Neal had the opportunity to go back to Hawaii to be a part of the baptism of Walker Maxfield. Jeff was in Hawaii at the same time so he baptized Walker and Neal confirmed him. There were lots of people at the baptism - mostly from the YSA ward. Walker has made lots of friends there and they all came out to support him.
I had a request for a Fall project. The pattern was even provided for me. All I had to do was get material and thread. This project worked up really fast and I love it! It will be even more incredible when it is framed and ready to hang or sit on a stand.
I guess Tucker is going a bit gray these days and put a little coloring on his hair to keep the Gray from showing too much. Apparently he picked up the wrong box of hair coloring and ended up with this. A little too Blue for his liking. So he went back to the store and tried something else.
September is the month to get the house all set up with Fall decor. I don't have a ton of decorations because I've tried to simplify what I put out for each holiday. And, yes, I totally ignore Halloween. Never been a holiday that I love and never will be. That stems clear back when I was little. Just never like getting into costumes or putting on face stuff. I can only remember going trick-or-treating one time. For some reason, just never got into it. So a pumpkin is probably as close as I get to something that might be Halloween. Mostly for me it is getting out the Fall dishes along with the Thanksgiving ones. I love our china cabinet that I can display the fun dishes for each season and holiday.
Swiss Days is always an annual event. Started long ago when we would go and meet at Lila Mae's and then off to the town square to walk up and down all the rows and rows of booths. This year was much the same except we did miss Lila Mae. But now, we park at Susan's and walk a couple blocks to the square. This year was a little different. We ended up taking two cars because we had too many people. We had Mallory, Casey (Mallory's missionary companion) Hayley and me in one car. Abby was in town so she and Lynda Ann spent Friday in Logan working with guide dogs and they came Saturday morning from there. They has a flat tire fiasco that I won't go in to, but because of that and the stupid car rental places they were two hours late getting to Swiss Days. But we still had a good time. A few items were purchased by all of us and then we met Susan at Don Pedro's for a delicious lunch. We were all a little disappointed in the merchandise at the booths. Not as much holiday stuff as there usually has been in years past. But we all came away with treasures.
I drove down to Lehi to have Mallory help me out of a problem that I created. I'm not going into details, just believe me that Mallory is my 'life savor' when it comes to my computer mishaps!! I decided it would be easier to just drive there with my lap top than try and have her walk me through trying to fix things. And, it was. She got me all straightened out and then we went to the pancake houses for breakfast. The fun thing is that I got to see what she bought at Swiss Days and how she is decorating her desk. Starting September 14th she will be working at a new job and from home. She bought the ceramic flowers and Silly Goose at Swiss Days. So cute.
Last weekend was the first Utah football game of the 2026 season. Neal and Tucker bought season tickets this year. Tucker came to our house and he and Neal walked to the bus stop on 13th East. We took a couple pictures before they left. Father and son off to watch their Utes!
Mallory and I were going to Swiss Days the next morning and leaving here at 6:30 a.m. So she came up to spend the night. She arrived just after the boys had left. She and I went to The Habit for dinner. While we were there, Tucker send me this picture.
I showed it to Mallory and she said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we could change everything to blue!" She thought about it for a minute and said she had an idea. She went to AI and this is what she created. OMGOSH! We laughed and laughed and sent this back to Tucker and to every family member who is a cougar fan.
Tucker's response: "Who the F did that?" Shame on you Tucker! Hahahaha. BTW you both look so good in blue!!!!
Emmi sent us a picture of she and Walker at sacrament meeting. Walker is being baptized on September 13th. Next Sunday. Amazing that in just a short time he has felt the truthfulness of the gospel and ready to be baptized and fully embrace the gospel. Emmi has been with Walker every step of the way. It has been an incredible journey for all of us. Jeff will be going over to spend two weeks with Emmi and work from Hawaii and will be there for Walker's baptism. Neal is going over on the 11th and will be there for Walker's baptism. We are so proud of the amazing young man Walker is and that he has independently decided to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So thankful that Emmi has had the opportunity to get acquainted with a long absent cousin.
Hopefully, there will be many more pictures to post after next weekend!
Sprout had his 3rd birthday on August 19th. They had a birthday party for Sprout at Dogtopia. It was a fun day for him. They took a picture and I took a few. I wanted to send one to Holly, the breeder we got Sprout from. She is always happy to see pictures of him and see that he is happy and healthy. He has certainly one our hearts.
My goodness. These squirrels never cease to bring a smile to my face. I bought a new bird feeder hoping that this one would discourage the pigeons from eating all the bird seed. I happened outside and glanced over and there was Chip (or Dale) upside down getting some food. Not much stops them from getting what they want and this bird feeder didn't hardly make them hesitate. So funny.
Rain and rainbows are a few of my favorite things! We had a micro rain, thunder and lightning storm come through the other day and all of a sudden I looked up at the sky and there was the most gorgeous rainbow ever. And then it turned into a double!! I was so happy.
How can anyone deny there is a God in Heaven!
Sally Curtis does a lot for me and I wanted to do something a little extra special for her. She has many talents, one of which is playing the piano and organ. She goes once a week and play the organ in the Jordan River Temple Chapel while patrons are waiting to be called to the next session. She has a grand piano in her front room and I know it gets plenty of use. So I decided to a counted cross stitch of a grand piano. I've said before that I rarely ever do the same cross stitch twice and after finishing this one I know why. I already did this once for Susan to give to her friend Jane. It was a miserable project then and was a miserable project the second time through. But thank goodness it is completed and ready for me press and get framed. This is what it should look like when it is done. Behind the picture is the poster size directions. I have to mark every stitch I do as I do it so that I don't get lost as to where I am. It is that complicated and numerous times that one changes to another color. Seriously, a stitching nightmare!!
I'll add a completed and framed picture to this post when I get it back from the framers. You have no idea how happy I am to have this project done!
Going to the temple every month (or as often as we can get there) with Mallory, is definitely among my favorite things to do. Mallory calls me or I call her and we pick a day that works for both of us. It usually isn't to hard to find a day that we can both agree on. Mallory looks up the temple and makes the appointments for both of us. All I have to do is show up at the appointed time. I keep telling her she is keeping me on the straight and narrow. We always laugh about that. But, in reality, I think I go more often because of her. So I'll gladly give credit where credit is due!
Last Saturday we were at the Provo City Temple for a session. That is such a gorgeous temple and brings back such wonderful childhood memories. We went outside and had our traditional picture taken and then off to lunch ending at the BYU Bookstore. I needed to get a BYU t-shirt to send to Faith. She was the sister in Hawaii who spent the whole day with Neal, Emmi and I, showing us around the island and then hosted a nice brunch at her house on Sunday. The three of us wanted to do something a little extra for her kindness and what would be better than a BYU shirt?!
Sweetness comes whenever I have moments of any kind away from "the world". After attending the temple I know that seeing and doing what's right seems simpler and easier. It was a wonderful day and Mallory and I had such a good time. I love that she loves hanging out with her Gam. Just makes my heart happy!
