SEPTEMBER ~GRANDMA'S STEW & GRANDMOTHER'S STEW

I remember when Grandma made her rich, hearty beef stew.  She always cooked it in an electric cooker/roaster.  She inherited it from Grandma Brinton, I think.  Anyway, stew tasted better in that cooker than on the stove.  I don't know why but it did.  She decided to get all her girls an electric cooker just like it, so she checked her thrift stores and finally got enough.  I used to always cook our Sunday roasts in mine.  It finally rusted through and Dad made me throw it away, but nothing compares to the way roasts...and stews...tasted when cooked in that cooker.  Grandma browned her stew meat in flour, then put it in the cooker, added water by rinsing out the frying pan into the cooker so that she got all the flavor into the stew.  Then she cut up an onion, a can of tomatoes and cooked it for hours.  Then she added her potatoes, and carrots.  She always cooked the carrots for a little while first until the water was yellow before adding them to the stew so that the stew wouldn't taste "carroty."  She wanted the carrots to taste beefy though, and they did.  Periodically, she would check the stew to see if it needed water and sometimes it did.  She wanted her stew to be thick but not dry.  This picture from Google looks just like her stew.

Grandmother's stew was also rich and hearty but was more of a soup than Grandma's.  She often would have a pot of stew ready for us to eat when we came from St. Johns.  We always stayed at Grandma's but before we went there, we stopped at Grandmother's for stew (sometimes Roman Holiday).  Grandmother sometimes used stew meat, but my favorite was when she used a soup bone. You really could tell the difference in flavor.  I guess it's the marrow.  She added onions, potatoes, canned tomatoes, celery, and lots of cabbage, and plenty of water so that it was soupy.  That's how Dad prefers stew...to be soup.  Once in a while, not always, she would add noodles.  No matter how she changed it from time to time, it was always so good and very good for you.  When we went to Daniel's last spring, he made some and it tasted just like I remembered Grandmother's stew tasting.  This is a picture from Google and it looks more like her stew than  any other picture I could find.  Hers didn't usually have the green garnish, though.

Of course, September is the time we remember 9/11 and how the nation pulled together for a little while, all Americans, helping and supporting each other in this time of sadness.

September is also a glorious month as far as weather is concerned.  We had a fairly pleasant July and August, so September was hotter than usual, but still cooled down enough that the flowers showed their gratitude by blooming like crazy.  When we were in Mesa, however, it was 104 degrees.  Everyone was commenting on how nice it was that it was cooling down finally 🌞

Of course, September entertains us with its dramatic skies.  Brynlie took this sunset picture.

And I took this one of the Gilas on our way to the temple one morning.  The day before had been stormy and the clouds were hanging low that morning.  It was so unusual and yet so peaceful and pretty.

Our September birthdays are definitely unusual (aka unique), peaceful and pretty...even the boys.

Lillian's birthday was the 3rd.

Rebecca's was the 8th.

Ethan turned 2 on the 10th.

Shadrach turned 21 on the 12th.

Tony's birthday was the 19th.

Jared turned 7 on the 21st.

Kelin's birthday was the 22nd.

Mary and Tyson's anniversary was the 26th.

Docker turned 19 on the 30th...in Boston.

~OUR SEPTEMBER~

On the 2nd of September, Sunday, Thomas and Jenn and their family came over for dinner.

On the 3rd, I was getting ready to go to the temple at 5 a.m., and was stung in the heel by a scorpion. Dad searched for it but couldn't find it, so we went ahead and left for the temple.  In spite of a stinging heel, I figured I could manage my responsibilities just fine.  But before Preparation meeting even started, I felt dizzy and numb clear up to my face and throat, so Dad put on shoe coverings and took me home.  When he got home that afternoon, he showed me two black light flashlights he had bought on his way.  He went into the closet and found that horrible bug with the black light, and squashed it!  By the next day, I was all well.  My heel didn't even hurt any more.  Of course we had the bug man come and now we take our black lights whenever we get up in the night.

