these days I guess we all need to be extra careful to find out so we don't infect others.

Glen had planned a BYU football game dinner party that evening with his friends Kenny Jensen and Randy Bambrough who brought his wife Susan.

I was happy Susan brought a salad. She and I let the guys eat the hot wings as we enjoyed salad and fruit.

That evening began the warnings for the big windstorm that was brewing and about to unleash its fury upon us. 

The winds picked up and I watched leaves and limbs and trash blowing down the street.

True to the newscasters' word, the temperatures did drop dramatically. We went from hot to cold!!

The wind howled all night long and in the morning it was interesting--and sad--to see the destruction to a lot of the trees in our neighborhood. 

Two trees were down at our church, falling into Betenson's yard.

Just up the street and around the corner from our house, there were several trees that fell onto a home and caused damage to their roof. I didn't want to take a photo because the people were outside surveying the damage. My heart was just breaking for the loss of trees and especially for the damage to homes.

These trees a few houses down from us on the other side of the street fell. It doesn't look like it caused any damage to the Holleys' home or their mobile home parked next to the garage.

Further down our street a gigantic tree fell from one yard across the fence and landed on the neighbor's roof. It caused a lot of damage to their home. 

It has been a HUGE, ongoing clean-up project because the tree was so large and had so many branches.

Over on Woodhill Lane in our ward there was a huge pine tree down between Kossins' and Todds' home.

A little way down their street the Brewsters' big pine was down.

Rebecca sent a photo of a tree down in their neighborhood in Foxboro. Thankfully the Golden family did not have any damage to trees or to their home.

After hearing and seeing all the damage, Ben asked if we could go check on his home to see if there was any damage. Thankfully we could happily report to him there is no damage. We did notice leaning trees on Redwood Road as we were driving to his house.

It was not happy news to get this update saying we were in for a second very windy night, which would surely cause even more damage.

The next morning it was pretty calm, and the wind had cleared out the smokey air from the fires, so I decided to go for a walk. 

I drove up to Bountiful Boulevard and parked in a church parking lot where I noticed this tree down.

I spotted other trees as I walked towards North Canyon Park.

The next three photos show a home on a corner lot who had trees both in the front yard and all down the side yard fall. 

Homeowners were piling the tree limbs out by the street for either neighbors to help pick up or North Salt Lake City would pick it up.

I noticed that most of the trees that were down were pine trees, quaking aspens or the red-leafed trees. 

We have some big quaking aspens on the west side of our home. One had fallen during another horrific windstorm many years ago. I kept watching out the window to check on them and was so happy to see they were all still standing after two very windy nights.

This was an interesting sight. A cord had been secured from a tree to a power box. My thoughts were wondering just how wise was this maneuver? What would have happened if the tree fell and took the power box with it??

This was another interesting sight. There is a jeep sitting on the lawn with ropes secured from the jeep to the big tree in the middle of the yard and from the tree to the mailbox (which crossed the sidewalk and presented a big tripping hazard for pedestrians). 

Notice their other trees are leaning, so I guess their maneuver worked its magic to save the one tree.

It was sad to walk by the Eaglewood Golf Course and see how many trees they lost. 

This sight in a church parking lot made me laugh out loud. Two Scout trailers have been parked in the lot for years. For quite a while now, both trailers have had flat tires like the one on the right. 

Perhaps putting new tires on the trailer on the left would have been a better idea AFTER the big windstorm. The wind blew it right off its wood resting spot. There is a big metal scratch mark on the asphalt showing where it was when it was stationary and where it came to a stop after the wind had its way with it. 

Another thing that was interesting to see was the trampoline parked atop the fence by the shed. I'm sure that isn't where the owners usually keep their trampoline.

I gasped when I drove down Eaglewood Drive and saw Greg and Jamie Jensen's home had a gaping hole in the roof. It made me happy to see a worker up there fixing it. 

Then right next door to Jamie's home I gasped again when I saw all the trees down in the Mokofisis' yard. What a mess!!

It was a sad sight to see the huge pine tree in front of the library had fallen. The interesting thing about it is it fell to the east. All the other trees I have seen down have fallen to the west. Weird!!

Rebecca's children had a fun time climbing on the fallen tree when they went to the library.

There is a large patch of grass across from the library where another huge pine tree had fallen. This one fell to the west. So strange that in such a short distance, one tree fell one way and the other tree fell the opposite way. 

Another sad sight was the loss of trees at the cemetery. When we had the last hurricane-force windstorm many years ago, it was shocking to see how many huge pines bordering the cemetery had toppled. 

Now a lot more have fallen over in this windstorm.

