Gabrielsen Family Cruise

We returned home late Saturday evening from a family cruise with all the Gabrielsen siblings and spouses. We had a great time together highlighted by a family meeting on Sunday where we shared favorite scriptures. As the week progressed - we enjoyed many, many delicious meals, ports of call, sister shopping and fun and dancing together. How blessed we are to have siblings and spouses that all get along so well - we truly enjoy being with each!

Enjoying a delicious brunch



Hal in Barbados - our first port of call



Pam & Roger - First Formal Night



Patty & Hal



John & Cindy



Kay & Ken



Joan & Tom



A stop in beautiful St. Lucia



A perfect day at the beach!



Enjoying the Antigua beach day!



All of us at the beach - Antigua



Affectionately known as: "Clown Boys"


Second Formal Night

Slow - Slow - Slow - Progress on the house

Our new home is coming along BUT very slowly! They have just bumped our completion date to the end of December and I am sad that we will not be in for Christmas. The finishing work is taking a really long time but hopefully it will be worth the wait! They started the stucco today and the brick work is nearing completion. On the inside - the wood and tile floors are down and the installation of the cabinets is underway. It is fun to go each day and see the progress!!





Master Bedroom




Great Room



Study



Laundry/Craft Room


Kitchen/Dining Area

Busy days - busy weeks

The month of September somehow passed and I didn't add one post to my blog. It truly was a busy month with canning 10 bushels of peaches, a missionary reunion, many decisions to make on the house and best of all a visit with Jessica and Gigi! We tried to make the most of of their time here and had lots of family activities and parties. We had to have a Tea Party while she was here and this time we honored Grandma Mickelsen with preparing some of her recipes and sharing memories and pictures of her.

It was wonderful to have Jessica as "my personal decorating consultant"! She has a good eye for what looks good and she was such a help to me in choosing granite, carpet, fabric for furniture upholstery, paint and decorating accents. I have really missed her advice and help since she returned home! We also enjoyed a trip to "Gardner Village" to see the witches, shops and a delicious lunch.

Tea party memories





Some of our cute Tea Party guests



Gigi got better acquainted with her cousins and seemed to enjoy all the noise and craziness!



For Family Home Evening - we went on a wagon ride to a pumpkin patch and maze followed by a stop at the Red Barn for apples, donuts and ice cream. The kids loved choosing pumpkins, wandering through the maze and most of all the ice cream treats!



Jessica, Gigi, Grandma and Grandpa checking out the pumpkins



The Thomas Family in the pumpkin patch



Kyra, Treygan, Kelly & Aleeya



Jessica & Gigi enjoying ice cream after the visit to the pumpkin patch


Sareya, James & Dorothy




September 24 - we met Tom and Joan at Gloria's Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner and a chance to see them while they were in town - we enjoyed the food and loved the opportunity to be together!



On September 30th - (the Friday before General Conference) we had our missionary reunion. We enjoyed a luncheon with 20 of our returned senior missionaries at Brick Oven Pizza and then that evening we gathered at a meetinghouse in Orem for a reunion with all our returned missionaries - young and old. We had 130 in attendance and it was a wonderful evening to be together!
Siberian Senior's Luncheon


Russia Novosibirsk Missionary Reunion

My 45th Class Reunion

Last weekend was my 45th Class Reunion in Caldwell. John and Cindy graciously hosted us and we had a wonderful time with them - eating delicious food and staying up far too late and catching up on everything. We even attended church with our old stake in Caldwell as they were having stake conference on Sunday. It was fun to see all of our old friends - Hal especially enjoyed reconnecting with so many people he had served with during his stake presidency years.

This class reunion was the best reunion yet. All the pretense is gone when everyone is old, wrinkled and gray. It was fun to get caught up on each other's lives and the best part for me was a gathering with my best girlfriends and another gathering of our seminary group. I was very blessed to have grown up with a great bunch of kids - both guys and gals. We were there for each other - we shared the same standards and kept each other on the path. I have often reflected on how very fortunate I was. This made my teenage years so enjoyable - I truly loved high school. We have maintained contact over the years but hadn't all been together since our 30 year reunion.


My best friends:Nancy, Vicki, Lois and Me



Vicki,Nancy, Candy, Lois, Me and Karma


Seminary Reunion
Lyle, Stan and Bill


Patient spouses! Hal, Neicia (Lyle's wife), Becky (Bill's wife) and Mary (Stan's wife)



Me, Nancy, Candy, Vicki and Karma


Lyle,Me,Bill, Maggie and Nancy

An enjoyable evening

Last Friday evening we were invited by one of our returned missionaries and his wife for dinner at their apartment in Provo. We had a delicious dinner and a fun evening talking about mission memories and getting to know them better. Elder Christian Pingree had played basketball for BYU prior to his mission and had served as one of our assistants during his mission - he was an excellent missionary. His wife Hayley is delightful and a great cook! Hal and I treasure such times as this!

Slowly but surely!

James, Hal and little Preston in front of our work in progress



Progress is being made on our new home - things are moving forward slowly but surely! As you can see, the walls are up, the roof is on and ready to be shingled and the windows are in! On the inside, they are working on the plumbing, wiring and heating system. The framers are almost done! They are telling us perhaps it will be ready by mid December... We will see!! (Can you think of a more fun time to move?)

Mission Farewell, Family & Friends

We returned Wednesday from a 10 day trip to Idaho and Oregon. First, we atended Taylor's Mission Farewell in Boise. We enjoyed visiting with family and saying our goodbyes to Taylor. (We are hoping to see him during his 3 weeks at the Provo MTC). Our next stop was in La Grande, Oregon to spend time with Mary and Lloyd Royer. The Royers served as a senior couple in our mission and are wonderful people and friends!
From La Grande, we travelled to Portland to see Jessica, Adam and Gigi. We then took Gigi and Jessica with us for a 2 night stay on the Oregon Coast - poor Adam had to work and couldn't go with us. We loved getting to know Gigi better - she now actually likes her Grandma and Grandpa Mickelsen!!

We travelled back to Idaho and spent time with our friends - Bob and Susan Taylor and visited other Caldwell friends as well. We made our last stop in Featherville to visit Hal's brother - David. We returned home tired but happy!
Elder Taylor Morris


Hal teaching Elder Morris some magic tricks he can use to capture the interest of children while teaching on his mission.



The Mickelsens and The Royers



On the way to Portland we stopped at The Columbia Gorge Hotel for a delicious lunch in a beautiful setting.



Enjoying the beautiful hydrangeas



Hal,Patty and Gigi on the Oregon Coast



Jessica, Gigi and Hal enjoying the beach



Grandma and Gigi at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory (tourist trap!)



Gigi enjoying the petting zoo at the cheese factory



Gigi really enjoying her first ice cream cone!



Hal and Patty at Depoe Bay



Jessica and Gigi in a park near their home



A delicious dinner with Bob and Susan