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This was taken the last week of November. Our yard should not have this much snow until January! The grass is still green under the trampoline. There are still flowers on our rose bushes. There is easily 12” of it – and my daughter says she got 2 feet! I hope we get November weather in February…

The first week of November Randy had some training that he needed to go to in Nashville, TN. Normally, this would have been a great trip for him because he was staying at the house of the guy who used to be our music producer when we lived there, Fred Vail. And we have so many friends there that he could have contacted. However, his Meniere’s disease started up again and he spent most of his free time laying down or in bed! First, let me give a little history on this – Almost 2 years after we were married, we had moved in with my parents in San Diego because the guy in Utah that Randy had been working for could not pay us the thousands of dollars that he owed us and we had no other options. After about a month, my parents sold their house and we moved them up to Lakewood, CA and were still living with them because Randy had no job. Did I mention that we were expecting our first child and additionally we had no insurance? Anyway, one day he answered the phone, but couldn’t hear out of one ear – not too good for a musician. Soon he got a job and after we had enough money, we moved into an apartment shortly before our first son was born, but the ear problems continued. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t hear, but he would have ringing in it, and eventually it got so bad that the room would start spinning and he would start throwing up. I would have to get him a pitcher of water to set by his bed, he would drink something so that he had something in his stomach to puke, and finally after hours he would fall asleep from exhaustion and sleep for about 24 hours. He would be kind of groggy for a day, and then he would feel normal again for a few weeks. Several times I actually had to go pick him up from work and take him to the hospital where they would shoot Dramamine into his veins – which actually did nothing. He was tested and found that he had a build-up of fluid in the inner ear called Meniere’s disease (named after a French doctor). Did I also mention that there’s no cure for it and that one cause might be stress?

Anyway, he ended up losing at least one job because of it. Then he was called as a counselor in the Bishopric in our ward. He explained his health problem to the Stake President, who along with the Bishop gave him a blessing. His Meniere’s disease went into remission. Fast forward about 23 years. The same day that he moved to Utah to start a new job, it started up again. (Leaving me and the two kids (still at home) in Topeka for a few months to finish school, seminary, sell the house, etc – stress??!!)For the first 3 years after this move, he had intermittent problems with it. Then, it had not given him any problems for about 6 months, but started up again a month ago. He was really sick while he was in Nashville and he has had episodes several times a week ever since. I had to go to his office once to pick him up, and once I had to go to a parking lot to pick him up since he was too sick to drive. The day before Thanksgiving he had an episode while teaching a safety class and because he couldn’t reach me by phone a couple of guys from work drove him home. He had a bi-annual safety inspection from the insurance company out of Connecticut today – luckily he made it through without any Meniere’s attacks, but it probably wasn't good enough for us to get the money we should. Anyway, this has been our life lately.

My sister, Becky came up from Las Vegas for a few days to visit my mother and other sister, Connie. Randy and I were going to go out of town for a couple of those days, but Randy was too sick. His new calling, by the way, is one of the two Gospel Doctrine teachers. Because he didn’t know who to call as a substitute, he made it for class one week. (The Sunday School president is going to get him a list of those people willing to sub.) And last week he didn’t make it at all.

We had tickets (that were not inexpensive) to go to the play “The Drowsy Chaperone” on the same night that the weather reports were telling everyone to stay home because a blizzard was coming in. The theatre is about 30 minutes from our home. I called the theatre and they said that all they could do for us if we couldn’t make it would be to switch our tickets for another night at 5pm to see “A Christmas Carol”. I wasn’t real excited to see that play, plus I would have to make extra arrangements to get there at that time. Randy did not want to lose the money we had spent for the tickets. So, we decided we would go for it and have a snow adventure! Besides, we have life insurance on both of us :o) The visibility was supposed to only be one half mile, but we could see much farther than that. We did have to drive about 25 mph in a 60mph zone because of the snow and ice, and we saw quite a few stopped cars and emergency vehicles, but we got to the theatre about 5 minutes before it started. I lost a lense out of my glasses at one point (I found it), Randy lost the nose guard from his glasses and also got them caught in his sweater (so he had to go without them until intermission), one wiper came off and had to be put back on, and we almost ran out of gas. The drive home was much better. It had quit snowing and even though there had been about 3” at the theatre, there was only about 1” at our house. (They had been expecting 10”) Oh – how was the play? It was well acted, funny, there were things and people coming down from above, people and things coming up from below, marvelous costumes, etc. We really enjoyed it, but it’s not a play I need to see again!

