Millar Moments: A BUSY OCTOBER SPEEDS BY

October always starts off with General Conference. Of course, we watched it in the comfort of our home. Except for Allison, our college grandchildren came up Saturday afternoon and spent the night. We had dinner and watched the Saturday evening session together. Sunday morning, I had cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs for them before we settled in to watch the next two conference sessions. Of course, everyone stayed for Sunday dinner. Allison didn't come to Heber because she and her roommates were able to get ticket to attend the Saturday afternoon session in the Conference Center. What a fun experience for her. Conference was incredible as almost every talk reminded us to center our lives on Christ. I was comforted when President Nelson said, "In the coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior's power that the world has ever seen." Wow!!! We need His hand in our world today, especially here in our own country,

Allison at the conference center with her roommates

The next week, the Fullers and ourselves wanted to see the Fall leaves over Guardsman pass, so we took a little day trip. The colors of the trees were incredible as was the walk around the lake at Brighton ski resort. We had never seen the little lake nor walked around it. We ended up in Salt Lake Valley were we had a lunch/dinner at Costa Vida. It was a fun way to spend a day and a good break from our weekly routines.

We stopped to watch this parasailer
make his landing.

A couple of days later, we left for Las Vegas. BYU was playing Notre Dame at the Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, the 8th. Because Grace couldn't go to the game as originally planned, Ryan had an extra ticket which Paul quickly bought. Ryan brought Nathan to Las Vegas on Friday night and joined us at the World Mark condo we had reserved. After dinner, Ryan and Nathan decided to float the lazy river at the resort. The next morning, Todd joined us. We went to In n Out for a quick lunch before Paul, with his two sons and a grandson, left for the game. I spent the afternoon and evening relaxing at the condo reading a good book and checking the score of the game occasionally. BYU lost, much to everyone's dismay but Paul said it was a great experience despite the loss. He loved being with two of his sons and his grandson.

On Sunday morning, we left Las Vegas to go to St. George for our annual outing to see the productions at the Tuacahn Theater. We went to Ryan's ward for Sacrament meeting before checking into our World Mark Estancia resort. Once we unloaded the car, we drove to Don and Dana's home where we had dinner with Deon and Gary, Ed and Debbie, Sam and Kathy, and Dave and Suzette. Deon and I had brought tri tips to cook on the grill. Ed brought potatoes for baking. Suzette brought a green salad, and Dana made some delicious rolls. It was a wonderful dinner. Afterwards, we sat out on their covered patio and laughed and talked and laughed some more. I love being with my family for this annual event.

The whole gang at Don and Dana's beautiful home

On Monday night, before the play, we barbecued hamburgers at Don and Dana's home and, the next night, we made individual pizzas which Don cooked in his outdoor pizza oven. They were really good.

The three productions, Mary Poppins, Wonderland, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat were amazing, almost jaw dropping. The talent displayed was incredible and we loved the use of LED screens for the backdrops of each musical. Wonderland was a little weird during the first act but came together in the 2nd act, leaving us with a wonderful message - 'Find your inner self and don't let the demands of life change you.'

The colors in the background are an example of the
LED screens that were so effectively used.

This sweet couple are from New Hampshire.
They sat in front of us for Mary Poppins on Monday
where we had some great conversations with them.
They came to see Joseph for the third time
and stopped to say hi to us.

On Wednesday morning, the Fullers and ourselves went to the Red Hills Desert Garden. Ryan had told us about it a while back and I've wanted to go ever since. We were glad we had waited to see it until now as it was all decorated for Halloween. Different businesses and individual families had set up Halloween displays all along the walking paths. It was fun to walk through the gardens with all the different varieties of dessert plants but even more fun because of all the Halloween displays. We, then, met the whole group at the Alumni Creamery for some wonderful ice cream from the BYU Creamery in Provo. It was a fun morning and afternoon.

At the creamery.
Dave and Suzette had never been here
even though they have lived in St. George for several years.

We left St. George on Thursday for home. By late afternoon, Ryan and his family came to Heber. They needed to do some shopping for furniture for their new home in St. George and had tickets for the BYU vs Arkansas game in Provo. They were successful finding coaches and chairs and an end table or two so the trip was worth it for them even though the game was a bust. BYU's defense was horrible so the quarterback could connect with his receivers with no pressure, not to mention the running game they could not stop. We left during the 4th quarter.

At the game, Ryan's family bought cougar tails.
One maple and one chocolate. The chocolate
cougar tail was a new addition for this game.

So yummy until the chocolate icing melted in the bag

After the game, Ryan and family waited to
high five the players as they circled the field.
One of Nathan's favorite players stopped and took
selfie with Nathan and Ryan. So fun!!!

