Dorothy

November 9, 2008
Dear Family,

Looking back on the past two months since the last Lingo, I just remember beautiful fall weather, brilliant colors, and pleasant days. How nice and how unusual for the Indian Summer to linger until Halloween was over. For the first time, children were able to go out in the day light (before daylight savings changed), and without coats. So it was fun for us to watch the “Halloween parade” at the Trunk-or-Treat and in the neighborhood and actually see all their fun costumes.

My cast for my broken wrist was removed early in September followed by a few weeks of therapy to get it back in shape. I enjoyed those sessions as I got know my very young therapist (she was probably around 28 years old). I gained an even greater appreciation for the human body and of God’s creation of it with the ability to heal itself through this whole experience. I also gained greater empathy for those who have to suffer much larger afflictions.

Alan’s nephew passed away in September after enduring a liver disease. So Alan and I spent a full Saturday driving up to Boise (Middleton) for the funeral, and back with his brother Tom and his wife, Beverly. The same weekend, Lucy and family were in Salt Lake for a football game. Did we pass each other on the freeway? Heather had her four youngest siblings over to spend the night and do stuff with her on that Saturday, so they were well taken care of while we were gone.
We got to have Katherine and David spend a night here at our house (Oct. 3) while Jason and Becky were involved with preliminary wedding activities for her brother Andrew. (Andrew was married the following week). It was fun to have them spend the night and then enjoyed all of our children at home General Conference weekend. Daniel didn’t bring a new girl home this time, but just let us know that he is still “playing the field” as he looks for his eternal companion.

I had a piano recital for my students a few weeks ago, the first in over a year. I have about ten students that come during the week after school. I enjoy teaching and hope that they enjoy it too.

Fall break for Daniel and Penny at UVU (Oct. 16-17) happened to be the same time as UEA for Ariane. Too bad Marcus’ fall break and Alan’s time off work didn’t coincide… if they did, (it would have been extremely unusual) and we could have planned a trip somewhere together. Instead, we tended Travis and Alyssa while Emily’s family took advantage of the situation and went on a trip to Washington, D.C. I’m glad they a great time learning some American History while we had a great time getting to know their cute little ones a lot better.

Jason was one of the main characters in the serious drama “Twelve Angry Men” performed at the Barn Community Theater. This was a totally different sort of genre that has been done there in the past. The cast performed the play very well with the message of the play being delivered as intended. It left the audience with much to think about. The same Saturday (Oct. 18) we went up for the play we helped celebrate David’s 3rd birthday. As usual, our family gathering there was very enjoyable. With the help of Alan, Daniel, Kevin, and Marcus, Jason was also able to get three new trees planted in his yard.
Alan was a poll worker with me for the first time this past election. We had a good time as we saw several people we knew come through to vote. The day passed quickly with hardly any lines for the voters except for the first hour rush.

The fall harvest of Mom’s grapes kept me very busy in the kitchen while I turned them into dozens of quarts of juice. Lynnette and I also canned and froze lots of chicken when it was a good sale price not too long ago. I feel the abundance of God’s blessings when I’m able to add things like this to our food storage.

I hope all of you are feeling Heavenly Father’s love as we count our countless blessings during this time of year. We look forward to seeing many of you soon as we gather for Thanksgiving in less than three weeks.

Love, Dorothy