Millar Moments: LABOR DAY WEEKEND - A FUN START TO SEPTEMBER

Labor Day weekend brought some fun and excitement to our home here in Heber. On Friday, I texted Charlotte to find out how many would be coming to dinner on Sunday. She texted me back and asked if Allison's roommates could come too. Because we were celebrating Todd's birthday on that Sunday, I suggested they come up on Saturday instead. That is what happened. Late Saturday afternoon, Kasey and Maggie, Charlotte and Allison, and Allison's 3 roommates came to Heber. They seemed to have such a wonderful time with lots of laughter and funs things to do. I think they played with everything in our home including the costume boxes upstairs and the school room downstairs. We suggested the roommates stay the night and were glad we did as they stayed up until at least 1:30 in the morning. That would have been a terrible time for them to start the drive home. The next morning, Kasey and Maggie left early to go to their church in Provo. Allison and her roommates left later to get to Provo to go their ward. Charlotte stayed in Heber and attended the YSA ward here, which, she absolutely loved. Later in the afternoon, Kasey and Maggie and Allison came back up to spend the rest of the Labor Day weekend with us. Sunday evening, they sat in the hot tub drinking sparkling cider and laid on the trampoline to star gaze. They left after breakfast on Monday. We are so glad we are here to give them a break from the rigors of college life.

Jumping on the trampoline.
They have so much fun together.

As mentioned, we celebrated Todd's birthday on that first Sunday. He wanted pot roast for his birthday dinner so I fixed that and sided it with mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots and beans from our garden, rolls, and salad. Everyone loved the dinner and ate everything except a handful of beans. Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen is always a must for Todd's birthday as it is one of his favorite desserts.

After dinner, the girls love to go out in our front yard and do their
gymnastic tricks. Here they were doing headstands.
They are getting real daring and pretty good.

A tradition for the girls as they drive away -
stand up through the sun roof and wave good bye to us.

BYU football began this month with the first home game against Baylor University. Before the game we met Don and Dana and Bryce, Brandon and Jenny at Zuppa's for an early dinner. We had a great visit before we left for the game. At the game, we were a little disappointed with our seats as we were on the 35 yard line instead of the 50. We were up high enough, though, that we could see the game with ease. It was an exciting yet nerve racking game. We went out ahead and stayed that way through the first half. In the second half, Baylor tied it up and then it was back and forth scores until the game ended in a tied 20-20 score. That, of course, meant overtime. The first overtime both teams failed to score. The second time saw Baylor going first but who failed to score. BYU went the full 25 yards for a TD to end the game 26-20. It was a great night, especially because we won but it was also a late night. The game didn't start till 8:15 and with the 2 overtimes, the game didn't get over until after midnight. We got home about 1:30 in the morning and to bed about 2. We were tired but so pumped that BYU could beat a number 7th ranked team.

At Zuppa's
Dana is not dressed in BYU blue as she gave her
ticket to Bryce so he could enjoy the game with his Dad and brother.

Bryce and Brandon

The crowd storming the field after the game.
Quite a sight.

A touching scene caught on video was the quarterback, Jaron Hill,
hugging the kicker, Oylroid. Oylroid had missed two field goals
that would of won the game both times. This picture has
been compared to Christ hugging us when we err or are sad.

The next game was a disaster, though. BYU traveled to Eugene, Oregon to play the Oregon Ducks in their home stadium. Our Cougars looked like they didn't come to play the game. They score in once in the first half but Oregon trounced them after that. The final score was 41 to 20 for Oregon. Our run game was none existent and we couldn't stop their run game. So much for a highly touted offensive and defensive lines. Hopefully the team can make some adjustments for the rest of the season.

The team rallied against Wyoming but they didn't look sharp. Too many times they had to call time out to get the proper play in for the snap. We won but it wasn't pretty. The time before every home game is always exciting with fireworks shooting up into the sky as the team runs in. This time Cosmo parachuted onto the field, much to the crowd's delight.

