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

Mickelsen Family Gatherings!

The past week and weekend has been Mickelsen Family gathering time with the arrival of Jessica and Gigi on Sunday, June 26th. Jessica spent the week helping me with decorating ideas for our new home and time with her sisters and the family. Hailey and Conrad arrived late Friday night to spend the weekend plus July 4th with us. Adam joined us - flying in on Saturday morning. Hailey & Conrad along with the Craw family attended church at the MTC with Hal and I on Sunday. Jessica, Adam and Gigi then left for Layton to spend July 4th with Adam's family. We enjoyed a big dinner together Saturday evening at our home and then gathered again at Evan and Kelly's for a 4th of July barbeque and celebration. It was great to have time together! This week I am recovering from all the excitement!!


Jessica and Gigi - by the end of the week Gigi had warmed up to Grandma and the wild and crazy cousins!



Hailey and Conrad enjoying the family dinner



Relaxing after the family dinner on Saturday evening



Taken Sunday after church at the MTC



The Thomas Family



Our patriotic grand kids dressed in red, white and blue!



Ella and Violet "sharing"? a toy -(NOT)



Dorothy and Sareya in "twin" red, white and blue dresses



Grandpa and Sam playing Ipad games!



Jon's birthday is July 4th - He celebrates with a Strawberry Pie and a chorus of "Happy Birthday to You"!



Sparkler fun for the kids!

A sparkler for Kyra



A sparkler for Violet

Sister Week & Framing on the new house begins!

Last week was sister week - with a visit from Pam and then Joan. Pam spent Monday night and all day Tuesday with me. We went shopping and to lunch and she helped me with writing my personal history by editing the pages I have finished to date.
Wednesday we drove first to Wellsville to decorate the Park's grave (they were Grandma Peterson's foster parents and raised her). We then drove north to Logan.



Joan met us in Logan at the cemetery so that we could decorate the graves there. After a late lunch at Maddox in Brigham City, she returned to Salem with me and we spent Thursday and Friday together.


Whitney joined us on Friday for a shopping trip and lunch in SLC.


Lunch at the Red Butte Cafe in SLC
We missed you Kay, Pam and Cindy!!



Framing on our home began last week! It took 2 months for excavation and cement work - we are hoping that this framing process moves along more quickly! I am getting more excited now that I can see the home taking shape!