We look forward to October because it brings General Conference being broadcast on the first Saturday and Sunday of the month. As always, the talks were inspiring but this one was especially exciting when they announced a temple to be built in Heber Valley. This has been a long awaited dream for our valley. We had paused the broadcast just before President Nelson gave his closing remarks so Paul could light the barbecue. I needed it to be ready so we could start to cook the tri tip right after conference concluded. Paul made the remark that they would probably announce a temple in Heber and someone would call us to tell us about it before we heard the announcement. I laughed and said, "No way will we get a temple." Sure enough, just as Paul came back and sat down to start the recording again, Todd called and wanted to know what we thought. We asked him about what. He proceeded to tell us that a temple was announced for Heber Valley. I broke down crying and Paul said, "See I told you so." We immediately turned the conference back on to hear the announcement for ourselves. So exciting. My phone lit up with all sorts of congratulation messages.
Charlotte came up to spend conference weekend with us. She drove up Saturday, arriving just before the first session began. We enjoyed her company and it gave us a chance to celebrate her birthday which had been the previous Monday. I fixed her favorite tri tip meal for her birthday dinner on Sunday and gave her homemade Hostess cupcakes to take home to her roommates. We love when she comes to visit.
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| Love this very talented girl |
We took part in BYU's homecoming this year. On Thursday of Homecoming week, we attended the BYU Spectacular. It was a show involving all the performance groups at BYU including the folk dancers, ballroom dancers, the Cougerettes, the choir, Vocal Point and even the BYU bounce team. The guest host was Brian Stokes Mitchell, a Broadway star with an incredible voice. The show was truly spectacular. We loved every minute of it and were sad when it ended. We also attended the homecoming football game against Boise State. That was not so enjoyable as our team looked terrible and, of course, we lost. It was a hard game to watch....and in the rain, to boot.
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| The finale with all the performers on stage at once |
The following weekend, Maggie and Jillian drove down from Rexburg to spend the weekend with Charlotte. Charlotte met them up here at our home where they spent the evening talking and laughing together. After a sourdough waffle breakfast Saturday morning, they drove to Provo to spend time with their cousins. Before coming back to Heber, they went to a corn maze in Spanish Fork. Sunday they went to church with us and then it was time for Jillian and Maggie to head back to Idaho so they could drive in daylight. It was a fun weekend for them and for us.
The very next morning, Paul and I got up real early in order to make our flight to St. Louis, Missouri. We had planned this trip with Andrea and Casey so they could check out Missouri as a possible place to move. They met us at the Worldmark at Lake of the Ozarks where we spent a couple of days exploring the area in and around the Lake of the Ozarks. (Andrea and Casey decided they wanted to play instead of checking out the surrounding cities.) We drove through the Ha Ha Tonka State Park where we stopped to see the ruins of The Castle, a home built by a man who wanted to live in a European type castle. We, also, hiked a trail to see the Natural Bridge rock formation and, then, Andrea and Casey hiked on a spring. We didn't do that trail as it entailed climbing 316 stairs.
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| The Castle |
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| The Natural Bridge |
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| At the springs |
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| Climbing the stairs |
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| We met Casey and Andrea on the Water Tower trail after they had climbed the 316 stairs. |
After lunch, we drove to the Bridal Cave and took an hour long tour of the cave. It is one of 11 touring cave in Missouri and is the best cave we have ever been in. The formations were exquisite and our guide was incredibly knowledgeable. With every new turn we took on the tour, we were amazed at the beauty found underneath the earth's surface.
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| Formations called straws hanging from the ceiling of the cave |
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| A wishing well |
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| This is called Niagara Falls |
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| An underground lake of pure water |
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| On the way out of the cave area we had to take a picture of this sign. Truly we were in a conservative area. |
The next morning, we took a leisurely drive to Branson, Missouri. Of course, we couldn't pass Lambert's Cafe or Home of the Throwed Rolls without stopping for lunch.
