Happy Holidays!

I know it's been ages since I posted on the blog--so sorry--life seemed to take over and everytime I think about posting pictures I get discouraged. I must be doing something wrong because it take forever for pictures to download. Maybe one of the family computer geeks could drop by sometime and educate me about adding pictures to the blog (hint!).

We've enjoyed a great holiday season. I remember last year mother was sick and in the hospital for a while during December. I'm so grateful she's been healthy this year--although she doesn't feel as good as she would like, but has done quite well through all the commotion of the holidays. She hasn't been interested in Christmas shopping and buying gifts is way too overwhelming for her.

David got up on Christmas morning, walked into the family room and said with surprise and delight, "Mom, Santa Claus came to our house last night!" I think it's always a surprise to him when the day actually arrives. Without a concept of time and Christmas decorations appearing in October, I think sometimes he wonders how long it will really take until that wonderful morning of opening presents comes. Sadly, mother is a little the same now--She was little surprised on Christmas when I went to her room and said, "Santa came last night!" She kept asking me earlier in the week when Christmas was and I told her, but it's hard to keep track. We took our Christmas dinner over to Art's parents on Christmas Eve. Dad is pretty much homebound--he's in pain most of the time so he just stays home in his recliner. We had dinner and a short program. I made a new angel costume for Aydia to add to our nativity this year. She was excited to wear it--the sleeves are as long as the dress and I tried to pin them up a little but she wouldn't allow that. So, I went in the family room and let the mothers finish getting the nativity "players" ready. Art began reading the Christmas story from Luke and they came in at the appropriate times. Amy and Aydia were the angels and I knew Aydia would be so cute in the new costume. What a surprise when Aydia walked in with a RED HAT on her head, which was actually a crocheted hot paid in the shape of a dress that was on Grandma Cox's refrigerator. Not sure how she got it or why she decided to put it on her head, but she thought it was wonderful and wore it the rest of the night!(Heather thinks Seth may have had something to do with it...) Well, so much for a spiritual nativity...We had a lot of laughs!

Our Angel With the Red Hat!

We loved the beautiful nativity Nyla sent from Singapore. Mother enjoyed it on her glass table throughout the season. She had a fun lunch date with all the Gregory girls just before Christmas. The amaryllis was beautiful and she has enjoyed watching it bloom. We had a nice visit with the Lunt family before Christmas. Andrea showed mother some darling pictures of the twins. It was a treat to have the bishopric and their families come Christmas caroling to mother's one Monday evening. I didn't get to see them, but Kip and Susan and their family visited on Christmas Eve and I know mother loved having them come. They left a cute glove stuffed and sewn in the shape of the "I love you" sign--very cute! Enjoyed the skype visit with Nyla and the phone call from Kent. She loved getting the cute family Christmas cards in the mail. It's always good to connect with our family!
We enjoyed a trip to Temple Square to see the beautiful Christmas lights. It wasn't a terribly cold evening, but I really bundled mother up--didn't want her to get cold. We scheduled it for a Monday--I worked in the Relief Society building that afternoon and Art works in Salt Lake so the rest of the family just met us up there. It's always a challenge to get everyone together in the same place at the same time. Heather brought Grandma and Amy; Sarabeth brought David, plus had to stop and pick up her husband from work--a lot of extra effort, but it was worth it! It was a fun night.

Visit with Joe and Andrea and their cute family.

Temple Square--we're not as cold as we look!

I was thrilled that mother went with Art, Amy and I to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert--we were so fortunate to have tickets given to us by a neighbor--seems our name is never chosen in the lottery. It was a wonderful evening as that concert always is. I was also lucky enough to beg two tickets from a niece for the Sunday morning performance and took my granddaughter, Rachel--we had such a fun time eating breakfast in the car on the way up and loved the concert even more the second time. How fortunate and blessed we are to have such lovely performances to enjoy.

