Since we have both retired, we have hired a finance expert to help us with our monies and how best to invest and withdraw, etc. They sent Neal and I this absolutely darling piggy bank from a place called Chickadees Gallery in Arden, NC. Never seen a piggy bank that I thought was any cuter. We may throw lose change in it now and then but it will mostly be used as a fun piece to set on our counter. I thought that was very nice of them.
Annie and I drove to Midway to have lunch with Susan and to celebrate my birthday and Lynda Ann's. We met Susan in Heber at a Mexican Restaurant. Had a delicious lunch with lots of reminiscing, laughing and even a tear or two. Susan treated us to lunch along with gifts for both of us. After lunch, we headed to Midway to drop off some clothes and do a little more visiting. It was such a fun time and we were happy we were able to get together. We usually get together on a Saturday but Lynda Ann is working lots of weekends so we decided on a weekday. If we do a Saturday we can always get Mallory to join us and sometimes Hayley. The more the merrier and they all love Susan. As usual, Susan went way overboard on my gifts, but I loved everyone of them.
These moments of saying goodbye, when I know it will be a long time before I see Derek, or any of my children again, are always very hard for me. It was so good to have him make the long journey from China to spend time with his family and see some of his friends. I think Derek was happy with every one he was able to connect with while he was here. We loved seeing him and are hoping that he can arrange to come back next summer for our 80th birthday celebration. Hopefully he can get a Visa for Fia and bring her with him so that we and the family can meet her in person.
Derek left Wednesday morning. Neal and I drove to the airport and had a nice visit with him before he had to head to the security line. Mindy was headed to Washington D.C. so we had a chance to visit with her as well.
A goodbye hug from Maren
Have a safe flight home to China and know that your parents and family all love you and that you will be missed until the next reunion - hopefully next summer.
Lynda Ann is already hard at work creating decorations for the Hayley / Alex wedding on December 22nd. Hayley and Alex don't want a Christmas theme. They are more interested in books and forest stuff. Annie is already hard at work thinking of fun ideas to put together to make this wedding unique for Hayley and Alex. Lynda Ann thought it would be fun to have bouquets of real flowers mixed with paper flowers made of book pages. What a grand idea. This is the start of her paper book flowers:
Neal and I were invited out to Maren and Greg's to celebrate having Derek in the US and Brock's 17th birthday. We had barbequed steaks (done to perfection) and grilled chicken (also done to perfection). Maren also made her famous pasta salad and a delicious bean dip along with vegetables and fruit. The dinner was so good. Then we went outside and played Cornhole. Greg has made to boards. One with the Utah logo and one with the BYU Logo along with BYU toss bags and U of U toss bags. It was really fun and reminded me a lot of horseshoes. We went inside and sang to Brock and had cake. Taylor had been on a two week trip to Japan so she showed us her pictures, which were very interesting. She is amazing to travel by herself to Japan! The evening ended with Neal showing Derek and Maren how to access their genealogy. Derek had asked his dad months ago how to do that so it was fun for Neal to be able to share that with both Derek and Maren. It was a really fun evening. Thanks, Maren for inviting us out. And a very happy 17th to Brock. Oh and yes, I will add here that Neal and I challenged Maren and Greg and the old folks beat them by 1 point!! Yup, we haven't lost it yet :-)
Mindy threw a 70's party for Derek and anyone who wanted to come. They put an invite on Face Book. Derek said it was a blast and he got lots of phone calls and friends to came to Mindy's for the party and to see Derek. Here is a picture of Mindy with her Farrah Fauset Hair and Derek with his mustache and big hair! What a pair!
Neal and Derek and I had the fun adventure of going to Ogden to see Nelden and Russell in the Music Man. Years ago Nelden played the part of Professor Hill and Russell played Winthrop. Now with the passing of time, Nelden was part of the quartet group in the play and Russell is playing Professor Harold Hill. What an incredible performance by the whole cast and so fun to see people you know and love in the production. Derek and Neal had gone golfing that day and then came back to the house to get refreshed and off to Ogden. We stopped at In 'N Out Burger for dinner and then to the play. It was an exciting evening and so fun to share some time with Derek.
Last night Annie and Jeff surprised me with a birthday present that is so fun. They know how much I love the squirrels and birds in our back yard and so they got me a squirrel feeding kit and Annie put it together and fixed it so it would hang over the fence. I'm anxious to watch and see if the squirrels come and eat the corn and get seeds out of the feeder. With this added structure we have made a fun play house for the squirrels to enjoy and figure out. Thanks Gertsons! I LOVE it.
Last night we had a dinner and a family gathering to welcome home Derek. He will only be with us for a week or so, but we will take every day we can get with him. So fun to have him here after a 5 year wait. We had Gertsons, Cutlers and Goss's for dinner. I think 17 people in all. Derek had request roast beef, potatoes and gravy along with home made rolls. All of which I did adding some veggies and fruit. After dinner the adults played 6-Handed Rook until about 10:30. Maren and Derek stayed and talked until 1:30. It was a fun evening and hopefully Derek enjoyed the festivities in his honor.
We had a family dinner at our home on Wednesday evening the 9th. We had the Cutlers, the Gertsons and the Goss's. We were all seated at the table for dinner when Alex and Hayley came a little bit late. Before they sat down at the table Hayley said they had an announcement and told everyone that she and Alex were engaged and would be married on December 22nd.
Neal and I were invited to Scofield to Ron and Judy's cabin. We left on my birthday. Neal and Ron golfed on their way to the cabin. They golfed at Hobble Creek. Judy had a reunion meeting and so I picked her up after her meeting we we drove to the cabin. Neal and Ron got there a couple hours after we did. As always we had delicious food and lots of bridge and we watched a movie every night. Friday the four of us went golfing at the country club and from there to the Price International Fair. We had Navajo Tacos (that were to die for) and wandered around. I ended up buying a t-shirt from one of Judy's nephews that had a booth. The fair was kind of like Swiss Days only in a very, very small way. We had a good time and then headed back to the cabin. Saturday was a hang out do nothing day. Sunday we attended church and then back to the cabin for a relaxing Sunday and a delicious dinner that evening. Monday we cleaned out the fridge of left over food and that was our breakfast or brunch. We spruced up the cabin, locked the door and headed home. This is a picture of all the left overs we were snarfing down on. You can see there was corn pudding, veggies and clam dip, fruit of all kinds, tomato pie, etc. Plenty to feast on.
