~SEPTEMBER~SAPPHIRE~

Sapphire.  Does anything say elegant like Sapphire? I mean, if a hotel or a restaurant or even a movie theater is called Sapphire, it is because it's owners want to convey elegance and richness.  I remember when Princess Diana received her sapphire engagement ring, everyone was so impressed by its aristocratic beauty and elegance.  It wasn't very long after that, that Nathan gave Shauna a sapphire engagement ring.  I loved it.  Well, our September birthdays are certainly aristocratic and elegant.

Lillian turned 21 on the 3rd.

Rebecca's birthday was the 8th

Ethan had his first birthday on the 10th...the anniversary of Grandpa Hiatt's death.  I always think that Grandpa and Grandma gave Ethan a loving sendoff when he came to earth.

Shadrach turned 20 on the 12th.

Tony's birthday was the 19th

Jared turned 6 on the 21st.

Kelin had a birthday on the 22nd.

Docker turned 18 on the 30th.

~OUR SEPTEMBER~
September is the beginning of the Monarch butterflies' migration to Mexico.  They always stop on their way to visit our flowers.  Usually, we have more in October than September, but I have seen more this month than I ever have.  If you zoom in, you may be able to count at least 8 butterflies on the flowers.  There were more, but some of them were down in the bushes and not up where the camera could catch them.  I can hardly wait to see if we get even more in October.  It is so much fun to watch them.  When I swim, I find dead bees of all sizes and types floating in the pool; also wasps and yellow jackets and flies, but never butterflies.  I'm very glad.

Jenn came over and captured some butterflies in pictures, up close and personal 😀

I know I always put a picture of the sky on the blog, but I am so enamored of Arizona skies.  They are some of the best things about living in Arizona.  Day after day, they take my breath away with their variety, color and drama.  This picture was taken by Rachel on a walk in her desert.  Other pictures taken at the very same time, but just screen shot from a video, are in her section.  They are each so different that you would never believe she stood in one spot and just panned around with her camera.  "Awesome" is an overused word that totally applies here.

September was so full of happy activities from birthday celebrations to school programs, General Conference, visits with kids, a baptism, homecoming, and even a new roof.

Labor Day brought kids over to play and swim.

Dinner with Rebecca's family.  She threw herself a birthday party a little early because she wouldn't be here on the 8th. 🎉 And she invited us.😀Here is everyone eating her delicious birthday apple pie.

On the 8th, Rebecca's actual birthday, we went to Mesa so we would have time to take Brody to get his CTR ring.  His baptism was on the 9th.  After he chose the one he wanted, we went to Mod Pizza with their family.  Dad and I are usually not big pizza lovers, but that was delicious.  I'd go there again.

The baptism the next day was very nice and well attended by Brody's loving family.  We were there, of course, and Mary and her family also came from Safford.  Joel and Stephanie and their boys also came, as well as Jeremy and his boys and Ellie.  Rachel was told to wait until the next week so she could help with Harrison's homecoming date.  There were also several of his Brown families there.  He had a lot of loving support.  Marlie sang a solo, which was beautiful, and Harrison accompanied her (which was also beautiful).

The Priesthood holders who stood in the circle to confirm Brody: L-R: Joel, Jeremy, Dad, Shad, Jimmy Brown,  and two of Shad's sisters' husbands.

With his loving grandparents.

The next day, the 10th, was Ethan's birthday. And his cousins came to wish him a happy birthday. Isabel is undressing him so he will be ready to dive into his birthday chocolate cake.  

He didn't quite know what to think about it.  They actually had to press his hands into it, but even then he was very tentative about eating it.  He managed to make a mess, though, and everyone enjoyed the show. 

I tried to take a panoramic shot of everyone, but it didn't work.  I kept this part of it though, because it is the only picture I have of Rylie and Luke at the party.

On the 13th, I went to a choir program/luau.  Brianna played the piano and sang a solo and was also in the choir numbers.  They performed music from  the Teen Beach movie and she was one of the motorcycle babes.  She really looked the part...gorgeous!  The other picture is of Alex enjoying the pulled pork at the luau.

