Monday, December 5, 2011

Blowin' in the Wind

I hope you all had a safe and happy - and delicious - Thanksgiving!

The first part of November was pretty packed. I began physical therapy (2 1/4 hours twice a week, plus a 15 minute walk each way), Tyson and I were assigned to be on the committee for the ward Christmas party, and we had to take extra time to prepare and pack for our trip to visit Tyson's extended family for Thanksgiving. :)

Also, on the 7th, Tyson heard back from the job he interviewed for on the 31st, and they offered him the job! After some pondering and prayer, we decided he would take it. It will be a cut in pay, but it will allow him to use his degree, and move him toward his professional licenser. :) Yay!

The week before we left - in addition to our usual multiple jobs and responsibilities - was the Primary Program (which went very well!), a Christmas party meeting, a stake Primary leadership meeting, a dental implant, and a haircut (while the haircut itself didn't take that long, the walk to and from did). Then we drove down to Spanish Fork on Friday night and spent the night at Mike and Caleen's.

The whole family left together the next morning, and spent the day driving down to southern California. Tyson and I stayed with his cousin Carrie (She reminds me a lot of Jacqui - I love her!), and Sunday we went to her ward, which was one of the wards in the last area of my mission! The ward boundaries have been changed a lot, but there were still a few people that I recognized, which was really cool. That Tuesday Tyson and I went to the Newport Beach temple, which was maybe a hair larger than Detroit, but was really beautiful. Wednesday Mike and Caleen took the family to Disneyland, which was pretty fun, and I was even able to ride a few rides despite my back. :) Thursday we had Thanksgiving at his Aunt Susan's house. I made the rolls and upside-down apple pie, and Tyson made pecan pie. There was actually an adventure trying to get the rolls done, since I suddenly found myself without an oven for them (dumb turkey! ;) ). Luckily, is Aunt Beverly lives nearby, and she graciously let us come over and hog her oven. Everyone was so kind and helped me get the rising rolls into the back of the car, and Tyson drove carefully to his aunt's house. He was a huge blessing to me in the kitchen that day, prepping pans for the rolls, and peeling, slicing, and mixing apples for the pie, and then driving the rolls to an oven, all in addition to making his pecan pie! He saved the day!

Anywho, we had a great time with his family that night. They are all so kind and generous and welcoming!

The next day, Tyson took family pictures for his cousins' cousin. Then we went to downtown LA, checked out the Hollywood walk of fame, went up to an observatory, and then went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall by architect Frank Gehry so Tyson could take pictures. At first I stayed in car and read my scriptures. After a little bit, I heard a young woman begin screaming, and was able to make out, "Get away from me!" My heart pounding, I quickly fumbled around and grabbed my phone, ready to dial 911, and got out of the car, deliberately setting off the car alarm in the process, in hopes that it would shake things up a bit. It turns out that the young woman was with a friend and two mother-type women, and had slammed her fingers in the car door. After scaring me that badly, the selfish part of me hopes she broke them all! LOL! I was a little rattled after that (she was still sitting there wailing, while one woman held her hands and the others went for ice), so I decided to join Tyson while he took pictures. :)

The next day we drove home, and were so grateful to be heading the opposite direction of the miles of backed up traffic. :)

I spent the next several days playing catch-up, and trying to get things in order before I leave for Michigan. And then . . .

Wednesday night/early Thursday morning southern Davis county was hit with a windstorm unlike anything I've ever seen. It would blow so hard against our bedroom window that it woke me several times. I had no idea what was going on - wind, snow, hail, snowplows??? Then the power went out around 6:30am, shortly before I got up. It was Tyson's first day at his new job in Salt Lake, so he left and I stayed home and bundled up and cleaned the house. CAA got their power just in time for me to go to work, and we had classes that night. It was then that I realized the extent of what had happened. Not only was most of Bountiful out of power, but so were neighboring Centerville and Farmington. (When the sun set, I could see from my work that the temple and its section of hillside were still dark.) Large trees were uprooted and toppled all over town. Roofing shingles had been blown all over. The signs for the Chase bank and Fresh Market at our corner both had the plastic blown out and broken and scattered. Flying debris had bent over street signs. It was crazy!

That night, Tyson picked me up from work and we went out to eat (warm food!), then picked up some extra candles, and bundled up and went to bed early. Our power came back on shortly before midnight - yay! However, our bishop and his second counselor both had to wait another day or two for power to be restored to their part of the neighborhood.

Saturday was a quiet day. After choir practice, I ran a few errands, then baked Christmas cookies, while Tyson helped a family move, then studied photography while watching football. :)

Yesterday morning a last-minute priesthood meeting was held at 7am, and when Tyson came back, he told me that church had been cancelled for our entire stake. Instead of church, everyone who was able helped pick up branches, cut up fallen trees, and take it all to the city dump, which the mayor had opened until 5pm specifically for that purpose. Another wind storm was slated to hit last night, and they wanted to get everything cleaned up before then. (That storm wasn't nearly as bad, by the way, and everybody is fine and has power still. Whew!) Then Tyson and I went to his parents' house to celebrate his dad's birthday. It was a fun night with great people and good food!

Speaking of food, I tried a recipe for pumpkin bread with a cheesecake layer in it, and it is a definite keeper! It's as if it melts into pumpkin pie in your mouth! And just check out its adorable smile! Also, twice now I've made this upside-down apple pie, and it is fabulous! I have a photo of it before it's cut, but alas, it's too popular for to be able to show you a slice! :)


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