Our Trip to Arkansas to Visit Jeff and Rochelle's Family

It was fun to go to Arkansas to see Jeff and Rochelle's family in their new home.  On November 7th, we flew from the Salt Lake airport into Fayette, Arkansas, where Jeff was there to take us to their home in Gravette.

It is easy to see why their children love being in their new home with the wooded area, the stream passing by, the variety of nature's creatures, and the adventures they are having. 

 

 A view of Jeff and Rochelle's home from the front.

(Narene)

 The stream in their backyard.

 Still on their property and looking back at their house.

From the top of this hill, we turned to the right 

and enjoyed going on a hike through the wooded area

on their property.

 Within the wooded area on our hike.

(Kate, Gramma Narene, Jeff, and Miles)

Zack shooting at clay pigeons.

(Zack, Jeff, and Sam)

Now it is Grampa Sam's turn.

(Austin, Zack, Jeff, and Sam)

 Looking at the back of the house from the stream below.

(Miles, Jeff, and Kate)

We missed the peak autumn colors,

but it was still very pretty.

Another look back at the house.

Jamon with his bow and arrow.

Miles jumping in the pile of leaves.

We crossed the stream to the opposite side

and took this photo looking toward the bank 

on the same side as their house.

Sam and Jeff looking at Jeff's new saw

for cutting some of the broken limbs into firewood.

Jamon and Austin with their Lego creations.

Kate stopped long enough for a photo on her scooter.

The large cement area by the garage was a good

place for bike riding and scooters.

Coming inside for a family photo:

Austin, Jeff, Jamon, Zack, Rochelle, and Kate.

A look at the Tuscan decor in their kitchen.

We flew home on Monday, November 11th; so we celebrated Sam's birthday with Jeff and Rochelle's family in Arkansas.

Our flight had a change of planes in Dallas with nearly a four-hour layover, and we appreciated having Greg Shepard pick us up so we could enjoy a nice visit with him while eating at Chili's.  Chris was unable to come with Greg, as she was committed to a family event with her mother.    

It was an enjoyable visit in Arkansas except for our first night there when both Sam and I spent the night not feeling well and throwing up.  Fortunately, we were okay the next day; and the bug we apparently got before flying to Arkansas did not get passed on to Jeff and Rochelle's family.  We were happy to find out they did not get sick.

Visit from Doug and Shannon's Family

Doug and Shannon's family came for a visit the day after Halloween and returned home Sunday morning, November 3rd.  It is nice having their family close enough to come on some weekends or whenever they can.

Here are a few photos taken during this visit:

 Brynlee

  Isaac

  Mason trying to keep up with his brothers, Isaac and Jacob.

    Grampa Sam joined Jacob and Joshua in a game vs. Ethan.

Ethan won! 

  Brynlee and Rebecca posing in dress-up outfits.

Looking out our back door at Maple Mountain 

sprinkled with snow on November 2nd.

Click on the picture to see the sheep in our pasture

and Todd's beehives in the left corner.

Halloween Festivities

We appreciate Beth inviting us to share in the Halloween fun with her family.  First on the agenda was watching for Ethan and Joshua to go by with their class in the parade outside their school.  At 5:00 p.m., we were included in their family's traditional Halloween evening meal featuring pumpkin-looking bread bowls filled with either broccoli-cheese soup or chili.  After taking pictures of those in costume, the grandchildren set off on their trick-or-treat quest around the neighborhood.  

Beth has modified our family's tradition of making glazed donuts to give out on Halloween.  To keep their day from being overly busy and not competing with all the other sweets on Halloween, Beth's family make and deliver the glazed donuts to friends before Halloween day. 

Here are some picture memories from Halloween 2013:

 Beth, Rebecca, Monty and Brittney

 Monty and Great-Grampa Sam

 Joshua as a baseball player

 Ethan as Uncle Sam.

My sister had made part of this costume for

her son Blake many years earlier.