Heather invited all of us to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so wonderful--what a pleasure! Chefs Scott and Spencer smoked a turkey in their new smoker and it was tasty! I was concerned that mother would get too tired and not be able to "escape" when the natives got rowdy! She enjoyed dinner and then actually went and had a nap on Cameron's bed so I think it was okay. Here are some pictures of our dinner. I feel so blessed to have all my family close--everyone was with us this year.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Heather's:

Heather and Scott celebrated their wedding anniversary in early November. They went on a little getaway to St. George. It was another rite of passage as they left their children in charge of themselves instead of coming to our house as they've usually done. The kids did well on their own but I was a little sad to have that part of grandmothering gone. We invited them for breakfast on Saturday morning, which was a fun get together. Rachel always makes mother laugh--she's so cute and enthusiastic and full of fun and laughter. It's good for mother when she comes to visit.

Mother and I took a day and went to Logan for a visit. We met her friends, Barbara and Jeanne and went to lunch. Dear friends that have meant so much to mother and I know she misses them so much. Good friends truly enrich our lives. Drove past mother's house and it looks well cared taken care of--grateful for the good renters.

Mother was thrilled to have DannaLee and Adam visit and share their great news with her. It's always a blessing to know a new baby is coming to the family. Pam and Andrea also visited in November and mother enjoyed the time with them. I know everyone has busy schedules and appreciate the time you take to visit--it so brightens her days.

Mother is doing reasonably well. She has had some sad days this week--seems the holidays are kind of  hard for her. The day after Christmas she was quite emotional and tearful--it's so sad for me when she is sad.  She often says she doesn't know why she's still living. I so wish there was something I could do to make this time easier and more pleasant. Someone said this to me the other day and it's so true:  "From the moment we are born we spend our lives trying to become independent and then in the end we lose all that independence." It's so hard to know you're dependent on others--and even though it's not what she wants, mother is always so grateful for the help that is given. I'm sure there are lessons for all of us to learn as we help her during this time. We've talked about accepting Heavenly Father's will and living the best we can even when it's hard. She lives courageously and with much gratitude and I so admire her! Thanks for our wonderful family--thanks for staying in touch. It means so much to her.

Happy New Year! We send our love to all.

Pumpkin Carving

I'm trying to remember all the things we have done lately. Mother has been doing quite well--has had quite a few "lipstick days". Unfortunately, today wasn't one of them--she didn't go to church and seemed to not be feeling very well.

Here's a picture of Julie and Dan's visit with mother--I should have included it with the previous post, but I didn't.

Art and I went on an overnighter last Friday night with some friends so Sarabeth came and managed everything that was going on at our house. Sure appreciate her willingness to help me out. She was talking with mother for a while on Friday evening and mother told her how much she misses Daddy. She said it's been such a long time and she misses him so much. Made Sarabeth cry--made me cry when she told me.

Saturday night was a little scary--we arrived home around 1:30 in the afternoon and Sarabeth and her family went home--I'm sure she was glad to get back to her own home. She called me about 9:00 p.m. and said she had just gotten out of the shower and her eyes were swollen. I could tell her nose was stuffed up and she sounded horrible. I asked if she was breathing okay or if she thought she should to go the ER. She said no and that she had to take care of her kids and she would call me back if things got worse. In about a minute she called back and said her eyes just keep getting more swollen. At that point, I was on my way to her house and told her I thought she should definitely go the ER. Art went with and stayed with the kids while we went back to the hospital. (Morgan was at work--he always works nights.) Her eyes were so swollen and very painful. Her nose was so stuffy or maybe swollen that she couldn't breathe at all through her nose; it didn't seem to be affecting her mouth or airway. At the hospital they gave her benadryl, prednisone, epinehprine and some eye drops. She started looking a little better and we got back to her house around 1:00 a.m. She's much better today. Obviously, it was an allergic reaction but we're baffled about what she's allergic to and a little nervous about it happening again. I left the house in a hurry and didn't say anything to mother. Just told Amy we were going to help Sarabeth. While we were at the hospital Amy called and asked if she should give mother her medicine and I told her yes, but said not to tell her that we were at the hospital--didn't want to worry her. So she told mother that I was helping Sarabeth and then mother asked if everything was okay. Amy wasn't sure what to say so she just said, "Maybe." I was afraid mother would be awake when we got home and wondering what was going on, but she was asleep and didn't ask me anything about it. Better that she doesn't know, I think.

