Celebrating Neal's mother's birthday in the temple

Nanette had a goal of doing 100 ordinances in the temple for her mother's 100 birthday.  She had a bundle of names that needed everything from baptism to sealing to families done.  Neal and I and Mallory went out to the Jordan River Temple and helped with sealings.  It has been years and years since I've done sealings.  Mallory had never done them before, so she was excited to have this opportunity to experience this part of the gospel ordinances.  After the sealing session we all went through with a name of a deceased relative.  As I sat in the temple I was overcome with a feeling of peace and love.  As tears welled in my eyes I thought about my own loved ones who have passed on.  I also realized that I need the light it brings into my life.  I need the truth that is taught there.  I need the power and goodness the gospel brings.  I love the perspective I find in the gospel teachings.

Church Thoughts

This is a quote from Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  I fell in love with it:

"Imagine the most powerful being in the universe - the being who formed stars, nebulae, and galaxies has your eternal happiness as His greatest priority."

When you think of it that way, it should bring one to their knees in thanks for all we have and all we have been given and that He cares so much for each one of us.  WONDERFUL!!

This quote I love because it touches my heart.  Especially now because I'm leading a ward choir that is to die for.  I have about 50+ people in my 'little tabernacle choir' as I so fondly refer to it.

"I think there's no better way to share the gospel than with music. . . . . It really goes to your heart."

The Ward Night of Thanks

Neal and I had the assignment of putting together a Night of Thanksgiving for the adults in our ward.  Of course, I enrolled Annie into helping me with the decorations.  We started this back in the summer.  It is fun to watch Annie's creativity come into full bloom.  She has said that something isn't worth doing unless you over do!"  That may not be exact, but close.  She doesn't know how to just do a simple project.  With her, there is no such thing as a simple project.  What she created for our dinner was incredible and more than I could have hoped for.  She came in on Friday about noon and we were over at the stake center until about 3:30.  Mallory and I along with my friend Linda Knight were there to help, but of course, Annie likes to be in control and knows exactly what she wants to do and how she wants the finished project to be beyond perfect.  She certainly achieved it yet again.  Here are some pictures.

I cant seem to get the rest of my pictures to download right now so I'm going to publish what I have.  When the internet is working better I'll download the rest of the pictures I took.  The cultural hall looked beautiful and you should have heard the compliments we got just on the decorations alone. Annie, you are amazing and I can't possibly thank you enough for all you did to make the evening such an incredible success. I also have to add her that if you look closely, you will see that the pumpkins are all handmade.  She must have made somewhere in the area of 70+ cloth pumpkins.  AMAZING!!!!She also put the little lights around the center pumpkin.  We turned the lights down low and it was incredibly atmospheric.  Seriously amazing!

You will also notice that she even added a glass with gold around the rim.  She came up with the napkin silverware holders.  I just couldn't believe what she did.  I'm still amazed!

Going back in time

Tucker came for a workshop here in Salt Lake.  In the morning I took him and picked up his friend downtown and dropped them off at the building where their meetings were.  It just happened that they were on Commonwealth Ave.  I remembered that was the street where Jeffrey was brought to when he was born.  Tucker's meeting place was on the West side of State Street.  Our rented house was on the East side.  It used to be that you could enter Commonwealth off of State Street but I quickly found out that the entrance to that street was closed.  I went up 21st South to the top of Commonwealth and drove down the street.  Of course, things have changed.  Most of the houses are still the same, but the one we lived in had changed a little.  There was a fence around it and it had been painted.  But, it was still the same little house.  Annette and Allan also lived across the street from us when they had Brent.  Of course, I had to take a picture of it.  I can't share this with Jeffrey but going down the street and taking the picture sure brought a boat load of wonderful baby memories with Jeffrey.

Some fun pictures and memories

Here is a picture of the Christmas trees after they were done.  I'm amazed.  They are beautiful and so creative.

 Hayley celebrated her 17th birthday and wanted to go axe throwing.  Part of her present was getting her hair cut and from there to the axe throwing.  She did a great job and had a great time.  Happy birthday, Hayley.

 Abby posted this one the family chat.  One of the funnier pictures of our family.  Love it!  Wish I new how to turn it, but just can't figure it out.

 This is a picture of our new bedspread.  What do you think?  It used to belong to Judy.  They got a new one and I inherited this one.  Nice change.  By the way.  This was special made and cost over $1,000!  (Not for me, but for Judy when she had it special made.)

 Christmas light are up on our house.  Can't believe it is already November and time to start thinking about getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 Andrew posted this on the family chat.  He said he was out collecting fast offerings and saw this sign and just had to take a picture of it and post it.  So glad he did.  Way to go, Andrew, for collecting fast offerings and doing your priesthood duties.