Well, our family Christmas card will be arriving in a few weeks. Tyler is working on it, but he is also trying to finish classes for the semester. We always have a lot of fun doing those, so I’ll try to post it online.

The Holidays are starting . . .

General Conference was wonderful, as usual. The General Authorities that speak always say just what we need to hear. Pres. Boyd K. Packer’s talk (where he mentioned homosexuality) had turned out to be quite controversial for a week or so, but I guess that’s part of the signs of the times. The news release by the Church about our stand on all of this was great.

We finally took Heidi out for her birthday dinner – 2 months late. We went to Tepanyaki Japanese Steak House where they cook the food in front of you and it was great as usual. Heidi had a headache, so I’m not sure how much she was able to enjoy it, though. She gave us a tour through her new place – it looks like it is just perfect for her. She was in an Honor Guard recently – that’s what this picture is from.

They have been reseeding the hillside where the fire took place. I guess these first seeds sprout and grow quickly to help stop mudslides. Then the regular vegetation can take over in the next few years. Helicopters have dropped a lot of seeds near the top, but they have used volunteers to spread them on the lower parts. I was signed up to help on a Thursday and Friday morning. However, I had had a sore throat for a week that got a little worse each day although I was gargling and doing everything I knew to do for it. So, I went to the doctor on Wednesday and found out that I had strep. He gave me an antibiotic and I figured I would be better (and not contagious) within 24 hours, so I told them I wouldn’t make it Thursday but probably could on Friday. However, this particular antibiotic (V pak) did NOTHING for me. My throat got sorer and my Eustachian tube hurt all the way into my ear. I couldn’t even swallow. I had to take Lortab every 4-5 hours just so I could function and I didn’t get much sleep at night. I talked to the doctor Friday morning and got a different antibiotic and some steroid to reduce the swelling. I obviously missed the reseeding on Friday, also. I slept all afternoon and some of the evening on Friday. By Friday night the swelling had gone down a lot so I was actually able to swallow some ice cream to soothe my throat. Another thing I noticed – I usually put my head down and shake it up and down or swing it sideways in circles to get my hair dry – but on Saturday after all this throat stuff when I did that, I could feel major tingling in my hands and forearms! I figure the swelling in my throat, ear and neck must have pressed against a nerve. Pretty weird. I lost several pounds since I couldn’t eat (and then regained them back, of course), but this is not a diet that I would recommend to anyone! And one more interesting side note: The doctor I saw was Dr. Daynes – nephew to Bro. Daynes that my brother Derek and his wife Rita worked for at his jewelry store in San Diego. Small world.

Well, since Dylan turned 19 years old and is not a full-time student, he is no longer covered under Randy’s health insurance. Luckily he’d already seen the dentist, but he still has to get 4 wisdom teeth pulled and have his check-up and shots from a regular doctor. I am NOT looking forward to paying full price for any of that! He is on a list to be in a trial for a new procedure where they pull your wisdom teeth (you have to be watched for 2 days in a hospital?)and they actually pay YOU, but there’s no telling when his name will come up. He is working 40+ hours a week setting up displays for a flooring supply company now, but I’m not sure if they offer health insurance or not. We’ll have to check into that.

We went to see “Arsenic and Old Lace” in Lehi one night. Our friend Dave Wayt had a small part as the minister and Glen Meigs (he plays drums in Randy’s blues band) also had a small part as the head of a retirement home – the last guy the two old women poison. Dave’s daughter, Krystal, and her husband Ryan had more substantial parts, and Glen’s son, Jeff, also had a small part. It was enjoyable to watch. Dave’s dad died on a Friday and the funeral was the following week – the same week as the play, but he proved that ‘the show must go on!”