Thursday, we had a delightful lunch at Katie's beautiful new home--wonderful chicken noodle soup, rolls, salad and pumpkin roll. Loved seeing her new house and visiting with everyone. So nice of her to invite us over. I told mother about it on Wednesday and she looked so forward to the outing. We enjoyed lunch and visiting so much that I forgot to take pictures. Got this one just before we left, but CarrieLyn and Ashely had already gone.

Mother's dear friend, Jeanne Blake, from Logan called and visited with her one day this week. She and mother visited for quite a while on the phone. Jeanne cannot drive because her eyesight is so poor. When she wants to go somewhere, she hires someone to take her. She lives alone--I think that would be hard. Mother said she thinks it's dangerous for her to be alone. Mother would really love to go to Logan for a visit with her friends. I'm hoping we can go sometime this week--if the weather is good and mother feels well enough.

Mother also enjoyed talking with Kent on the phone last week. He hasn't been able to come this way lately for a visit, but mother appreciates the phone call!

She's had a problem with her right arm this week. Seems to be quite weak and she can't use it very well. I think I need to take her to the doctor--if she'll let me.

Remember the pumpkins growing in our garden? Here they are--they have filled the measure of their creation!

Here are some pics of the process...

Daxton had quite a job getting all the "guts" out

of his monster pumpkin!

Silly Grandma and Rachel--just wanted

everyone to know I was there!

Busy crew--see mother in the background?

Obviously a photographer error--

But it's kinda cool!

I think Mother had fun watching the kids. We ate chili and cinnamon rolls. We also dipped caramel apples with the bounty of apples we harvested from our very own trees.

Daxton and Grandma getting ready

to make caramel apples.

Other events include--celebrating Seth's Birthday:

Eleven Years Old!

And a trip to This is the Place Heritage Park for a Halloween activity. It was a beautiful day and I was so glad mother went with us.

The kids wore their costumes--

Aydia is in the stroller--under the witch hat.

There she is--cutest witch you ever saw!

The little goats were fun!

That's the latest from our house. We send our love to all!

Lipstick Days!

There are several barometers that I use to tell how mother is feeling each day. Seems that often mornings are just hard for her--hard to get up and get going and that's often when she's tearful, which makes me so sad. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with not feeling very well and not having much she can do, plus being do dependent on others after such a full and independent life. I'm grateful for the days when she smiles and says "good morning"--that's usually a sign that she's feeling pretty good. But the best way to tell when she feels good is when she puts her lipstick on! Of course she doesn't do that before breakfast but she has put lipstick on quite often lately. If she's not feeling well, she can't be bothered with it even if we're going out or she's having visitors come. Julie and Dan visited last weekend and she so looked forward to their visit. When she got up that morning, I reminded her that today was the day Julie was coming. She said, "Oh, I should have a new dress or new pants!" I told her I'd go get some for her--so I did. (We've mourned the Talbot's store in Provo going out of business, but there is one in Murray--they have wonderful clothes for anyone, but the best thing is that they have petities that fit mother. She can always find something there that she likes. [This is not a commercial--and I've received no endorsement for saying this.]) So I made a trip to Murray got her some nice new clothes. (Oh yeah--I got some things for me too!) So back to Julie's visit--mother wore her new clothes and lipstick! Then today she suggested that we go out to lunch and she put her lipstick on! From now on, I can just say she had a "Lipstick Day" and you'll know that she was feeling pretty good!
Julie and Pam went to Logan on Saturday to see Michelle's new twins and they invited mother to go along. I wasn't sure if she could handle a trip up and back in one day, but she went with and did really well. In fact, the next day she attended the entire block of church meetings! I think it was so good for her to get out. Julie will be sending pictures of mother with the new babies--wow! that's five generations--mother's first great-great grandchildren! I'll post them. I appreciate Julie doing the extra work to take mother along--she was so careful and cute with her. Mother enjoyed the day so much!

