On the 8th, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with Tracy and his family so we invited them over for dinner after church. Lon cooked a turkey breast with all the trimmings. He made 3 different pies; pumpkin, apple, and blackberry. Sarah's parents were in town so they came too. It is always fun to be with Steve and Bev.
I told Lon that I was done golfing as it is too cold now for me, so on Monday he and Kurt went out. They put the cover on the golf cart and had a wonderful time. I will just wait till spring now.
Chandler and Ashton have decided to try wrestling. The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade kids wrestle at the same time so the meets can be very long. The boys have a lot to learn so we will see if they stick with it. It is not an easy sport.
He ended up having 3 matches and won one of them.
Poor Chandler drew a bye the first round so he was on pins and needles for a long time. He was so nervous that I was afraid that he would not be able to move once he got on the mat.
Instead of freezing with fright, he pinned this match!
He had two more matched that he lost but I think both boys learned a lot and they seem excited for the next meet where it will be a regular meet instead of a take down tournament.
We were only able to attend 3 matches before we headed to Georgia. They will have 2 more when we return. Chandler won one match 12-2 so he is learning but I don't think that he is really loving it.
On Sunday the 15th, Justin and Shayla stopped by on their way home to Boise and had lunch with us. It is always so great to spend time with our family and get to know these grandchildren better. They are all growing up so fast.
Tuesday morning we served in the temple. We were a little worried about the weather so instead of taking a nap before we headed to Prove, we just left after our shift. We had good roads all the way but bad traffic in SLC and the Point of the Mountain. We got to Farrell and AnnaVee's about 4:00. We visited and got to bed about 9:00. It had been a very long day starting at 4:30am.
We had to be up by 5:30 and Farrell and AnnaVee took us to the airport. We were blessed to be going through Las Vegas and not Denver. The Denver airport was closed down because of a snow storm. We got to Atlanta in the middle of a rain storm. It felt like a Guatemala rain storm. We were glad when we landed and found Mindi and headed for her home. But instead of heading for home, we found that we had just enough time to head to the church for the boy's Court of Honor.
Found out that Isaac didn't have his band on because he needed things sewed on it. It was fun to be able to help him the next day and get it all sewed on and up to date.
Nice group of boys!
We spent Thursday very low key as we were tired from the flight and the time change. Mindi's is 2 hours ahead of us. It makes watching BSU football rough as the games don't start till 9pm.
On Friday, Mindi took us to the Kennesaw National Battlefield. We walked up Chetham Hill where some real bad battles took place and these battles led to the battle of Atlanta and the fall of the Confederate Army.
Hannah is in the middle. She practices at a pool about 45 minutes away and has to rotate practice times with other schools. This week she had practice at 8:30pm. We really admire her dedication. She did really well and knocked off 5 seconds off her time and she had been sick all week so that is really good. We are so thrilled that we got to watch one meet.
Saturday morning was a very special day for us. We headed to the Atlanta Georgia Temple to do some baptisms with the whole Parker Family.
Back row: Nathan, Justin, Mindi Front row: Hannah and Isaac
Justin was able to baptize the three kids and Lon did the confirming.
We spent a wonderful hour in the temple. Just an observation: Mindi and Justin are standing on the curb in each photo to make sure that they are still taller than their children, even that won't work before too long!
We headed to CiCi's for lunch. It is a pizza buffet restaurant that was very good with all kinds of pizza flavors including dessert pizza's. Of course we ate way too much. Another great day!
Sunday was a laid back day. It was fun to be in Sacrament meeting and watch the boys fulfill their Priesthood assignments. I went to Young Women's with Mindi. She is a counselor in the Presidency and had to teach this morning. She is a very good teacher who gets the girls involved in the discussion and has a sweet relationship with the girls. They have a great ward. We even met a woman who had grown up in Burley and President Petersen was her doctor! We can't go anywhere in this world without meeting someone who knows Walt and Eileen Petersen.
Mindi was very obedient this year and waited for her Dad to arrive before doing the Thanksgiving shopping so off they went on Monday morning. Lon just loves shopping with her and planning the meals for the week. She is very patient and lets him help do all the cooking. They make a great team.
Monday evening the family all went to the "Main Event" which is a huge indoor game center. We bowled, played pool, shuffle board, arcade games, lazar tag, ect. One of Nathan's friends joined us so that the kids had an even number to do things with. We spent all evening there and left before the kids felt like they had had enough, definitely a place to enjoy again and again.