We finished the vinyl fence around the backyard (see before and after pictures). The neighbors actually had a chain link fence between the yards on the west side, but their two little yappy dogs would always bark at us when we were in our own backyard – which was kind of annoying. And we needed to have something between the shed and the back deck – the neighbor’s cat would come through there and poop on my grass and hide behind the pond/waterfall and wait for birds to land. Randy put some steps going down to the backyard from that deck so that we can get to the front from that side also. But most of all, I just wanted a private backyard – and now I have it! I can die happy.

I got a new calling last month. I got released as a ward missionary and also as the chorister for Sacrament Meeting (Ward Music Chairman). My new calling is as the Primary Chorister. This actually will be a lot like teaching seminary in that I have to keep the kids attention while trying to teach them about gospel principles. The main differences are that this is only once a week, there are a lot more kids, they are much younger, and it is all done through music. Plus – I’m a lot older than last time I had this calling! I hope I have the energy for this!! Randy also got released as 1^st Assistant in the High Priest group. He doesn’t have a new calling yet. (Nursery??!!)

I have started another class – this one is International Business. There is no Final for this class, but I will have three papers to write. At least they don’t have to be very long.

All the trees and bushes are starting to change colors down here in the valley. They have already changed up in the mountains, although we haven’t had time to drive up there together. Randy was in Park City for inspections a couple of weeks ago, and said the colors were amazing. We had been having nice, dry, warm weather for a long time. Finally this last week we had rain, cold, and snow in the valleys (briefly) and the mountains. I am not looking forward to any of this, but I do love the holiday seasons. I have found that I don’t mind Halloween too much now that I don’t have to come up with costumes for my kids! I just have to make sure that I have candy to hand out and I’m good!

Slowly Sliding Into Fall

Well, I have to say that I am LOVING this weather! It’s the first day of October and it’s been in the high 80’s – low 90’s all last week and is supposed to last a few more days. I’m OK with Fall holding off a while longer!

On Labor Day Randy and I took a long walk around the lake at a housing development and community near here called Daybreak. There are a lot of areas that still need to be developed (I think the problems with the economy really slowed things down there), but it is still very peaceful and lovely.The Oquirrh Mountain Temple that we attend is near there.

We celebrated Dylan’s 19^th birthday one night early so that Heidi and Tyler could both join us. It’s hard to believe that my youngest child is that old. One more year and I won’t have any more kids in their teens! He got to go with some friends down to Lake Powell for 5 days and stayed on a houseboat. He had a lot of fun waterskiing, surfing behind the boat, and cliff jumping. The weather was perfect and so was the water temperature. He especially liked the fact that he had 3 meals a day prepared for him – plus snacks! (back to the real world now of Mom making only dinner!) He came back really tan. He got a full-time job setting up displays of floor products (carpeting, linoleum, wood, etc) all over the state and into Idaho and Colorado. He says it’s the best job he has ever had!

Randy’s band played at a park again – this time the audience was only half as big as last time, but he said they did well and he still had fun.

Heidi moved out of her apartment and into the upper level of a house (another woman lives in the basement). It is only 5 minutes from the campus where she works, so already she has really enjoyed that. She said it is so much nicer to get off work at 2am and NOT have to drive for a half hour just to get home. It has 2 bedrooms and a lot of cupboard space.

