Sam's Ready for Home MTC!

As the expression goes, we've kept the tires hot on the road to Ogden from St. George for months, helping to care for Roger's mom. And we traveled from there to Boise two weekends in a row in August. 

Lois was not doing well when we slipped up to Caldwell for Cindy's dad's funeral for two days, then returned Sunday, and early the next Thursday morning, August 12, she passed away, which I will blog about next with a special tribute. Oh, how we loved her and will miss her!

 

We drove back to Boise Friday morning. We had looked forward to going through a session in the Boise Temple with Sam for him to receive his endowments, and we were so happy we got to do that. And we also were pleased to hear him speak in his ward's Sacrament meeting the next morning. What a fine, fine young man he is! He is full of life, seeking out adventure every chance he gets and he has a golden heart. He doesn't always want you to see that tender heart of his, but it's always been pretty obvious to us! He hopes he will get to go to Cochabamba, Bolivia, which would be a grand adventure, but with Covid, he will first serve in Washington, D. C. He's actually pretty happy with that assignment, too.

We are in back of the Boise Temple after going through a session with Sam.

Stacy flew to Boise from Mesa and Rick and Jodie flew from SLC. My sister, Joan, and her husband, Tom, and daughter, Whitney, also came through the session with us.

Sam's talk was full of his cute personality and he also expressed amazing spirituality and wisdom. After the block, we went to Missy and Jedd's home for a tasty buffet. Dustin, Jedd's only sibling, and his wife, Christine, surprised them by driving up from Malad just for the special day.

Christine, Dustin, Stacy, Rick, Jodie, Pam, Roger, Sam, Claire, Missy, Jedd and Ellie

(Roger and Jedd changed out of their suits before we got a pic!)

Some of Sam's favorite foods were served: pulled pork sandwiches, Smith's baked beans, Jedd's Dutch oven potatoes, Cole slaw, veggies and dip and lots of fresh fruit. And Stacy's yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!

We drove back to Ogden Sunday afternoon with Stacy in our back seat, and enjoyed chatting with her on the long drive. She didn't fly back to Mesa because Grandma's funeral was the following Wednesday,  and, as it turned out, she was a real godsend in helping us all prepare for the funeral.

Sam was set apart as a missionary by the Stake President that afternoon, and "entered" into home MTC the next morning. He is working hard to learn Spanish and he really likes the other missionaries assigned in his district on Zoom. We so admire these young men and women who have made that commitment to serve the Lord, made more difficult with Covid. Sam's brother is serving in the Scottsdale mission, also Spanish speaking, and his cousin, Katie, is serving in NYC. All of their attitudes are upbeat and they are tickled to be immersing themselves in service to the Lord.

 

Shakespeare, 7/24 & the New Caldwell

Roger and I grabbed some "day of"tickets to a well-performed musical at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, "Ragtime."

We loved Fred Adams, the founder of the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, and listening to his enthusiastic pre-show discussions through the years. He is missed!

We cooked a big breakfast on the 24th of July, then enjoyed watching the Days of '47 Parade. I've been making homemade pancakes after discovering how much yummier they are compared to the Bisquick ones we have been eating for years!

It's been so great to attend church in person for the last few months instead of watching it on Zoom. We missed seeing our friends - especially the hugs! And it gave me a chance to wear the jacket that my cute daughter, Stacy, sent me as an out of the blue surprise!

Our cute sister-in-law, Cindy, John's wife, lost her daddy the end of July and we decided to drive to Caldwell to attend his funeral.

We stayed in Missy and Jedd's home and we missed seeing them - they were on a family vacation to Couer d'Alene, Idaho. They made us feel so welcome when we arrived - there was a bowl of Roger's fav, M & Ms (their kids call him Grandpa M & M!) and it was sitting atop grandson Anderson's book he just wrote. He had canvassed the neighborhood for advance "investment" from his friends. He made 3 extra copies when he took them around and sold those, too, all for $1!  

Missy's tomatoes just came on and she had previously texted a pic of her BLT. She had all of the fixins' waiting for us when we got there. Delicious tomatoes - yum!

After we met at Clay's viewing, Patty and Hal, Joan and Tom and Roger and I explored Caldwell's amazing renovation and transformation of downtown Caldwell. We missed Kay and Ken. Wow! Indian Creek is uncovered, enhanced and a scenic spot flowing through downtown Caldwell with lovely plantings along its banks. There are creative sculptures, upscale shops and restaurants and a huge plaza with piped music where the big kids were dancing and squirting water from the ground where the little kids were playing. Inspiring!

This Security Police woman was offering rides to any takers on her electric bike. Tom and Roger took her up on it!

