November and Much Thankfulness

This month started with us being so thankful for so many blessings. We are blessed with loving parents who taught us the Gospel of our Savior as well as how to be kind to others along with many teachings to make our lives full. What a heritage. We love our own family filled with blessings. This cannot be put in words to really make it right.

Wednesday the 3rd I was tired of having my right eye hurt and waking me up at night. I had an appointment on January 3rd so I was trying to wait until then. I finally called Dr Gardnier, and when he heard about my pain, the receptionist got me right in. He found out I have macular degeneration. It has something to do with the retina. It happens when aging causes damage to the macula. Granny had the same thing so I am not worried. I have medicine and drops and another pill and visit scheduled. All is well.

My sister, Karen, turned 83 on November 4th and is doing great. She has always been a great sister to me and helped me in every way. She would even let me creep over to her bedroom and sleep with her when I was young. She is still my hero. I am so grateful for all the many times she was such a good example for me. I cannot thank her enough. It was a blessing being able to see her when we went to Boise recently.

Thursday, Nov. 9th, we finished the garden. We are so grateful we could give our families and neighbors so much produce all summer. We were very pleased with the produce. People could not believe the flavor in the tomatoes. Pounds upon pounds of fruit and vegetables. At one time the twins got in our car and we filled the trunk with tomatoes. We stopped at homes and told them to just put it on the porch, ring the bell, and come back so we could do more. It was so fun and we were so blessed to be able to do this.  (See last month's blog for a picture.)

On November 10th we drove to Vegas and were thankful for such an easy trip, including cheese and ice cream in Beaver.

The next day, Saturday, the 11th, was Grandad’s birthday. There is no way I can say what a wonderful man he is. He is a man of God and loves the family he grew up in and the one we have made together. He cooks, shops, vacuums, steams floors, drives me wherever I need to go, and makes sure we get to the temple at least twice a week. He also gets up at 4:00 a.m. to get ready to serve in the Provo Temple at 5. He has surprised me with how patient he is. I could write pages about the little things he does for me and the big ones. There is no way I can verbalize how blessed I am to be his wife. He is my everything. That night we went to dinner at Lucille’s for a huge steak dinner with Tiff's family. 

The very same date a year later, his brother Eric was born. Their poor mother. I could write volumes about the things those two boys got into. The family had a ranch in Colorado with sheep and cows. They were always with their dad who was a very hard working and loving man.

Tiffani and Kristin made their dad a pillow with some of his funny sayings. He loved it. Alan Ashton, his former vice principal, even contributed some sayings.

That night Tiff’s twins were invited to the state volleyball championship where they were named to the All-Conference team. (I posted a picture of this in last month’s blog.) Baylie, in South Carolina also won an award for being All-Region.

Sorry, but this is the best picture. You get to guess who is whom.

Sunday the 12th, after we went to church, we attended Zion’s Youth Choir and Orchestra at the Vegas Smith Concert Hall. It is a huge venue. We go to both performances of this concert each time they perform and are amazed at the talented musicians. Clara plays the violin and Lauryn plays percussion. Of course many tears are shed. We are so thankful for these amazing girls.

On Monday, November 13, Shanelle and Tiffani both had surgery. They are both strong and doing well. Shanelle’s was in Utah and Tiffani’s in Las Vegas. Tiffani’s was for cancer and was a very long surgery, over five hours, and we were grateful we could be here for the girls while Dave was with Tiffani at the hospital.      

We stayed in Las Vegas until Wednesday, November 15. Of course we stopped for cheese and ice cream in Beaver on the way home.

We also stopped at Kolob Canyon because it is so beautiful. We made it two miles up the canyon and the road was closed for repairs, but we still got some good pictures.

Riley Bayles had a birthday. I have no idea how old he is, but he loves everything. He is married to his sweetheart, Bailey, and so happy. He is a good student and loves his family. He is just a good man. I couldn't find a picture of just Riley, so I chose one of Riley, with his dad, Clark, and grandad, George. The nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

The next few days were a blur. We did the usual.

On Friday the 17th, the twins, Kristin, and her kids all flew into Salt Lake. The twins came on an earlier flight in order to meet Shelby Nebeker who came home from her mission in Italy. Kristin and kids didn’t get in until 11:00 p.m.

Saturday the 18th was the BYU vs. Oklahoma football game. We (us, Kristin’s family, the twins, and Cameron) all joined Tiff and Dave’s nephew, Karl Landrith, for his amazing tailgate. It was an early game so the tailgate was breakfast with eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and more! It was a great game, but BYU lost 31-24. Many had expected a blowout so it was better than expected, but BYU had a chance for the upset and missed out because of turnovers. It was wet and cold, but not miserable. The Cougar Tails were perfect. We also tailgated after the game - this time with brats, chips, burgers, etc. Karl is quite the chef!  

I don't know exactly when the girl's decorated, but it was fun to see everything in a different place and stye.

Each year for several years, we gave each family one piece of this Precious Moments nativity until each family had a complete set.

This was our verry first nativity. We had very little money so we couldn't afford a nativity. We were in Provo and went to Provo Craft Store to see if they had anything. We found this tiny white plaster 

one for $5, which was expensive to us. We took it home and Kristin painted it for us. We lived in Blanding at the time and she was in first or second grade. The kids loved it. They moved it all over the house, which we loved because it was so special to them. One day I went into the bathroom and Clark had placed it on the toilet seat. It was the only bathroom in our home so he had to move it much to his sorrow. He thought it looked great and loved it. As you can see, it was very much loved and dropped many times. Even the dog got to it. It was definitely a favorite and still is. It will always be our favorite with many memories. I can't bear to fix the chips.