My mother turned 92 on the 15^th. We celebrated her birthday on the following Sunday evening so that more people could come, and that’s typically a better day for me to host something like that. We had over 30 people here for it. I had taken her to get her temple recommend renewed earlier in the afternoon and we had noticed there was a fire on the far side of the hill behind us. Someone said it was just a brush fire. We found out later that it had been started by a machine-gun training exercise of the Utah National Guard and they tried, but couldn’t put it out. They should never have been doing that when conditions were so dry and it was so windy, and they have since apologized for it and are taking full responsibility. By the time we were having my mother’s birthday party it was obvious the fire was getting bigger, and before long the flames were coming over the top of the hill. By that evening there were over 1,400 houses that were being evacuated. The evacuation area ended only a few blocks from us. The fire continued to burn all that night and fire crews concentrated on keeping houses safe. There was an article in the local newspaper about a man that used his bulldozer to plow a fire line that was directly responsible for saving 32 homes. By the next morning we discovered that only 3 houses had burned down and 1 was partially burnt – it was a miracle that no other homes were damaged. They hoped to have the last of the fire and hot spots put out by Tuesday morning, but the wind kicked up again. (photo by Mike Day) On Wednesday morning I rode my bike on my usual route and I could still see smoke rising from the ashes. We had rain, hail, and thunder storms that day, and the rain helped put out the fire – but then they were worried about mudslides! (The city has already started planting seedlings to help prevent that next year.) The last of the people that had been evacuated were finally let back into their homes by Wednesday night. My heart really goes out to those that lost their homes, but this awful situation showed that miracles DO happen and caused a lot of people to focus on what is really important.

Speaking of bike riding – My left hip had been hurting, with pain going down my leg sometimes. So, I went a week without any treadmill or biking. When I got back on the treadmill I was OK, but I only went 6.5 miles (instead of 10.5) on the bike and it was hurting again. I guess I’ll have to work at strengthening that joint muscle with weights this fall and winter. I hate getting old….

One Saturday late in the month, Randy and I went to the Hogle Zoo. Heidi works there sometimes as a security guard, so she was able to get us in for free. We were able to see just about everything in 2 ½ hours – just about the right amount of time for us and it felt good to be in the sun all afternoon. We didn’t quite time it right to see the bird show, but we caught the end of the elephant show. They have a big area that they are working on that will have all kinds of water exhibits – large mammals, otters, sea lions, etc – that will open in 1 ½ years.

I have finished everything for my class on Organizations and just have to wait for my grade. I am SO glad to be done with it! From reading comments from the other students in class, it sounds like most of them have also had negative feelings about it. I know I will have more research papers to write in other classes, but I’m glad to be done for now.

The end of summer

I don’t hardly know where to begin! We have really crammed a lot into the last month. The first weekend we held the Richard K. Preece family reunion. About 11 people played FREE golf that Friday morning at the course where Derek has his office, and that evening my mother, her kids and grandkids met at Golden Corral for dinner. There were around 34 people there for that. From our immediate family, everyone except Jesse was there – Ingrid and Jeff drove up from Colorado, and Heidi had that weekend off of work, so she was able to join us. Saturday we had a picnic at a park near our home for everyone – this time including great-grandkids. We ate hogie sandwiches and played volleyball. The kids climbed on the jungle gym and drew with sidewalk chalk. My mother was able to be at that for a couple of hours. That evening we had dinner at our








house for my siblings, their spouses and my mom. We brought an extra table over from church so we could all sit together, and then after dinner we went through the collection of church books that my parents had and everyone took what they wanted.

Heidi turned 26 on August 5 and we celebrated it on Sunday evening, August 8. That Sunday turned out to be quite busy – I substituted as the Gospel Doctrine teacher, and also took dinner over to a sister that I visit teach and her family because she had just had surgery on her knee.

There was a Relief Society night at the temple that my sister Connie and I attended. Connie only worked for half a day that day. The sisters met at someone’s home for refreshments afterwards, but we did not go to that. Randy and I attended a sealing session at the temple on another night, also.

I started a new course at school – it's on Organizational Theory, Design and Structure. Yes – it is as exciting as it sounds! I still have a couple of chapters to read every week in the textbook with 10 multiple choice questions to answer, 2 essay questions pertaining to the reading, and 2 entries on the Discussion Board with other class members. But this time, instead of having a final with 50 multiple choice questions, I have had to write a 2-page article critique and I have a 10-page research paper due at the end of the course. Fun.

Randy’s blues band played a gig at a park in Midway one night. I didn’t get to go, but he said it went really well and the promoters only had good things to say. There were about 550 people in the audience and they sold CD’s and posters afterwards and did a lot of autograph signing. The following day, Connie only worked a half day again, and Randy & I met up with Jim & Connie Hubbard and drove to Evanston, Wyoming to have dinner with Frank & Stormy Draney. The food was wonderful and the company was great – so we had a really good time.