At the end of the month, on the Monday 24th, the Fullers and ourselves took off for Flagstaff, Arizona. We drove the 8 hours and arrived at the Marriot Courtyard hotel in the early evening. After dinner at a local Italian restaurant, we retired early at the hotel. The next morning, we explored Flagstaff's old town and the University of Northern Arizona. We, then, tried to find the Grand Falls. We drove about a 45 minutes only to find that the turn off for the falls was a dirt road. We opted not to see the falls so instead ended up at the movies to see Ticket To Paradise.

A church in Old Town Flagstaff

The dome at UNA where they play both football and basketball

UNA's mascot is a lumberjack

At the movies

A picture of what we would have seen
at the Grand Falls.

That afternoon, we moved into the Club Wyndham resort where we stayed for the next three nights. It was located among Ponderosa Pines which gave us the feeling of being in a cabin in the forest. The decor of the condo very much had a cabin feel to it because of it being an older resort which hadn't been updated in recent years. It was comfortable enough, though. The next day, we got up early and drove to William, about 35 minutes from Flagstaff. There we watched a very simple Wild West Show and then boarded a train that took us to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The train ride was two and an half hours long. When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we boarded a bus that took us to two different overlooks of this magnificent canyon. We had seen it at the northern rim years ago, but the southern rim was so amazingly beautiful. We came to appreciate God's handiwork once again.

The rather silly Wild West show staged
before the train departed

During our ride, we were entertained by this singer who had
to keep singing longer than he has planned due to a
mechanical problem with the train.

After being stopped on the tracks for more than a half an hour,
we were glad to see these railroad workers arrive.
We cheered when we saw them leaving
once they finished the repairs on the train.

On the train ride home, we were again entertained by a singer with his guitar. Our train ride was interrupted by a train robbery when three bandits boarded our train to rob us. We had been warned that the gang had escaped and would not harm us if we willing gave them a dollar or two.

The sheriff was right on their trail but not before they took the dollar bills from Paul and Gary. A fun enactment, for sure.

Hands up everyone!!!!

The Sheriff - Better late than never

The next day. we drove to the darling town of Sedona. It was about an hour away but we saw some beautiful sights along the way. We tried to drive the Red Rock scenic drive but it too ended up at a dirt road. I guess Arizona expects everyone to have an off road vehicle to see their sights. We walked the town a bit, went to lunch as a Mexican restaurant and, of course, found a place for a yummy ice cream cone.

Some of the amazing red rock formations seen along the way

At the town of Sedona

Sedona is an artist community surrounded by
these beautiful red rocks

Ice cream eaten on the patio overlooking some
more red rock formations.

On Friday it was time to leave for home. We got up very early so we could be on the road around 7 am. We wanted to get back to Provo for a 6 o'clock BYU football game against Eastern Carolina. We made it to the game on time after eating a quick dinner at Costco, of all places. Sadly, the Cougars lost in a close game that was tied until a last second field goal by the opposing team.

Saturday, was our ward Halloween party at the Crossing's park. Paul and I were in charge because of our calling as activity chairs. We set up food tables under the cover bridge and everyone brought soups or chili. The ward supplied the rolls, water, and donuts. Our young men and young women set up activities for the children to play until it was time to eat. After eating, it was time for the ward's annual trunk or treat. The party was very well attended and all seemed to have a great time, especially the children who were all decked out in their costumes. The weather even cooperated, too, with only a light weight jacket being needed to stay comfortable. It had been blustery and had even snowed during the week of Saturday's festivities. So grateful!!!

Our truck all loaded with items to take to the park

The food tables, waiting for the food to arrive

Try your hand at knocking these
cans down with a baseball

Toss the rings onto the bottles for this game

This game was to throw golf balls into these pumpkins.
Not as easy as it sounds as some of the holes in the pumpkins
were very small.

Sunday was not a day of rest for Paul and I, as we were asked to take part in the 5th Sunday discussion about preparedness. We talked about financial preparedness. Paul took the majority of our 10 minutes talking about the need for a budget. I talked about helping our children and grandchildren understand the value of work and money. We were talking to an audience of mostly retired and quite well to do members so we felt like we were talking to the choir. I was also asked to say the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting which prompted a member of our ward to ask us if we felt like we had been asked to do all the callings this weekend.

After church, our granddaughters and grandson-in-law came for dinner and to celebrate Maggie's birthday. We had planned to do that the weekend before but the weather turned bad and we were concerned that the canyon might be icy. Maggie had requested cream puffs for her birthday so that's what she got.

And the last thing in October, of course, was Halloween. We had planned to go down to Todd and Kailee's and help hand out candy so they could go trick or treating with their children but we got a call on Sunday to tell us that they had Covid and the flu infecting their home. Todd had it first, then Kailee, and then Kailee's Mom. We opted to go down in the late afternoon to give them some cream puffs and to see their Halloween decorations. Every year Todd and Kailee add new things to their yard. This year was two giant skeletons and a witch that jumps out at you. We didn't even venture inside as we didn't want to take the chance of getting sick. We went to Costa Vida for dinner and home to watch a movie. We only had about 25 trick or treaters.