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| Huge mugs of soda served |
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| Three of us ordered a chef salad. We were told it was big but we had no idea it would be this huge. None of us could eat but about a third of it so we took the rest home and had it with our spaghetti that evening. |
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| The waiter throwing the rolls to the customers. |
That night, we attended our first show of the next two days. The show was SIX, an a cappella singing group of 5 (sometimes 6) men who have been dubbed 'an orchestra of human voices' as they create all the sounds of the instruments using only their voices. They were very entertaining and incredibly talented. These boys were 5 of 10 brothers who have all served missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The next day, Thursday, we drove to Table Rock lake to board the Branson Belle Showboat for a tour around the lake along with lunch and a show. We bought tickets for the Captain's Corner so we were escorted to a table situated up a level with a view directly in front of the stage. We had a choice of three entrees and three desserts. Andrea chose pork chops and the rest of us had a delicious ribeye steak with potatoes and green beans. (That was an upgrade from what everyone else was served.) After eating, we walked around the upper decks for a few minutes, and then went back into the dining room/theater where we were entertained for another hour. The performance we watched consisted of singers and dancers as well as a MC/magician. It was a great show and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Being very full from a huge lunch, we didn't want dinner so we decided to just enjoy a custard concrete before taking in our next show. We drove to the Sights and Sounds theater for the performance of JESUS - another incredible production. The show depicted the life of Jesus as well as His death and resurrection. The sets were amazing and the music was beautiful. The special effects were beyond imaginable, especially the scene of Jesus walking on the water. We were blown away, as we always are, with the productions we've seen in this theater. This performance alone was worth the trip to Branson.
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| The Sights and Sounds Theater |
Friday, our first show wasn't until 2:00 so that gave Andrea and Casey time to explore more of Branson while we attended a Worldmark sales presentation. We have sworn we would never go to another one of these but when they pushed and pushed and offered a $200 gift card, we gave in and went. This one was informative and we were talked into buying more credits. As soon as we left the building, though, we felt awful about our decision. When we got home on Sunday we canceled the purchase and felt much better. As we got reading the fine print in the contracts we had signed, we felt like we had been sold on something that would not have been good for us and the way we use our credits.
This now brings us to Halloween. Just in time for the holiday, we had permanent lights (Trim Lights) installed on our home. Every year we spend over $500 to have someone put up and take down Christmas lights. We had talked about having them put all the way around our home which would have cost double to put up and take down each year. With this in mind, we decided to have permanent light installed around our whole home. It was expensive but we can change colors for each holiday and do so many fun things with how the lights function. The neat thing about these lights is that they are almost invisible during the day as they are set in flashing that matches our home's trim. We will have so much fun with these lights.
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| Halloween colors of orange, green and purple. These are chasing around the house in a comet style. |
On the Wednesday before Halloween, our ward Trunk or Treat was held at the church. Soups and breads were served before everyone gathered outside to decorate their trunks for the trunk or treaters. Lots of children in costumes came around for candy at each car. We have participated in this activity in years past but had never decorated our trunk. Todd and Kailee and their girls decided to come up and take part in this ward activity. They decorated our trunk with skeletons and spiders and cobwebs. One of the spiders jumped out at the children when they made a noise. It was fun to watch the children's reactions to this huge spider. Thanks to Todd and Kailee this trunk or treat was very fun.
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| Waiting patiently to start trunk or treating. |
Friday, after our temple shift, we drove to Todd and Kailee's to see their display of Halloween decorations. They had purchased a few new ones this year and we wanted to see them. We are usually at their home on Halloween handing out candy while they go trick or treating but this year Kailee's parents were there so we weren't needed. (Besides, there was a BYU football game on the 30th and that's when Utah neighborhoods were doing Halloween.) After seeing their amazing Halloween decorations, Todd took us to his new offices to show us the finished product. We had seen them when they were being sectioned off in to office spaces. Now that the offices are done, decorated, and being used, Todd wanted us to see them. They are quite impressive.
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| The new part of their display. Notice the skeletons - one is swimming in the water (lawn) and the other trying to climb into the boat. |
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| And then there's Kailee..... |
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| .....Nine months pregnant!!!! |
October always brings such fickle weather - one day we are driving down the canyon looking at all the beautiful Fall colors and the next day we are in rain and then snow. Thankfully, we have had a very wet October. All the rain we've had should help our drought situation for next summer. We pray constantly for the moisture to continue and give thanks when it comes.
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| In Provo Canyon |
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| An inch of snow in Heber |
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| We love seeing Mount Timp covered in snow |
Now for this month's memes.......
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| Another crisis is occurring along the California coastline. Hundreds of cargo ships are waiting to unload their goods on shore but because of a shortage of truckers and dock workers, some ships have been waiting for months. A lot of this is happening because of the far left regulations put in place in California. |
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| Gas in some state has topped $5.00. In Utah we are seeing prices between $4 and $5. Pretty sad when it takes $70 to fill Charlotte's car. Hard on a college students budget. |
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| This is how we have felt most of the time lately |
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| And this summarizes the reasons for so many scary things facing our country today |
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| He told us to build ourselves upon a foundation of Jesus Christ so that when we are experiencing spiritual earthquakes we will be able to stand firm and immovable. |
