Albuquerque Hobbs: December 2-7, 2021: Cathy and Howard Lemmon's visit to Albuquerque

We were really excited to have Cathy and Howard come to Albuquerque to visit everyone the first week of December. We love our family and friends to stay at our house too! Cathy's main goal was to see our mom and our little sister Jacquie as much as possible. We made that happen and squeezed in some other activities too.

The first evening on December 2nd, I took Cathy with me to my ward's relief society Christmas dinner and program at Troy and Teri Brown's beautiful home. There was a huge turnout, and everything looked so pretty and festive. We had 3 different soups from Olive Garden, a fancy and scrumptious green salad, and gourmet desserts. Cathy really enjoyed the food and the program. While we were away, Mike took Howard out for a yummy Mexican meal.

On the 3rd, we visited our mom, Vernon, and Jacquie at mom's house and played games. When we returned to our house, I took Cathy for an electric bike ride around our neighborhood. She loved that, and we had a FUN time! We went to "The Chosen" Christmas program at Century Rio 24 Theater that evening. We thought it was going to be a movie, but it was mostly Christmas music performed by various Christian bands and singers accompanied by narration and a small movie clip of the birth of Christ. We really liked it though!

We went up Sandia Peak Tram on the 4th and enjoyed a fun hike and endless views from the top. Afterwards, we picked up lunch for everyone at Popeye's Chicken and visited my mom again.

On the 5th, Bishop Lemmon and Cathy came to church with us. Cathy and I and Howard bore our testimonies in sacrament meeting that morning. They hung out with us in our Sunday School class and enjoyed Mike's lesson.

December 6th: We visited my mom so Cathy could take her shopping while I got Vernon ready to join us for lunch at Stripes Biscuits and Burritos, where Jacob's family joined us. Vernon was happy to get out of the house!

After lunch, we all came back to our house to visit and play games. Jacob and Shauna appreciated the extra time with the Lemmon's. It was nice to have my mom, Vernon, and Jacquie at our house along with the Lemmon's (and Jacob's family), but I prefer smaller groups. It was also Vernon's first time at our house, and he liked going around the rooms in his wheelchair, but our thick wool rugs and narrow hallway was a challenge for him.

Jacquie bought a bunch of snacks and brought them over for all of us. A bit later, she ordered 4 large pizzas for our family for dinner! It was a long day of partying, but we had a great time. Jacquie is truly the party queen in our family and is so generous.

I really wanted to include Jessica's family in the Lemmon's visit, but they were all recovering from COVID and were isolating. So Cathy and Howard were only able to say a quick hello at the Dunlap's front door, which was such a letdown for me and Jess.

On the 7th, we went on a temple endowment session together. Afterwards, we tried to find a bowling alley with open lanes, but everyone was full. Jacquie suggested The Main Event, which cost more but had available lanes. She beat us there, paid for all of us and our rental shoes and ordered food for the group. She is so generous. We had so much fun bowling and being there with her family whom we hardly get to see. These photos are a bit out of order!