September 18 - 24 2023

 Tuesday, the Department of Energy took a tour of the Redwood Materials plant; that was really exciting. Mary and I got ready for our trip to Utah by cleaning the whole house and packing. Mary went to bed a little late and I was so anxious about not getting up in time that I only got two hours of sleep. We all got up at 3:30 am on Wednesday and drove to Reno to catch our 6 am flight. Paul went to work right away and didn't get to come home early because he had training that kept him there until 5 pm. 

The flight from Reno to Salt Lake is only an hour and even though Mary was up since 3:30, she did not fall asleep until I got her buckled in Mom’s car. Then she fell right to sleep and stayed asleep when I put her in the room which we were sleeping in. She napped for 3 hours, bless her. That afternoon Clare (Gottschall) Schramm came over. We took Mary to Donner Park, but they didn't have any baby swings. We did our best with what was there. Then we went to Mumbai House for dinner. Then we came back to Mom’s and Dad’s house and picked raspberries and made fabric pumpkins. It was so good to see Clare for the first time in 3 years.

Thursday, Mary, Mom, and I got ready for the wedding then drove to the Saratoga Springs temple. I was able to attend Whitney Corbett's sealing at 12 pm. Whitney looked so beautiful, and it was fun to see one of Utah's newest temples, it was very beautiful. We then took some pictures outside the temple but it was very windy and threatening to rain so that didn't go on for very long. Mom, Mary and I then went to lunch at 7 Brothers Burgers which was really yummy. Then we visited Mykael and Roman for an hour and Mykael fixed my hair since it got messed up in the wind. We drove around trying to help Mary fall asleep and she did. 

Then we went to the reception, and I took bridesmaid pictures with Whitney and her other bridesmaids. Mom brought Mary in from the car when she woke up from her nap. Once we were in the reception hall Mary was dancing and playing until we left. She tried to play with some little girls at the temple, but they didn’t include her. She tried again with the same girls at the reception and this time they let her play. They danced and played duck, duck goose. One girl played pat a cake with her. I saw some friends from high school and Mom saw lots of people that she knows. We stayed to see Whitney cut the cake and have her father’s daughter dance then we had to get home to put Mary to bed.

Friday, we met up with Collette Cook at Evergreen Park. They had baby swings, which was awesome. Mary seemed to be socialized out because she didn't really play with Avery or Addie that much. After the park we walked over to the library and ran into some of Collette's friends. Mary and I picked up some lunch from Feldman's Deli on our way home for us and Mom, then I put Mary down for a nap. James and Ben drove up from Provo while I was putting Mary down and I had fun talking with them while we waited for Mary to wake back up. Ben went to hang out with friends and James had to do homework, so Mary and I went outside with Dad and helped in the garden for a little bit before we had a nice family dinner together. We played boggle after dinner then watched a movie called Past Lives before going to bed.

Saturday, Dad and I went to Sunnyside Park and played tennis for an hour. I haven't played for two years, and it was so fun to play and enjoy the crisp fall morning. Dad made French toast for us when we got home then I showered and packed us up to fly home. Eliza and Amelia fed Mary breakfast and Amelia made bracelets for us. Dad drove us to the airport, and we stopped at Dan's Grocery on the way so I could get Paul some Utah chocolate. We ended up cutting it too close because once I got Mary and I to the gate, boarding had ended. I ran over to another Delta employee and begged her to open up the door because we still had ten minutes until take off. She said doors close ten minutes early, but she would call and ask. Luckily, they let us get on and we made it back home. Whew! Paul picked us up in Reno then we grabbed some Costa Vida for lunch. Mary fell asleep on the way home and we enjoyed the evening being back together.

Sunday, we noticed that our grass sprouted! We planted it 8 days ago and now we are seeing little sprouts everywhere! We started the day by going on a walk and I got Mary ready for church while Paul went to Ward Council then we went to church together. We had another relaxed evening together.