On the 8th, Rebecca's birthday, when she was in Tempe, Dad and I were assigned to the Pima Stake Conference.  Herringtons were originally assigned but they had to work at the Temple Saturday night so they assigned us to go and give the Saturday talks.  We offered to work for them so they would be free to go to Pima, but they declined and insisted we go.  Dad gave a presentation in leadership meeting, and I spoke at the adult session Saturday night.  It was actually good for us to go, though, because we might not see those wonderful Pima people any more after November.

On the 9th, we went to Gilbert after church  and had a delicious dinner, cooked by chef Harrison.  He made Shepherd's pie.  I've always liked it, but this was the best I've ever had.  It had a tiny kick to it.  Not enough to burn your tongue, but just enough to make you pay attention.  We also celebrated Rebecca's birthday at this party.  Joel and Stephanie's family, Jeremy and Erika's family and Esther and Shad's family, as well as Rebecca and Scott and DeWitt all came.  We even had enough room to have it in our Gilbert house.  It was so much fun for Dad and me to entertain in our house for a change.

That's because of all the help from our kids to make it comfortable and beautiful for us.  Esther and her kids did so much to get us moved in, as did Rachel and Joel and Stephanie and their boys, and Jeremy and Hayden.  Stephanie decorated our lovely living room and Rachel decorated our cozy bedroom.  We have really loved being there, and are so amazed at how beautiful everything looks.

Sunday with Harrison's Shepherd's pie and Rebecca's birthday.

Stephanie and Esther stayed to clean up.

The next day Joel and Stephanie invited us to go to Arriba's with them to eat Mexican food.  It was very good, but I have to say that El Charro is still my favorite.  Our El Charro.  The boy by Crew is Lance's son.

 We got home in time to see Brianna mowing our lawn and blowing our sidewalks clean.

And we got to play with the little boys.  Dad got Alex in a "please trap," and he loved it.  He kept asking "put me in a please trap!"

On the 13th, Jared broke his wrist.  Actually, I think he broke it the day before but they were sure it was just a sprain because he kept using it.  They decided they had better check, just in case and sure enough, it was a "buckle fracture."  So we brought him a toy on our way to the temple.  He didn't want a milkshake, he wanted a stuffed animal.

On the 16th, Sunday, we went to Mary's ward where Carson spoke in Sacrament meeting.  He did a very good job.  It was his first time.  That afternoon, Mary planned a birthday party for Ethan, even though his birthday was the 10th, (but he didn't know or care), and invited the family to come.  Rachel's family brought dinner to us and ate at our house so they would be here for Ethan's party. She brought chicken in a delicious cream sauce.  It was so good.  Rachel is an amazing cook.  

Ethan's birthday party

Once in a while, Rachel will wait at our house until Luke gets finished with football practice and I get to help the girls with their homework.  It's fun for me.  It makes me feel smart to do 7th grade homework 😃

On the 20th and 21st, Brianna was in a community youth play that was written by Penny and Lamont Whetten's son, Jason.  She was a glamorous pirate.

On the 2nd day (she had different parts each day) I had to leave early because the next day was a 3a.m. morning.  Lindsay sat with me, so I told her to represent me and get a picture with Brianna.

That afternoon was Jared's birthday party.  Mary took a bunch of his friends from school to Discovery Park as well as other fun things.  On their way from taking friends home, they stopped at our house to pick up his birthday gift.  

On Sunday the 23rd, we were assigned to the Thatcher Stake Conference, where we were just asked to bear our testimonies.  That afternoon, Mary brought meatballs for dinner and we ate at our house.  The meatballs tasted just perfect.  She's a good cook too.  All our kids know their way around a kitchen, even the boys.

Later, Thomas and Jenn's family came for a visit.

We went over to El Charro with Thomas to see the progress of their floor renovation.  They had discovered asbestos when they were changing the carpet, so they had to take up everything.  They hired Jay Curtis to polish the cement floor.  It will certainly be cleaner and easier to care for.

On the 24th, we started our two-week temple maintenance closure break.  We went to Gilbert for the first week, just to hang out in our house and with our Mesa kids.  We also went to Scottsdale to sign off our condo.  It is no longer ours.  A little nostalgic, but also relieved.  