I saw a woman walking all around these two trees. When I got closer, she asked if I, too, had relatives buried under the fallen trees. I assured her I didn't and listened to her tell me about her relatives.  

She showed me how they were deep beneath the heavy branches and wondered if the headstones would be ruined.

The groundskeepers had worked to chop down a big leaning tree and were working on a fallen tree beyond that. 

I have been noticing the leaves getting blown off the east sides of the trees. 

I am thankful we just lost some leaves, causing us to have lopsided foliage and we did not lose any trees and don't have any home damage. 

Feeling EXTREMELY blessed!!!

Newland Baptism; Baugh/Wade Missionaries Wed; Ankle Strengthening

 The birthday boy Newland enjoyed celebrating his 8th birthday in Florida.

Turning 8 was a big day for this little guy because he was able to be baptized right on his birthday. 

We attended the baptism via a Zoom meeting.  

It was fun to observe from our perspective as we watched the  switching of chairs during the baptismal service. 

The attendees in person were Abe's family, Klarissa's sister Jen and her family, Klarissa's mother Ingrid and the bishop from Ingrid's ward.

Those watching along with us via Zoom were Klarissa's father and Abe's siblings. 

While waiting for Newland and Abe to get dressed into dry clothes, Wynne showed us a picture of Newland and a picture he had drawn of himself getting baptized.

It was a happy day and we were happy we could join in for the baptismal service.

It has been a very long time since we have been able to go to the temple because of Covid restrictions. We were very excited to be invited to a temple sealing of two of our missionaries in the Payson Temple.

Our instructions were to meet by the flagpole and at 2:45 p.m. the sealer would open the door and allow our small group to enter the temple. Once inside, our temperatures were taken and Glen registered a fever. Oh no!!

Glen and another man were asked to step aside and cool down a bit and then their temperatures would be taken again. The man passed the second time, but Glen failed. 

Good news was his temperature was lowering. It was a really hot day and we had been standing in direct sunlight for a while by the flagpole.

After a few more minutes, Glen registered normal and we were allowed to join with the others in the sealing room. 

We are always delighted when we learn of an inter-mission romance and especially thrilled when it leads to marriage. Kyllie Baugh and Brigham Wade were two of our Spanish-speaking missionaries. After Kyllie came home from her mission, she and Brigham started writing to each other. 

When he arrived home from his mission, they began Skyping daily. Once he moved to Utah, it didn't take long for them to have a short engagement leading up to their beautiful wedding day.

This is the 11th couple of our missionaries to marry and another couple is in the works. SO FUN!!!!

Three of her five bridesmaids were our former missionaries: McKell Childs, Alex Durfee and Brooke Eatchel. Two of his groomsmen were our former missionaries: Jared Hickman and Carlos Medina.

The wedding dinner was held at a golf club. It was so beautiful!!

There were two tables of our former missionaries at the dinner: Sabrina and Jared Hickman (another mission marriage); Chloe Osburn Bramwell with her husband Michael, and Leslie Corona.

Carlos Medina, McKell Childs, Brooke Eatchel, Darcie Povey, Alex Durfee, Kailey Quist Crismon and her husband Will.

Nani finally did it--she quit her job. She was plenty ready to retire. It was a happy moment when I heard her boss gave her an iPad for a retirement gift. What a perfect thing to give her.

She came over to get our help getting it all set up and getting her requested apps on it. I am using the word "our" loosely since Glen was giving the vast majority of the help to her. Glen also helped her buy a cover for her iPad. 

We followed that up with getting take-out lunch from Smokin' Bones. That was a good choice as we all had leftovers for the next day. It's a bonus when I don't have to cook!!!! Yummy leftovers are the best!!

I had been in the need of getting a second shingles immunization. I got one a year ago and was supposed to go back for the second one three to six months after the first one. That never happened!!

Between my two heart surgeries, illness, vacations and Covid shutting down the world, I was never able to get the second one.

I had been dreading getting it because I got sick from the first one. Glen and I both felt rotten the day after we got the shingles immunization (his second and my first), so I wasn't looking forward to inflicting sickness upon myself. I have been feeling so wonderfully well and I didn't want to jeopardize that.

But...it was time...

Nani and I had talked for a few minutes more when I walked her out to her car. We had been standing in the sun for a while and I remembered Glen's issues with registering a temperature after he had been standing in the sun for a while.

If I was getting an immunization that day, I decided I better make sure I didn't have a temperature just in case they happened to check it before they would give me the shot.

Sure enough--I had a temperature--which slowly lowered after I'd been in the cool house for a few minutes. WHEW!!

