September 2025

 The middle of August we decided to proceed with getting new carpet in the Living Room, TV Room, and Master Bedroom & Closet

The first thing we had to do was pick up some samples and choose a color.  After a week of debating, moving the samples all around the house.... in the daytime light, then at night in the dimmer, artificial light, we finally decided . . .  Cattail !!

Note:  We ordered our new carpet on Friday, 9/19. It will take a couple of weeks to get it in, so it probably won't be installed until October . . . stay tuned for pictures in our October blog !

Install date - Tuesday, October 14th !!

Monday 9/1

Today is Labor Day and marks the beginning of the Fall/Autumn season sooo . . . .

Linda has been busy changing all of our blue, white & yellow summer decor' to the autumn colors of Orange, red, & brown !! Linda has two bouquets already made up, One for spring -  Spring/Summer blue and one for fall, so when the seasons change, all she has to do is switch them out ... nice and easy. 

Tuesday 9/2

Back in May, Linda started the task of sorting through all her music. Today she was able to finish this big project.

There were piles and piles of music to sort through - it was a huge project !! In the end, after throwing away tons of duplicate sheets of music, she was able to get a large portion of the music in the 7-drawer storage tower leaving two previously filled-to-the-brim bookcases almost empty. Of course she has another 3-shelf bookcase, filled with some of her more favorite music, next to her piano in the living room. There is also a large pile of piano instruction books she is giving away to a friend that is beginning to teach piano.

Wednesday 9/3

While picking the dead blossoms off our Hibiscus bush this morning . . . .

Steve spied this Preying Mantis. He put his hand up next to it and the silly bug crawled right on to his hand

Friday 9/5

 

As you know, we have been sorting through boxes in the garage. This week we decided to go through our high school yearbooks

We cut out any pictures of us. Linda took all the pictures and created collages of them.

These are samples of what she did !!

Linda's was easy. Since she did 1/2 day "work release", she didn't have a chance to participate in very many extra curricular activities . . . one page and done !!

Steve's was harder. He was very involved so had lots of pictures. This is page 1 . . . There are four more pages that include athletics, random pictures, and once-every-10-years Reunion notes. 

Saturday 9/6

So . . . we looked out our bedroom window this morning and noticed a fairly large limb on the grass under our flowering pear tree

We went outside to investigate and sure enough it was a broken limb that came from very high up in the tree. As far as we know, there wasn't any wind last night so why it broke off will remain a mystery. Like everything else. . . we'll blame it on the squirrels, lol. Steve got right to work cutting it up and hauling it off to the trash can.

Bright and early this morning our fence painter arrived with his little crew

Yesterday, they pressure washed the fence and today it got a new coat of paint. One person sprayed while the others smoothed it out with a small roller. They were only here for a couple of hours and now it looks sooo much better. 

This evening we had two wedding receptions to attend.

Both of the receptions began at 6:00. One went until 8:00 the other until 9:00. The earlier one was here in Star for our friend Lydia Meyers so we started there. The other was an hour away in Weiser for our niece Heidi Waite, Casey & Jennifer's daughter. It was fun, at both receptions, to see and visit with people we haven't seen for a while... some friends... some family. We got back home at 9:30 tonight.

Monday 9/8

Just another day in our life !!

Linda painted the garage door, We made another, our 4th, load for Deseret Industries, and we picked tomatoes  & mushrooms. We have actually been doing a good job of keeping the mushrooms under control this year but today we spied this bunch hiding out behind a bush in our back planter.

Saturday 9/13

On Thursday, Kevin's daughter, 11 year old Sydney, broke her arm while jumping on their trampoline.

Yesterday, she had surgery to insert two pins. Last night we ordered two "feel-good" items from Amazon and they were delivered today. One of her favorite colors is green so it looks like she was happy with the soft, fluffy green blanket and cute little green frog.

Almost a week later . . . 

And looking GOOD !!

Tuesday 9/16

We have decided to get rid of our artificial trees sooo . . .

We called D.I. to make sure they would take them, and they will. But first they had to be cleaned up a bit. They were so dusty (one of the reasons for getting rid of them). Linda spent a few hours wiping each leaf with a damp rag There are two trees and a bush. They look really nice now. They will go to Deseret Industries on Friday . . .  trip # 5 !!

Wednesday 9/17

Today seemed like a good day to paint our back yard, patio swing

What started out to be just touching up a few spots on the armrest, ended up a complete paint job. It took a couple of hours of "stop & Go" painting. Steve would paint a little then sit down to give is back a break, then paint some more and rest some more until it was finally done. It looks GREAT now.

It took all summer, but our Petunia's are finally filling the space around our flowering plum tree in the front yard.

We love the way they brighten up the front of our house.

Saturday 9/20

Today didn't turn out the way we planned . . . this afternoon we discovered our refrigerator had stopped working and everything in the freezer had thawed out including a brand new bag of Rhodes Rolls that burst open as the rolls started rising. 

