September, and the Beauty of Our Country

Today was Jessica’s (Jessa’s birthday). She joined our family last December and has brought so many smiles. She is just perfect for our Parker. They are a perfect match. They are a cute couple and she has brought such a wonderful spirit to our family. 

This is going to be a very short blog because we did so many things every day and I just know that it doesn’t need to be repeated.

Monday, September 4th, Clark turned 54. What a great man. He is such a good priesthood example in his home. He is a very involved father, a loving husband, and a cherished Gronkey (Granddad). What  a great example for his family and us. This is a picture of him wearing President Gordon B. Lee's 

fedora. Dianne's father gave it to him. President Lee is his grandfather.

That same day the twins, Lauryn and Clara, turned 16. Dave and Tiffani bought them a car. They had it waiting in their driveway when they went to pick up the girls. Clara screamed, “No way!, No way!” Many times. Lauryn was just quiet. Tiff hauls them everywhere and soon they will not need her to do that. She is very sad about that because they always have friends in the car and she absolutely loves the chatter and learns so much. She says it is the entertainment for the day. 

These two are very special girls and are kind and loving to each other. They love volleyball and Seminary. They have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to go to the church they are assigned to. They also love their family, including the dog.

When I don’t tell about what we did, it is because we were in the garden which is very full of veggies.

Friday, when Dad got home from the temple, we made 16 pints of hot salsa. So yummy.

Saturday, September 9th, we went to the BYU football game vs SUU (Southern Utah University in Cedar City). We had so many tickets, but no one wanted them. Finally, Scott and Susie Cherry came and we had so much fun. It started at 8:00 p.m., but was still fun. 

At halftime Susie and I went to the women's relief, and when we came out, there was our NC mission president’s wife and some of her grandchildren. What a wonderful thing to have happen! Susie went to get George and Sister Craven’s daughter went to get President Craven. It was so wonderful and filled with love for each other. We love these people so much and they were such great leaders. It was a moment filled with catching up and joy. What a moment in time. They helped change our lives. We just kept hugging and talking and hugging and remembering so many people and things. What a special moment. (I didn't have a picture from the game so I got this one off the internet.)

We had parked a few blocks from the stadium, and when we got there, Dad realized he had lost his prescription glasses. We never did find them. Camden sat with us for a while and then met up with others. It was a fun evening and BYU won.

The next day I was very tired because of the game and all the stairs we had to climb to get to our seats, but it was worth it. On the 15th we picked some of our beautiful peaches. They were so good and we have many more.

Our peaches were so heavy that Dad picked from broken branches.

We love that every Sunday we have Cameron for dinner. 

My sister, Karen, bought our trailer and on Monday, Tyson Marble (one of her twins) came to pick it up. She wanted a place so she could visit the church she and her husband Bert had bought and converted into a beautiful home. She wanted to visit without going inside so she could have privacy. It was so fun to have Tyson and his daughters come. While he was here, he took all the slides and pictures that my mother and father had saved. He was so excited to develop them so we could all see them. They stayed for several hours and we had such a good time. His daughters are so fun and special. They taught me how to use my sewing machine that I bought over two years ago. They sat me down and let me learn by doing. It was amazing and now I have two dresses I can wear. It was just a fun day. I love them.

Tuesday the 19th we did a session and then initiatories. We love doing that.  We love the temple.

Thursday, the 23rd, David Batchelor turned 43. He is a hard working man and loves the Lord and his family. He loves working for the military.

The next day we watched Baylie play a tennis match on our big screen. It is amazing how we can do that. Kristin and Tiffani just put their games on their phones and we can watch them from my computer to the TV. It’s like we are right there. We love this new technology.

Saturday we went shopping and after that watched Nixon play a soccer game. He played very well and they won. That evening we watched the BYU-Kansas football game on TV. Surprisingly we won. YaHoo!

Sunday the 24th was a fast Sunday because of the General Conference in Salt Lake City the following week. We can hardly wait for next Sunday to hear the prophet and general authorities.

Tuesday we were in the temple and were able to seal eight sons to their parents. You can only imagine the thrill and spirit we feel when something like that happens. We also did other sealings.

Wednesday, the26th, we worked in the garden as always and Dad dug the potatoes to store for the winter. We picked many tomatoes, squash, and bell peppers.

Still more produce

The best day ever the 28th, Elder Kolton Bayles returned from the Ghana Kumasi Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This will be his last missionary pictures.

Molly is shortly behind him.