Traces of Time - November 23-29, 2015

Traces of Time . . .

This week 

~ November 23, 2015 
to 
November 29, 2015  

in IDAHO ~

November 23, 2015 - Monday ~ ~ 
We drove to Utah today to go to the Corner Canyon High School play: "Shrek - the Musical." Joshua, Anna, and Sam were all in it.

Josh was Papa Ogre/Papa Bear; Anna was Rapunzel; and Sam was Grumpy/Troll.
We loved seeing them in this fun high school musical.
Tonight we had Grandparents, Aunts, Uncle, and lots of cousins supporting them.
Walt, Eileen, Steve, Natalie, Kimble, Carter, Julie, Jacee, Jackson, Maddie. Uncle Gary, Aunt Kathy, and cousins Abbey, Jacob, and Isaac had come to the play on Friday.

Even friends Kirt Melling who lives in Lehi came, and his Mom, Ruth Melling, drove early from Burley because of the snow predicted.

Julie's Dad their Grandfather Brent Black told us this is the third time he has come to the play.

Here are Josh, Anna, and Sam with their little brother William, and Mom and Dad David and Julie.
(I can't find this photo.  I'll have to have Julie send me hers.)

Here are the three actors with their PetersEn cousins--Kimble and Carter.

And here they are with their PetersOn cousins--Jacee, Jackson, and Maddie.

Plus with the "Donkey."  William also got in this photo.

We're thankful to David for providing the tickets for us.  He's always out front to see that we get in okay.  Then he parked Julie's van for us.  We're proud of him, his darling wife and precious children.  It was a fun night to be with them.

November 24, 2015 - Tuesday
After staying overnight with Julie and John in Saratoga Springs, we headed back to Burley.  One-year-old Rigdon is always ready with a smile for the camera.

We got a photo of Julie, Jacee, Jackson, Maddie, and Rigdon before we headed out.

Julie grew all the pumpkins...and some of them were small enough to put in the flower boxes.

We're on our way home to Burley, I D A H O.  It was a nice sunny day, that got into the 50's.

We drove through Tremonton to see the hospital that Mary White Jensen's Dad had built there in the 1940s or 1950s.  Walt thinks it's an Assisted Living Center now.
We weren't sure where it was, and then we were past it before we got a photo.  We stopped in Tremonton for lunch.
We wished we'd stopped at the Brigham City Airport to talk with our cousin, Lareen.
Since we were trying to get home and on to Rexburg before dark, we were on a tight schedule.  We want to stop the next time we go down and get to see Lareen.
Walt did snap a photo of the old barn between Tremonton and Snowville which is exactly 100 miles from Burley.

We were wanting to get up to Rexburg because snow was predicted for Wednesday,  So we hurried to get sheets washed and a few final things done (like dusting upstairs and downstairs) to have our home ready for Julie and John and their family, and one of John's sisters, Tiffany, husband, and family to stay when they were all here for Thanksgiving with John's parents--Brent and Vicki.  

Then we headed out to Rexburg.  Even tho we drove most of the 2 1/2 hours in the dark, with the full moon it gave a little light.
  It was fun to have Daniel and Kelly there when we arrived.

We were there for the unveiling of the Murphy bed that a carpenter friend had built and installed that very day.

Now their guest room--which is used as their home office--is really a guest room with a nice bed.  

November 25, 2015 - Wednesday
We went to the hospital that morning to see Richard Call. Julie called to tell us that he had been taken to the Rexburg Hospital with a bowel obstruction.  He and Sayda, and their family had been at a friend's lodge in Island Park where all their family was gathering for Thanksgiving.  

Richard, even though sad to be able to stay with the rest of his family in Island Park, was still positive..
[We saw on facebook that he was discharged on Friday, Nov. 27, and were heading to the Huntsman Cancer Center, where he's been treated for the past few years.]

Then we went to pick up some last few treats for the holiday.  I was surprised to see some people just getting their turkey and trimmings.
As we were leaving Broulims, I thought this was an interesting scene: an autumn tree with fall colors with the Evergreen tree all decorated for Christmas; plus there were red Poinsettas.

It was getting colder and a little windy as we got outside.

When we're out in the cold Rexburg almost-winter air, we just want to get back in the car.

When we got back to their home, Janie and I worked together in making the pie crust. Walt had started peeling apples just as Steve and Natalie arrived after having a stressful drive in a blizzard from Tremonton to Blackfoot...having to go as slow as 30 mph because their car was sliding back and forth.
We were thankful for their safe arrival.  

Daniel, Kelly, Sam, and Michael had rendezvoused with Kimble and Carter in Idaho Falls to spend an hour together at a sports center....I think like jumping on trampolines (not sure).

Steve and Natalie helped peel the rest of the 20 apples and we got two big apple pies baked.  
This one said: "Happy Thanksgiving 2015."

This one said: "We love you!"

Parker and Katie came before they headed out to Gooding where Parker's family was gathering at his Grandparent's home (his Dad grew up in Gooding.)  We told them that if they encountered bad weather during this 4-hour drive, they could stop at our home in Burley on the way.

Katie helped her Mom with the final preparations for the Thanksgiving Eve supper.  (I think we've mentioned that her baby girl is due Feb. 4.)

Then everyone was ready for the traditional Thanksgiving Eve supper of stew and scones.

