Don and Linda's newsletter

Dear Family,
Summer is really over - we’ve stopped using the AC and I got out the bathroom electric heater today. Haven’t started running the furnace yet even though it’s below 60 degrees inside some mornings. "Just put on more clothes!" is a common statement around here. Our mountains got a dusting of snow this weekend when we got a much-needed, soaking rain. Because we haven’t had a hard freeze yet my tomatoes are still growing and we got to eat our first ripe one last week. There are a lot to ripen so I pray for a long, not-cold fall. I received a new calling - I’m teaching the 4th Sunday lesson in RS from the General Conference talks. I’m pretty excited and hope to improve my teaching skills. My Blog class wasn’t very useful because it was for intermediate bloggers and I’m not. I got invited to go to the RS General Mtg with Heidi and her mother and sister to the Conference Center. We had a fun dinner before at the Macaroni Grill - which was a first for me and the food was good. We all shared! The meeting was really special and I love being inside to watch the people on the stand especially. I feel that I learn a lot about people by watching them interact when they are off-camera. It was fun to get to know Heidi and her family better. They’re really nice.
Don’s graduate class is going...... He is good to accommodate the students and help them out. He’s getting some work done on a paper and has been serving on a couple of committees. Never enough time for everything. We’ve been enjoying NFL football watching the Denver Broncos when Brian comes out and of course BYU also.
Brian is busy with work and enjoying his apartment living. He got a promotion at work to "Head Chef" in the deli for the day shift and is really liking the responsibility and especially the opportunity to be creative with some recipes. We get to sample them and they are great - a little too spicy for us. His new favorite ingredient is "Cranberry Chipotle" which is particularly good with Parmesan spicy chicken!
Collins had a checkup in SLC with the brain surgeon and got a good report. The Dr was especially pleased with how the scar looked. That must be some sort of measure of a good surgeon. He can now ride a bike (with a helmet) and run in his own yard. He has to wait another 2 months to go out for recess and contact "sports". Kenedee’s hair is really getting long and beautiful. I think she likes being the big sister at home during the day. Emmaleigh has started walking. She is such a happy baby. Ryan took the GRE and will be starting Graduate School maybe in January. Laura is learning patience and doing a great job with 3 kids and lots of meetings with her Foster Care job and service.
Don and I got to go to Ellie’s birthday party the end of September. She was so excited to have us that they even waited dinner for us. She’s turning into a beautiful young lady. She loves school and does a great job reading. Devin loves to go help dad on the farm and is a great big brother to Reagan. Reagan has glasses now and they are trying to teach her to leave them on. She sure looks studious in them. Her legs are getting stronger and her orthotic shoes helping her learn to walk. Shane was blessed with getting all the hay and grain in before the big rain. Michelle has done some bottling and got the yard winterized.
We hope you are all well. Please contribute so we can keep up on you and your family.
Love, Linda and Don