Our fruit trees have outdone themselves this summer. We spent lots of time processing those treasures. By October it was apples that were left to us. Our tree was loaded. So I've been fitting in processing apples in between travels.
Seth and Angelica were in a fall concert at school, along with grandson Vincent, who now lives here. The concert was amazing, as they always are. Don't these three look great together?
My two girls and I planned a weekend together on Oct 12th. We decided to go to McCall so I made reservations for Saturday and Sunday nights. Then we discovered that grandson Jonathan was going to be baptized the morning of the 12th, in Palo Alto. Whoops. The reservations were not refundable. So we made a quick plan. Layne and I would fly to San Francisco Friday morning, spend some time with the family, attend the baptism Saturday morning, then fly back to Boise as quickly as we could. So that's what we did. Except the family wasn't available for bonding on Friday. So I called my cousin Judy. No answer. Then I called my friend Hedy. She was in Utah. So I called our foster daughter Michelle. She was working. We then tried our buddy Beverly Trutner. She was sick. Hum. It was turning out to be rather a lost day. We decided to go to the Oakland Temple and hang out on the grounds, eat some lunch and take a nap. So we did. It was there that we ran into an old friend from our Fremont days. We had a great visit. It turned the tide of almost feeling depressed. It was at last time when we could get in a visit with Ben and Jessica.
Here is the baptism boy, Jonathan, with his younger sister, Tia.
That turned out to be fun. Ben worked on my old computer and then talked me into getting a new one! That was exciting. He drove me to the Apple store in his Tesla. It was an amazing ride; it almost drove itself. In fact, for awhile that's what it did. The technology in that car made our new little jeep seem outmoded. But I still like the jeep! We spent the night in a motel (no room at Ben and Jessica's), attended the baptism, where Jessica's dad spoke on baptism and I spoke on confirmation. Fun times. Then we headed for home, arriving about 5:30 PM. Got Audrey and we drove to McCall and met Jessica at our motel there. It was lovely.
Here is our motel, on the night we arrived. Doesn't it look lovely?
We talked and walked on Sunday, then drove around the Payette Lake. Lovely. Altogether we walked about 6 miles. It was a good day. Audrey and I even managed to fit in a sacrament meeting at a local chapel that morning. Monday we walked through the little town and found some bargains, then drove home after lunch. Audrey flew home and Jessica spent that night with us. My buddy Margie Thomas arrived just after we did and also spent the night.
Here are Audrey and Jessica just as we were beginning our Sunday walk.
Here's the three of us in Ponderosa Park.
Tuesday morning Jessica headed for home (I gave her some apples) and Margie and I drove up to Richland, Washington, to visit our good friends Gary and Nora Jacobson. She is ailing a bit so we want to spend some regular time with them. They are two of those special and rare people that are loving and pure of heart; eternal friends. (I brought them some apples). After a sweet visit, we drove back home the same day. Margie spent Tuesday night with us, then drove back to Salt Lake (I gave her some apples too).
On Thursday I drove to Draper to visit my sister, Maryanne and her husband Bob. I forgot to bring them apples. But I did bring her a birthday gift and some pear jam (from our pear tree). We did our usual visiting and started writing our grandmother Margaret's life story. That was such fun. We looked through all sorts of photos and records and it made her come alive again. I'm anxious to write her story! I drove back home on Monday. Here's a picture of the two of us, in Maryanne's study.
After a few days of recovery, granddaughter Allegra flew in for a a few days on Thursday. It is always a treat to have this redhead with us. She stayed until the following Wednesday. She is full of ideas and shares them readily. I love it.
Halloween soon followed and the end of a very busy October. The colorful leaves of fall have now faded into a dull brown. It looks like winter now, only without the snow. Fall is a wonderful time of year, full of cool temperatures, winds, showers and beautiful colors. I'm sad to see it go.
Last Wednesday Seth got his driver's license! He is a free man and celebrates it every day, so far, with various drives and errands. Much of our travel time taking the kids to their various activities is now provided by Seth. He's enthused about it so far. I wonder how long that will last? It is making for more open days for us. Pretty fine! Here he is, plenty happy with himself.
Now to finish up the apples. Pie perhaps?
