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!