Millar Moments: FALL WAS IN FULL SWING IN OCTOBER

October always brings fall leaves all arrayed in reds, oranges, and yellows. This year was no exception. As we drove home from the airport at the first of the month, the colors on display in Parley's canyon were stunning. Our own backyard was quite beautiful when our Autumn Blaze trees turned their deep red. When the sun shone on them they looked almost fluorescent. One Sunday, we awoke to a skiff of snow on the ground and the contrast of the white ground and the colored leaves was amazing.

The day after we returned from California, we met Jan and Bob Holiday for lunch here in Heber. Jan and I meet for lunch a couple of times a year but this time we decided our husbands needed to join us. We had been wanting to try a local restaurant so we suggested they meet us at the Main Street Social restaurant. The brisket burger was delicious but it, along with fries, was way too much food. We enjoyed our visit with the Holidays catching up of each others' lives and families. Of course, BYU sports surfaced as part of our conversation as Paul and Jan are avid fans.

We decided it had been way too long since we had had any real quality time with Jon and MIndi's family so we invited them to go to dinner with us, our treat. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at Jon and MIndi's home that all the children were there, except for Jaiden who had a football practice. We went to Chuck a Rama buffet. The food there isn't always the greatest but it's a place where everyone can find something they like and they can eat all they want. This is a good thing for our growing grandsons. The restaurant wasn't busy so we got right in and had a room almost to ourselves. We didn't feel any need to rush so we spent a long time eating and visiting. We stayed so long that Jaiden joined us after his practice. It was good to see everyone.

Olivia and Carly enjoying Jon's rental car - a Mercedes.

We attended the funeral of a 13 year old boy in our ward, Bindy Clark. He was the oldest of quadruplets. Just after he was born, he experienced a blood clot in his brain that left him handicapped....unable to speak or walk. We taught his 2 brothers and one sister in our 11 year old primary class so we wanted to go to the funeral to show our support. We were so rewarded for our attendance. The spirit was so strong as Bindy's mother gave tribute to him. She said their family was who they were because of Bindy. Testimonies were born of the plan of salvation, life after death, eternal families and the atonement which strengthened ours. It was a very touching event.

During one week when Todd needed to be out of town, Kailee got real sick with the flu. Todd delayed his flight out until the red eye special but he was real worried about Kailee being able to make it through the night with the children. Before he left he got the children down to bed and Kailee felt like she would be ok for the night. We promised we would check in with her first thing in the morning. When we did, we found that Kailee was extremely tired. We told her we would come down and watch the children while she napped. When we got there, she had just put Avery down for her morning nap. While she slept, Kailee went back to bed and we took care of Aria. We had a fun time playing into her obsession with the movie 'Cars.' She insists she is Lightening McQueen and is the fastest car around. We did get here away from her cars long enough to make some chocolate chip cookies. She loved that, especially when she could take licks of the dough. When Avery and Kailee woke up ,we took Aria to In N Out for lunch before heading back up to Heber. We left Kailee with some homemade chicken noodle soup for her dinner.

Loving her burger as In N Out

Mid month, we got a call from Charlotte who wanted to know if she could come spend the weekend with us. She wanted to attend a missionary homecoming for one of her MTC companions who, too, had to come home early due to illness. On Friday, Charlotte took the St. George shuttle from Rexburg to the SLC airport where we picked her up. We then drove to Provo to be with Derrill and Irene to celebrate Derrill's 80th birthday. We met them at Oteo's. It is advertised to serve Mexican food with a twist. It truly lived up to its name. We were served street tacos - one with salmon, one with steak and one with avocado. They were quite good but different from any Mexican food we had tasted before. It was fun to be with Derrill and Irene and Courtney and her family.

The next day, Saturday, Paul went to a BYU game in Provo and Charlotte and I drove to Park City for lunch and to watch Jaiden's football game. He was playing in a championship playoff game. Charlotte and I went to lunch at Zuppa's and then to the game. All of Jaiden's family were there, including his Mom and brothers, his grandma and his great grandma. Of course, Jon was there with Carly. It was a good game and Jaiden's team won making them eligible to play in the championship game the next weekend. Charlotte and I returned home, fixed chicken enchiladas for dinner and then watched the movie, Solo.....a Star Wars sequel. We were glad Charlotte was with us so she could explain what we didn't understand. Her family are Star War buffs and we are not.

Jaiden had a really good season playing both offense and defense

until he broke his thumb. For the game we saw, he played defense only

and often was able to sack the quarterback.

Sunday morning, Charlotte and I got up early and drove to West Jordan to attend the homecoming of Sister Green. She gave an incredible talk where she spoke about the attributes of Christ and related them to each of her companions. She referred to Charlotte as one who possessed the attribute of diligence. She talked about how Charlotte was upbeat and wanting to do nice things for others, even when both of them were down in bed. I was glad to have been able to be there and see the love these two have for each other. That night Todd and Kailee joined us for dinner and to decorate Halloween sugar cookies. Charlotte loved playing with Aria and holding Avery. They loved her too.

Decorating Sugar Cookies

Monday, Charlotte's shuttle back to Rexburg didn't leave until 6 in the evening so we had the whole day to play. We left around noon, went to lunch and then to see the movie, Jane and Emma. It was about Emma Smith and her relationship with a black woman, Jane. Jane was a convert to the church who traveled from Rhode Island to Nauvoo on foot because she was refused passage on the river boat because of her color. It was a touching movie. We were glad to have been able to spend the weekend with Charlotte.

At the end of every October, Heber City puts on a Cowboy Poetry and Music event. In all the years we've lived here we haven't attended. This year was different. Stacey Despain, the wife of a couple we were assigned to minister to, was singing so we decided to go hear her. The event is held at the high school and takes place on three different stages there. Other events are held in and around Heber through out the Cowboy Poetry weekend, including a cowboy church. We attended on Thursday night. Stacey was really good. We were glad we could support her and also see what this Cowboy Poetry event was all about. Not our thing but it sure is loved by the locals and outlying communities.

The day before Halloween, I met Janet Harmon at Magelbee's Fresh for lunch. It was her birthday earlier in the week and so I treated her to lunch. She told me all about her 75th surprise birthday party held in Spokane that her children threw for her. Wish we could have been there. She also told me about her health scare. She went for her annual physical and found that her blood sugar was terribly high. The doctor told her she was a walking stroke waiting to happen. Janet immediately cut our all carbs. Her blood work is better and she's lost 10 pounds.

The day of Halloween, Paul had to go in for another removal of some cancer on the top of his head. It was a quick visit and the doctor seems to think he got it all but said Paul should come back in every 6 months or so. We hope this is all the skin cancer for him.

And then there was, Halloween. As we have done for the past two years, we went to Todd and Kailee's home to hand out candy while they went and did some trick or treating with Nicole's family in Springville. Afterwards, everyone came to Todd and Kailee for grilled hamburgers. It was a good way to spend Halloween. Of course, Aria had to be Lightening McQueen. Luckily, Kailee was able to find a costume for her.

We asked everyone to send us pictures of their Halloween costumes and this is what we got. Jon and Mindi always take the prize and this year was no different with them posing as Guns and Roses singers. Pretty authentic looking. (The cigarette is fake, by the way)