We're a little jealous of Carrie Lyn and Jeff getting to go to Malaysia for a visit with Nyla and Garald--hope they have a wonderful trip! Mother and I took some things for them to take to Nyla--a nice outing for mother and thanks to Carrie Lyn and Jeff for taking time for visit with us for a while--I'm sure there was much to be done before she left.

We have enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and I'm grateful for every sunny day--I know sunshine makes a big difference in how mother feels.

Not much other news right now, but hope you have a wonderful week--as always Mother and I send our love to all!

A Good Week

This week has been fairly busy and Mother was able to get out quite a bit. It was fun to have Joe and Andrea come and visit on Sunday--Mother was so happy to have them come. She looks forward to visits from family. Best wishes to Andrea as she begins her service as ward Relief Society president. Mother told her how proud she is of her. Later she said she thought Andrea was quite young to be a RS president, but when I reminded her that Andrea is the same age as David (I think that's right??)and has a 14-year old daughter, she said, "Oh, that's old enough!" We're all still kids to her I think. Andrea will do an awesome job!

Monday was our ward empty-nesters Family Home Evening group. We haven't attended for a while--partly because we've had other things to do and partly because so many of the homes where they are held, have steps which are so difficult for mother. A man from our stake who served in the Navy on a destroyer during WW II spoke to us about some of his experiences. It was very interesting--plus yummy refreshments--I took fresh peach pie!

Tuesday evening we visited Art's parents for his Dad's 91st birthday. We enjoyed a nice visit--his birthday was actually on Wednesday, but we had another activity for Wednesday, which I'll tell you about next. We had a nice visit with the Coxes. When we arrived, the Priest Quorum from the ward was there. We went into another room so as not to disturb them, but it sounded like they had a short lesson, then the Priests sang to them and they had refreshments. As they were leaving we expressed our appreciation to them for coming. One young man said, "Oh, I love coming here!" Mom and Dad told us the Priests come about once a month. Very nice for mom and dad and I'm sure it is a blessing in the lives of those young men.

If you went to the broadcast of Priesthood meeting, you may have recognized Art in the choir. He was one of just 5 men from our ward that were able to be in the choir. It was a great experience. Of course, we couldn't attend the meeting, but on Wednesday they had a dress rehearsal at the Conference Center and families were invited to attend. It was an absolutely beautiful fall day. We left in time to pick Art up at work and went out to dinner at the Garden Cafe in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building--it's one of my favorite places to eat. We were happy that Sarabeth's family was able to join us. We had some time after dinner to stroll through part of Temple Square--enjoyed the beautiful flowers--we were looking for President Uchtdorf's forget-me-nots, but didn't find them. The kids loved all the water features!  The Conference Center is always impressive, but when it's nearly empty, it seems so very large. We loved hearing them practice the beautiful hymns. Brent and Sandi Griffiths' son-in-law was also in the choir. After the rehearsal, we went up to the "Hall of the Presidents" where they have busts of all the presidents of the church. We were fortunate--they had just received President Monson's bust this week. I don't know why, but it was my favorite--very well done and was such a good likeness.

Love this picture of Mother and Daxton with the temple background.

The Priesthood Choir--Can you find Art??

Art is in the second row--see the two

men with white hair? Art is the one on the right.

Mother had a permanent on Thursday--now her hair stays pretty a little longer.

This week was also a week of birthdays--Dad Cox's on Wednesday, Morgan's on Friday and Sarabeth's on Sunday (Also Andrea's--Happy Birthday!). Friday evening Art and I visited Morgan to wish him and happy bday and take a gift--we gave each of them a tree to plant in their yard. Mother was planning to go with us, but just before we left someone called and said they were coming to visit. She couldn't remember who it was that called, but thought she should stay home since she said she would be there. When we got back, she said Brent and Sandi had visited and stayed for about an hour. It's so nice that they pop in once in a while--actually quite frequently.

Mother loved going to lunch with Carrie Lyn on Thursday. She couldn't remember where they went, but said it was new and really good. It was great for me because I had a presidency meeting that day at 11:30. I had asked Amy if she would fix lunch for Mother--she does a good job, but she was happy not to have to worry about it!

