Autumn Colors and Family Updates

 Autumn officially began on September 22 in 2020.  We always enjoy driving in the canyons to see the foliage colors, which were nice this year even though not as vibrant as last year. 

 

September 24th, Sam and I enjoyed seeing the autumn colors.

 

 

We went with our good friends, Hal and Christy Smith.

 

A couple of days earlier, Sam had taken a friend, Kim Berrett, on a drive
to see the fall colors.  Sam has had some other nice sightseeing drives with our friend Kim who has finally been able to be at home after his fall from a scaffolding last February. 
In mid-July, Kim was released from the hospital where he had been since his accident;
and during most of that time, he had been in isolation due to the Covid pandemic.

 

Sam took Kim's picture on their trip to Promontory Summit where the 

First Transcontinental Railroad was officially completed in northern Utah.

They enjoyed the lecture at Promontory Summit.

The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 when the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in Promontory, Utah, and drove a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connected their railroads.  

This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history.

 

     The Brigham City Temple was on their route.

 

Here are some autumn pictures taken on these recent sightseeing drives:

 

 

 

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We appreciated Jeff, Kate, and Miles coming for a visit on their return home to Arkansas after taking Zack and a friend to BYU-Idaho in Rexburg;
and we were pleased to have members of our family living nearby
come to enjoy a pleasant evening at our home while Jeff's family was here.
Ryan and Tani came from Eagle Mountain
and Beth and Todd's family were here.

 

Part of our family group left before I remembered to take a picture,
but the children had been enjoying time in the pool while
the rest of us had a good visit.
Beth and Todd had brought food for us to enjoy earlier in the evening.
(back: Jeff, Brynlee, Shannon, and Doug;
front:  Miles, Rebecca, Kate, Mason, Corban, Jacob, and Isaac)

 

We were pleased to have a visit from our nephew Trevor and Megan and their darling children Sadie and James, who were here from Arizona where Trevor is doing his internship.  Our visit was in our backyard as we try to respect the Covid restrictions. 

 

Paul, Trevor holding James, Megan, Haley, and Sarah

 

Trevor and James Curtis Smith (born 9/10/2019) 

 

Paul, Anna, Max, Sadie, and Rebecca

Megan and Trevor with James and Sadie

 

Beth took this photo before we had to say our goodbyes to Trevor and his family.
Trevor and Megan with Sadie and James;
Sarah with Max, Paul, and Anna (in the purple shirt);
Rebecca, Haley, Grampa and Gramma 

 

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We now have the locks added to our marriage tree for our granddaughters, Megan and Amanda, who were married this summer.  We missed getting the photos taken on their wedding days, so I appreciate their coming this month to take each other's photos
as each sister and husband added their lock.

 

 

 Amanda and Alex, married August 8, 2020

Megan and Gabe, married June 6, 2020

 

Happy Fourth of July and Family Visits

It is a good time to stay inside today adding some more photos to my blog while avoiding the outside 100-degree temperature this afternoon.

 We hope you all had a Happy Fourth of July.

Fireworks were lighting up the sky all around our neighborhood,

so we had a good show without leaving home on the evening of the Fourth.

We had a nice Fourth of July.
Haley and Ty had a barbecue and pool party at our place 
that afternoon from 1:00-5:00.

Then, Todd and Beth's family came for a family
barbecue and pool party.  As it began to get dark enough for fireworks, 
they returned home where they could also
enjoy their neighbor's displays.
One of their largest ones turned out to be defective
and gave them a scare; but no one was hurt.
(click on link at the very end of this blog entry to watch the video of this)

We were invited to the Graham's fireworks;
but due to our coughs and sore throats, 
Sam and I opted to stay home and watch a classic movie,

one of my favorites,

"An Affair to Remember,"

which we followed up the next evening with another classic,

"Sleepless in Seattle."

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We had returned to Spanish Fork from Denver on June 24th 

and were glad to be home for a couple of days 

 with Curtis and Marla's family 

before they left for their Smith family reunion in Idaho 

and before we went to South Dakota for Seth and Jen's open house at the farm.

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Curtis and Marla's Family Here

June 25th

Beth, Marla, and Sarah

 

 Maren and Haley

Anna and Rebecca

 Paul and Curtis

Anna, Sadie, Sarah, and Paul

June 26

Sadie having fun with her dad and Curtis.

Anna on the trampoline

Sadie and Paul having fun on the trampoline.

(We left for South Dakota on Wednesday, June 27th 

and returned on Monday, July 2nd.)

Tuesday, July 3rd

Haley, Maren, Maggie, Sarah, Sadie, and Megan

 

Paul and Anna

Grampa Sam and Trevor putting on a new diving board

to replace the one that had a crack.

Megan, Sadie, and Haley

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July 4th

 "King of the Tube"

Jared and Ethan

Ethan, Jared, and Joshua

Rebecca with her friend

Rebecca

The pool has been a favorite place for keeping cool and having fun.


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As of July 1st, our ward has become part of the Palmyra Stake
meeting in the church building on 400 North 400 East.

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 More Thrill Than Expected