23rd Anniversary
Just a quick few notes about August. On August 16th Alan and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. We decided to start the evening by attending a session in the Salt Lake Temple where we were asked to be the witness couple, which was a really nice experience. After dinner, we tried a popular restaurant downtown called the Melting Pot. It is a very fun fondue restaurant and as you all know, we love to fondue (can that be a verb?). They bring everything to your table and for a couple of hours you dip yummy stuff into yummy stuff -- everyone should try it at least once!
Shakespearean Festival
The next weekend we enjoyed a couple of days at the Shakespearean Festival with our neighbors the Lundgrens. We saw The Merry Wives of Windsor, Antony and Cleopatra, and H.M.S. Pinafore. We enjoyed staying in a brand new Marriott, compliments of our friends who have Marriott connections! How fun to have friends in high places!
The last week of August we moved Tess into her college dorm down at BYU, where she finally got to meet her roommates and be a part of freshman orientation. The roommates turned out to be very nice girls and it looks like they will be able to get along fine. She got her classes squared away, bought her books and a bunch of food and was ready for school to start. Now, at the end of September we can report that she is doing great. We miss having her at home, but with cell phones and instant messaging, we stay in touch fairly well!
Our New Hampshire friends, the Collettes, have a son Jordan that they brought out to BYU and so Melora and I got to spend a day together doing a little freshman orientation stuff for parents and then a little shopping. Later that week, they spent the night with us and we all watched the first BYU football game on TV. It always weirds us out that we met and became friends at BYU and now we have children there! Could that really have been 25 years ago?
The Aunt Shirley update is that her legs suffered some kind of muscle contracture last spring and were never able to recover on their own and so consequently, on the 30th of August she underwent surgery to have the tendons in her ankles lengthened. She is now in double casts (lovingly and professionally decorated by her great nieces and nephews...) trying to heal and recover. The great hope is that she will be able to walk again with her walker and be able to go back to her home at the Wellington. All prayers in her behalf are greatly appreciated.
Volleyball
Madeleine has started a new volleyball season and is playing this year on the Waterford Jr. Varsity team as the setter. She loves it, but it sure is time demanding! She has also tweaked her wrist a bit and is having some difficulty setting so we hope that it will heal soon. We also hope her grades will survive until the season is over!
Everyone started back to school the day after Labor Day and after a couple of tiring weeks, we managed to work into the new routine of getting up early and doing homework every night. I miss the kids while they're gone, but I do enjoy a bit more time to myself. Alan and I have started singing again with the chorale every Thursday night and are already working hard to memorize 15 pieces of Christmas music -- a crazy experience in September!
General Conference
The end of September brought General Conference weekend. Tess came home to be with us and we all really enjoyed sitting together and listening to all the sessions. This year Alan was able to get tickets to take Phillip and Elliot to the Priesthood session in the Conference Center. The girls and I had a "girls night out" and sweet Clark was willing to spend the evening with a friend. I especially loved the "missionary" choir from the MTC. There is something so wonderful about large groups of missionaries.
Speaking of missionaries... Loren is doing great and aside from a couple of bike accidents seems to be enjoying his missionary experience in Texas. In just seven months, we can see so much spiritual growth as he serves the Lord with all his energy and soul. It is so wonderful to have a missionary in the family and we look forward every week to his letters. We have been having fun sending videos back and forth -- it is so great to be able to see a little bit of his mission. It is still hot and humid down there and I think he is missing fall. Alan did a check on the Internet and apparently the temperatures in southern Texas in January have ranged in the past from 13 degrees to 96 degrees! Christmas should be interesting for him this year.
Traffic School
Well, the only really exciting thing that happened this month is that I was pulled over and given a speeding ticket while I was hurrying to meet Aunt Shirley at the hospital for her pre-op appointment. Almost as exciting was paying for the ticket and then paying for the privilege of going to traffic school for a couple of hours to have the ticket taken off my record. I was the only one there (and there were a lot of us...) smart enough to bring my crocheting to help pass the time!