Mother had a bad day on Saturday--really didn't feel well and spent most of the day sleeping. The home health nurse came that day and discharged her from home health as her "certification" has run out. The nurse highly recommended that she go on hospice. It was a hard decision to make and I hope this is the right thing to do. I had some concerns that I discussed at length with the nurse and the physical therapist. One of those concerns is that if you are on hospice, you can't go to the hospital. That really disturbed me, but they have a physician who makes visits, a nurse who makes visits (more regularly than home health), plus some of her medications and medical equipment will be paid for. Mother was so unhappy the last time she went to the hospital--I know she doesn't want to do that again and neither do I--so I guess we will go this route and see how it is. We can always "revoke" it if we're not happy with it.

Today mother seemed to be feeling a little better, though not great. She came over and enjoyed both of the conference sessions and dinner with our kids and grandkids. We celebrated Morgan and Sarabeth's birthdays together--that required cheesecake (Aunt Nyla's recipe!) for Sarabeth and Black Forest Cake (also Aunt Nyla's recipe!) for Morgan. I thought conference was so wonderful--love the conference weekend "holiday".

Which do you want--Cheese cake or Chocolate?

Mother chose chocolate--always her favorite!

Have a great week and know of Mother's love for each of you!

Who's That Man With My Grandma?

Every Friday Mother has her hair done at a little shop not far from here in American Fork. There are probably 10-12 hairdressers and they also have a barber shop so it's a busy place. Quite often, when I take mother to her appointment, there is another older lady coming or going at the same time. She is tiny like mother, with white hair and a cane and she is very bent over. There is always a younger man helping her--just the way I help mother get in and out of the shop. Whenever we see her mother comments about how sad it is--"that poor woman who is so bent over." She often uses words like "pitiful", "so sad", "isn't that terrible?" As she makes these comments, I'm thinking, "She looks about like you, mother." But, of course, I would never say that to her and then I think that maybe the other lady really is more bent over than mother. One day I asked Heather to pick Mother up after her hair appointment because I was sick. She said when she pulled in she saw Grandma coming out of the shop with a man, who was helping her. She was so amazed and thought, "Who is that man with Grandma? What is Grandma doing with him--why is he helping her?" Then, she realized it wasn't Mother, but the other lady. I guess they do look a lot alike. I think we see ourselves as we were when we were young and able to do everything.

Saturday, September 24 was Cameron's baptism day. It's Heather's last child to be baptized--it was a great day. We enjoyed lunch at Heather's house after the baptism.

The weather has been so perfect these past few weeks--temperatures just perfect--cool nights, warm, but not hot days and lots of sunshine--Ah Fall!!  I told Art the other day that next Spring when I complain that our yard is too big and we need to sell it and get something smaller, he needs to remind me of Fall. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and had a couple of parties in our yard. One evening we hosted a neighborhood book group--mother joined us and I was so glad she did. Then on Thursday we had a luncheon for a couple of ladies who had birthdays this week. We had around 25 ladies here--did a pot luck salad luncheon and it was really nice. The ladies were so friendly to mother and she really seemed to enjoy the food and visiting. One of them said, "we should do this every month!"

Fall also brings the canning season and I was glad to get some peaches from a place in Orem. Our peach tree bore fruit this year, but they are so tiny--about the size of apricots. I guess I'm a "peach snob", because I just didn't want to spend the time putting them in bottles so I bought some nice ones. I think of the hundreds of bottles of fruit and vegetables mother must have bottled in her lifetime and she still would love to do it. She told me she would help and I would love it if she could, but I know she isn't physically able to do that. I just told her that Sarabeth was coming and we would do them together. Saturday morning she asked if we got all the peaches done and I said, "No, there are still two boxes on the deck, but with Cameron's baptism, they won't get done today." She said, "I can do them for you today!" She's always so willing and so wants to help. A good reminder for us when we think we have too much work to do! Being unable to work after a lifetime of work and service, is difficult, indeed.