I took my mother and sister Connie down to Orem for blood tests one week, and then took them down there the following week for their regular doctor’s visits. I also drove Connie down on one other day so that she could visit her periodontist. I took my mother to the hearing aid doctor a couple of times. She has decided to keep the new hearing aids and the doctor gave her some more advice about cleaning her ears and also ideas about cleaning the new aids. I also had to get new frames for my mother’s eyeglasses because her old ones had broken and lost a spring. Luckily she didn’t have to go with me, and they were able to find some that her lenses fit into without having to trim them down and the cost was minimal.

The Honda that Dylan drives passed the emissions inspection, but did not pass the safety inspection that is required before we can register it for the next year. So I had to get a new tie rod, a new front wheel bearing, plus adjustments, get the battery secured, and get 2 new tires. So, with registration, it cost me about $875 just so that we can keep driving it! YUK.

Our nephew Richie (Terry’s son) got married on Aug 17 in the Salt Lake Temple. Connie, Randy and I made it to the wedding, and Randy & I went to the reception that evening. It was nice. We saw my cousin Sande there and found out that she was attending the “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington DC on Aug 28. Tyler was also planning to attend the rally and visit with some friends that live out in that area of the country now. I also found out later that my niece, Nicki, attended, as did some friends of ours from Tennessee. I heard from all of them that it was fantastic.

On August 19 we had some pretty wicked weather roll through here. There was thunder, lightning, rain, hail, wind and flooding.

It was on the news, in the newspaper and on the internet – although it was nothing compared to weather problems in other parts of the world. Today I read in the paper about a volcano in Indonesia erupting after 400 years and they had to evacuate 30,000 people. We’ve also had 3 police officers shot (one fatal) here in Salt Lake in just 48 hours! It’s getting depressing to follow the news.

Dylan went with a group of friends to climb Mt. Timpanogos for his 2^nd time. They climb at night so that they can see the sunrise when they get to the top. He and his buddy went in their old scout uniforms! His friend got altitude sickness when they were only about 45 minutes into the climb, so he went back down to the parking lot with him. Neither of them had driven there and they didn’t have keys to their friend’s cars, so they ended up spending 8 hours in the cold – trying to sleep on the ground while his friend occasionally threw up. What a horrible experience – but what a true friend he is! Thankfully, he went camping with some other friends in American Fork canyon a few days later and had a really good time. He has started to fill out his mission papers and has already gone to the dentist for it. He has to get all 4 wisdom teeth removed.

The last weekend of the month Randy, Dylan and I flew to Kansas for the Mundy family reunion. We were able to stay at the Ramada Inn in Topeka for a really good price because Jesse is the head night auditor there. It’s very nice with an indoor and outdoor pool, a hot tub, a game room with pool table, a war museum that we quickly went through one day, and a free hot breakfast each morning. Ingrid and Jeff also stayed there for two nights since they allow people with pets in a specific section. Ingrid and Jeff brought their 1 year old dog, plus the new puppy that they got last week. They are Vizslas, and they will breed them when they get older. We took Jesse and Dylan to dinner to celebrate their birthdays. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and Jesse’s girlfriend, Amanda, joined us. On Friday we swam in his brother Danny’s pool and he barbequed hamburgers, hotdogs, and made sloppy joes to eat. On Saturday there were about 16 people that went and played golf. That evening we joined everyone at Randy’s brother Tom’s in Burlingame for barbecued chicken and brisket. Randy’s sister, Janna, and her family were able to come up from Texas to join in. They had a water balloon toss, line dancing and relays before we got there.

There was a band playing and Randy performed a few numbers on his harmonica with their guitar player. A bunch of the guys played football, we did a lot of visiting, and some of us visited the cemetery where Randy’s mom and dad and a lot of his relatives are buried to see the new stones for his brother that died at birth and his sister that died in infancy.

