Lunch at Barbara's

After church yesterday we stopped at my sister, Barbara's beautiful new house in South Jordan. Her son, Eli, who lives a few houses away stopped by to have his mom remove his stitches. That is a trusting son!

Barbara fed us a delicious lasagna and made me want to go home and fry up some more red cabbage. Mmmmm.

Verlene hustled us off to the airport, being nervous about getting through the security line. She was amazed how easy it was to get to her gate compared to the ordeal at Denver International Airport!

It was just like old times--being with my Colorado sisters. We'll give Verlene a few more years before we start pressuring her to join us here!

Goodbye, Bryant!

It was sad to say goodbye to my cousin, Bryant Porter before I even got to see him again. I was looking forward to reconnecting with him and his family now that we've moved to Utah. He was born one month before I was, and was a cousin I especially enjoyed from the early years in West Yellowstone where his family displayed their dinosaurs during the summer.

For his obituary, see: http://www.memorialutah.com/obituary/redwood/bryant-elbert-porter/

Bryant's four children and wife all spoke at the funeral Saturday and told about how he passed away suddenly from a heart attack after a fun day of water skiing with family. I enjoyed learning more about him from the personal stories they told.

One thing that impressed me was that he was always happy, and ever willing to serve others.

At the luncheon afterwards I enjoyed visiting with my Brady cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen in 40 years!

Cousins Sandy and Charlene had changed very little since I lived with them briefly in California in 1978!

It was fun to be together with my mom and 4 sisters, Verlene, Annette, Barbara and Joan. (We missed our brothers.)

Afterwards we gathered at my new house for some more visiting and snacking.

Annette brought a few of her grandchildren along with her. Cooper was terrified of Coda, so needed some special attention.

Coda was terrified of Cooper, as well, and stayed close to Ed for protection!

It was a sad day, but filled with wonderful memories. It made us all realize how precious life is and how grateful we should be for the moments we share with each other.

First Guest in the Jungle Room

We got the guest room put together just in time for our first overnight visitor--my sister Verlene! Coda was also happy to see her! She flew in from Colorado to attend the funeral of our cousin, Bryant Saturday.

It rained for the first time since we've been in Utah, and Ed enjoyed taking Verlene for a tour of our back yard in the cool evening air. (See little tiny green people in the middle.)

Don't Let Your Babies Play with Pinecones

We dropped by to see Mabel last night, to find she was just recovering from a face plant into a pine cone. She was scratched up on her left cheek, and not taking it lightly! Who knew pine cones could be so dangerous?

We had the pool table reassembled yesterday, and decided to go with a new color of felt. It's called Aztec, and we thought it added a real touch of class to the basement family room!

Ed put together the California Closet unit yesterday--our music storage cabinets. I emptied 18 boxes of books into them! One box is still missing. I hope the movers are enjoying my guitar and violin music!

The garage is the only room we haven't organized yet, but until we get rid of cardboard mountain we can't do anything in there! Anybody need some slightly used moving boxes?

Sweet Reward

One restaurant I've really missed in Maryland is Sweet Tomatoes. Ed took me up to Sandy today just to get my salad fix.

I deserved it too, as I went to my first Utah Weight Watchers today. It was in a fancy facility with colorful chairs, but I missed my down-in-the-dumps Optimist Hall in Eldersburg with the ladies who have shared my weight loss journey with me.

Happily, the stresses of moving didn't sabotage me, and I actually lost a half a pound since my last weigh in a month ago!

Then, we came home to more work! The California closet is a pain to put together again, but it is now hanging on the wall in the hall, and will soon be ready to fill with my 20 boxes of music!

We were happy to see my brother-in-law, Kent drop by with two co-workers this afternoon. They were surveying some government land just a mile from our house. Kent and Barbara moved to Utah from Colorado in May, so it's nice to be in the same state with them again!

Food Truck Roundup

The little city of Alpine has a food truck roundup each Monday night from 5-9. We thought we'd try it out last night. We got a very good salad and a sandwich at the Cubby's truck.

We'll have to come back next week to try out Waffle Love or Pyromaniacs Pizza!

We sat and ate while we listened to some local talent play and sing music. I think the Pearl Strings would have been a good fit for this venue!

Dinner on the town was a reward for a job well done. Ed and I worked so hard yesterday. I finished the Christmas closet,

as well as the storage closet. I put together 7 shelves for them all by myself!

This is looking back from the storage closet into the Christmas closet in the back. The wooden shelves were here when we moved in. As nice as they are, they didn't fit plastic bins, so we had to add the other shelves. Slowly but surely, the house is starting to take shape!

Day of Rest

Yesterday we popped over to Brittany's house before church. Our main goal was to pick up Ed's wallet, that they had somehow absconded with. But the side benefit was seeing our old piano in its new home. It looked so nice in Brittany's house.

They also got a new old table and chairs from us, that fit perfect in their kitchen nook.

In the evening, when things had cooled off, we took a walk around the neighborhood to try to see the boundaries of our new ward. It is a little spread out, as it is surrounded in public open space.

This was Coda's first walk in two weeks. She was ecstatic!

We got home just in time to enjoy the sunset from our front porch. It was a nice way to end a relaxing day!