NUMBER 20TH GRANDBABY BORN - A BOY TO TODD AND KAILEE

The big news of the month is Lincoln West Millar, born November 1....the 20th grandchild in the Millar clan. After two beautiful girls, Todd and Kailee had a little boy, much to their delight. He is darling and loves to cuddle. They brought him home from the hospital Tuesday evening and by Wednesday afternoon we were down to see him. We brought chicken enchiladas for their dinner and totally enjoyed snuggling on this new little one. Sunday we returned to Lehi again to bring them a nice Sunday dinner and, of course, to love on little Lincoln. Paul even held him this time.

Paul claimed Lincoln smiled at him.
For sure, it was gas.

The girls are loving their baby brother, too. Aria even gets
in the middle of the night to help Kailee when the baby wakes.

We attended our last home football game, Saturday, November 6. It was a glorious day, weather wise, at 60 degrees and partly sunny. We decided to tail gate for this game so we met Sam at Gandolfo's in Orem to pick up sub sandwiches for lunch.  In the parking lot, we enjoyed the warm weather and lunch. Kathy opted not to go to this game so their son in law, Jacob, took her place. It was a great game with lots of offense on our part - 59 to 14. We played Idaho State who has only won one game all year so our subs got lots of playing time in this game.

Tailgating before the game.

At half time, our veterans were acknowledged with the band
 playing the songs for each branch of the service. Even the
coaching staff celebrated our veterans by wearing
camouflage sweatshirt
during the game

Cougar tails, a long maple bar, were the attention grabber of the game.
The boys in front of us, each, downed a whole one.
 Paul and Sam gave them a hard time for it -
all in jest, of course.

Basketball season also started the first week of November, before football season was even over. We attended an exhibition game with the Fullers on the first Thursday.  Based on how badly the team played this first game, we were thinking it would be a long season....but they have gone undefeated so far (even beating Utah and Oregon) and are now ranked 12th in the nation. In fact, all of BYU sports teams, Women's Volleyball, soccer, football and basketball have won all their games in the month of November. Amazing - BYU is coming up in the world of college sports.

The week before Thanksgiving, Paul and I flew to San Antonio, Texas to visit Jon and Mindi. We wanted to see their home and the area in which they are living so we could picture them in their surroundings. We flew in on Monday evening, rented a car, ate a late dinner at Freddy's, and checked in to our Worldmark condo. The next morning, we got up early to meet Jon and Mindi at their home. They fixed us delicious breakfast burritos before we headed into San Antonio with them. Clark joined us and was our tour guide. We visited the Alamo, ate lunch at the oldest deli in the city, found an old cathedral, and walked the Riverwalk. Lots of walking but we were glad to really get a feel for downtown San Antonio. The Riverwalk was especially breathtaking.

The Millar's beautiful new home on 2 acres

In front of the Alamo

Daniel Boone statue

Standing in front of the largest tree ever to be transplanted

The oldest Delicatessen in San Antonio

We enjoyed the company of Mindi nephew (not pictured) at lunch. 
He had selected to the restaurant because of the Rueben sandwiches
which only he tried. We loved the history of the restaurant
but the food was not our favorite.

San Antonio's city hall is housed in a historical building
seen on our walk to the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral

The cathedral in which the remains of the heroes killed
at the Alamo are entombed.

The Riverwalk

Lots of unique shops and restaurants are situated along
the Riverwalk as well as many exclusive hotels.

You can take a boat ride along the river
to see the Riverwalk from the water.

After exploring downtown San Antonio, we drove the the Tea Gardens. These Japanese inspired gardens were developed where a large gapping hole was left from extracting limestone from the area. What a wonderful way to remake an eyesore in the community into something of magnificent beauty.\

We made one more stop before dinner and that was to the Rudd Museum of Natural History. It was nice but, by that time, Paul and I were so tired of walking, we felt more like sitting then seeing the exhibits.....but we didn't give into our tiredness and saw the whole museum, viewing exhibits from dinosaurs to ancient native American settlements. It was interesting. Afterwards, we met Carly and Olivia for dinner at Torchy's Tacos for some unique tasting tacos. We returned back to our condo to rest up for the next day of sightseeing.

The Museum

.... and the tacos were D... good

On Wednesday, we were on our own as Jon had some appointments to keep. We wanted to drive out to Lackland Air Force base where Paul attended Officer's Training School 50 plus years ago. That is where we went first and were a little disappointed that we could not get onto either side of the base. We had to settle for a couple of pictures taken outside the gates.