Since family from far away sometimes arrive at various times the night before Thanksgiving....the stew can be kept warm and ready for whenever...  Happily, everyone was there to eat together.
(Except Heidi who was working--teaching dance at her internship-- in San Jose, California till 10pm that night with a flight out the next morning at 7:30 California time.)

The teens were eating at the snack bar...

Just being together and talking... we love being together.

Walt and I love being with each one of our children.  We are proud of their being kind, compassionate, and great citizens.  And this includes those they have added to our family by marrying kind and compassionate spouses, who are also great citizens.

We can talk about church, raising/disciplining children, politics, world events--and although we don't always agree on every detail--we respect each point of view.

Janie had made a delicious cheese ball to have a variety of crackers with, plus there was no lack of sweet treats and nuts.

The holiday season has begun!

November 26, 2015 - Thursday

Thanksgiving Day

Shawn and Steve left for the Salt Lake Airport at 4:30 a.m. to be there when Heidi's plane landed at 8:30.

Janie and her kids served a breakfast of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream on top.  Grampa cooked the link sausages (which my Mom always called "Little Pigs").

I offered to drive over to Albertsons for another bag of strawberries and more milk, and when I got back, Janie said the teens had swooped in, inhaled the breakfast, and swooped out again.  

So I didn't get any photos.

Here are Janie and Sam starting to peel the potatoes.

Natalie and Carter made yummy dessert of peanut butter chocolate bars on an oreo crust.

next

November 27, 2015 - Friday

  Holiness to the Lord -- Guess where we went the morning after Thanksgiving?

We entered the temple at 6:15 a.m. and Janie got the 6:45 a.m. Endowment card #1, as the first person to come for the session.

They helped us walk on the icy roads and sidewalks.  It was 5 degrees F when we headed to the temple.  On the way it went down to 3 degrees.  Brrrrrr....

Natalie and Steve were on their way home to prepare breakfast before we got outside, so we took a photo of them when they were cooking breakfast.  They volunteered to prepare all the Friday meals.
They had breakfast burritos this morning -- which had yummy choices to fill the tortilla with: sausage cooked in with the scrambled eggs; bacon, grated cheese, hash browns, salsa, sour cream.  Juices, milk, and chocolate milk rounded out the menu.  Oh, and the traditional morning after Thanksgiving addition of homemade apple pie.

Everyone was hungry after getting up so early to go to the temple.  The Fisher Teens--Sam, Ashley, Michael and Steve & Nat's Teens--Kimble and Carter went to the temple to do baptisms.  Then Kimble and Carter helped cook the breakfast.

Breakfast Burritos just hit the spot!

As Aaron Blonquist--one of our Mexico Merida Missionaries--posted about Thanksgiving--it's a time of "Food, Fun, Faith, Family, Friends.*
This extends throughout this holiday weekend.

*He also had Football - then a pick-up game of Basketball in the evening.

Scheduled for the rest of the day are now: morning naps after getting up at 5am. Shawn and Steve are on their way to buy the movie tickets for a 5:50 time of "Creed" (Rocky VI) with Sylvester Stallone as the coach for Apollo's son into the boxing world. Steve told us some movie critics are saying Stallone could get an oscar nomination for his performance in this.

At 2:00 or when Parker is back from Gooding, they are going shooting before the movie.  They figure they will only last about an hour in this almost sub-zero weather.  However, it is sunny, and no wind yet.

November 28, 2015 - Saturday
Steve and Natalie will go spend time with her brother Scott, and sister Jena who live here.  Don't know if her sister, Angie, who lives in Tetonia is coming to Rexburg.

We left at 1:30...when the BYU vs Utah State football game was being played.  However, we forgot the game was on and anyway we were listening to the audiobook The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is very enlightening.

Walt couldn't find the results of the game in the newspaper Sunday, so I googled it:

BYU Cougars (9-3)

51 - 28

Final

Utah State Aggies (6-6)

It was because I was ejecting a tape that had just finished that I missed the Burley Exit #208.


November 29, 2015 - Sunday

Great talks in Sacrament Meeting from Ethan Kemp, Kiley Pierce and Steve Ormond.  Brother Ormond was sustained as the new Boy Scout Leader.

Sunday School was Lesson 43: "A Chosen Generation."
In Relief Society we were taught by Bonnie Fronk from the talk given by Neill F. Marriott "Yielding Our Hearts to God" in the Saturday morning session of Oct. 2015 General Conference.

We truly feasted on the word today.

We pray you have had a peaceful and restful Sabbath Day.
We are a chosen generation--chosen to work, to share the Restored Gospel.

We are thankful to a loving Father in Heaven for all His tender mercies to us.
We are thankful to His Son, Jesus Christ, for coming to earth to become our Savior and Redeemer.
We are thankful for the Prophet Joseph Smith restoring all truths for these latter days.
We are thankful for our living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, for guiding the Kingdom of God throughout the whole world.
We are thankful for each other, our seven children, their spouses, and our 35 grandchildren, and for our first great-grandchild who is due in February 2016.

We are thankful to our extended family and our friends close, and those friends we have made during our four missions--in Mexico, Guatemala, Central America, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador.

This has been a wonderful Thanksgiving week.
We now look forward to the Christmas Season which commemorates the Birth of the Son of God, who will again come to the Earth--this time in Power and Glory!

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Walter and Eileen Petersen - Burley, I D A H O.