It was a happy day for me (us) when Mom invited us to their home for a delicious roast beef dinner with Mark as the guest of honor.
Mark had come to town by himself so he could go on the big elk hunt for a few days with Dad and our brothers.
Nani and I were happy Mark devoted that evening to spending time with Mom and his sisters. It was a bonus that Glen was able to come with me.
As I was doing the dishes, I noticed Mom's glass casserole dish and lid had a film on it that was impossible to wash off. I insisted she let me take it home so I could work on it to see if I could figure out the best way to get it sparkling once again.
Voila! Success by using a magic eraser.
For my Sunday wardrobe, I chose my camouflage blouse in honor of Dad and my brothers on their hunting trip.
My sweet friend Becky Hanson came by to drop off a gift. It was one of her beautifully-decorated, professional-looking gingerbread houses. The size of it makes it look dainty and especially so with it displayed on a small glass pedestal.
The gingerbread house has brought me so much viewing pleasure as each time I look at it I find so much to marvel at as I admire all the intricate detailing she did on it.
Becky texted to say she had forgotten to take photos of this house and asked if I could take some and send them to her. I told her I had already photographed every angle of the house.
Annalisa Jones came for a visit as she was driving by on her way to Logan. She is such a sweet girl. She is one of our older missionaries and is now starting on her Master's degree.
We got awakened one morning with a phone call from Abe--but no one responded when Glen answered the phone. This happened two more times. Glen then texted Abe, "Do you need me?"
Abe responded back, "No, but apparently this little guy does."
Since Mom was going to be alone for several days while Dad was hunting, I thought it would be fun for her, Nani and me to get together for lunch. That would also be a good way for me to return her casserole dish.
Unfortunately, she called that morning and said she was not feeling well and to just leave the dish on her porch and go enjoy lunch with Nani. We were sad about that, but had a nice time together despite the fact we were missing Mom.
Nani suggested going to lunch at Hug-Hess Cafe where we were able to sit outside on their patio. It was perfect weather and we had a great time talking as we ate.
After lunch, we made a nostalgic drive-by past the home we grew up in on 22nd Street in Ogden. Such great memories as I looked at that home. It was nice to see the home and yard look really well kept.
I remember all the hours Dad spent building that huge garage. He had built bedrooms in the basement for Sam and Mike and Nani and me. He took on a major project of adding onto the back of the home. Not only the main floor, but he dug out to make a basement addition as well. He has always amazed me with his knowledge of how to build and fix things.
I think he even built that retaining wall between our house and the Edwards' house. There is one thing missing (besides the fitzer bushes that I never really liked in the front of our house) and that is the huge weeping willow tree in the backyard.
The huge swing set that Dad built (and which I fell off of and broke my right wrist) is no longer there either. Thankfully, Andy and Amanda have it now in their backyard so it has stayed in the family.
I went to see a new doctor for my primary care physician. I really like Dr. Christian who I went to for years before our mission, but he is not in the University of Utah healthcare system, so I wanted to pick a new one so all my tests and visits can be viewed by all the U of U doctors.
Nani had been talking to me about how her recent blood tests showed something going on with her kidneys. She was not happy to have a diagnosis of kidney problems in her chart.
I had to send Nani this new diagnosis that was just added to my Patient Active Problem List. For now we are just going to watch the numbers and see if they change before doing anything (but stage 3 of any disease never sounds good...).
Fall is in the air!! And on the branches of bushes and trees. I loved seeing this bush on my morning walk. It is a perfect specimen of leaves changing colors.
Another thing that screams fall is seeing warty pumpkins which, in my opinion, would be perfect for scary Halloween decor.
Our friends decided to have a welcome-to-fall festive dinner celebration. Diane Stewart organized it. She originally planned for us to go to the canyon for dinner.
That is always a fun experience getting out into nature, but when Bruno Kossin suggested his backyard, Jan and Glen jumped right on that idea.
With Jan recovering from knee replacement surgery and Glen still recovering from foot surgery, they both agreed that maneuvering across Bruno's perfectly-manecured yard would be much easier than walking up and down the hills getting to a canyon campsite.
We all contributed something to the soup dinner with peach and apple cobbler for dessert. YUM! It was so nice to be with our friends again. It was so nice to be socializing once again.
This Covid time of life has sure been lonely and makes me appreciate so much more the times we can get together with family members and with friends.
As soon as the sun got lower in the sky, it got chilly. None of us were prepared for that and we weren't quite ready to break up the gathering yet, so Colleen brought out some blankets to keep us warm.
