Out on a Limb Part Deux: Fall Flew

I remember thinking at the beginning of this year that time seemed to be moving slowly; now, the last three months seemed to have flown by. Lots to cover:

September:

Started by taking a weekend trip to the cabin with Sandra. Beautiful fall colors along the reservoir and in the mountains. We went golfing on the course near the cabin and I got these shots.

The fountain in the pond on #8 above and looking down from the first tee box below.

The next scheduled thing in September was a trip to Tennessee to run in the Smokey Mountain Half Marathon. The first sign of trouble was when our flight to Denver was delayed in Idaho Falls. I have been to the Denver Airport before and know how huge it is (the last time I was there I had to get on a shuttle to get to my connecting gate), and we didn't have a lot of time to make our next connection. We were assured the flights out of Denver were delayed too. Get to Denver and our next gate is over half a mile away (we know because we walked it later). The guy at the ticket desk has us jump on a golf cart type jeep to hurry us there, but it didn't seem to be in the biggest hurry. It still stopped for drop offs and to pick up another couple and to run and charge another vehicle. We finally get to our gate and the door is shut and nobody is around. We can see our plane out the window--with the gateway still attached--but nobody there to let us on. Quinn runs over to another desk to speak to someone. They get on the phone with someone official and we are informed we are SOL once the door shuts.

Walk back to the United counter and find out the next available flight is 24 hours later which would put us in Tennessee too late to attend the expo to pick up our packets and that would mean we would need to be at the race by 5:00 am the next morning to get our numbers. It would also mean spending the night in the airport because we had no luggage and they assured us if we didn't make the plane neither did our luggage (FALSE). We had to think about what to do next and make phone calls to see if we could get any of our money back from the hotel and car rental. By the time we had talked on the phone and been put on hold numerous times and discussed our options, we decided to just fly back home and bag the trip. Returning to the United counter, we found we were one of dozens of people stranded by missed connections and then it was over an hour wait in line to get arrangements made for a flight back to Idaho. Another tight window to get to our connecting gate and that is when we measured the distance as we hightailed it back to almost the same gate we came out of. Safe flight home, stop at McDonald's since we hadn't eaten all day, and home about 11:00 pm. A very disappointing and long day, but we did find out our suitcase made it to Tennessee and took three days to come home to us. This is a partial view of the line of people in front of us to rearrange flights. I think I counted 24 parties ahead of us.

Since we didn't make our trip to the South, I was able to substitute teach three days the next week, had everyone over for chili on Sunday, and we attended the funeral of our next door neighbor Glenna Transtrum. The end of September included taking my new friend Sunday Turner on a tour of Matt's potato operation--it was fun to show her how the harvest works and she was most impressed with the cellar and that it would eventually all be filled with potatoes--and another trip to the cabin with Sandra. I took my sewing machine this time and got some projects done and I invited Sunday to come up and spend the day, which she did!

Above are two pillowcases for Preston and Delanee--both getting baptized

together in St. George.

I made this baby quilt to use up leftover flannel, but it uses up a surprisingly small amount. I could probably make 50 more with the scraps I have. I put the binding on at the cabin. Below are more snap purses. The Halloween purse was for a missionary Sister Lauren Anderson who I correspond with.

I next had the Murdock boys for the day as Katie was working in the harvest and the two oldest stayed for a sleepover. We spent lots of time playing in the park at Jensen's Grove. The month ended with a Relief Society Social in which Quinn was among others who cooked Dutch oven dishes. He made my favorite turtle cake. The meal was yummy, but I left before the games began so I could attend my book club. The book: The Book of Lost Friends (4 stars).

October:

This month included more substitute teaching (a LOT more), dehydrating apples and making pies, Kara and Terry's mission call to Costa Rica, tracking the girl's ballgames on the GameChanger app, attending the Pocatello Temple Open House with Sandra, watching Adi and Rylee run cross country, playing Annie I Over on Sundays, and ushering at the temple open house (NOT).

It is very hard to get pictures of runners--and the one below is taken from a video but it has them both in the same frame.

We really enjoyed attending their meets--an easy spectator sport.