We have heard how great the food at this steakhouse is. We've got to return to check it out!

What a lovely funeral it was - all participants were Clay's grandkids. The very best part of it and so worth the drive was seeing John and Cindy's kids and their kids - living in California, Oregon and Idaho Falls. We also saw Caldwellites we grew up with. So fun, all of these years later. Fun to come home again!

This parched summer with floods and Covid continues on, but true respite from it is the gathering with each other, reaching out to each other, despite the difficulties. 

 

Jerry's Montana Bell Cross Ranch and More Lois Time

Jerry Moyes, Roger's WHS classmate, is tenth part-owner, including John Elway and others, in a 10,000-acre dude ranch in Montana. For the last four years, he has invited the Lake Powell gang (20+ classmates and spouses) who have been going to spend four or five days on his houseboats for over 30 years, to spend four days at this beautiful ranch instead. Roger and I got to go in 2019 and loved it! In 2020, about half of those planning to go went and we opted to not go because of Covid. I was looking forward to it this year, then the heatwave that hit Portland, Seattle, etc., hit there, too. We were watching the temps several days out, and the forecast was in the mid-90s, which is very unusually hot for there. All of the activities are outside and most locations for them have no shade. My #1 concern was we didn't have one of the ten rooms, but would be in the un-air-conditioned bunkhouse. Roger was sooo looking forward to it, and I said, "For sure, absolutely go!"

We drove to Rick and Jodie's the day before, and I stayed with them for the four days. 

The next morning, off he flew in Jerry's private jet, and was he tickled!

Jerry is to Roger's right, and his wife, Vicki, is back right. The other couple is Larry and Pam Maw.

Roger is next to two of our favorites, Dan and Carol Gibson.

We love Linda and Fred Stettler and Lyle and Chris Johnston.

The beautiful Bell Cross Ranch and bunkhouse

Every comfort and convenience is available; surprising for a ranch out in the middle of nowhere!

As it turns out, the bunkhouse was ACed after-all, but it was uncomfortably hot during each day's fun and games. Roger and Jimmy Smout, both without their spouses, were alone in the bunkhouse. 

Fleet of 4 by 4s

After a two and a half hour evening ride, they hung out in this lovely meadow.

Roger's FAVORITE activity at the ranch is skeet shooting. He got to do it two different days. The first day he went through a couple of boxes of shells, hitting most of the clay pigeons.

Pic taken of the group after skeet shooting

The beautiful man-made Moyes Pond, named after Jerry.

Rog did some fly fishing and caught two fish!

The food is outstanding and beautifully-presented, with a full-time chef and helpers, and is served in a sit-down dinner each night.

It is a scenic ride on the 4 by 4s to this point, named after John Elway.

Wildlife spottings on the rides

Rog is a natural on the horses.

Just 10 people, plus the horse wrangler, rode this year. 

There weren't enough riders to hold the competitive games.

Another day of skeet shooting and Roger is driving some of the girls there.

Roger shot about 6 boxes of shells this day, with the clay pigeons flying two and three at a time. Rog loved every moment of it as he mowed them down!

Pic of the whole group on the last night

Don't you think Rog looks like the Real Deal?

They're eating the last breakfast before driving to Great Falls to take off and fly to Ogden and the others to drive home. Forest fires diverted those who drove to side roads, trying to get back home.

The jet is waiting for them.

While Rog was enjoying the ranch, I enjoyed being with Rick and Jodie's family. On Saturday, Jodie and I drove to a great little restaurant and bakery, Gourmandise, to meet Mindy for lunch. We had fun catching up and enjoyed tasty food!

Sunday, before Rog returned, I went to church with Rick's family and heard Sy and Grant Foster, who recently returned from a church mission to Spain, speak about some of their experiences. Sy is well-known in the food blogger world,; her blog is A Bountiful Kitchen. They are lovely people and close friends with Rick and Jodie.

On Monday we began a four-day back and forth from Rick's to Rog's mom's to be with her during the day and spent the time doing much the same as we've done before. She is in more pain with her back and her short-term memory continues to fade. She loves Roger to sit right next to her, show her pics and talk to her, though she doesn't usually remember any of it the next day. But at the time, she enjoys it. Her vision and her hearing are extremely limited and she has other issues of old age. We are just storing up moments of being with her. 

Surprisingly, she still likes to go for rides and go to lunch and get out of the house. It is painful for her to get in and out of the car, but once she is there, she enjoys it. We took her to Rainbow Gardens (pictured) and for a sandwich at Maddox Drive-in in Brigham City.

We are having lunch at her FAVORITE place, Chuck-O-Rama.

She also likes Pizzaria.

We love and adore this grand lady and want what is best for her. We treasure these moments together!