On the 18th, we started the maintenance closure at the Temple.  The Herrington's and Allred's were already planning to be gone the first week, so we stayed home.  I actually really enjoyed being home with no pressure about what time we had to go to bed to be ready to get up in the morning.  We made an effort to take each Safford (and Thatcher) family out to dinner that week.  We took the Mesa kids the next week. We started with Rachel and Tony's family on the 18th because it was a celebration of his birthday which is the 19th.  We went to El Charro, of course, and took the missionaries as well.

On the 19th, we took Rebecca and Scott to El Charro.  It was such a pleasant double date.

The new counter Thomas built for the foyer of the El Charro.

Then on the 20th, Mary came over to help Dad build a raised square foot garden.  Thomas also came over to help.  We had Mary's family to dinner that night.  She prefers to eat in, however, because of babies, so we ordered in.

While Mary and Dad were working, my job was to keep the babies happy.

Later, Thomas and Jenn and kids came over and we sat outside enjoying the beautiful September evening.  Not hot, not cold, not windy...perfect...except for the ants that kept biting my feet 🐜😏

Dad had the kids shovel dirt from his former square foot garden into the raised one.

We also got our tile roof finished.  I was the one who really wanted a tile roof, but while they were putting it on, I wasn't sure I liked the capped portion on the gables.  As I drove around town, though, I looked at other tiled roofs and the gabled portions were always capped, so I decided to not only accept it, but to like it.  Now I really do.

Dinner at Toni's with the Biggs family.

We attended the youth theater play, That One Play, written by Anthony Whetten, Lamont and Penny's son, also one of our ordinance workers, and in which Brianna and Kirtlyn and Thomas had speaking parts.  We don't bring flowers any more.  These stuffed animals, which I bought at Walmart, half price after Valentine's Day, are cheaper than flowers...and last longer.

On the 23rd, we went to a combined birthday party for Jared, turning 6, and Ethan, turning 1.  It was a lot of fun, good company and good food.

Ethan wasn't sure about digging into his cake.  Everyone was trying to encourage him to make a mess and he was content to just lick the frosting off the candle.

Opening presents.  When I tried to get a picture of Henry and Alex, Alex posed by making a silly face.  For some reason, he's been doing that a lot lately. 😜

We watched the Women's broadcast that evening, at which President Uchtdorf spoke.  I felt very inspired by the whole meeting.

On Sunday, we went to Carson, Lindsay, and Jared's Primary Program.

And then Mary invited us to a delicious pork roast dinner at their house.

On Monday, we went to Mesa to visit kids during our break, and to attend a meeting of the Hiatt siblings in which we reserved the cabin for our family for 2018.  When we got to Mesa, we had lunch with Esther and Shad at an Irish pub.  The kids weren't able to go, but we got a picture of them before we left town.  Esther was fixing Brody's Cub Scout belt.

We ate dinner that night with Joel and Stephanie's family.  It was close to Docker's birthday and Stephanie slipped and told a waiter.  Docker was nervous the whole time that he was going to be sung to.  He wasn't.  He was so relieved.

After dinner, we met at Jan and Kent's new condo on Stapley.  It is so roomy and luxurious.  The meeting went about as I expected, and we got the dates we were trying for.  I'll send those in an email.

Their master bedroom.  Much bigger than it looks in the photo.

On  Tuesday, we tried to have dinner or lunch or anything, with Jeremy's family, but they were all too busy.  Reygan went with us to lunch, though, and we had a really nice visit.  She introduced us to a new lunch place where we got teriyaki bowl.

After we got home, Rachel came by when I was swimming and Dad was testing the water.  The weather is so perfect!

Dad and I went to the Salsa Fest on the 29th, just to have street tacos at the El Charro booth.

We sat on the super cool bench Thomas had Matt Richins build for the front of the restaurant.  

Between conference sessions, Dad went  out to plant veggies in his new garden.  He's got spinach, carrots, radishes, lettuce, beets, and other things too.

Of course, as always, we loved General conference.  This time it seemed as if each speaker was directing his remarks straight at me!  Be more humble, be more spirit directed, be more trusting, be more kind, be repentant, be forgiving.  I've made renewed promises to myself to try harder.  This picture is of the guys watching Priesthood meeting.  I felt honored that they let me stay and listen.

~NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY~

~NATHAN AND SHAUNA~

Beautiful Hannah cut her beautiful hair!!  She's still awfully cute.

Hannah and Seth at a Colorado vs Colorado State football game.  They were rooting for Colorado State as you can tell by their shirts.  Unfortunately, they lost.  But it was a good game, Hannah said, and they enjoyed it; and then at the wedding reception of their friends

Hannah and Mason (the dog) run along this peaceful woodsy trail for their exercise; She  and her friend at the First National Bank of Omaha where she works. 

This is what Joshua is studying at the University of Utah. 

Some of his photos of Utah historic buildings.

ZCMI and the Hotel Utah (Joseph Smith Memorial Building).  We stayed many years in the Hotel Utah with each of you.  After it was closed, we stayed at the Marriott, but the experience just wasn't the same.  In the Hotel Utah, you could run into a General Authority in the elevators once in a while.  It was exciting.  And it was old...historic.  I loved it.  Grandmother was usually with us.

Nathan went to Spain this month, as well as other places, like San Francisco, and I finally got him to take some pictures.  This amazing cathedral is one place he got to see in Barcelona Spain.  He says it's perpetually under construction.

This is the front that you can see right behind Nathan's head, and the inside.  It looks as if it's a popular tourist attraction.

Darling Jovie.  You can tell her parents...and her Aunt Hannah... are crazy about her.  💖 Hannah sent me the cute picture of her in the swing.  What a pretty smile she has. Sorry Palmer, but she looks just like Bethany did as a baby.  She was such a pretty baby.  Your family probably sees you in her, I guess, but I see Bethany.👶

~JOEL AND STEPHANIE~

Stetson and Lindsay went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon for a visit.  I'm not sure that the Flintstone phone was part of that visit, but I think so.

While they were gone, they left their puppy (is he still a puppy if he's younger than a year old...even if he's huge?) with Crew...the puppy whisperer.

Joel and the boys repainted Stetson and Lindsay's house.  In the bottom picture you can see how nice it looks.  In the top picture you can see how nice they look.😉

Joel wanted a picture with Dad and his boys at Brody's baptism.

The Joel and Stephanie Biggs family after the baptism.  Lindsay had to work, so she couldn't be there.

Docker and friends, before picking up their homecoming dates. He is absolutely the best looking one.😍

2017 Homecoming.  He totally looks like a movie star!

At the Imagine Dragons concert with the cousins.

Happy birthday, Docker!  Live long and prosper! The left photo is when we ate dinner with them on Monday, and the right one is on his real birthday, the 30th.

~DANIEL AND CONNIE~

Aila, down on the farm. 😊 I think she is the boss of the whole family and the whole farm.

And even though she's getting down in the dirt and playing with frogs, she's such a beautiful baby.  

That dark blue is so her color!

Shannyn, on her way to a youth activity.

And being a 3rd wheel, she says...I guess that means a chaperone.

Theo and his parents hiking in Missouri.  Happy baby makes happy parents...and visa versa.

At the St. Louis zoo, Theo and this huge grizzly bear were fascinated with each other.

Analynn is making a quilt.

And serving at a fundraising dinner, I think. 

Albert with Scoopy, the Culver's mascot.  Albert is a cook at Culver's. 

Processing their pig. 

~REBECCA AND SCOTT~

Congratulations, Lillian and Kelin.  Have a happy life.

I'm glad she had her comforter to comfort her when she was sick.

Deanna has started her Dental Hygienist school.

College kids, enjoying the college life.  Although, I think Lillian and Kelin are at a BYU game instead of Dixie, or whichever school is near them.

Rebecca threw herself a birthday bash.  She had to be out of town on her birthday, so she did it a few days early, and invited us. 😋 It's always a treat to eat at Rebecca's.

In Pinetop...aka Finland.  They really enjoyed the cool weather.  Just right for hiking, bow hunting, and lake fishing.

Harvey and Parley are getting a good start on being star students like their aunts and uncles.