Quinn and I had every intention of ushering at the temple open house. We attended the pre-meeting at the church the Sunday before and arrived early for the pre-meeting before walking up to the temple that morning. It was only after we sat and waited for a turn to usher and the ones at the beginning of the line were already back and ready to go again, that we decided we were not "essential" and they could get along fine without us. Besides, Quinn had already done a shift working as a parker and traffic stopper for an afternoon. At that point, we handed in our badges and went for a drive up a canyon in Pocatello and saw a TON of wild turkeys. Quinn was counting while I took pictures and there were at least 50-75. Some were flying into Russian olive trees and a house had an entire flock? fleet? in their yard. If they are as trashy as geese, I felt sorry for the home owner. After the sighting of all the wild turkeys, we went to a yummy breakfast at ButterBurr's.

The night before Halloween, I drove to Kara's and spent the night to attend my first play of the season in SLC. The play was Frozen and I loved it. It felt so good to be back in the theater. I didn't arrive home until after the trunk or treat had ended in front of our house. I wasn't able to see the kids in person, but here are some pictures from the holiday.

Wes was Peter Pan, so Katie and Matt were lost boys.

Saw the cartoon below on FB and just had to include it for our Ruth.

A well decorated yard near the Pocatello Temple:

November:

The month started with a trip to St. George to drive Sandra to the double baptism and for me to visit my doctor and spend time with Chad and Peachy. Didn't get to spend a lot of time with C&P because they are very busy with their jobs and school, but we did get to play a game of Five Crowns and Scrabble and go to the movie The French Dispatch. Chad also made me dinner. I got to see a lot of Kristine and her family and we spent a day figuring out how to work her fancy embroidery machine and then embroidering 30+ names of her family members to be put on stockings for Christmas. I think we mastered that part. We also got a notion to finally sew together a tree quilt we had cut out a couple years before. We were up until 1:00 am sewing and what we didn't finish, I brought home with me and did. The quilt is now at the quilters, so I will take a picture of it when I finish it.

These are an example of some of the stockings. The oval name tag is what we made and then attached to the socks.

This is the progress of the Washington County Temple near Kristine's home.

I saw this great white heron on my first walk to the bridge over Virgin River.

This is Bob Carlos. He use to live at Aubree's home in AZ, but now resides at Kristine's. He is quite entertaining to watch and comes toward you when he hears your voice.

Kara and Terry drove up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to attend a session at the Pocatello Temple and then spend the night with us. It was good to have one last visit before they report to the MTC on Monday the 6th. Everyone had other plans for Thanksgiving Day, so I spent the day putting up my Christmas decor and watching Pride & Prejudice on PBS. That night, Quinn and I watched Jumanji (he had never seen it) while I made pies and he seeded pomegranates. The following day we had an abbreviated dinner: turkey sandwiches, cheese and crackers, pomegranate salad, and pies. We had all the Murdocks and Audrey, Beau, and Gus. Enjoyed ourselves and played Sequence with K&M while Wes napped and A took the boys to a light parade in Pocatello to collect candy.

That brings me up-to-date with December. Today I took Sunday to the Christmas Tree Fantasy and tomorrow I drive to SLC to see the second play of the season--Mean Girls. Unfortunately, Quinn is sick with a cold now and he didn't golf today or yesterday so you know he really is sick. On Wednesday, the last day he golfed, he got a 74! so I know he is anxious to get out there again while weather permits.

I planted these mums after I brought them home from the cemetery Memorial weekend. They are finally blooming in November.

Below my Christmas cactus is starting to bloom too.

I wanted to capture the flag lined street that welcomed The Wall That Heals that came to Blackfoot. It was a very touching memorial and Quinn and I enjoyed walking around it.

Below is a memorial in Thayne, WY, for one of the Marines killed as the US tried to evacuate in Afghanistan. His name is Rylee McCollum from Wyoming and his wife was expecting their first child when he was killed. So sad.

The Murdock boys on Thanksgiving Day. Below is poor Wes getting reprimanded for making a mess of Katie's puzzle. Luckily, all the pieces were found and it all came together despite his "help".