Grandparent's Day with Ella
We were happy to attend Ella's school program to honor grandparents. They sang cute songs and recited poems and statements about their grandparents.
Ella was cute and animated throughout the program!
After the program, we went to Ella's classroom for cookies and Ella showed us the book she had made about herself - All About Me. It was a great afternoon and an opportunity to spend time with Ella, Evie and Allison.
Susan's Visit
Our good friend, Susan, from Berlin came to see us! She was so helpful and kind to us while we served our mission there. She invited us to dinner several times and would arrange for tickets for all of us to attend concerts, an opera and a ballet.She even helped us to acquire public transportation passes with a senior discount! She took us to Christmas markets, on a city boat tour and many other places and really helped us to appreciate all that Berlin had to offer. Though American by birth, she has spent much of her life in Germany, and is now a (semi retired) professor of linguistics. It was so good to see her again and to catch up on each other's lives.
Susan first came to Lillian's Birthday Party at Allison and Jon's home where she met most of our children and grandchildren and survived one of our noisy but fun-loving family gatherings!
Lillian - now 13 years old - is as beautiful inside as she is on the outside!
We spent 3 wonderful days with Susan. On Monday, we went to BYU and visited the Museum of Art, ate lunch at the restaurant there and then walked around the campus. As an alumni, Susan was interested to see all of the changes and new buildings that have been added over the years. We then took a beautiful drive up Provo Canyon to Sundance, to look around there. On Tuesday, Susan went to the Payson temple with us and did temple work while we served our shift.
A "selfie" of the three of us
Wednesday, we met Susan's sister (Judy), brother-in-law, (Mike) and nephew, (Kyle) at the Provo City Center Temple and enjoyed a session together.
Kyle, Susan, Judy and Mike
It was a beautiful day at the temple, but after the session, we had to say goodbye to our dear friend.
Time with the Thomas Kids
Tricia and James traveled to the big island of Hawaii, to run in Ragnar Hawaii and I watched the kids for several days.
On Saturday, I took the kids to Jakers in Springville, where we met Allison and Jon and their family. The weather was unusually warm and the kids enjoyed the corn pile, haystacks, petting zoo, corn maze and hayride.
Going down the tube slide and playing in the corn pile
Top of the haystack!
Petting a kangaroo and a pig
The confusing corn maze
Enjoying the hayride
We brought picnic lunches and found a shady spot to eat. After lunch, the kids all chose a pumpkin and we all went home tired and happy!
