Home for a few days

We got home from Texas Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening was our RS Christmas Social.  I was at the church most of the day to help decorate and to set one of the tables.  We had 10 sisters each host and decorate a table.  They all looked so beautiful.

Everything looked so beautiful!

We had a delicious dinner, a game where we learned a few things about some of the people, and a short program.  The Theme was "The Gift of You."  A gift bag was handed out to each person as they left.                                                          

 

Off to Texas

We left Arizona on Wednesday afternoon. It had been a little cooler for Arizona but had seemed nice to us. When we got to Texas, they were also having a cold spell. We even saw some snow flurries while there. It was so nice to see John and his family. They have a beautiful home and are wonderful hosts.

Thursday evening, John was able to get tickets to a Spurs game at the AT&T Center. That was fun to see some of those famous players

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On Friday, Carrie and Matt arrived. Matt had been in Houston for work. He rented a car and drove over to San Antonio. Carrie flew in from Missoula with baby Emmett. She had been nervous about flying with a baby, but I think he did pretty good.

Saturday afternoon we all bundled up and drove downtown to the Alamo and River Walk. That is a place we used to take visitors to when they came to see us and it is always fun to eat at one of the restaurants right along the river and ride in one of the river boats.

It was so cold, but we sure did enjoy the beautiful River Walk. Christmas lights were all along the way, in the trees, luminaries along the sidewalks, etc. And, you always have to take a boat ride to see it all!

Sunday was a special day as we went to church and John blessed little Beckham. He gave him a wonderful blessing and it was neat to be there.

Monday morning we got up early (4:30am) and loaded up Matt's car with all our stuff and their stuff and headed to the airport. After driving around trying to find the Thrifty Car return, we finally made it. We wondered for a while when we saw the long security lines. Since the Godfreys had a baby with them they took them right through which was nice. We caught our flights -- ours through Denver to SLC. Carrie and Matt to SLC and then on to Missoula -- with quite a delay in Salt Lake, we even got to see them there. We wondered for a while if they were going to come and spend the night with us, but they finally got home.

It was nice to be home. We woke up Tuesday morning to about 6 inches of snow -- winter was here!
Here is a video of Eden singing a song for us.

Busy Weeks Continued

I mentioned that on Sunday after Thanksgiving we flew to Arizona to visit with my mother. Nanette picked us up at the airport. We sure appreciate all she does to help mother. Mother lives right by the Temple and worked there for many years (29 years). Arizona is a beautiful place to be during the winter. The Temple grounds in December are beautiful with all the Christmas lights that are on display . Monday evening after a great dinner at Nanette's we all took mother in her wheelchair and walked around to see all the lights.  Each evening they also have a little program that goes on near the Visitors Center. 

The Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix area recently completed the first of a light-rail system.  While I took mother to get her hair and nails done, Paul decided to go for a ride --  he went from beginning to end and really enjoyed it.  

Nanette had received a summons for jury duty, so we decided it would be easy to catch a bus and then possibly the light-rail and make our way to the airport on our own.  We were able to walk a couple of blocks and catch a bus just across from the Temple.  It ended up that the bus we caught went right to the terminal of the airport, so we just stayed on and rode it all the way.  It worked out great!!

We got to the airport in good time and then caught our next flight to San Antonio Texas -  back to where to used to live many years ago!! 

A Busy Few Weeks

It seems like we haven't been home much since before Thanksgiving. We left the Monday before and drove up to Missoula MT where more of our family gathered for Thanksgiving and also to celebrate Holly's 40th birthday. Earlier in the year I, along with my daughters flew to Denver and surprised Debbie on her 30th birthday. So, it was fun to be together again for Holly's -- they are "Family Partners" since they are 10 years apart (it used to be 10 year partners, but Glen and Sarah messed that up being only 9 years apart, so we went to Family Partners). 

Holly Birthday

Deb surprise birthday in April

We had lots of fun being together and preparing for Thanksgiving.  Many of the guys played football in the cold as we prepared dinner.  We had lots of good food and fun too as we played Bingo.  Quite a few got up early and participated in the shopping on "Black Friday."  

Guys playing football - Frosty morning

Beautiful pie Melinda made

Beautiful Jello Carrie Made 

We left Missoula and drove home on Saturday as the exciting football game was being played.  We got updates periodically as we drove and were excited to hear that the Grizz came back and won the game by a big margin.  We were home long enough to wash and pack, attend to duties at church and then were off to fly to Arizona for a visit with my mother.