The information paper I was handed before I got the immunization confirmed my hesitancy in wanting to get a second shot because I experienced almost all of those negative reactions. UGH!!!

I had planned to get my immunization that afternoon because the next day I had absolutely nothing going on (wait...that's my typical days during Covid...!) the rest of that day and the following day.

The "sore arm with mild or moderate pain" came immediately upon the removal of the syringe. OUCH!!!! I would rate my arm pain as more than moderate!! It was so painful!!

Here's the good news: I did NOT experience "tiredness, muscle pain, headache, shivering, fever, stomach pain or nausea." HALLELUJAH!!!!! BLESSING!!!! SO THANKFUL!!!!

As I was so grateful for my good fortune of not feeling sick the day of or the day after, this little feller had just the opposite. Glen was fixing himself breakfast and heard a loud noise at the front door. When he looked out, this is what he saw.

Poor thing must not have realized it was flying right into a glass window. 

Brooke is a big bird lover and I was really glad she didn't accompany her parents when they brought our Costco delivery to us.

The whole Golden family came the next day to do mowing and weeding. We have been so thankful for all the family members who have taken care of the yard this summer. Nani even offered to come mow it when she heard both Rebecca's family and Ben's family would be out of town at the same time.

The grandchildren had a little diversion from weeding when they found a teeny inchworm.

There were a few plants and weeds that needed a shovel removal. Glen was able to do that much yard work with his booted foot.

It always makes me smile when I see Madison wearing her snow boots in 90+ degree summertime weather.

As we were sitting around talking, Rebecca noticed something on the underside of the cabinet.

(Sarah Thomas 2003). We have found several spots now where our dear teenage daughter marked her spot. 

When I sent Sarah this photo, she put up laughing emojis and wrote, "Kids are so weird. And in pencil too. In case I felt guilty and needed to erase it." 

Raising a household of boys, I am sure she can appreciate her antics even more now.

Abe's ward had planned a ward activity. They had arranged for a magician Zoom call.  Abe invited all our family to join in on the entertainment. 

The magician had us do an at-home trick with him. It involved numbered pieces of paper that we ripped in half. He had us shuffle the papers around, throw some out, swap some with each other and by the end, we magically ended up with our own number ones that fit perfectly together.

It was a pretty cool trick. It was a fun diversion for us.

It was Sunday Sabbath Day once again. Even though we don't have a lot on our calendar these days, it sure seems like Sunday rolls around quickly each week.

Two of our missionaries came over for a visit. Brett Carpenter is on his way to Rexburg from Missouri. He stopped in Utah to spend some time with Kenton Stephens. It continues to be a delight for us to see the lasting friendships the missionaries make with each other.

Another one of our missionaries came to visit. Kaylene Parris brought her special friend Giovanni Nieto with her. His family lives in the mission boundaries. He is a convert and after his mission, he requested the missionaries come over to visit with his parents. Kaylene was able to meet him then. 

She has been home quite a while now and decided to go back and live in Southern California with her aunt. From living there, she was able to connect with Giovanni. 

I was not sure if I heard a knock on the door, so I went to check just in case. I looked out and saw a huge box on our porch and watched the delivery person driving away. 

WAIT!!!! I wanted to call to him as I was sure he had made the delivery to the wrong house. We had not ordered anything this big.

Turns out the delivery was made to the right destination. Abe had sent it and wanted us to try it out and see how we like it. He told us to critique the device from the second we opened the box until after we had used it.

The instruction sheet was very large and easy to read.

We unveiled it to find an under-the-desk elliptical. 

It was impressive that a screwdriver was included. I thought that would be nice for people who might not have easy access to tools.

Glen put it under the desk and found out that his knees hit the pull-out keyboard part of the desk while using the elliptical. 

He switched locations and put it under the other part of his desk and found that to work better for his long legs. He also found it to be a great exercise for his recovering foot. It is helping loosen up his ankle and will strengthen his foot and ankle as he uses it over time.

Nice gift from a son to his ongoing-recuperating father. 

Quotes of the Week

Sisters and brothers, through the incessant din and drumbeat of our day, may we strive to see Christ at the center of our lives, of our faith, and of our service. That is where true meaning lies.
--Jeffrey R. Holland

If we want to increase our faith, then let's do things that require faith.
Juan Pablo Villar

The Lord's work is not just to solve problems; it is to build people. ...you may find that sometimes what seems like the most efficient solution is not the Lord's preferred solution because it does not allow people to grow. ... Our progress is His work.
--Henry B. Eyring

I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior's Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.
--Russell M. Nelson