Random November things

Here is a picture of the turkey I made for my desk at the office

The week before Thanksgiving was Zone Conference time and one of the quarterly vehicle inspections  Steve gets to hold.  I attended the Wednesday Zone Conference and this was what I saw when I pulled into the parking lot....

all the missionary cars lined up for cleaning for Steve to inspect.

If you look closely, you can see Steve by the open door of the big van on the left.  He is surrounded by all his tubs of towels and cleaning supplies which he gets to haul to each Zone Conference.

The reason I attended Wednesday was to play a cello duet with Elder Smith.  That is his companion, Elder Frye, being a human music stand as we rehearsed.  Ronda Lucas is at the piano.  The little 3/4 cello that Elder Smith is playing actually belongs to Ronda's son, Erik, to whom I teach cello.  Full size cellos are hard to find to borrow, it seems. 

We had new missionaries arrive the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  Ten left to return home.  Twelve arrived.  PLUS, six more came who are awaiting their visas to go to the Philippines.  Trying to find enough phones and tablets and beds for these additional missionaries who will only be with us for 6-12 weeks made for a really crazy three days before the holiday.  

I finally finished a bedspread / quilt for our bed.  Good thing as it is finally trying to get cool enough to need a blanket at night.

I used the conference room at the mission office to do the tying.  

And here is the final product....

On the way back from Mesa on Saturday, we were in some fairly heavy, slower moving traffic, and we were side-swiped by a crazy Arizona driver (of whom there are plenty).  Steve and I believe angels were watching over us because we were not pushed into another lane of traffic and the damage to the car is unbelievably minimal!  Good thing because the jerk didn't even pull over when we did!  I believe we are guarded every time we venture out onto Arizona's roads and drive with the extremely rude and foolhardy drivers all around us.

Steve and I have enjoyed watching the BYU TV original series called "Extinct".  If you like sci-fi, I highly recommend you check it out.  You can watch it on-line through BYU TV. 

We are getting to know our neighbors a bit more.  We bought Christmas decorations from the lady across the street.  We had our next door neighbors over for cookies.  Tom and Katie with their daughters Faith (12), Brooklynn (11), and Addison (10). 

We are NOT enjoying these neighbors.  Here is one I killed in our kitchen!  YIKES!

I turned 62!

Saturday, November 25th, was my birthday.  It started with Jim and Joan taking Steve and me and Jim's son and grandson (Steve and Zach) to breakfast at First Watch.  Steve and Zach drove over from Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.

Then we headed down to Mesa in the afternoon to celebrate my birthday with Jerri and her kids.  At the assisted living home where Jerri lives, there is a casita in back for family gatherings and my birthday party was the first one to be held there.  

Jim and Joan, Steve and Zach drove down to be there, too

Brent Bowden with Steve Young



Steve, me, Jim, Joan, Brent, Steve, Rob's head in front

Brent and Sue's kids enjoying the ASU / U of A game on the large screen TV


Joanne, Rob, Brent, Jerri

Luke, Brig, Parker, Zach, and Rose played outside.  You can see how extensive the property is.  Look at all those citrus trees!

Me with my sister and brother

On Sunday morning, Steve fixed me breakfast....

birthday flowers that Brent and Sue gave me.

I got some nice, thoughtful gifts from everyone.  Steve gave me a pair of hiking sticks (collapsable, exchangable feet).

I had a great birthday!

Thanksgiving 2017

Steve and I drove over the river and through the woods to Payson for Thanksgiving.  Jeremy had driven down from Utah so Juli had two of her three children at dinner.  Here we are:

Steve, Jeremy, Juli, Arlene (Kat's grandma) Kat (Jesse's wife) and Jesse.

Dinner was the traditional fare - with a ham thrown in for Jeremy.  Steve and I brought rolls, gluten-free stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a gluten-free pecan pie.  

Steve and I stayed over Thursday night.  Twix made himself at home on our bed...

Friday morning, Steve and I drove to Snowflake, Arizona to attend another temple (four down, two to go to visit all six of Arizona's temples)

Snowflake is east of Payson by an hour and a half and it is NOT in pines, as you can see.  

It is one of the small temples but still so gorgeous.

Look at the "fountain"!  So cool...

After our session, we enjoyed a sack lunch in a shady spot on the temple grounds

And then we explored the little town of Snowflake.  Like Binghampton in Tucson, it, too, was settled by Mormon pioneers.  We found a beautiful old church 

and a monument out in front.

then, we drove back to Payson (what a BEAUTIFUL DRIVE among the pines) and hung out with Juli and Jesse until after dinner when we drove back down to the valley.  