For date night, Glen and I drove to Fashion Place Mall to go to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. It felt like a road trip because we were so far away from home.
Glen was happy to use his rarely-used handicap sticker (which he got when he had foot surgery) when he saw the closest parking spot was clear at the other end of the parking lot.
How I love to look at the sunset. Each time I do, I now think lovingly of Natalie as I went with her a couple of times up to Bountiful Boulevard to look at the sunset when she was here visiting this summer.
It was totally unplanned that both Rebecca and I had chosen to wear our red family reunion t-shirt on the day the Goldens came up to do the yardwork.
Glen fixed them a French toast breakfast before they went out to begin working.
Glen really appreciates the mowing and edging.
Spencer even got in on the mowing action this time. He definitely needed help dumping the heavy bag.
I really appreciate the weeders.
Madison was happiest using the yellow snow shovel to scoop up grass clippings from the driveway and sidewalk. She also enjoyed using the squirt bottle and rag to clean off all the dirt around our front pillars. The huge windstorm had blown dirt everywhere.
Caroline picked some flowers off the bushes on the side of the house and was getting everyone's opinion as to which kind of flower was the prettiest.
Spencer tried his hand at the new leaf blower.
Another week had flown by, but this week we attended church in person. It was a very different feeling having us all wearing masks, sitting with big spaces between us and not shaking hands or hugging.
Our ward has been going once a month for three months. Starting the week after general conference, our ward will be going every week. It has been a very long time of not stepping foot into a church building.
We learned that Michelle's father, Aaron Hatch, had passed away and his funeral would be held on Monday. I drove up to Ogden to pick up Mom and Nani to attend the funeral.
Dad had shot an elk the day before and Mom said they would be home soon. Turns out we saw the hunters turning into Mom's subdivision as we were ready to turn out. They motioned for us to turn around and follow them back to the house so we could see their spoils.
When Mike, Sam, Dad and Andy climbed out of their vehicles, I started to laugh and shake my head. I keep wondering where I came from as I looked at them. Hunting is such a foreign idea of fun for me.
Sam reminded me of how much I disliked going to the farm in Idaho each week when we were kids. My brothers and Nani really enjoyed that. They all enjoy camping--Mom and Nani included. They all enjoy hunting. Mom had her own bow for a while. Nani has even gotten into archery the past few years.
What is it about me that I got ABSOLUTELY NONE of those genes???
But I do appreciate a good photo opportunity, so I had them posing in front of their truck and then with the elk antlers.
The size of that rack is IMPRESSIVE!!!
I was just sad Mark had to leave to go back home to Yakima, Washington before Dad had shot his elk. But he said he had a nice time being with Dad and his brothers anyway, and the bonus for him was he didn't have to help haul it out.
This is Andy's commentary of the hunt as per his Instagram post:
"What an adventure! My Dad drew a Utah limited muzzleloader elk tag at 88 years old. He tore his knee the first day of the hunt but still pushed through the pain for 4 days. We decided to head home to get a doctor to look at it and get a knee brace.
"Dad called me back and said let's go back out so we left for the second time. We carefully walked him into a water hole about 1/2 mile. Sat and waited for a few hours and the rest the picture tells."
We girls left once again for the funeral. It was a lovely service. Michelle did a wonderful job giving her talk. I was happy to see Mark had been able to return to Utah with his family to attend the funeral. Thad decided to stay behind as the long car ride here and back sounded very dreadful to him.
After the funeral, we ate Texas Roadhouse take-out (YUMMMMMMY rolls!!) and was able to get Dad's version of the hunt. It was very entertaining and we were very impressed with Dad having perfect aim using only one shot.
Mark's family was leaving the next day for the drive home. Michelle suggested we have breakfast together before they left. Nani and I were up for that idea. I cooked French toast, Nani cooked bacon, Mom provided the milk, orange juice, bananas and set the table.
We were glad Caleb was able to join us for breakfast before he headed back to Rexburg. Elijah and Hailey left after the funeral to go to a job interview in Oregon.
We had some good laughs and even a little cry while we ate and visited. It was a double-fun visit having Mark in town twice. What a sweet family!! I could hardly believe my ears when Mark said Kate drove for a while on the way here. How did she get old enough to drive??!!??
Nina's shirt caught my eye as it reminded me of the saying Glen used to say to greet people every day on the mission, "It's another great day in paradise!!"
