Mom and Dad came up to Utah to head to Idaho for Keegan Fuhriman's baptism so they stopped and had dinner with us. Steve came and it was so fun to see him!
Sadly, while we were up in Utah, Tom's mother, Mary had a massive heart attack. She needed a quadruple bypass so Tom flew in the next day to be with us (he wasn't coming until the weekend but he wanted to see her in case she didn't make it through the surgery).
3 of her 4 children were there: Tom, Colleen and Julie. Lisa couldn't make it because she was still in Tulsa but she came after to help with the recovery. Mary really has the most amazing daughters who love her and are there to help her. We all took pictures and Tom offered a very sweet family prayer that we had together and I hope it brought Mary peace.
It was a really rough surgery but she pulled through! Her recovery is going to be a rough one but she is one tough cookie and will do what she needs to do. We are all SO thankful that she is going to be ok. What a blessing!
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| We visited our college kids at Utah Valley University and had so much fun getting a tour from them! |
The reason I say that it's fall, but "not at all" is that here in Arizona it is SO stinking hot still that it doesn't even feel like fall. October is the month that we all are sick of the heat and want to see some fall colors and feel a nip in the air. Sadly, it doesn't happen until November around here. That's why we decided to head to Utah for our fall break. I am the President for the BYU Folk Dance Alumni and it is the 60th Anniversary since the founding of the program. Our founder, Mary Bee Jensen is 99 years old and planning her 100th birthday party in May! So, we decided to have a celebration centered around BYU Homecoming and have both she and Ed Austin ride in the Homecoming Parade! Jeanette Geslison, the current artistic director, was out of town and couldn't make the celebration but many alumni came and it was a fantastic event. We gathered for the parade in the morning and then headed over to the Wilkinson Center for the luncheon. I had planned a nice buffet lunch for everyone and we had over 200 people attend. All the past directors and chairs of the folk dance division spoke as well as Mary Bee Jensen and myself.
Mary Bee Jensen is the founder of the BYU Folk Dancers and she is turning 100 years old this May! She is a remarkable woman and we have become good friends over the past few months because we are both authors! I am also the national President of the BYU Folk Dance Alumni and it has been so much fun working with her to plan the 60th Anniversary!
Hailey had Crazy Hair Day at school and we made her hair into a chocolate frosted donut! I think it looks pretty darn good! The frosting is real but the donut . . . well, it's a little hairy, ha ha!
Here is my sweet Tom with our pets, Rider and Lily.
Spencer loves being in choir and this year he is in the Men's Chorus at Campo Verde High with Matt Flora as his director.
Cute Hailey and Izzy - best buddies!
On a cool side note, we got our theater chairs for our movie room in Utah! We are still missing two chairs from the order, but they are super comfy and we can't wait to watch a movie in these reclining beauties!
I took Spencer and Hailey up to Deer Valley for a beautiful horse ride through the mountains. The fall colors were gorgeous!
We got a new couch in our family room---new colors! I love it!