Harvey...getting a ride on a hand truck, offering his mom a treat, and being consoled with a Polar Pop cup full of milk.

Parley...New York State fair

Exploring his home.  The funny face is actually a "sneaky face" says his mom.  He got a bacon cheese biscuit off the counter by himself.

At Jared and Ethan's birthday party.  Notice the ball in mid air.

Polly is teaching the twins to play tennis.

This is from a long time ago, when they went to NC.  But it just showed up on Facebook, and I couldn't resist.  That is my Grandpa and Grandma Hiatt's house in Mt. Airy.

Yea!!! Handsome haircut, handsome young man.

Lillian and Kelin are having snow!  While we are still swimming.  Amazing.

Polly with her cousins at the Imagine Dragons concert.

~JEREMY AND ERIKA~

I love Mesa too.

They got their trampoline pit finished and the trampoline settled in.  Looks like fun.

At Brody's after-baptism party.  Jeremy and Daynen helped cook the hamburgers.

Yes, I know this looks like it should be in Esther's section, but if you look behind us, you can see Mr. Photo Bomb making this a more interesting picture.

I'm always so glad to see what Reygan has been working on.  Beautiful!

At the U2 concert.  Harrison and Shad and Bridger were there too, but I don't know if they saw each other.

I know they saw each other at the Imagine Dragons concert, though, because they went together.  Joel Biggs boys, the Jeremy Biggs kids, the Brown kids, and one Evans kid.

Daynen, in the meantime, was busy shooting a movie.

~RACHEL AND TONY~

Isabel made sure that Thatcher High School knew who they were going to be playing against in their big rival game.  She got in trouble, though, and had to do cleanup duty after the game.

Enjoying the cooler late summer evening in their backyard.

The weather is just perfect for hiking in the desert (watching out for snakes, of course) and watching the beautiful sunsets.

Shad asked Rachel to go to Mesa to take pictures of his law firm.  She also helped with their dinner, and with Harrison's homecoming dinner.  She took the opportunity to go to the temple with Esther and her twins loved having cousins to go to church with.

At Jared and Brody's birthday party.  Isabel is one of our baby whisperers.

The twins are having tennis lessons from Polly.

Crazy hair day and Wacky day.

At the Safford Stake Standards Night, which was conceived and directed by Thomas, Isabel competed in a lip sync contest between good and evil (Isabel was good😇)

It was one of the twins' first mutual experiences. 

Rachel saw these beautiful clouds and filmed them all in one video panorama.

~ESTHER AND SHAD~

Brody's baptism by his father, on September 9.

The entire Shad and Esther Brown family on Brody's baptism day.

At the luncheon after the baptism.  Joel's family, Jeremy's family, Mary's family, Dad and I and several Brown families were all there to celebrate Brody's baptism.

Bridger earned his Star rank in Scouting.

Preparing their homecoming dinner for Harrison, his friends and their dates.  Marlie, although not old enough to go, loved doing her friends' hair for the occasion.

2017 Homecoming. Isn't he handsome?

At the U2 concert.

Imagine Dragons concert with the cousins and friends

Soren and Brody playing little league football

Shad and Harrison and Jimmy Brown at conference.

~THOMAS AND JENN~

Jenn and her siblings drove to St. George to be with their brother when he baptized his son.

El Charro catered the EAC boosters club at a football game.  Isabel helped.

Jenn came and helped us get the last of the apples from our tree. The kids you don't recognize are Huish kids from across the street.

Thomas was elected as student council vice president at Ruth Powell school.

Kirtlyn came up with the idea to have a bench with the "stop bullying" motto painted on it.  They liked her idea and now their are benches in 10 different schools, maybe 5 different school districts.

Tooth pillow time...just in time 😏

Thomas built this very handy counter for the restaurant, so they have a place to put menus, carry-out orders and other things.  It really looks nice in the restaurant foyer.  The top two pictures are before the glass was put on top.

He came over to help Dad and Mary finish up the raised garden they were making.

This was at Toni's when we went there to eat.

The "minions" for the youth theater play that they were all in.  They were "bad guy minions," not cute yellow minions, obviously.  This was for cast 1.  In cast 2, they weren't minions at all, but, had speaking parts. Thomas was a townsman and Kirtlyn and Brianna were narrators.  The other kids belong to Janae and Brad Lines.

