Reunions with Family and Friends

Making Cookies with Dex and Lulu

Early in November Dex and London/Lulu came over to make cookies with Grandma.  This was a turning point for Lulu warming up and being comfortable with me.  Both kids loved helping to mix, roll, cut out and decorate the cookies.  Lulu especially liked eating the frosting!

When Michael and Shannon returned home from their mission (1 month after we came back) of course we attended their mission report in Orem.  They gave excellent talks and it was good to be with them again and share memories of our Hawaii mission!

Trip to St. George and Sedona

In November we traveled to St. George and met Pam and Roger at Kneaders for lunch.  It was Vetran's Day and Roger wore his flight suit from years past when he served in the Airforce as a pilot.  Lunch was free for Vetrans that day and it was great to see that Roger can still fit into his uniform - go Roger!

 That evening, Kay came over for dinner and Pam and Roger fed us a delicious feast of grilled salmon, baked potato, glazed carrots, salad and garlic bread.  Kay made a yummy pumpkin dessert which was the perfect finish to an awesome meal.  We enjoyed being together and catching up on each other's lives.

Sedona

The next mosning, Hal and I left to go to Sedona, Arizona to meet Bob and Susan Taylor.  We had not seen them since a few months before we left to serve in Hawaii.  Both Susan and I wanted to see Sedona and there were golf courses and good weather there so Bob and Hal agreed.

 Sedona is beautiful with blue skies, interesting red rock formations and pretty green trees that contrast with the red rocks.

While the guys golfed, Susan and I went shopping, exploring and out to lunch.

One of our stops was at a menagerie store that had a little of everything!
The weather was beautiful - not too hot and not too cold!

It was fun to be with Bob and Susan and a great trip.  There was only one problem encountered when Bob had a 3:30 AM gall bladder attack and Susan had to take him to the ER.  The attack may or may not have been precipitated by Bob eating an entire package of  Double Stuffed Oreos and half a bag of Lindt Truffles after dinner that evening before retiring for the night.  The day after Bob and Susan returned home, Bob had his gall bladder removed and is thankfully feeling much better now! 

Preston's Birthday We gathered at Tricia and James house to celebrate Preston's birthday.  We had lemon meringue and Key lime pie - these are Preston's favorite!

 
Preston and Preston 2.0

  We always enjoy being together!

Games and visiting were the entertainment!

Thanksgiving

 Ella and Lillian came over early to help me get the tables set and I had them help me make cheese balls and then they decorated them to look like turkeys.  It was great to have their help and fun to spend some time with them!

 The three little ones - Dex, London and Evie

 Conrad, Hailey, and the Woidkas joined us for the feast.

 Everything was delicious!!

 The remains of cheese ball #2

 After dinner there were electronics (of course), visiting, napping and playing for the kids.

It was a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful family time together!

Returning to life after our mission

Celebrating Sareya and Evie's Birthdays

Evie's birthday is September 27th and Sareya's birthday is September 30th. So we gathered at Evan and Kelly's house for a family birthday dinner and party on Sunday, September 30th.  Kelly served pasta with 2 kinds of sauce and we helped with garlic bread, salad and a fruit plate. Kelly made this cute birthday cake and I brought another cake and we enjoyed cake and ice cream for dessert!  

 Cute pictures of Lillian and Ella

 Eating cake and ice cream!

After dinner and dessert, Hal gave the Hawaiian ties he had brought home from our mission(compliments of one of our friends in Hawaii) to the guys.

 Then we watched some fun YouTube videos that our kids had made.  We all had a good time laughing and teasing those featured in the videos.

 Dex had broken his arm two weeks earlier and had his new cast put on just a few days before.  Poor little guy was playing a game with Sam on the stairs and miscalculated the jump down and fell on his right arm - thankfully, he is left-handed!

Alex played "The Entertainer" for me and he is becoming quite accomplished! 

General Conference and Women's Conference Session 

What a blessing it is to be on the earth during this dispensation!  I feel so privileged to witness the growth of the church and the continuing revelation that comes from living prophets.  This past April and October Conferences have been amazing with so many awesome changes that are occurring in the church as we prepare for the second coming!

This past October conference's Women's Session was no exception.  The moms and daughters 8 year's old and older went to dinner before the session and then came to our house to watch the broadcast together.  Afterward we talked about the messages that were given and then enjoyed pie together.  It was a special evening!  Kyra, Kelly, Hailey, Jessica and Gigi - we missed you and wished you were there with us!! Lillian joined us after her babysitting commitment.

 Enjoying dinner at Dalton's Restaurant

Visit to Minneapolis

Hal and I left for Minnesota to visit the Craws on October 17th.  It was great to see Gigi, Liam, Jessica and Adam again!

                   

 We took Jessica and the kids to the Sea Life Aquarium in the Mall of America.  It was a really good exhibit of fish and other creatures of the oceans.

 Liam and Gigi were excited to see the interesting tanks filled with colorful fish, jellyfish, sharks, coral, crustaceans etc. etc.

We also made a stop at the Lego fun center in front of the Lego store for the kids to play while we took a break.  Then we went to lunch in the Food court

On another afternoon, we took a trip to a Pumpkin Patch so the kids could choose pumpkins to carve for Halloween.

 Back to the car with the chosen pumpkins!

On yet another day, Jessica taught me how to make her yummy Cinnamon Twists - 3 layers of delicious flavor!

 Crescent  rolls and cinnamon twists rising

 Drizzling the frosting on the baked twists - they were awesome!

 For the first part of our visit, Adam was in Canada on a business trip. He works for a marketing firm on the Subaru account and was on a 2 week photo shoot of commercials for the upcoming season.

On another evening, we took the family out for pizza.  We enjoyed a tasty dinner and time together!

Treygan is serving his mission in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission.  He received permission from his mission president to have lunch with Aunt Jessica and Grandma and Grandpa.  He was serving then in St. Paul so we met he and his companion at The Red Cow for lunch.  The food was good and it was great to hear about his mission.  He is learning American Sign Language on his mission and has been using this skill to teach the deaf.  He and his companion were recently asked by the mission president to attend the temple and learn the Initiatory Ordinances so he could assist deaf patrons who were receiving their Endowments.

 After lunch we took a few minutes to take some pictures outside the restaurant to send to mom and dad!

It was fun to see Treygan and how much he has grown and developed on his mission.  We are so proud of our first grandchild to serve - he is setting an awesome example for our other grandchildren!

We had a great time with the Craws and loved spending time with them.  We don't get to see their family as often as we would like so we were happy to have this opportunity to be together!!