November

Snow and Katies surgery- that's how we started the month of November. Laura and I took Katies kids to see Disney on Ice while she was still recovering. They were enthralled.

It will be hard when I no longer work at my job, the perks are so much fun.

I took Karls mom to the Music and the Spoken Word the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Steve and Jeanne Tobler were in town for the weekend and they attended also. Betty has been in the habit of going to see the Tabernacle choir every Sunday morning and most Thursday night rehearsals because she lived across the street AND because her son sings in it. We moved her this week to the Legacy Retirement Center and I'm quite sure she will miss the Tabernacle. She let her feisty side rule when she attended because she went and sat in the section that was roped off for choir members only and when the hostesses would ask her to move she would just say NO. We went to hear Betty report on her 4 years on her mission in her home ward this day also and then enjoyed dinner with Steve & Jeanne and Becca. Thanksgiving was small and manageable with just our immediate family.

Yes we did. Laura and I ventured out for Black Thursday night.

We hit Walmart at 8:00, Target at 9:00 and then Shopko. We were home in bed by midnight. I gotta say, I like the Thanksgiving night idea so much better that getting up at 3:00 am - that is if you are going to join the throngs at all. Saturday the 24 was entirely consumed with moving Betty into the retirement center. Can I just wonder out loud why we thought she had downsized when she left for her mission? She had so much stuff. After 2 1/2 hours of loading the truck, we were about to leave when we learned that there was a storage shed out back!! Yikes. Greg Garret, Leah, Laura, Karl, Steve and Paul Garrett, Rob, myself and a couple of elderly home teachers all helped to one extent or another.

Leah was hauling a giant pot with a ficus tree in the back seat of her car. The front seat had Grandma's clothes on hangers from the closet. I'm not sure of all the details but a quick stop produced a reaction that sent the pot forward with such intensity as to hurl all the dirt from the pot into a shower that cover not only grandmas clothes but the entire front of her car.

It was a little funny. I will post pictures of Betty's new home once we finish getting her settled into her tiny new space. It is nice, we visited her again the next day, got her new TV and DVD player hooked up and she said she really liked her first day.

Let it Snow!!

Friday- November 8th - it started to snow. Fun, pretty, no big deal, right?

It did not stop snowing until Sunday afternoon!!

Of course this was so beautiful! It was hard not to play some Christmas music! The downside to getting 22" of snow this time of year was that the snow was heavy and wet and there are still leaves on some trees. Every yard in our neighborhood had branches broken to one degree or another. Katie Jo's inlaws had a car totaled by a falling limb.

Sunday our Stake held a Veteran's Day Fireside. It was well done and touching. Karl and another friend from the Tabernacle Choir sang the Armed Forces Medley, they were awesome. Of course all veterans were invited to stand during their military branches song so it was fun to see all of them rise to their feet, many in full uniform.

They had costumed actors throughout the ages give a spiel about how they contributed to this great land- from Nephites to Columbus. They even had an elderly gentleman from Norway talk about the invasion of the Nazi's in Norway and how grateful they were when they heard the American's had entered the war to help. When they were allowed to fly the Norweign flag they hung an American flag as well. This gentleman emigrated to the United States and ended up serving in the Korean War before he was even a citizen as a way to pay back the debt he felt was owed for the American's help in his homeland. After listening to endless campaign arguments and fearing for our ecomonic and social future, it was such a nice evening to reflect on the Spiritual heritage of this great land! God Bless the USA!