Thanksgiving

 October brought cooler weather quickly.  It has snowed here several times.  But, typical of the Treasure Valley, it melted by lunch time.  Still, it is beautiful to behold.

Our daughter Audrey visits us about once a month.  This month Cliff came with her.  They spent last weekend with us.  What fun it was to have Cliff with us too.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures so you will just have to take their visit on faith.  Cliff loves to cook.  This visit he filled us with all sorts of ideas for cooking and food prep.  He introduced us to air frying.  We had fun trying that out.  I suppose I must admit that cooking isn't something I do for fun.  It is more of a necessity in my world.  But Cliff makes it sound pretty fun to try new things.  So this year we ventured to try deep flying our turkey.  Seth took it on and it turned out quite yummy.

Cliff and Audrey left for their home early Tuesday morning.  Their son Isaiah and new wife Aver arrived that night, on their way to California to spend Thanksgiving with the Adam-Harts.  They are such a cute couple and so much in love.  It is still their honeymoon you see.

CoVid has made a different world for all of us.  This year our Thanksgiving was smaller than it has been for some time.  By small I mean it was only the four of us celebrating together.  Reed and Dorothy had lots of D's family at their home so we didn't share the holiday with them either.  But it was nice.  How can we live in this wonderful place and not feel grateful.  We all worked together preparing our Thanksgiving dishes and all helped cleanup.  Here's a glance of our meal.

It was small but sweet.  We are counting our blessings every day.  One of those is our grandson, Vincent (son of Reed and Dorothy) who just left for his mission.  He was assigned to Australia but until it is open he will serve in the Washington DC mission.  He's there now and loves it so far.  We all joined in to wish him well; here is Seth and Angelica with Vincent.  

In the midst of troubled times, it is good to see the good.  There is much to see, and thank God for.

Winter in November

 The election for President of the United States is over.  At least it seems to be.  Votes are in but there are some claims of voter fraud.  But as of now Joe Biden is our new President, in a very close race between him and Donald Trump.  This is the first election that Seth is old enough to vote in.  He took pride in voting with us on election day.

There has been more division and violent demonstrations surrounding this election than I've ever witnessed before.  So there was some fear for what might have followed the election.  But so far all seems peaceful.  Perhaps that is because we have an incoming President who is Democrat.  At any rate, whatever the final result, we will adjust and make the best of it.

The Sunday following the election I had a major attack of vertigo.  It was sudden and strong, bringing on a visit to the ER.  They took all sorts of tests and found me healthy.  They treated the dizziness and resulting nausea and I returned home just about normal. My sweet daughter in law, Dorothy, followed me around and waited on me for two days following.  She is an angel.  

Last weekend Dorothy, her two boys and I drove to Seattle; me to visit daughter Jessica and family, Dorothy to visit her grandson, Alex and his parents.  Chris and Jessica are remodeling their kitchen.  Jessica has wanted to do it for a long time and, now, Chris is on board.  They are excited.  Jessica invited me to come and help with their plans.  So we talked kitchen most of the weekend.  It was fun.  Chris has part of the kitchen torn apart and is thinking that, if he works weekends, he can be finished by February.  He wants to do just about all of the work himself.  How wonderful to be able to do that!  Here's a view of the kitchen.  He's starting with the ceiling and upper cabinetry.

Dorothy and boys stayed in a hotel near her son James, wife Alejandra and Alex.  It was boarded up, along with all buildings nearby.  We suppose it was in anticipation of demonstrations, which Seattle has had lots of trouble with.  It was odd and a bit chilling to see it.

The hotel.

Surrounding stores.

We walked from the hotel to James and Alejandra's apartment.  It was dark, but, despite the boarded up buildings, we felt very safe.  It was Alex's 3rd birthday.  We celebrated a little of it with him.  Here you can see him opening a gift, with the help of Bruce and Timothy.  It seems happy with it.

Dorothy drove us home on Sunday.  It was an odd way to spend a Sabbath but we made the best of it.  The drive started out beautifully.  There was not a cloud in the sky in Seattle, a good omen we thought.  But as we dove the clouds gathered.  Then snow flurries.  Then the heavy snow came, requiring chains.  Luckily for us, all-wheel drive cars were exempt.  Good news since we didn't have chains.  But it was slow going and a little scary as the darkness gathered around us.  Slowly we moved forward until at last we drove out of the snow and reached clean, dry roads.  What a relief.  Happily we arrived home safely Sunday evening.  

Here is our first sign of trouble ahead.

It's been a quiet week.  The kids school routine keeps changing, thanks to CoVid.  Idaho has returned to phase 2 reopening since an uptick in cases.  Sigh.  I can't help feeling that we'd be better off just getting back to normal, with each of us responsible for taking our own precautions.  This has been a year of change and I feel a sense that things are not going to return to the normal we've enjoyed before.  It isn't just the Virus; there is a growing anger and animosity among some that is a little frightening.  What is our future, I wonder. 

October Ends

 Life since Cedaredge has been a sweet recovery time.  Travel is so fun, but it includes a level of weariness that needs to be compensated for.  So I've been trying to rest up, with mixed success.  The Monday after we returned, Angelica called in a panic.  She had just driven the large Toyota that the kids share into a ditch, totally destroying it!  We rushed over, to find her standing out the car window in tears and surrounded by police and fire, standing ready to rescue and treat her for any injuries.  Their response to her emergency was quick and effective.  She had no injuries but a few scratches.  To see the site of the accident helped us realize the miracle of that.  She was protected.  We are so grateful for that!

Within the week Gerald had found a used car for them, online.  We used his recommendation and went to the Toyota dealership and purchased that very car.  It is smaller, but large enough to protect them.  Since then, Angelica drives with one of us in the car, until she is comfortable and competent again.

Life has gotten back to normal since then; a normal that always includes the normal changes of everyday life.  We celebrated Halloween at home, watching a spooky movie.  Angelica went out with friends but Seth watched the movie with us.  No trick-or-treaters came.  So sad what CoVid has done to us.  

This has been an unforgettable year.  We have been ravaged with a pandemic, leftist ideologies that threaten violence to those who dissent and demonstrations that have been destructive to individuals, communities and businesses.  It is a time to rise to defend our liberties and way of life.  I feel that not enough of us do that, including me.  The election of a lifetime comes up in just two days.  I have a fear that, no matter the outcome, life will become more difficult.  We are trying to prepare for that.

I believe that we have to defend principles of righteousness and these who support them, no matter the personalities involved.  May God help us to do that in sufficient numbers to save our nation and way of life.