On Sunday we attended church in our old ward – it felt just like coming home. I am able to keep up with a lot of those old friends through Facebook, so it seems like we had never left! After we said goodbye to everyone and dropped Dylan off at his friends (he is flying back to Utah in a few days), we headed toward the airport. We intended to go by the site where they are building the new Kansas City Temple, but we ran out of time. We flew home and arrived at the house around 9:30pm.

I am hoping that this month is much quieter and things slow down a bit.... Only 98 shopping days left until Christmas (I don’t shop on Sundays) – but who’s counting??

On to August -

AAARRRGGGHHH. Summer is going by too fast! July is gone. We had a barbeque on July 4 and didn’t go to watch the fireworks that night, but we saw a few on Monday night. Since Randy had Monday off from work, he and I and Dylan drove up to Temple Square and walked around the Church History Museum and the Visitor Centers. We got to see the model of the Salt Lake Temple that they have there with its cut-away sides. You only get to see ½ of the inside of the temple rooms, but there is also a kiosk with interactive media that shows some inside rooms. It was nice to take a weekend to think about what a blessing it is to live in this country and the religious freedoms we enjoy!

My mom got a new phone that has speaker-phone capability so that she can hear the caller well enough to have a conversation on it. I’ve called her and she seems to be able to hear me OK when she knows that I am testing it. She still struggles with it when she gets an unexpected call. We’ll keep working at it, though – “practice makes perfect!” The “jury is still out” on her new hearing aids, also. She’s not sure that they are enough better than her old ones to make it worth the expense.

On Saturday, July 10, we attended a community play of “Hello, Dolly” at an outdoor theater in Herriman. It was OK. I had never seen the movie, so I wasn’t familiar with the story line. So, we checked out the movie with Barbra Streisand from the library and watched it a few weeks later. (Randy is NOT a fan of Barbra). I could understand the dialogue much better on that. It’s not something I need to see again, but I’m glad I know what it’s about.

On Sunday, July 11, we had the family party to celebrate Connie’s birthday. There were about 35 people here for it and we had a nice time. That evening she went home with Terry and Becky to spend a couple days with them. Becky took her shopping, sight-seeing and to lunch. She had fun. We took her to Tucano’s again for her free birthday dinner. This time we went to the one in Salt Lake – it’s actually closer, and a lot less crowded. It was yummy, as usual.

We needed to replace the front roller bar on the treadmill that my brother, Derek, gave us. There was nothing wrong with the bar, but the plastic covering for it was extremely brittle and was falling apart. I guess they use a special kind of paint instead of plastic on the newer ones. Anyway, since there was no serial number anywhere on the treadmill, we had to just go by the model when ordering the part, and the one they sent us was 3/8” too long! So, we had to have a different part sent out. The treadmill was out of commission during this time, so I started riding a bike that I got at the Deseret Industries. I ride it up the hill until I get to Rosecrest Blvd. which is pretty flat, then I can go back and forth on it. I rode 6 ½ miles last time I went. Randy has fixed the treadmill now, but I will probably continue to ride the bike several times a week until the weather gets bad.

I have finished another class at Columbia Southern University, and my next class starts August 11. It will be “Organizational Research and Theory”. Doesn’t sound too interesting, and it might even be more challenging than the ones I have done so far. I’ll see…

A new car wash has opened up just a few signals north of us off Bangerter Hwy. They have been letting people wash and vacuum for free for a week. I drove through yesterday. Instead of driving the car into the bay, putting it in park, and the wash rags, rinse spray, etc. moving around me – I had to put both my left front and back tires on a conveyor belt and put my car in neutral. Then I moved through the wash, rinse, dry, etc. steps as the car was pulled forward on the belt. It was quick, but rather scary since I couldn’t see in front of me while I was moving! Then, there is free vacuuming. Wow. I have never used such a high power vacuum! I’m glad I had no small children with me….! They might have been sucked up the tube!

I, unbelievably, have another cold! I think I’ve had more of them since moving to Utah, than I had the whole time we were in Kansas. August is a busy month, so hopefully this won’t last very long.