Saturday night, Sarabeth, Amy and I went to the General Relief Society Meeting at the Conference Center. We are fortunate that our stake president is employed with the church and one of his responsibilties is the Conference Center--so he provided tickets for sisters in our stake. I invited mother to go with us and she really considered it, but in the end decided she really didn't feel well enough. Wish she could have been with us--it was a great meeting.

I think mother is doing quite well. She still enjoys visits, going out to lunch, concerts and being with family. We both send our love to all!

What happened???

Dear Family and Friends,

I started this post many weeks ago, but I got so discouraged with adding the pictures that I couldn't face it again. I've only been able to upload one picture at a time and it takes sooo long. Nyla told me I could just add more pictures and they would all upload, so I started uploading about six pictures one night, then went to bed. When I got up in the morning, uploading was still running and no pictures! There really must be an easier way so if one of you computer gurus want to help me sometime, I would greatly appreciate it.

Mother had a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist and she passed with flying colors! Everything looks good--blood pressure is good, heart rate is great. She's amazing!

After the dr. appointment, we made a spur-of-the moment decision to go to the quilt show at the Springville Art Museum. I called some of our friends who I thought would enjoy it and amazingly, they were able to join us!  It's always a great and inspiring show--so many beautiful quilts with so much work put into them that it boggles the mind. We enjoyed it so much and just as we were leaving the quilt show, Pam and Val walked in. It was fun to see them.

Thursday August 25 was Scott's birthday--we enjoyed red velvet cake and ice cream at their house.

We had a fun King Family Reunion in our yard. It was so nice to have Kent and Sheila here. The weather was a bit hot, but sitting under the shade of our trees wasn't too bad--so glad our trees have gotten big enough to provide some shade! The younger kids enjoyed the new sandbox, which Art completed just that day. The almost 200 water balloons didn't last very long and we had fun with the "famous people" game--Devin chose to be Nyla and that was guessed quickly. Adam stumped us for a while by choosing foghorn leghorn (whoever that is!). We had to give up when we couldn't remember Jennifer Lopez--the name Massiel chose. The Elmo pinata was probably the biggest HIT of the party (pun intended)! I think Mother was so happy to have the family together. Daxton told me it was the best day ever and said we should have that party again.

We took this group picture before Sam and Massiel arrived.

Rachel also arrived later.

These picture were during the "famous people" game--everyone is thinking hard!

This is the group of non-gamers:

David had fun--just wasn't smiling!

The Pinata!!

Finally!! By the time the candy fell it was getting

quite dark. Some people were using cell phones

as flashlights so they could see the candy!

We attended the final Concert in the Park for this season. We enjoyed the Timpanogos Chorale--and the pre-show was a young man from our ward who sang several songs. We will miss going to the concerts on Sunday (in Pleasant Grove) and Monday (in American Fork) evenings--mother and I think they could have them for a while longer--after all, the weather is still good! I'm guessing the organizers are happy to see them end.

September has arrived along with cooler weather. We're still enjoying the deck although the evenings are so much shorter now! Right now we're sitting on the deck and a flock of geese are flying right over us--fun to see and hear--a sure sign that winter weather is on its way! We didn't do much this past week that was very fun or exciting. I was sick on Friday and didn't even leave the bedroom. It's a long day for mother when something like that happens. She did have a hair appointment and Sarabeth was so nice to come and take her, Heather picked her up afterward and brought her home. I'm sure she was glad to get out for a little while. Amy has learned how to fix Cream of Wheat for Mother for breakfast  so she fixed that and then something for lunch--not even sure what. I'm grateful for their help!

I guess that's all for now. Have a great week (or two...or three...). Hopefully, I can be more faithful about updating. Mother sends her love to all. I really want to take her to Logan to see Michelle's new twin boys--must have a picture!
--Karen and Mother

Zucchini and Pumpkins and Corn, Oh My!

Aydia and Daxton enjoying the harvest--sorry--you'll just

have to indulge me with the grandchildren pictures for a minute!