Matt to the rescue !! He hooked us up with a sales person at RC Willey and we were able to purchase a new refrigerator in the scratch & dent department for about 1/2 price. He then enlisted the help of his work buddy, Wyatt. They came to the store and picked up our new appliance and delivered it to our house. We emptied out our old fridge and the two of them removed our 18-year-old, non-working, refrigerator.

They brought in our beautiful new fridge, got it all hooked up, and set it in place. They loaded up our old fridge and will dispose of it for us. After they left, we found places for all the food we had taken out of the old fridge, in our new fridge. We cannot thank Matt & Wyatt enough for "saving-the-day". By Sunday morning the new refrigerator was down to temperature and was beginning to make ice. So far, we love this LG fridge. It is a counter+ depth unit with dual ice makers and zero clearance hinges.

With dual ice-makers we get two different kinds of ice . . . Normal size ice cubes come from the upper unit and dispensed from the outside of the door, along with crushed ice & water. In the lower unit, we get these golf-ball size things called Craft Ice. They are supposed to melt slower in your drink so it stays fresh longer - not even sure they will fit in our glasses, but aren't they fun !!

Wednesday 9/24

In preparation for getting new our carpet, we have begun working on some preparations for moving all the furniture.

Today we went through another book shelf, sorting the books into "Keep" and "Deseret Industries". Linda also packed up both our curio cabinets that are (were) filled with small souvenirs, and knick-knacks from Linda's mom and grandma. For now, we are using some of the totes we emptied out in the garage for storing stuff.

Thursday 9/25

Yesterday we took one of the lights off the front of our garage. We are going to repaint it from a very faded bronze to Black. If it turns out, we will do the other two lights .

Last night we took the light apart and cleaned the glass with a razor blade. Today, Linda got it painted and Steve put it back up. We really like the way it ties in with the black hindges on the garage doors.

Sunday 9/28

Late last night, Russell Marion Nelson - 17th President & Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - passed away at the age of 101. He was the oldest serving president in the history of the church.

The following is an excerpt from today's broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word.

President Nelson's life was anything but ordinary and he seemed to leave an indelible mark wherever he went. But, if he were asked which of his many titles were most important, including doctor, surgeon, researcher, professor or lieutenant, he would say: 

"First, I am a child of God... then a son of the covenant; then a disciple of Jesus Chirst. Next would come my honored titles as husband and father, then Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ." 

He was everyone's friend, an innovator, big thinker, optimist & builder of bridges. He was an ever-patient teacher and through his messages we learned to "do better and be better." He taught us to "Let God prevail in our lives," to learn to "Think Celestial" and to hear the voice of the Lord. President Nelson followed the Savior's admonition to "Love one another. "He implored us to be peacemakers, to replace animosity with understanding and contention with peace."

We will miss him, his messages to the world, the twinkle in his eyes, his loving smile, and testimony.

One of the special memories we have of our mission was when President Nelson (then president of the Quorum of the Twelve), along with Elder Soares & his wife, visited Carthage Jail while we were serving there.

Elder & Sister Birmingham, President Nelson, Sister & Elder Waite, Sister & Elder Soares,
and Sister & President Hall

It was in the spring of 2017.  Our mission president, President Hall, told us that if they had time, they "might" be coming from Nauvoo to see us. so... we, along with Elder & Sister Birmingham, anxiously awaited their arrival. They, obvously, made it and we were excited (and a little bit nervous) to be with them; however, we loved having a chance to visit with each of them. 

We shook hands with President Nelson, he asked where we were from, we told him Star, Idaho. He said he knew where that was and that we would be enjoying a new temple soon ... we explained that we had been ordinance workers in the Boise temple and hoped to be home in time for the Open House and dedication of the Meridian templs. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a little notebook, opened it and on the inside of the cover were the names of 5 or 6 temples that would soon be completed and dedicated. "Yep, Meridian, November 19th," he said. We then told him that we would be returning home in September, he said: "They can put you right to work then !" 

 

Before he left Carthage, he was kind enough to pose with us for a picture. It will be a reminder for us of the time we were able to meet this apostle (soon-to-be prophet) in person and feel of his love.

Monday 9/29

Today Amazon delivered this new entryway rug

We have had the old rug since moving in 18 years ago and it was ready to be replaced !! The backing was disintegrating and since we are getting new carpet and refinishing our wood floors, it seemed like the right time for a change. We also got a smaller one, same pattern, for the back door.

Tuesday 9/30

The last few days we have been painting the garage door decor

All the hardware had to be removed for the house painting so we figured a new coat of paint would brighten it up . . . we were right !! 

Steve removed it then we both worked on sanding and removing the old paint. We poked holes in a peice of cardboard and put all the screws in it so we could paint the screw heads to match the hardware. We spent a couple of days spray painting the pieces but now they have a few coats and hopefully, it will last another 18 years !!

We have been hard at work all month long, but it has felt good to be active and keeping busy. We think October might closely resemble our September, but we will see.