 So I had my final colonoscopy at the age of 75.  Mallory drove out to pick up her mom and bring her in to our house where Annie took my car and drove to work.  In the morning she left work and came to the house and picked me up and took me to the facility.

The good news is that the doctor said I didn't have to have anymore.  Very, very happy about that.  I won't miss drinking all that nasty stuff.  However, I have to admit the drug they give you to put you to sleep is fabulous.  Lynda Ann said that the nurse tried to wake me up and I kept telling her to let me sleep and that I loved the drug.  I have to admit, it leaves you with not a care in the world.  When they got me awake enough to release me to Annie's care, she brought me home.  Annie had worked the night before so she was exhausted and so was I.  We both slept until noon and then Annie was picked up by Jeff who also had his colonoscopy.  Thank goodness Jeff and I came through with flying colors. Thanks, Annie, for taking such good care of me and sacrificing such needed sleep!  Annie entitled this picture, "Gam on drugs!"  Don't you think I'm way too happy!!!  Mallory laughed and laughed when she saw it and Emmi said it was one to be saved!

 The other day, I got this note delivered with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Heather and Rylie wanted me to know they were thinking about me and the passing of Nita.  How incredible thoughtful! Wonderful to have such kind friends.

Last but not least.  This is the only picture I got this year of Halloween from any of my grandchildren. Cute picture of Abby and Lightyear.

Lynda's projects

Annie is busy creating Christmas decorations for her home.  It seems that every year she finds something new to make to add to the festivity of her home.  Here is her latest creation.  Felt Christmas trees to put on her book case.  Can't wait to see them when they are all done and displayed in her home.

First Snow of the Season

We were hit with our first snow storm on Sunday morning.  Still October.  It has to be an early storm and we are having record cold weather to go along with it.  I have to admit it was beautiful and I took a couple pictures and sent them to Emmi who is living in Florida right now.

I have to admit that it is kind of exciting and very pretty.  Every season has it's own unique beauty to it.

House lights going up

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  We had our people come and put up the house lights for Christmas.  No, we haven't plugged them in yet but they are up there on the roof waiting for November 1st.  I can't quite make myself get fully into the Christmas spirit until after Halloween is over.

Our Christmas Tree will be going up shortly!

Juanita Ross Zenger

The oldest sibling in our family passed away on October 21, 2019.  She was 94.  She was my father's daughter and step-daughter to my mother.  She was 19 years older than I was and I had no idea who she was until I was about 9 years old.  I remember walking home from church with my mother and asking her, "Now how is Nita related to me?"  Mother was shocked.  She didn't know that I had no idea that Nita was my sister.  We were never allowed to use the word step-mother or step-sister.  She was a sister and mother was her mother.  She came to our family when she was about 8 years old.  About the time that my father and mother married.  Nita had been raised by both sets of grandparents.  Her mother died 10 days after Nita was born.

Nita and I shared the same birthday of August 3rd.

Her daughters, Barbara Kay, Shirlee Rae and Charlene had a viewing in Midway and after the viewing we went to the cemetery for the dedication of the grave.  It was a sad time.  Lila Mae and I realized that we are the last two remaining of this generation.  Lila is 88 and I am 75.

One of life's unavoidable experiences is to lose someone we love.  We will all lose a cherished family or friend through death.  When it comes for a loved one, our whole world can change in an instant.  Because we know heartache and pain, we also know love and joy.  Such love never dies, it goes on and on until we meet again.

Nita was a good sister and I did love her and she will be missed.

Fun Package

Emmi surprised Mallory and I with new shirts from the navy.  We got them the same day and had to put them right on and take a picture.  We love them Emmi and they came at the perfect time as the weather is getting colder and we are moving into winter weather and winter clothing!

We will wear them with pride because our sister and granddaughter is serving our country.  We love you and miss you!

Projects

I've been busy and Lynda Ann has been busy creating.  Annie has been making cloth pumpkins that are absolutely darling.  She makes three different sizes and has been giving them away as "thank you" gifts for all the people who have brought in dinner and helped her during her last blood patch procedure.  She made a set for Stanfields.  Neal and I went up to Stanfields last night and I gave them the pumpkins.  Judy was almost in tears.  she was thrilled with them and even more touched that Annie would surprise her with them.  I took a picture of them after she had set them on her counter.  If you notice, the orange in the pumpkin matches the orange in her granite.

I wish the colors really showed how vibrant and beautiful they are.  Judy absolutely loved them!!

In the mean time, I've started another project of my own.  I had Mallory choose which stitching project I was going to do next.  She chose this one.