On Tuesday morning after breakfast we (everyone except Justin) headed to Dahlonaga. This quaint little town was the site of the first gold strike in the United States. The down town was all decorated for Christmas and had some very interesting shops and lots of candy shops. We walked around town and the kids found their new Christmas decoration for the tree and we sampled the chocolates.
After lunch at Steak N' Shakes, we went to Amicalola Falls State Park.
Lon and Nathan spotted this old truck along the path as they came down the falls. You would have never seen this if the trees had their leaves. The forest here is very dense.
This area of the United States is so very different than Idaho. There is not a straight road anywhere. All the roads wind around and up and over little hills. If you didn't use a GPS you would definitely not get where you want to be. Mindi always puts in the location on her GPS before we head anywhere. She really lives in the car as everything is so far away from home; church is a half hour one way and the school a half hour the other way, ect. The homes are all 2 and 3 story homes with trees everywhere so that you really don't realize just how populated it is.
Mindi's home two stories with a full basement
The weather has been in the high 60's and low 70's with only a little rain. We found out that it is in the single digits at home so we are even more thrilled to be in Georgia right now.
Wednesday is always cook day and Mindi and Lon enjoyed the morning in the kitchen but had time in the afternoon for their annual tennis match.
Hannah, Mindi, I have been working on a puzzle
Thanksgiving morning we went on a walk through the neighborhood forest with Mindi and Justin. We were amazed to see lots of huge trees that had been blown over when a storm came through a few weeks earlier.
On Friday we (everyone except Nathan who had to work) went to Lake Lanier. The day was bright and sunny and the scenery breathtaking.
There are lakes and ponds and streams all over the area here. We spent time here walking around the lake but had to get home in time for the 3 footballs games that afternoon and evening.
Justin, Mindi, Nancy, Lon just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine
Nathan didn't go with us to the lake because he was working at the Christmas Tree Farm, his first job.
We went to pick him up on Saturday after his shift. This was a bigger operation than we had ever guessed. They had hay rides around the area, games for kids, Santa, a place for kids to make Christmas decorations, and trees for sale that you could cut, or ones that Nathan would help you see and bag for you when you picked the right one.
Drilling holes in the trunk for the tree stand
Pulling the tree through the bagging machine
Nathan really enjoyed his job but the best part was the pay check!
The rest of the day was again spent watching football games. Tis the season for College Football!
We again enjoyed a relaxing Sunday and had the Sister Missionaries over for dinner. It is always special to be around these young missionaries as they carry with them such a special spirit.
Monday was the last day that Justin would be in town as he had to fly out on business so Mindi took us to town to have lunch with him at a cute sandwich shop close to his work. Today was a rainy day. After lunch, we went to Penney's so I could try to spend my $50.00 birthday gift card. With Mindi's help I found some deals and ended up with 2 new blouses, a new sweater, and 3 shirts. That evening we worked on getting the house decorated for Christmas.
Nathan has been teaching me different games to play and most of them were real fun but one was really confusing for me. It is about wizards and magic and I think Nathan changed the rules constantly so that he could win!! And he did win, every game!! But I got better each time and maybe next year-----
December 1, 2015
Tuesday morning we were able to attend the Temple again with Mindi.
Wednesday morning we got up early so that we could go to breakfast with the kids after Seminary and before school. The famous breakfast food in Georgia is biscuits and sausage.
That's right, just a baking powder biscuit with sausage and nothing else.
We ended up with the whole Seminary bunch. Isaac and Mindi were already inside. It was pouring this morning. The Sugar Pike Junction
We have so enjoyed our two weeks with these special grandchildren. They are growing up into such nice young adults. We are going to miss them and look forward to being together at the family reunion in July, although we won't get the one on one with them then because their cousins will get all of their attention. And Nathan is not standing on a curb, he is taller than both of us now.
November is now a sweet memory and we are getting excited for our first Christmas in our own home in 5 years. Our flight to Salt Lake was uneventful and we made it home on time. Farrell and AnnaVee met us at the airport and we went out for a hamburger. Lon went to Wade's office to help Farrell clean and to watch BYU's basketball game.
Time to end this blog as November has come and gone. I will continue our adventures in Utah with the December blog. It is wonderful that we have Thanksgiving to remind us of all the blessings that we have and all the miracles and tender mercies that our Heavenly Father sends our way each day. We have had some breath taking moments this month. Life is good.
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