I am Back!

I flew to Boise, Idaho, via Southwest Airlines on Tuesday, August 5th and spent a few days helping my 85 year old mother Lula. We had a wonderful day with my sisters Linda and Lucy coming to the house where we talked, laughed, cried, and ate good fresh home grown food. Friday, August 8th, Mother and I went to Ontario, Oregon to my sister Linda's house and helped her prepare food for the family home evening dinner that evening. My former room mate and best friend, Anita Norris Bake, drove from Parma, Idaho to visit with me. As you can see, we haven't changed much since BYU days in 1971-1972. She and I have kept in touch. I tired to keep in touch with my other friends and former room mates, but some of them just don't respond back.


The picture you see includes some of the family members visiting after we finished eating: Jeff Beck, holding his tiny new daughter Natalie, his wife Jessica (in the white teeshirt), Aunt Lucy and Uncle Richard Beck. I should have taken more pictures, but we were busy holding babies, talking, laughing, and having a good time. Steve flew in the single engine Bozanza about an hour after this picture was taken. He was flying from a business appointment in Sheridan, WY.


Forty years after graduating from high school, about 100 of my classmates from Emmett High School met in Eagle, Idaho for a reunion. I was surprised by how many people I recognized. I was disappointed in how many classmates weren't able to be there, and was saddened to learn of the death of 13 of our classmates, including Connie Walton Keller just last fall of Huntington's disease. Her family lived up the street and were members of the LDS church, so I knew Connie from our infancy to adulthood. I did not even know she was sick and dying. The picture with classmate Patty Cleary, who sells real estate in Emmett, with our teacher of math at Emmett HS for 26 years. Many of my brothers and sisters will remember Mr. Pratt. He was only 25 years old when he began teaching in Emmett. He says he remembers all my younger brothers and sisters.

Steve and I flew from Ontario on Monday, August 11 for a quick business meeting at the Boise airport, then to Spanish Fork, Ut airport, then to Provo airport where Eric Avarell, Staci's husband, picked us up and took us to see their new apartment on 300 South. Eric even took me around the block on the tandem bike. He did all the work - I just enjoyed the ride and the wind in my face! Staci and Eric fed us a nice barbeque dinner, then we went to LeGrand's and watched the Olympics on his big screen TV downstairs.

Tuesday morning Steve met with the gear lab people in Payson until noon, and I met him at the airport with Subway salads which we ate before we flew to St. George, Ut. Beautiful smooth flying and great country to see as we landed at 2 p.m. and took a cab to SkyWest headquarters for a business meeting. Rhonda Garner picked us up at 5:00, took us to their cute home, where we met up with Lance after he got off work. We did an early dinner at Appleby's and they took us back to the plane for our two hour flight to Mesa, AZ-Gateway Field, landing at 7:30 p.m. AZ time, just as the sun was setting. More beautiful world to see on that flight.

We stayed at Lana and Porter's house for the next three days: I painted doors and trim and baseboards for three days, while Steve, with Lana's assistance, replaced three outdoor lights, hung the new dining room chandelier, replaced a broken electrical outlet, and hung a shelf on the wall. Best of all, he played with Tatum and Dane and kept them out of the paint.

Friday night Lana, Porter, Steve and I went to On the Border for supper, then to the movie (with free passes they had) "Get Smart." Saturday morning Steve and I took off at 8:15 a.m. and flew non-stop to Sherman in exactly five hours, and drove home to Plano by 4:30 p.m.

What is my advice for this blog entry: enjoy life as it comes, and go with the flow! How I wish I would have spent more time playing with my children and family instead of worrying about how clean the house was, or if the dishes and laundry were washed!