We've been very busy harvesting the garden--Sarabeth and I did over 60 pints of green beans--so grateful for the bounty. Mother snipped a lot of the beans for us--not sure we could have done all of them without her help--she's the best! We've also enjoyed corn, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes and, for the first time today--tomatoes. The squash and pumpkins are kind of taking over the world, which makes us excited to think about our annual pumpkin-carving party in October. Here's a contrast--our biggest pumpkin--still growing--and one of the "baby" pumpkins we planted this year for the first time.

The squash really is taking over the world

Today (Sunday August 21), mother went to Sacrament Meeting with us--it was so nice to have her come--she hasn't felt like going to church for a while. I love sitting next to her in Sacrament Meeting and hearing her sing the hymns. It transports me back to my childhood, I remember sitting next to her in church and listening to her sing the hymns--seemed she knew them all. It's always tender for me to  sing the beloved hymns together in church.

One Friday evening Sarabeth was kind enough to let David hang out at her house and Amy went on an outing with a friend. Art, mother and I went for a drive through Provo Canyon. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and were happy to see Deer Creek Reservoir full of water. We went to Fanny's Grill at the Homestead in Midway for dinner. The food was delicious and the ambiance was fabulous! We had a table on the patio--watched ducks enjoying the pond and the beautiful scenery of the golf course with mountains in the background--so quiet and relaxing! I was so proud of myself for ordering a healthy shrimp salad, mother had salmon and Art had a steak. The waitress asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu--Art and I bravely said no, but mother asked what the choices were. When we looked at the menu she chose the hot fudge brownie, then Art caved and ordered peach pie ala mode. I stayed strong until the desserts came and they both insisted that I "taste". One bite of the hot fudge brownie and I was a goner--it was HEAVEN--I was soon eating more than mother and the peach pie was wonderful too. I think I got the best deal--"helping" them eat their desserts. So much for weight loss this week!

We had a nice surprise one Sunday evening when mother's cousin Margene and her husband, Warren visited. They were here from Texas for about three weeks--they came for several family events including a granddaughter's wedding and their daughter's graduation. It was such a pleasure to see them and so nice of them to take time from their busy schedule to stop by. Mother was thrilled to have visitors.

Warren and Margene Anderson with Mother--July, 2011

One Sunday a few weeks ago mother was planning on going to church and got all ready, then decided she didn't feel well enough to go so she changed into some pants and laid down on the couch. It reminded me of a friend of mine who is around 85 years old. She always says, "I can either get ready or I can go, but I can't do both!" I think that's how mother feels sometimes--after getting ready, she's just too worn out to go!

Kent was in town for just one day while traveling for work. I was scheduled to volunteer at the Relief Society Building that day so I took mother and Amy and we met him at the Joseph Smith Building Garden Restaurant for lunch. Art works close, so he walked up and joined us. I so wanted a picture of us in that beautiful setting with the temple spires in the background. I took my camera, but then left it in the RS Building--guess we'll have to go again!

On Monday, August 15, Sarabeth and her kids met us at the American Fork Concert in the Park. They had come to the concert the previous Monday and enjoyed it so much. Well, this week it was a group that played what they called "rock classic".  Okay, I was thinking more classic than rock---WRONG! There was a Harley on the stage--revved it up at the beginning of the show and they played a lot of very LOUD, older (I guess that's the "classic" part) rock music--think Beatles era. We moved from the front row of the amphitheater to the grass behind the stage so we wouldn't be left with a hearing deficit. We all enjoyed it; the kids really thought it was fun and David couldn't resist standing up for a minute and "rocking out" (brought a few stares!). I thought mother would be unhappy with the type of music--so different from the other concerts we've been to, but she was a good sport and said it was "fun".

One of the recent concerts was Sam Payne and Cherie Call--favorite local singers--really enjoyed their music. Heather went to high school with Sam--you might have heard of his father, Marvin Payne, who was a popular singer and songwriter when we were younger.

Sam Payne and Cherie Call

There are only two more concerts and I'm so sad to see them end--we've really enjoyed them. It's such a nice summer activity to do with mother.

That's all the news for now. Have a great week--Mother/Grandma sends her love to all--she always says how thankful she is for her family.

One of the cute pictures Katie took

Our Whole Family!