October 2024

With just four days until the 2024 election, I am anxious, nauseated, and hopeful. We will know by the November blog post if we survived. October was filled with good stuff. Debby Gibbs came for conference weekend and we went leaf peeping. We met with The Group, ate with SKT and Annie, traveled to Arizona, and flew from Phoenix to TX for a visit with Debra Sue. There was good food, visiting, and movies. We had a day trip to Waco to see Chip and Joanna Gaines' stuff with a stop at Buc-ee's on the way back to Houston. Returning to AZ, we had a three-day reunion with Kris's brothers. Again: visiting, a movie, and plenty of food. Following a couple of days with Maren and family, with whom we celebrated Kris's birthday, home was calling. We arrived back in Utah just in time for Cousins' Breakfast. Poof! October was gone.

Nebo Loop

Family Dinner with Debby

Alpine Loop

Group Dinner at the Millers

Post-dinner drive with SKT and AW

"Real American" at breakfast in Henderson

Texas-bound

Mexican nosh with Debby

Saturday Night at a posh dine-in theater

Fall in Texas

Dickie did dinner

Biscuits and gravy in Waco

At the Gaines' Magnolia

Waco's Silo District preserved and redeveloped

by Chip and Joanna Gaines

Joanna refused to paint the silos so as not

to destroy their character

Small chapel for weddings

Buc-ee's

Tacos in Mesa with the Boynton gang

Excited to see Conclave

Best onion rings anywhere at Waldo's

Art show in Scotsdale; Utah artist

Steamed muscles at Alessia's in Mesa

Alessia's

The Marlpit-Hill Boyntons

Magic at the Cornish Pasty Company

Birthday dinner for Kris with the Youngs

Cousins's Breakfast at Little America -- we missed

Market Street Grill

May we survive November 2024!

OXO

D.

September 2924

It was slim pickins in September with only minimal photos. Meagan brought Ollie and Meg back to school and spent a couple of weeks working furiously on her dissertation locked away in our home office and her bedroom. We met, as we do, with the Group for dinner at the Boynton home, and we traveled to Vernal to celebrate his sixth birthday with young Arthur. Cousins breakfast as usual (no photo), but with a disappointing change of menu at Market Street Grill. We have to find a new place -- booo! And fall fell.

Meagan and Ollie met Moe

We celebrated Phil and Rod's birthdays

Arthur received his first two monster drawings

Birthday dinner at Denny's

Birthday cake back at the house

Colors were spectacular this year

I believe October will yield more activities and photos, so there will be more later.

OXO

D.

August 2024

Time flies and summer is coming to an end. August was full of all the usual stuff, but it also included a trip to Vernal for Evelyn's ninth birthday. Arthur sent me home with drawings to flesh out into fabulous monsters. The HI Taylors prepared for their kiddos to retrurn to BYU and that included storing a mountain of boxes shipped to our house to outfit Oliver David, recently returned from Brazil. And it also included a visit from Meagan, Oliver, and Meg. Meagan touched my heart by carefully carrying a custard pie from Lee's bakery in Honolulu for me! What a treat! We met Millie Kay in SLC for breakfast; the other cousins were all out of town. SKT unearthed some old photos that made me smile.

Dinner out with AW and SKT: Mexican sea food

My hair doesn't mix with leather when watching TV:

Kris calls my hairdo a "chicken butt"

Evy and Grammy

Evy and Arthur making tiny sculptures with modeling clay

All this good stuff made it into Ollies new apartment room

Click to see more clearly: "lava rock monster"

Now, that's a happy grandpa with a custard pie

Our favorite time of the month

Post-mission SKT and high-school DAT at the Timp summit

DAT and SKT (pre-mission) at our cousin 

Connie's (we think)

That's a wrap. More next month.

OXO

D.

The Rest of July 2024

We retuned from Zion for the 4th, we hosted the Gibbs family, we attended Debby's birthday party in Midway, Debby treated us to an Indian dinner, we had a few extra days with Maren and Beck after the other Youngs returned to AZ, the NY Gibbs visited (no photo), we had our monthly family dinner with the addition of Connor and family, we had a wonderful house tour arranged by Jim Calder (our first little house on The Hill, Uncle Bud's house, and our house on Oak Lane), and we finished off the month with Cousins Breakfast in SLC.

Freedom Run (photo by Harry David)

4th lunch with baked beans (lower left)

Emily freezing at the 4th compound fireworks

Dickie made Sunday dinner for the Gibbs

Debby and her progeny

The Taylors with Debra Sue on the occasion of her 70th

Bombay House with the Gibbs

La Casita before Maren left

New glasses from Warby Parker in SLC

Peri, Connor, and RT (Arty)

Madi and Moe

DAT, SKT, and HDT Jr. at Uncle Bud's Park

Stephen and Jim in the former cistern of the little

house on The Hill

Jim Calder with the Taylors at 2025 No. Oak Lane

SKT emjoying the view from the Oak Lane house

With the cousins in SLC 

Well now, that was a bit of fun.

OXO

D.