This is our little tree the girls also decorated with my homemade tatted snowflakes.

Lit up at night

The girls also put up Grandad's village. We added a few more things later. We love this village. When all was done, I counted 20 nativities.  They were in every cook and cranny.

Jalen was home and put up this nativity for me.

Kristin brought this one to us from Jerusalem and it is hers one day.

The lower one is a Native American nativity.

This hand carved one Kolton brought us from Uganda.

Sometime Jalen put up this train.  You can't have a Christmas without a train.

On Sunday the 19th, Kristin’s family and the twins went to sacrament meeting in our ward. Grandad said the opening prayer. After church, the twins flew back to Vegas, this time from the Provo Airport. It’s so convenient being able to fly right from Provo.

We had hamburgers for dinner because we do that with Cameron every Sunday.

On Monday, Dad and Kristin went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. They spent $400! And more purchases were made later! 

Tuesday the 21st was Rosemary’s first birthday. She is such a fun baby. She tries to do everything her siblings do. She even climbs the ladder up to the top bunk. She loves being involved in everything and such a joy to her family. She goes by Rosie.

On Wednesday Tiff, Kristin, and their families met Ashley and her family at the zoo. It was fun for the families to be together. It was freezing cold! While they were at the zoo, Kristin picked up her husband David at the airport. 

Later that evening, David fixed our piano. He fixed a key that a professional tuner hadn’t been able to fix. He also cleaned out decades worth of dust and it sounds amazing now! We are so thankful to have David so talented.

While the family watched football, David gave a shot at our piano. Last summer we paid a man to go service it. He worked a wire for the G that the professional could not fix and then cleaned the inside. I have never heard such a beautiful sound coming from that piano. I am going to start playing again. 

Notice the left side and then the cleaned side.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! How thankful we are for Thanksgiving and a time to get together. The boys had other places to go, but Kristin and Tiffani celebrated with us. Kristin and Dad did everything and it was delicious and perfect. We ate far too much, it was so good. The turkey was smoked and so moist and yummy. We also had ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls from Kneaders, jello salad, green salad, carrots and beans from our garden, macaroni and cheese (a Southern staple), and stuffing. David made a banana pudding in the Southern way. Everyone loved it. We also had pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin, apple, razzleberry, and pecan pie. So much food!!!!! We had leftovers for days.

We were so thankful that Kristin was willing to cook this entire dinner. Dad helped her with the turkey, but she had the entire thing planned out. After the dinner, the men washed many dishes while the women watched TV. (This is a Jennings family tradition.)

Dad and Dave helped with the eating.

The kids had their own table. Few pictures were taken because we were too busy eating Kristin's  wonderful dinner.

That night it snowed a lot. The kids were so excited to wake up to several inches of snow. Jalen was out of control. He was the first one up and he and Titan played hard. They both loved it, and Titan even buried himself in the snow. Jalen loved throwing snowballs at him and the dog loved it.

Winner?

Was there a winner?

This is the winner!

Don't you dare.

Everyone decided to go Black Friday shopping. Crazies! The original plan was to go to Park City, but we heard the roads were bad because of the ice and snow so we decided to stay local. We started out at University Mall to see the gingerbread houses. We met Erik, Shanelle, and Asher there. There were some amazing ones on display. Next we headed to Traverse Mountain, picking up Ava on the way. (She didn't even wear a coat! She froze, but still had fun.) The girls shopped and shopped. It was freezing cold since it is an outdoor shopping center. Lots of purchases were made! 

Afterwards, we went home to eat and get warm. 

Some decided to continue shopping at the Riverwoods as it has a great holiday atmosphere.

That night, we all met for desserts at Clark & Di's. We had all our children and their spouses together for the first time in several years. It was wonderful. We even had most of the grandkids together. We were missing Ashley and her family, Riley and Bailey, Parker and Jessa, Hailey, and Camden. What a blessing to be all together.

With all our kids and their spouses.

With most of the grandkids.

On Saturday the 25th, David and Baylie flew back to South Carolina as they had to be back for work and school. Later, Dad, Dave, the girls, and their kids went for more shopping! They went to Costco and back to Traverse Mountain. I stayed home with Cameron.

That afternoon we watched the BYU vs. Oklahoma St. game on TV. It was a heartbreaker as BYU lost 34-40 in double overtime. BYU will probably not be invited to a bowl game this year. After the game, Tiff's family drove back to Vegas.

The 25th Ava June Bayles turned 15 years old. She is such a special young girl. She lives to dance and is such a talented dancer. She wins all kinds of awards. We are blessed to have her in our family. 

The following morning, Sunday, the 26th, Kristin and Jalen flew from Provo to Vegas to spend a week with the Jennings. Dave had been working from home ever since Tiffani’s surgery and Kristin is staying with Tiff so he can spend some time in the office.

We worked on this puzzle for days while watching  football.  When finally finished dad moved it so he could glue it.  It fell on the floor in 1000 pieces.  (Maybe next year?)

We have come to the end of a month filled with so many blessings in this family. We love everyone with all our hearts. We are so thankful for every day we can breathe on our own. Every day we are reminded of all the miracles happening daily. We have had two daughters successfully undergo surgery, which is such a blessing all by itself. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is so true and we are so blessed to have a living prophet, Russell M. Nelson, guiding and teaching us the path back to our Father in Heaven.