 Amanda, Megan, Rebecca, Ethan, and Joshua

 Beth joins the kids for a picture.

 Brittney and Monty as the Michelin kid.

 "Cute as a bug" - Sarah with Anna

and Brittney and Monty

 Derek, "the bug catcher," is happy with his

little Lady Bug and Butterfly.

 Jared by his engraved pumpkin.

The Grahams had a yard full of jack-o-lanterns.

 "Lady-Bug" Anna with Mom Sarah and Aunt Maggie.

 Maggie with Rochelle's nephew, Andrew Abbott;

they are in the same FHE group at BYU.

   Trevor dressed up like Grampa Sam.

The cap with sunglasses and the shirt that used to be Sam's

now with extra padding completed Trevor's "look-alike."

I know some adults don't care for Halloween, but I enjoy seeing the clever costumes and have good memories of the holiday.  Here is an excerpt from my life story that I have been writing:

While living in Ann Arbor, I continued our family tradition of making glazed donuts for Halloween trick-or-treaters.  Our apartment became a favorite for the kids to come as they could smell the donuts deep frying.  Sam would answer the door and hand out the warm donuts.  One year there was a report of kids getting razor blades put in their apples, so parents began to let their children only eat candy or food given them on Halloween that was from the store and sealed in wrappers.  This never became a problem for us since neighbors knew us and our children.  Years later, when we moved to the farm in South Dakota, we only had Roy and Barbie's kids and the Allens come by; so we put the warm donuts in sacks and delivered them to the houses of the friends of our kids, a kind of reverse trick-or-treat.

Our two great-grandchildren:  Monty and Anna.

Costumes are off, but cute as always.

Back to the Farm

We left on October 17th to go to the farm for Sam to help with the fall harvest and planting winter wheat.  Judd went with us as far as Denver and helped with the driving, and we stayed overnight with Scott and Kristine's family and had a visit the next day with Bill and Karen in Scottsbluff.

It was nice to be with Brent and Tauna's family for the few days we were at the farm.  Tauna had fixed Rachel's former room for us to stay in while we were there, as their family is now moved into what used to be our home.  

Our first evening there, we went to St. Francis to watch our grandson Sam's football game in which Bennett County High School had an easy win.  

The guys put in some long working days, but I appreciated having the grandchildren - Sam, Rachel, and Weston - come over to spend some time when they were not busy at school or helping in the field.  Tauna invited us over for some of her good cooking on a couple of evenings, and Barbie had us over for supper and visiting with her and Roy.  I also enjoyed an afternoon with Barbie for a good visit and a visit in town with Joyce Wilson.  

I used the majority of my time at the farm working on my life story and adding to what I had written the last time we were at the farm, but I also liked taking morning walks.

We returned to Spanish Fork on October 27th via our usual route across Wyoming and made the trip in about 12 hours.

Here are a few photos I took one evening when Sam came home from planting wheat.

 Sam filling the air seeder tanks from the truck.

      

An unexpected visitor.

Celebrating Beth's Birthday at Thanksgiving Point

We enjoyed helping Beth celebrate her birthday on October 11th.  

She chose to go to Thanksgiving Point.

It was fun touring the gardens

at Thanksgiving Point on Segways.

(Beth and Todd) 

 Having never ridden on a Segway before,

I started out cautiously while Sam took off

like he had done it before.
(Sam and Narene)
 

 Following are some more pictures from this fun day. 

 It was a nice day, but chilly; and

I appreciated Sam loaning me his jacket.



This was a pretty background for another picture.

Sam did well taking pictures while

balancing on his Segway.

(Narene, Todd, and Beth)

We have turned in our rented Segways

after completing the trail through the gardens.

    Todd and Beth had enjoyed riding Segways before,
so Beth picked this to do for her birthday.
Before leaving Thanksgiving Point, we saw the
Waffle Love truck and decided to try them with 
raspberries and whipped cream for a birthday treat.