Nobody told us that once you turn 80, get ready to say goodbye to so many friends and relatives. We've had far too many funerals to attend this summer, including 3 more this month.
But before I get to those, we were excited to have our daughter, Stacy, and her daughter, Maddy, come for dinner and stay overnight with us on their way to Provo - a great passing through! Maddy will begin her junior year at BYU.
For fun, I had a Hawaiian theme for dinner, serving chicken and veggie bowls with marinated, grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, onions, peppers and fresh pineapple served over coconut rice, and fresh peach cobbler for dessert. We put a lei on each of them when they arrived and we wore our Hawaiian garb.
I made fresh Brazilian limeade - tasty!
I made a yummy appetizer with Boursin cheese, peach preserves, fresh cherries and pistachios.
It was so fun catching up with both of them and hearing about their busy, busy lives.
Stace and Maddy wanted to watch Roger play softball next morning before they left for Provo. He goes to batting practice and plays a game in a league twice a week after he plays pickle ball.
We got a fun surprise this month when Roger's cousin, Karen, who has lived in Canada since early after she married, contacted him to tell us that her granddaughter (her daughter's daughter) was coming to St George to attend Utah Tech. Her daughter, Emily, and husband, Mike, drove their daughter, Ruby, to drop off, and they came over to meet us, helped her move in, then headed for home - a fun passing through. We served them dessert and became acquainted - very nice people, and Roger and Emily took this quick pic as they were leaving.
The next coming was our granddaughter, Ellie, who returned that same week and we had her over for dinner Sunday. She brought roommate Naomi. We had Tuscan chicken over mashed potatoes, bruschetta, fresh tomatoes, pickled cucumbers and corn and Dubai chocolate mini cakes for dessert. We'll look forward to having Ellie over a lot this year.
I'll just throw in a pic Josh sent us from Ithaca, New York, where Josh is getting his MBA at Cornell. They said they saved our Christmas money to do fun things with the kids, and here they are at the zoo. They're the cutest widdle kids!
Next going we took was up north for my Aunt Gary's Memorial. She passed away in an assisted living from SLC, but she and Uncle Ron (my dad's brother) raised their family in Boise. We drove up the night before and stayed with Patty and Hal. Patty fixed us a tasty supper, complete with fresh peach pie, and, bummer, we didn't take pics. Whenever we stay with relatives when we travel, Roger takes a pic of the bed so we'll remember how to arrange the pillows, and, alas, this is the only pic we took!
My Aunt Gary was a beautiful woman! I thought it would be fun to show her at her prime, instead of a 96-year-old.
Here are her children and their spouses - Vance and Diane, David and Loriann, Laurie and Joe, Randy and Todd and Liz.
I am the oldest cousin on both sides of my family, my sister, Patty, next and brother, John, next. So I didn't grow up playing with, getting in trouble with, etc., cousins. We lived by 2 families when I lived in Caldwell as a kid, who would visit from Boise on holidays, sometimes, and Ron and Gary were one of the families. I have never lived near my cousins as an adult, but somehow, partly because we have had sporadic reunions and visits through the years, we all feel a strong bond and we really care about each other. I absolutely loved seeing these cousins!
Me, Sarah and Scott Bedke, (Nedra's son)and Karleen and Skip (Al, Jr.) Gabrielsen (Al's son)
So proud of these men - Scott is Lieutenant Governor of Idaho and Skip is a wonderful pediatrician.
Nedra's son (great singer), Eric and me
Roger and me with Alex (Nedra's son) and Kathy. Alex works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We just learned that Alex invented the program that connects the Family Search to the Church website so when you go the church website under you name and click on ordinance ready, it will come up asking which ordinance, and his program will provide the name or names from Family Search.
Now I get to tell about getting to make connection with my adored and beloved Aunt Nedra, my dad's only sister and my last aunt or uncle left. I have happy memories as a child, visiting her when she was a teen-ager in Logan. She made a fuss over me, took me to movies at the wonderful ( it seemed so grand as a child) Capitol Theater, took me for treats and other activities. Oh, how I loved my Aunt Nedra, and I always have through all of these years! She is 93 and still navigating.
After Aunt Gary's memorial, we hugged everyone goodbye, then we drove to Ogden to visit Carol, Roger's cousin, Brent's, wife. Brent passed away after a 6-year struggle with cancer. His funeral was 2 days later. He, Roger and Carol are all in that infamous Weber Class of '62, and all rode to school together their senior year. Brent grew up down the street from Roger and those two cousin boys, Brent just 2 weeks younger than Roger, grew up on their joint farm, doing all kinds of things together. Brent was a good and fun-loving guy and Carol is a doll! I got to know them through the years we lived in Ogden, where they always lived. Carol's dad was a doctor and she is a nurse and an outstanding person.
Chyrrl (Roger's sister), and her husband, Glynn, Carol, Roger, me, and Roger's sister, Susan, are at Carol and Brent's home. We had a lovely, reminiscing visit.
We attended another pickle ball party in Pine Valley at Lorraine and Steve Swift's lovely 2nd home, between all of these comings and goings. Fun people! Luckily the big fires in the Pine Valley region earlier this summer didn't get to the area where the Swifts live!
And the big event on August 27 was Roger's 81st birthday! Long story - a medical scheduling mix-up for a routine test on his birthday was then delayed until the next week, so our celebrating was less than usual, so we'll have to make it up later. But we did have a nice steak dinner and some nips from these yummy treats! I sure do love this guy!
And this is a going that we're very sad about - we lost a dear friend at Sunbrook, who has been fighting illness for a long time, Pattie Haynes. She was one of the most upbeat people I have ever known, always finding the good and the beauty in everything and everyone. We will miss her!
After we attended her funeral, we ate a Japanese lunch at Sakura, where we haven't eaten for a long time, and it tasted yummy.
Life never stands still. The comings and goings and passing throughs are, and will continue to be, constant in our lives, no matter old we get.
