It's the eve before Thanksgiving and it has been a hectic month so far. We didn't take a lot of photos -- but here are some of the highlights month-to-date...
Jordan King, our good buddy and next door neighbor, got baptized November 8th. He's got such a great spirit that many, young and old, came out to the service. He has been a close friend as he has grown up. Many times we'll come out to our driveway and find "parking tickets" on our windshields for some fancied infractions. The fines might be 2 cents or $1,000,000. It just depends. He has made us laugh many times over the years and is a sweet kid. The rest of his family is awesome too. I Home Teach with his oldest brother, Jason.
You may have to click on this one since the lighting isn't good - and sorry that the flash makes the deer eyes look like lights! Deer make almost daily sweeps through our yard and much of the neighborhood, and winter hasn't even hit yet which is when they really come down from the mountains. We'll probably never grow tulips again. After years of having them eaten, we're giving up. I don't mind them grazing the grass or eating the fruit that falls off of the Skabelund's trees next door. At least we don't have racoon problems like our neighbors down next to the river. Some of them have trapped racoons numbering in the "teens" and had Animal Control come and haul them off.
I'm a volunteer director on the board of the Utah State University Federally Chartered Credit Union. We held a board meeting in conjunction with a Credit Union strategic planning session up Wellsville (aka Sardine) Canyon this month at the small resort called Sherwood Hills. Gayle and I spent the night courtesy of USUCCU. Here I am entering the in-door pool late that Friday night. Because of the flash, it looks dark behind me, but it's really all lit. You might note that I don't lift weights currently, nor go tanning, but I'm happy to say that my life-long obsession with running and cardio-vascular exercise remains intact. However, my swimming has gone way downhill ever since we moved from California years ago.
Here's my sweetheart next to the wading pool, getting used to the water. After warming up in the jacuzzi, we ended up swimming until quite late (around 11:00 p.m., I think).
The next day I shot this of Gayle on the balcony. She's facing west and you can see the reflection of the mountains in the glass door behind her as the sun rises and hits them.
Here is the Wellsville range from our hotel parking lot. This is looking south at the northern end of the ridge. It was early November, and we hadn't had any significant storms yet to lay the snow deep. In college a friend (Pat Neeley) and I snow-shoed up to the top of the ridge and skied down the other side. It was late in the season and the snow was many feet deep even down through the sloping farmland to the highway.
This is looking west from the hotel. I liked seeing the moon up over the ridge.
Our ward's bishop, Dr. Mark Firth, invited the bishopric, clerks, executive secretary, and spouses over for a dinner this month. It was amazing food. Here we are getting ready to taste some stuffed mushrooms.
Here are Shauna, Diana, Gayle, and Leisa in the kitchen.
Obviously an un-posed shot! This is one of two tables of guests. It was a delightful evening.
Here's a shot of the tasty jello salad and grapes. I put this photo in for the color.
Here we are. Granpa, grandma, Jared, Gayle, and Lucy. I'm doing camera duty.
Jared, letting the food digest as we socialize post-feast.
Dad and mom relaxing.
Lucy performed several pieces for our enjoyment. At the end, just before she had to go, I grabbed my guitar and we did Silent Night and then a few church hymns. In this shot I'm trying to figure out where to capo the guitar so I can play Silent Night with her and still use the key I'm used to playing it in.