From there, we drove to an old mission, one of four besides the Alamo, in the area. It was more impressive than the Alamo in size and purpose but, of course, it doesn't have the history of bravery. This mission was designed to help the Native American tribes learn to farm and to find God. The Indians were housed in small huts along the walls of the mission with the missionaries living in the big building which also housed the chapel.

The San Jose Mission

The side of the mission that housed the chapel

Inside the chapel

The founder of the mission

The living areas for the Indians and their cooking oven

We drove by the San Antonio Temple, then had lunch before returning to our condo to relax. Mindi and the kids joined us there about 5:30 so we could walk around the historical little village of Guene. It was only a 5 minute drive from the Worldmark and was enchanting, especially at night. Most of the buildings were  lit with twinkle lights ready for the Christmas crowds who will frequent the many shops along the one main road. We enjoyed walking the street until Jon could meet us for dinner at a local pizza place. Another fun day.

The San Antonio Temple

The village of Gruene

The shop that captivated Carly and Olivia

Our last full day was spent exploring Austin, the capitol of Texas just an hour away from San Antonio. We met Jon and Mindi and Clark at Buc-ees for breakfast and to fill up with gas. Buc-ees is a gas station with over one hundred pumps and a store that sells most everything, including delicious breakfast sandwiches. We had ham and cheese on a croissant and loved it. When we arrived in Austin, we met up at the Banning Art Museum on the Texas University campus. It had some rather interesting art including one whole building that was an art exhibit in itself.

Inside the building considered at piece of art

At the other end of the same building

We, then, drove to the capitol building and toured inside and around the grounds. We thought the building would rival anything in Washington D.C. with it's high domed ceiling and beautiful woodwork. Along the walls were pictures of all the governors of the state of Texas, dating back to when Texas was a territory. On the grounds of the capitol were statues, cannons and a museum that provided us with a more complete understanding of Texas and her culture.

The capitol building in Austin

Taken up toward the domed ceiling

The domed ceiling

Upon entering the building this is what you see

Depicting  the development of Texas from the 1500s to the present

Clark couldn't resist climbing up onto the cannon.

Our next stop was for a late lunch at the famous Terry Black's barbecue. We couldn't leave Texas without a taste of their barbecue. The restaurant was cafeteria style where you pick your sides and then your meats......and then you pay a lot!!!! It was good food and a fun experience.

The meats were beef and pork ribs, turkey and brisket
This tray of food cost almost $200.
Luckily it fed all of us.

No vacation is complete without ice cream. We stopped on our way back from Austin  for ice cream which we took back to the condo to eat. After visiting for a while, it was time to say good bye. We flew out the next day at noon, arriving in Salt Lake in the late afternoon. We were so glad to be able to be with Jon and Mindi and their family for a few days. Our good byes were made easier knowing they were leaving the next day to make the two day drive to Heber for Thanksgiving.

That brings us to Thanksgiving.....a real treat this year as we had three of our four children and their families join us. Jon and Mindi arrived on Sunday night. Andrea and Casey and their 5 girls came in on Tuesday. We met Jon and Mindi, Jon's boys, as well as Clark, Carly, and Olivia for dinner at Kohinor's, an Indian restaurant.  Paul and I were a little leery of the food served there but it ended us tasting quite good. It is a favorite of Jon's boys and was very conducive to visiting together. We were glad for the chance to see Jon's boys. Because we probably won't see them again before Christmas, we gave each of them a gift card for their Christmas.

Andrea's family found time to explore BYU campus at which time Allison fell in love with the science building. There was a department physics and astronomy, the two subjects she adores. Go figure!!!!

At the BYU bookstore

At the dinosaur museum on BYU campus -
Another passion of Allison's

In seventh heaven

At the conference center on Friday

That brings us to Thanksgiving day. After getting the turkey in the oven, we had our traditional scramble eggs and tea ring breakfast. Todd and his family joined us for a 3:00 dinner. Casey invited his brother and his wife and little boy for dinner so our total for Thanksgiving was 21 - the eight older cousins eating in the kitchen, the adults in the dining room, and the 3 little children on their own special table in the dining room. Everyone seemed to like the food as there was not a morsel leftover, except for gravy. It was the same for the four pies served - only one piece of apple pie was left. It was a fun day of food preparation, doing a puzzle, and visiting. We loved having 3 of our 4 children with us on this holiday.

Of course, Lincoln was the hit. Olivia and Carly held him continually once his arrived on the scene. Carly even held him during dinner, waiting to eat until after everyone had finished. Lincoln, who loves to be held, hardly stirred.

Olivia

Carly

Jon got a chance to hold him for a minute

And now for November memes.........

With the border still a mess and Congress passing a spending bill that will send our already inflated prices even higher, I  just had to post a couple of political memes.

Now on a more positive note......