Tucson trip

 Saturday, November 18, Steve and I took a trip to Tucson.  Our first stop was the Tucson Temple.  Isn't it gorgeous?

We then had lunch at an authentic Mexican food restaurant (meaning there was miminal cilantro).
It was delicious...

After we ate, we visited the cemetary where my parents are buried. 

Here they are.  

Here are my grandma and grandpa Young...

And here are my Aunt Thelma and Uncle Harry. 

It looks pretty ragged and desolate but one has to remember that this IS the desert where water is scarce.  So, it is what it is.  Still a hallowed spot for many many families whose ancestors settled in the Binghampton section of Tucson in the early 20th century.  My grandparents came there from Old Mexico where they had lived in the Mormon colonies until the Mexican revolution which drove many out.  My dad was their first American born child.

Here is the church that the early settlers built and where my ancestors worshiped.

I have been there several times while growing up - mostly to attend funerals of the above relatives.  (but not mom and dad - their funerals were in Payson)

Here is what I believe to be the home that my parents and older siblings lived in - just around the corner from the church.  I entered the address into Google Maps and this is where it took me.  It is currently being used for storage for a plumbing company but I believe it is the right place based upon old photos I have seen.  My mom and grandpa Fraedrich pretty much built it out of adobe bricks (which they made, too!)

 We also drove to Fraedrich Street, just down the block from the church, which is where my mom's parents had their home and property.

Aside from attending the temple and visiting family heritage sites, another objective for going to Tucson was to support Elder Chilson as he rode in the Tour de Tucson bicycle race.  

He and his wife are serving in the Arizona Phoenix mission and they are from Florida.  (note his shirt).  Here they are at the finish line.

Bob Chilson is in his seventies and it is quite impressive he was able to do this race.  He has been training for months!

Then, it was back to Phoenix - we stopped for dinner and a bit of shopping at the IKEA in Tempe (I heart IKEA).  Then, we had dessert with these folks.....

This is my cousin, Neil Fraedrich, and his wife Gloria.  He is the youngest son of Edward and Jane Fraedrich.  Edward is next in age from my mother.  The last time I saw him was back in 1994 at his father's funeral.  Edward died just a day after my dad died so I was already back in Arizona.

 He and Gloria live in Oregon but retired last year and are now snowbirds in Arizona.  They are staying in their 5th wheel in Mesa so we connected via email and met them at Culvers.  What a nice couple. 

After saying goodbye to them, we took a cup of custard to Jerri and chatted with her few minutes before driving back to Anthem.  A LONG but terrific day.

Veteran's Day

Anthem has a Veteran's Memorial located in the main park at the center of town.  You can see it in this photo.  It is designed so that on 11/11 at 11:11 am, the sun will shine through all the holes onto the great seal of the United States.  

Since Veteran's Day fell on a Saturday this year, the crowds were rather large



So there was a camera that projected the seal onto an LED screen for all to view this phenomenon.  Here it is just before 11:11 and you can still see some shadow.


Here it is at 11:11



Steve and I rode our bikes to this event.  Sadly, our folding camp chairs are packed away in our garage in Columbia so we brought a beach towel to sit upon if we could find some shade.  Ultimately, a kind man let me sit in his chair.  Steve ended up standing.  We both decided that we won't attend next year but we might check out the memorial on Saturday, November 10th up close and personal to see the seal lit by the sun. 

Last week, Anthem had a Veteran's Day parade.  It went right by our house.  This is our ward marching in the parade....

Steve finally visited a dermatologist on Thursday to have that growth on his ear looked at.  He'd been to a doctor here in Anthem twice and two times he applied liquid nitrogen to try to freeze it off but it just kept getting bigger and blacker.  Ugh.  The dermatologist actually cut it off and sent it off for a biopsy because he suspects it might be a cancer of some kind.  He did the same with another smaller growth on Steve's head and overall cut or froze off other smaller spots on his scalp.  Even though Steve always wears a hat, being a freckled, fair haired (auburn) person - skin cancers are not a surprise.  I am sure Steve and the dermatologist will be seeing more of each other during our stay here in Anthem.

I am playing a cello duet with a fellow missionary this morning in church.  The other cellist is Elder Smith.  His main instrument is tuba but he played cello in high school and he is not a bad player.  We will reprise this duet at his Zone Conference this Wednesday.  After sacrament meeting, Steve and I will drive down to Phoenix to the Rose Lane ward where I will accompany another missionary (a senior Elder) who is singing in that sacrament meeting.  Busy day.