We've Been Busy!

     The months of September and October found Dave taking a fly fishing class in Davis County with a good friend, Marc Mortenson.  We first met Betty and Marc when they lived and worked in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia.  They're retired now, and live in Layton, Utah.  Marc and Dave have found a new, common interest.  They attended several evening classes held at Davis High School and one or two lessons on the Weber River.  They've both found a great interest in angling and are looking forward to more casting and fly-tying activities together.
     On the 9th through the 11th of October, we took Julie to her "Footzoneology" class in Las Vegas.  This will help her keep her family healthy, and maybe some day she'll even make some money with it.  

     On the 15th, Dave and I enjoyed our first "Siblings Supper" with Sue's two siblings that are in the Salt Lake City area, Christi and Kim.  We met at a really good Thai restaurant in Salt Lake City.  Sawadee's was a new experience for us.  The food was sooooo good!  We enjoyed visiting in the out-door patio dining area.  It was a fun opportunity to catch up on all the family events and activities.       

     The GGW (Girls Gone Wild) week-end was held in Logan, Utah on the week-end of the 21st through the 23rd of October.  Dave and Joe and Ryck generously watched the grand-kids so we could have a fun diversion.  Andrea drove down from Boise, and Julie, Heather and I drove up from Utah County.  We stayed at the Crystal Inn.  Andrea used to live in Logan when she attended college at Utah State.  She was our designated tour guide. We attended a session at the Logan temple, watched a couple of movies, took a hike in Logan canyon, ate at Angies Cafe and the Bluebird Cafe.  We decorated bags for the grandkid's 72 hour kits and and put together the beginnings of 72 hour kits for each member of the family.  PMS, pettiness and a brief visit of the Big Green Monster tried to disrupt our festivities.  Maybe next time we'll have a better time.

      On the 21st of October, Dave got a call from Mike Williams, Dave's nephew, son of Jack Lee Williams who lives in Corona, California.  The news was not good.  Jack, who had been living with progressive Alzheimers Disease had passed away.  He had taken his life.  Awfully bad news.  We began our trip to California on Wednesday, the 26th of October and the funeral was on the 28th.  It was a nice opportunity to see all the family, but such a sad occasion. 

     One nice thing that came from going to California -- we enjoyed a fun visit with Steve Harris, Sue's younger brother.  He drove up the hour and a half drive from La Jolla, and we met for lunch at Slaters 50/50.  This restaurant had a very interesting menu of burgers consisting of half beef and half ground bacon.  For dessert we shared a large piece of brownie, covered with chocolate frosting and crumbled bacon.  Certainly not the most healthy place to eat. . . . but extremely tasty.

     We returned to our home in American Fork just in time for Halloween on the 31st.  We went to Gracie's school costume parade in the afternoon and then enjoyed having all the Utah Valley grands come to our home during their trick-or-treating rounds.

      On Wednesday afternoon, after our "Sister's Lunch" at Red Butte Cafe, on Foothill Drive in SLC with Christi Smith, and Sue Harris, we headed strait up to Boise for a little visit with our daughter, Andrea, her husband Ryck and their girls.  Zoe, Taytem and Rylee had no school on Thursday and Friday, and we took the opportunity to spend some time with them all.  Andrea entertained us beautifully, and we had a lovely visit with our family in Idaho.

     On our way home from Boise, we stopped in Idaho Falls to visit our good friends, Diane and Wayne Shurtliff.  These are our best travel buddies and it was so good to see them.  They've both been going through a terribly hard time since Wayne was diagnosed with kidney cancer.  We haven't enjoyed a trip with them for way too long!  Wayne seems to be doing a little better now, and we're very encouraged that he's going to beat the big "C" monster.  I think we should start planning a river cruise in Europe for next July with them!

     We're home now and hope to be at home for the rest of November and December.  All this travel and activity has been a little exhausting.  It's time to gear up for the holidays that will be here before we know it.