Now for some real exciting news...... Our granddaughter, Aubrey, was set apart as a full time missionary on Sunday the 18th. She started her home MTC on the 19th and will study at home for two weeks. At that time, she will fly to Mexico to complete her MTC experience and then it's on to her mission in the Argentina Buena Aires North Mission. We are so excited for her and the incredible experience she will have as she shares the good news of the gospel to the people of Argentina. Two weeks before being set apart, she and her mom, Katie, came to Provo to shop for dresses for her mission. They were going to stay several days but had to leave after the first night to take care of a passport/visa issue in St. George. We were glad they could stay with us the one night so we could feel Aubrey's excitement about her mission.

Aubrey's excitement when she finally received
her missionary badge.

Taken just before she was set apart as a full time missionary

Aubrey with her family as an official missionary

Aubrey's home MTC experience begins

September always means peaches. We love this time of the year when we have fresh peaches for the eating but it's a lot of works when we buy 4 boxes that need to be processed. Paul was so good to help me peel the peaches. We canned 28 jars of peaches to add to add to our 10 from last year. We then peeled peaches for 9 bags of frozen fruit cocktail and 10 bags of peaches for slush. We had 5 bags of cocktail and 10 bags of slush from last year so hopefully this will last us the year. We love our frozen peach concoctions.

Some exciting news announced this month is that our Heber City Temple will be built within 5 minutes of our home. It will be built on a 17 1/2 acre piece of property at Center Street and about 1400 East. We will pass by it almost every time we leave our home. We were all so surprised at this location as we figured it would be built up on the hill toward UVU's Heber campus or by the Girl's Camp entrance as the church already owns property in both places. No matter where it would have been located, this will be wonderful for us and all the members here in the Heber Valley. The ground breaking will take place Saturday, October 8th. Maybe we'll have our temple before the Provo temple is completed. We understand that as soon as the Orem temple is finished they will close the Provo temple. The plans are to demolish it and build a new, much larger, one on the same sight. We are supposing it will take at least 3 years to complete so maybe our smaller temple in Heber will be done first. We may be working our final few months as ordinance workers in the Provo temple.

We attended a celebration of life for one of Paul's best friends growing up in Pleasant Grove. This friend, Keith Allred, died in 2021 due to COVID 19. We were saddened when we heard he had passed but didn't know anything about a funeral. Because of COVID, the family did not hold a funeral, hence the celebration of life in September of 2022. The sad thing about this is that they were also celebrating the life of their son, Robert, who died in August. We think it was a suicide. He was always suffering from depression and, after the death of his father, just couldn't cope. At least that's what we were told. We were glad to be able to see Judy, Keith's wife, and express our condolences for both her husband and her son. She was surprised she didn't die at the same time as Keith as she had also contracted COVID, too. She's aged considerably and on oxygen continually but seems happy. She is living with her daughter.

Toward the end of the month, we didn't have anything pressing to do around the house so we called the Fullers and invited them to go on a drive with us. They had never driven the road in South Fork canyon, accessible at Vivian Park. We drove that stretch of road, noticing two beautiful parks. We then drove the Squaw Peak road that winds to the top of the mountain overlooking Provo and Orem. I have wanted to drive this since we moved here but Paul had no desire to drive it again. You see, one day he had a dental appointment in Provo and on his way home drove up to the top of Squawk Peak. He told me about it when he got home and promised to take me there sometime. Well, that sometime finally came 15 years later!!! It was a beautiful drive and the views at the top were amazing. You could see the whole valley all the way out to Utah Lake and beyond. Afterwards, we drove into Orem and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant that the Fullers love. A fun day.

At the overlook on the Squaw Peak road

The last Sunday of the month, we celebrated Charlotte's birthday. She didn't have any preferences for dinner but did request a Texas Sheet cake for dessert. That's what she got. I made a half sheet cake for her and some cupcakes. On half of the cupcakes I put a German Chocolate Icing (coconut and pecans). Kailee is obsessed with German Chocolate cakes so this made her incredibly happy. Charlotte loved her cake, too.