Autumn Moments

Autumn moments began on Monday with Dad making a batch of salsa to freeze.  It's hard to see garden tomatoes coming to an end, but we're making the most of them.  Literally. 

A friend had sent me this picture she had cropped from a picture I posted of Halloween goodies I had put in the Grove on Instagram.  She wanted these three items.

Except the little witch had already sold.  I took these home to Payson for her to pick up.

That left Dad and Me with the task of going to her house Monday to pick up these two antique Motel Chairs which she traded for the Halloween characters. It also allowed Dad to add another seat to the van, that we would need for taking Darby and Dallas to the airport with us on Friday.

Dad went to Barbershop that night, and I stayed home and caught up on some reading.

On Tuesday, I checked my notes for the woman I had heard talking at DI about collecting the winter white Corelle plates to feed her extended family.  She was thrilled she had found 3 that day.  You all know we grew up with these plates as our primary dishes.  They are so neutral I had not passed them on, but honestly, it's been years.  So, I introduced myself andI got her contact info.  

Thus, on Tuesday afternoon Dad and I headed to the DI in AF, where he dropped me off before delivering to her our final 10 plates.  I did a little shopping.  Then we went to Dollar Tree to find Secret Ben gifts for our Anniversary Cruise on which we would leave on Friday.

 

So, we all remember Ben's quirky performance in this video of the kids singing the family song which you sent to us, while Dad and I were serving our first mission in Finland.  One of my favorites. (Ben is pretending to sleep in this picture) Now to explain our Secret Ben gifts for our cruise.  Ben was always giving us all interesting items he found that he thought we might like.  He once gave me a miniatu

re finger guillotine. He often found items at garage sales and at regular stores too. These were not Christmas or birthday gifts, they came all year long and left us all warm memories of Ben.

Emily decided that being 'Secret Bens' to each other on the cruise would bring us all closer and would help us to feel him with us. I'll let you know how it went in the next blog. 

Next, we met these folks for dinner at Chubby's before heading to The Ruth to see Something Rotten.  We all liked it, and enjoyed our time together.

On Wednesday we celebrated Madi's 10th birthday.  I also privately thought of my mother as it was her 107th birthday. It's interesting to note that my Aunt LaRee raised a girl, my mother, who was born on September 24th, and so is my daughter Rebecca LaRee.  Kind of fun.  Also. the name Rebecca is after LaRee's only daughter.  I love how all of these wonderful women, which has to also include my cousin Debbie, (Rebecca's daughter) are connected by names and dates and belonging to the same eternal family.  I love them all, and they all enrich my life. So much to be thankful for. 

While I was at work that day, 

Dad got out the plastic Jack faces and put them on the fence.

Becca also got a few pumpkins to put out in her yard.

How great does this look?  Its nice to know someone with a pumpkin patch! (In her Realty Business she does something fun or interesting for her clients and past clients who are interested each month, she always does a pumpkin patch activity in the fall, thus the business connections)

After work on Thursday, I headed to my book club meeting at Ann Shumway's house.

The book we read was The Girl with Seven names, about a woman who escaped from North Korea.  Reading the book made me heart sick as it told about the Regime in North Korea, as well as many dishonest, and cruel officials who continually sought bribes. It just made me ill how much evil I saw in the book.

At work that day I had picked up the tshirts that Trevor had designed for the cruise. (One of my bosses has a side hustle)

Here is the logo.  I thought Trevor did a great job.

The next day my neighbor Trudy Peck came by to show me the book she had just published.  I had told her I wanted to buy one when it came out.   What great service.  It was fun to chat, as they are making plans to leave for their mission in Africa to a country called The Gambia, before Christmas.  We loved getting their updates last time they served there, so we should enjoy that.

We got up before 4 A.M. on Friday to get to the airport in time to fly out after 7.  Kimi and her Mom and Nell and Trevor were there too, as well as Darby and Dallas who we had picked up.  I loved this picture of Kimi and her aunt Nell and thought it was the perfect hint to finish our week in Utah, before we take up the Cruise from Washington to Alaska and back that I will tell you about in the next blog.

Sorry, this is so late in coming, hope you've had a great couple of weeks.