Thomas was a townsperson with several lines to say.

Kirtlyn and Brianna were narrators and kept us all entertained with their funny quips.

At Jared and Ethan's birthday party.

The second night of the play, when Kirtlyn and Brianna were narrators, Mary did their hair and makeup.  Gorgeous girls!

Thomas, as stake YM president, brought Jimmy Fallon to the Safford Stake Standards Night (aka President Peck).  Notice the skyline behind his desk.   The kids really enjoyed it and learned good lessons.

Salsa Fest 2017.  In front of El Charro.  The most delicious street tacos ever.

~MARY AND TYSON~

Mary's basement flooded last month, so they took up the carpet and Tyson is putting down tile.

After Brody's baptism, at the luncheon.

Ethan's first birthday.  He loved the present.  He didn't even need it unwrapped.  It was just fine as it was. 

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Everyone loved watching him daintily eating his cake.Someone had to actually push his hands into it.

Dainty or not, he still needed a bath.  It was his favorite part.

Jared and Tyson went on a field trip to Apple Annie's.

Brianna's choir concert and talent show.  She was a "Biker Babe" from Teen Beach Movie, and she also sang a solo, which she  accompanied herself.

How to watch tv with babies.

Or play computer games with a baby brother.

Ethan was so happy that he was big enough to sit in the front of the shopping cart instead of his car seat.  But I also loved the look on Alex's face as he was trying to make sure his toys got in the picture.

Mary helped Dad build a stand for his raised garden, and the babies and I just played around.

We had them over for dinner afterwards, and Ethan crawled over and found the garbage.  He pulled out a plate that had sweet sauce from Sesame chicken, and just lolled around on the floor, licking it off the plate.  He loved it. 

Jared's 6th birthday

80's day

The youth theater's play with Brianna and Kirtlyn as narrators.

Jared and Ethan's birthday party.

They had a friend party before the family came. Now those are minions!

Then the family came and got to have hamburgers and hotdogs.  Kirtlyn and Brianna frosting the cakes that Jared and Ethan made a mess of themselves with.

All ready for the second performance, after Mary styled their hair and did their makeup.

The next day, Sunday, was the Richins kids' Primary program.  Mary also had to teach Relief Society.

Then they had us to dinner, along with Melody and Russ Richins.

This is from a video of Alex making his own spaghetti sandwich.  Smart kid!

Carson got his Arrow of Light at a pack meeting. He got to chose the theme and Mary made the Harry Potter refreshments.

Brianna's Beehive class doing facials.

~OUR MISSIONARY~

Happy birthday, Elder Biggs!  September 12th. He was 20 years old.  

~SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE~
There were so many funny, cute, smiley things this month.  I couldn't put them all here.
It's amazing to me how goofy even pretty girls can look!

This touched my heart.  That's just how I felt for 40 years of taking tired babies to church.

I laughed out loud at this.  Senescence is from the same root word as senility, in case you're wondering.

So I guess it's a good thing we're working in the temple and have 500 close friends.  It's keeping us from becoming senescent.

One year ago, he was barely a handful.  Now he's a good arm full...lap full.  That makes me smile.

If I ever get the time, before I'm too old to remember how, I want to paint this beautiful picture.  Look at her face...

~LAST WORDS~

Porter called me sometime this month, as part of a research assignment, to ask which age was my favorite age.  Of course, I thought of the right things to say two days later.  That's how I roll.  Not just because I'm old, but because I'm slow.  :-} I did say that whatever age I'm in is my favorite age.  I love being old and I loved being young.  I wanted to say that I  remember when I was young, I dreaded being old.  But as I reached each stage of my life, I found that each age has its blessings and rewards...childhood, adolescence, young love, young motherhood, mother of older children, grandmotherhood, empty nest, old age.  Of course, each age has its hardships and heartaches, too, but with persistence, faith and love, those can be overcome, or at least endured, and the joy is always there, waiting to be recognized and appreciated.  I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for giving me Dad and all of you, to bring joy into each stage of my life.