October 2020: Random Sampler II

It's been an uneventful Fall season due to the Corona Virus outbreak. You see, the widespread virus trumps everything else that's going on. Thank goodness for Mike, and our children, and our grandchildren, and my mother, and my siblings, and my close friends. And thank goodness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God's Plan of Happiness for all mankind. Those are the things that keep us going and keep us happy, even in a time of confusion, mixed messages, hopelessness in the world, and an uncertain future.

Sprinkle in some important events, service opportunities, meaningful experiences, and new toys to make life exciting! I'm grateful for my life and for the people I get to share it with. You know who you are!

We have so many homeless people on our busiest street corners. 

One day I filled brown paper bags with bottled water, an apple, granola, trail mix, crackers, fruit snacks, and Pop Tarts. I stored the bags in baskets and bins and kept a few in my car to give away whenever possible. I also gave a bunch of the bags to my girls and to my friend Patti Waseta to hand out. 

I always include food on my Blog because food tastes good and makes us happy! For dinner one night, I fried up the leftover small roasted potatoes, ribeye steak, and German sausage that we enjoyed with the Lemmon's the night before, and we ate more of the fresh salad I'd made.

Babysitting the Dunlap kids! I love how well these siblings get along. And Hudson is the BEST big brother to his two little sisters and is Beau's best buddy. I love all the Dunlaps' close relationships with each other!

Our once healthy Austrian Pine evergreen started getting brown needles in sections this fall. Not sure if it's from lack of water or from a pest. If we lose this tree, we'll replace it with something more colorful.

Another night of yummy leftovers for me and Mike 

Cool new ceiling fan we ordered for our living room
 This one cools the room down fast and looks like a propeller!

We had a snow storm in October after having a long warm autumn!
My poor plants and shrubs got quite the shock and died within a few days

The front of our house

Our backyard and patio

Another babysitting day with cousins. Here, they're watching TV
What is our little Sofie doing?

A second day of snow

Our front courtyard

Pretty snow in the courtyard at night

First time we tried out our fireplace, and it works great!

End of our first snowfall this year and photos of our home

Mike ordered these COOL electric bikes for our birthdays
They are seriously SO MUCH FUN--best toys ever!

Evidence of our sugar addiction, especially during movie time

My baby sister Jacqueline Babbit fixing Mom's patio door lock

Jacquie's her "handy woman" and favorite daughter. She's amazing!

She borrowed my reading glasses in the photo below. I adore her so much.

Patti Waseta's grandson, Bobbi, a delightful and funny guy
Here he's holding their puppy Bobbi Jo--half Fox, half Chihuahua

October 2020: The Lemmon's Visit!

It's always a treat when my twin sister's family comes to visit. We love Cathy and Howard and their family very much. I have never lived close to Cathy since our college days in Idaho. Even though we visited each other's family while our children were young, I often lament the fact that our children weren't raised close to their cousins all those years. I truly believe that Cathy's kids and our kids would have become the best of friends and could have been a source of strength, comfort, and lasting support to each other throughout their lives. 

Now that both of our family's children are grown and most of them are married, they are busy with their own lives. The Hobbs and Lemmon cousins don't really know each other or stay in touch. But I'm grateful that Cathy and Howard are still close to us in spirit. Maybe one day the four of us can live close enough to visit often. Mike and I will have to explore the possibility of moving after retirement, which is next year! 

The Lemmon's stayed with us for a few days, then rented a car to drive to California for a family vacation with their daughter Jennifer and her children. After their trip, they returned to Albuquerque and stayed with us again for a couple more days. Only Howard, Cathy, and their son Warren came. There wasn't much to do due to social distancing, but we went on a walk; went for a bike ride on the Bosque; ate out; visited my mom; visited with Jessica's family; visited with Jacob's family; and played games. We also participated in a "Write the Book of Mormon" activity that Bishop Lemmon (Howard) thought up for the youth in his ward. 

The exercise of writing a chapter of the Book of Mormon was supposed to help us realize how impossible it would have been for Joseph Smith or anyone to have written such an inspired volume of scripture without the aid of God and His power. The experience also taught us personal things from the scriptures, which we shared with one another after we were done writing.

Sure wish we had taken more pictures! This is a very short post.

Our last dinner together consisted of ribeye steaks and Italian sausage that Mike grilled outside, roasted creamery potatoes with sharp English white cheddar, asparagus, a green salad, and watermelon--yum!

Funny man Uncle Howard and son Warren

Me and Cathy with our mouths full of food!

After dinner and later that night, my younger sister Jacqueline Babbitt dropped in to see the Lemmons. Cathy and I and Jacquie had fun talking until it late, while the poor guys sat around waiting to do something fun!

October 13th: Celebrating Mike's 61st birthday

Mike turned 61 this year! How did that happen? Sometimes we still feel like we're in our prime and can do anything, but then the wrinkles and aches and pains remind us that we're only getting older!

I invited our Albuquerque kids to join us for lunch at Chinshan Chinese restaurant to celebrate. These photos were taken After our meal. Next time we'll remember to picture the food before it's gone!

Mike's 61st birthday lunch at ChinShan Chinese restaurant

Me and my honey bear Mike

Hobbs' and Dunlaps' at the table for Mike's birthday lunch

Cousins at the round table