It's Already the End of November?!!!

Yikes! It is November 29th today! 
We had a wonderful time over the last couple of weeks since I last blogged. We had a great time at the Cattle Convention and an even better time in Jackson if only for two days.  We ended up meeting Lori, Brad and family and the Tribes in the afternoon at Bubba's for a late lunch/early dinner and then took Todd shopping that afternoon for his 13th birthday. I can't tell you what a thrill it was to have all the kids come running when they saw us and especially for Todd to come unprompted to take my arm to help Grandpa help me  across the street, up the stairs and into Bubba's. And that's the way it was the whole time we were together. He was always there to help me in and out of the truck (if Grandpa didn't beat him!), take our belongings up and down the condo stairs and to help me on the slick steps. What a wonderful young man he is and how we love him! We told him he could go look for anything he wanted for this special birthday and we were surprised that he chose to go to Jack Dennis and look for some additional camping equipment for his scout outings. He ended up purchasing a fancy water bladder with pockets to hold other necessities on day hikes and a pretty high-tech compass. Pretty great choices for a 13-yr-old boy, I would say. Thank you, Todd, and we love you so much! We spent Wednesday evening visiting with Brad and Lori at our condo and then joining the whole group at Brad and Lori's condo. It was so fun to discuss the gospel and the handbook with them. Brad was recently ordained and set apart as Bishop of their ward in Rupert. We know he will do a great job because he is not afraid to take the sometimes very painful steps necessary to depart from generation-old traditions which are not in keeping with church policy. He has that beautiful combination of a great love for the members of the ward and a great love for doing things the Lord's way realizing that there are tremendous blessings that result from strict obedience. He is a good man and Lori will be a tremendous support to him.
We packed up Friday morning to come home (in a big snowstorm) and were so grateful we had decided to bring the truck. It took us a long time to get home but we made it safely thanks to my husband's driving skills. But he freely admits he detests driving on bad roads and in nasty conditions and will avoid it at every cost! We are not as young as we used to be and are certainly more cautious!

Anyway, we unpacked and headed to Brigham City to see Mom Rose in her new "home". We were surprised and VERY HAPPY to see how well she is doing and the progress she has made in just the last few days. She is capable of walking even without a walker, but she is supposed to use it! Just ask Grandpa! She recognized us and seems to be regaining at least some of her memory. The hallucinations and paranoia are gone, truly gone! We know that she was having panic attacks because she was unable to breath properly and the medicine prescribed to her for those attacks was causing her mental anguish. I just shudder to think what she has been through but am ever more grateful for those caregivers who realized she had a problem and got to the bottom of it. We have our dear Mom Rose back. Yes, she still has a form of dementia and gets very confused, but she is pleasant and happy most of the time and realizes that she is getting good care. Our hope is that if it is Heavenly Father's will that she can again return to Park Valley, her home. But that certainly remains to be seen.

I love this picture!

After a good long visit with Mom and Dad and some of the rest of the family, we headed to Tremonton for Natalie's reception. It was great to see the Jex family again! They will always be dear friends! Natalie looks so happy! It was a dicey drive home as far as Malad and then not too bad from there.
Saturday was Kate's ballet! What a beautiful little ballerina she is! The Hansel and Gretel ballet was so professional...amazing sets and gorgeous costumes! Kate was a town's girl and a ghost this year. I'll post the pictures I was able to get. We love this little girl so much...Katie Bug with her beautiful red hair and sweet, caring personality...Katie with her love for stuffed animals and dolls, Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop...a little "red-bird"  with a twinkle in her eye and a smile that melts our hearts...a beauty with a talent and definite love for ballet!

Isn't she lovely?

Jackson Getaway

Oh, how grateful I am for a few days getaway to our beautiful condo timeshare unit in Jackson (actually Wilson) Wyoming! It's the same week every year and many times we cannot go for the entire week, but it is still wonderful to anticipate and even more wonderful to actually enjoy while there! This year we were able to make it by Tuesday night and stay until Saturday morning...longer than usual. It is always made more fun by our Wilson family being up there at the same time. They usually stay in our condo but this year decided to buy their own and were joined by the Tribe family for their vacation. Since we were not up there from Sunday night until Tuesday night, Todd and Dillon made the top floor of our condo their "man cave" (as they called it). And they continued to stay up there even after we arrived until they all had to leave on Thursday morning. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as cool to be in the "man-cave" when two old fogies were downstairs, but they made the best of it! We were so sad to see both families go, but enjoyed eating at Bubba's with all of them and also watching the ice-skating festivities on Wednesday. We appreciated being included in the fun.

While there we loafed some, did crossword puzzles (which Greg has me hooked on--I'm using my brain and it feels good!), read (Greg... the new Priesthood Leadership Handbooks, me...Pres. Monson's biography), studied the scriptures, Christmas shopped for grandkids (is there anything quite as fun as finding the perfect gift for the perfect little person?) and made Greg a warm quilt for HIS "man-cave", the den. I took my new sewing machine and further learned how to use it. Greg was great help in getting the quilt cut out and put together ready to machine quilt and in helping to feed it through the machine during the process. It is so bulky it would have been very difficult if not impossible without him. I appreciate how he is always so willing to help me with projects...of course, this one was for him, but he would have helped me regardless. The quilting capabilities on this machine are so fun! We are still going to tie it, however, just because it will look better! We came home Saturday night and bound it on the machine as well. It looks great and for a first try, it turned out well. When it is tied I will take a picture of it.  We love the colors! Thanks, Lori, for taking me to "The Gathering Place" once again and helping me find just the right fabric! Why is it you can't walk out of that store without spending $50 - $100.00?!!! Love that place!

The weather was pleasant on the trip up and all week until Saturday morning when we awoke to plenty of snow! So beautiful!!!!! We decided to pack up and come home during the daytime but certainly didn't hurry! We had the new company car (new to us) and it had great tires. I knew we had Greg at the wheel so I really didn't stress at all. We came home to several inches of snow. So beautiful! It has really made me excited for Christmas! I took this picture of the famous "climbing" tree in our backyard. I love it so much and am very protective of it! This year as we have not had a hard frost yet, there are still many leaves remaining and in combination with the snowfall, its branches are weighed down pretty heavily. I have been going out with my broom and where I can reach, shaking the snow off the branches. As you can imagine, I look like a snow bunny after. How I love this tree! I know it's just an ordinary Little-leaf Linden tree, but we planted it right after we moved here and now it provides much-needed shade in the summer, a place for grandkids to climb, and something beautiful to enjoy all seasons of the year.