September 2023

 Thursday 9/7

This afternoon Linda helped our oldest granddaughter, Camrynn,

dip some strawberries and make cake-pops

It was quite the project and . . . .

we managed to make a big mess in the process!

we even had Camrynn's 100 year old, Great Grandma, Trudy (NeeNah) Smith, join in the fun and dip her own juicy Strawberry

Friday 9/15

It has been 1 year since we bought our new, Hybrid SUV.  We don't travel very much any more so, at this 1 year mark . . .

we have only racked up a whopping 4,879 miles, but we love our new ride!

Thursday 9/21

Remember our little miracle Hibiscus tree?

We thought it was dead, but decided to wait and see if it had any life in it. Slowly, very slowly, it began to get little leaves on a few branches.

Eventually there were leaves on every branch

Now it is in full bloom! we are very glad we didn't give up on it.

The blossoms are beautiful but don't last very long so . . . 

 we regularly have to deadhead the spent blossoms.

This evening we attended a seminar at the

West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell

The seminar was given by Dr. Dan Bradley, spine surgeon, about "Alternatives to Spinal Fusion"

Although we got a lot of good information, the alternatives he presented, by his admission, probably  would not work for Steve's back issues. It sounds like we are stuck with the fusion option! 

Monday 9/25

Today Linda did a little sewing (despite her machine acting up). Last week we bought 4 new pair of pants so . . . .

Today she got them all washed and hemmed. It took a while, but she got the job done!

Thursday 9/28

Uh-Oh !! Look what we found in the back yard today . . . .

holes - with no mounds - in the flower bed and . . . .

in the grass.  We called our Pest Control company and they said it was most likely Voles because they don't leave mounds. They will be here next week to work their magic to stop these pesky critters from invading our yard.  (we think they are coming from our neighbor)

This afternoon, we had our annual fall "check-up" on our furnace. 

This is a new company for us. They are a smaller, family owned business and have been around for many years.

They seem reasonable and were very thorough and professional. The service revealed a cracked heat exchanger. Since our system is 17 years old it didn't seem prudent to pay thousand's of dollars to repair it so we decided to "bite the bullet" and purchase a new HVAC system. 

Saturday 9-30

October Conference begins in September !

We have the privilege of participating in General Conference this weekend, via Television.

We're halfway through the weekend and September has ended . . . . 

Fall is in the air, and . . . .

The holiday season is HERE !