 Just started!

The Temple

Mallory has never been to the Salt Lake Temple or seen a live session.  Because the Salt Lake Temple will be closing the end of December for 5 years, Mallory wanted to attend a session.  Lynda Ann wanted to come along with us so we set a day and off we went.  I have to say here that I'm not a lover of live sessions.  For some reason they always make me giggle at one point or another.  This time was no exception.  Taking that aside, we had a wonderful time there and I felt the spirit very strongly as I was going through the veil.  Lynda Ann also walked into the celestial room with many tears.  As we were leaving a kind brother took a picture of the three of us.

"When we gather our family histories and go to the temple on behalf of our ancestors, God fulfills promised blessings simultaneously on both sides of the veil.  As church members, we do have a divinely appointed responsibility to seek out our ancestors and compile family histories. "

After the temple we met up with Hayley who had been wandering around temple square and watched some of the church movies in the visitors center.  We stopped for a bite to eat on the way home.  It was a wonderful day and certainly should happen often.  Well, maybe not the Salt Lake Temple.  Let's pick another temple with a movie, please.

Tucker's birthday present

Tucker had mentioned that he wanted a Utah Trailer Hitch for his car as a prize for our bet of BYU and Utah Football.  Dang if Utah didn't beat BYU yet again and so I had to pay up.  We went to the store where they sell them and they didn't have the exact kind he wanted so he settled on a really good looking Utah shirt instead.  Knowing that his birthday was coming up in a few weeks, I went on line the next day and found exactly what he was looking for and ordered it for him.  He was a happy camper when he got it in the mail.  Happy Birthday Tucker!!!  Your mom must love you a lot to actually buy you two Utah items!!  The best part was that it was a complete surprise until he got it in the mail.  I loved that part!

A Quilt and Salt and Pepper Shakers

Not too long ago, Susan's car broke down in the law office parking lot where she works.  She was waiting to have it towed so that it could be fixed.  She had no idea what was wrong with it or why it wouldn't start or run.  Someone in the law office, without her knowledge figure out that it needed a new alternator, started and battery along with a couple other things.  They replaced everything in the car and got it purring like a kitten.  Of course, they would not let Susan pay for it.  So I offered to make a quilt for her to give the young man as a way to say 'thanks'.

Annie helped me pick out the material and Mallory helped me put it on the frames and even tied a couple rows for me.  Neal and I drove to Midway last Friday afternoon and delivered it to Susan.  We had a nice visit and a good visit!

I also have to post that I found some salt and pepper shakers that I just could not resist!  You will have to admit that they are darling!!  Pig salt and pepper shakers.  You don't run into those very often.  What a find!

Shooting and Fixing Dinner

While Tucker was hear he arranged an evening to go out with Mindy, Robert and Ryan to the shooting range.  He said it was incredibly fun and then after he went to dinner with them.

Fun picture of the four of them.

The Sunday that Tucker left, he fixed dinner for us.  It was delicious!  After we ate and things were cleaned up, I ran Tucker to the airport where the usual teary goodbye happened.  He arrived home safely that even and was probably glad to put his head on his own pillow in his own bed.

 Mallory's friend, Ellie, came over for dinner.

Tucker comes for a visit.

Tucker had a solar convention here in Salt Lake City and so he was able to spend a week with us while at the convention.  We were excited to have him and sad to have to say goodbye.  He arrived on Sunday morning and stayed a full week until the next Sunday.  He said the convention was great and he was able to meet a lot of people and learn good information about solar systems.  He also had an opportunity to see Boston and Brock play football, spend time with Maren and Greg, Lynda Ann and Mindy and her family.  What a delightful week!

I sent this picture to Jamie.  Just wanted her to know that Tucker was already working with his dad on his phone.  Some things just never change.  It's to laugh.

 Neal was able to get tickets to the Utah Football Game at the price of $150.00 a ticket.  But is any price too high for a seat at the game?  Well, I guess it depends on what color you wear!!  Notice Tucker's socks!!  I'm surprised he doesn't have a U sewn on his underwear!!

 You can see the rain coming down on them.  But bad weather or not they had a good time and Utah won the game.

Cute Picture of Boston

I took fresh a bunch of "Gam's Jam" out to Maren and she sent me this picture of Boston the next day.

Happy the families like my jam.

Tucker gets a promotion

We got a very happy and excited call and text from Tucker.  He is now a salaried employee for Golden State Power instead of a commission salary employee.  He was able to negotiate a good base salary along with commission.  He will have a sales group under him that he will need to train.  We are very happy and very proud of Tucker's new assignment.

Way to go Tucker!!!