Rylie shared the house with us that week.  She was in Gilbert to attend a real estate school for two weeks, and she slept upstairs.  We hardly saw her at all.  She left early and got back late, after working out at a gym, ate her dinner, (I was impressed at the healthy food she cooked for herself) and went to her room to talk to Brandon.  We tried to take her with us whenever we went somewhere, but she was never available until the last evening.  

 She did relax for a few minutes one evening, and I caught a picture, but it didn't last long.  I think Brandon called 😉

Tuesday night we took hamburgers to Esther's house and enjoyed a visit with them.  Then we went to Bridger's football game.  He is a starter and wears the number 70.  He got to play a lot.  They won.

While Dad was at the office, the next day, he saw the cool car that Joel bought.

The boys came over to the house to do some things for us...hang a mirror and a picture and fix the coded key pad for the front door.

Then we went to lunch at Black Angus.  I don't know why I try to do a panoramic photo.  Someone always gets distorted.  But at least you can see our handsome boys...even if they look weird.

On Thursday, we went shopping at the Walmart close to our house, and just as we were walking in, who should we see walking out, but Reygan!  She walked all around the store with us and then we went to lunch at Chick-fil-a.  It was fun to be with her all by herself, and hear about her sweetie at BYU.

That night we took pizza to Jeremy's family.  Thursday nights are "scary movie nights," but because I can't watch scary movies or I'll have bad dreams, they toned it down for me and we watched Monster House.  I'll tell you...it was scary enough!😱  Tayte, Ellie, Daynen, Jori and Reygan were all there.  Reygan's friend, Tori, is a Brazilian.  Actually, she's never been to Brazil, but her dad is a Brazilian.

On Friday night, we went to P.F. Chang's with Joel's family.  And Rylie was even able to go!  She came straight from the gym, but we were glad she could make it.  I think she had fun with her cousins.

On Sunday, the 30th, Docker's birthday, we went to Mary's ward to watch their Primary program.  Lindsay, Jared and Alex all participated.  Alex even sang.  Most of the Sunbeams didn't.  Lindsay gave a little talk about prayer and told the story of when Grandma was lost in Phoenix as a 3-year-old.  She did so well, of course.  And it was also sweet to watch Carson pass the Sacrament.

I went back to our ward after the program.  Dad was at a coordinating council meeting with the mission president and the stake presidents in our temple district.  But after all our meetings, Thomas and Jenn came to dinner.  Their kitchen is mostly unusable.  Dad wanted Spaghetti, so we invited them to enjoy it with us.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY

~NATHAN AND SHAUNA~

Hannah's friend brought her a treat from Hawaii.

The living room in Josh's apartment.

Josh's friend since elementary school.

Josh the Preservationist photos:

These may be from Omaha...or SLC...

Sweet little Jovie and more Jovie.  Except the one of Palmer, missing the cool, fall weather he is used to;

Jovie loves her baby dolls; a visit from Palmer's parents.

Yumm!😋

Hannah and Seth; Seth's niece, I think; and their missionary prep class.  They took them to the Kansas City Temple because the Winter Quarters Temple is closed.

In New Orleans, Nathan had a shrimp jambalaya kind of dish,

~JOEL AND STEPHANIE~

Joel's new (antique) car

At our housewarming/Sunday dinner/Rebecca's birthday party

Helping us get things put up at the Gilbert house.

At P.F. Chang's

~DANIEL AND CONNIE~

Shannyn and Daniel at Father and Daughter night

New house...huge! Notice the goose in the right front.  I wonder how it is doing at keeping away the coyotes?

Devynne went out right, hiking around, after the baby was born. Childbirth? A piece of cake!  Ha!  I think this is an animal preserve of some kind.

They caught a raccoon.  Maybe they could donate it to the wild animal preserve.

Blankets from Grandmothers.  I have to say I'm jealous that I can't make a quilt like the one Grandma Karen made.  That is just beautiful!

Connie was able to go to Devynne's right when baby Rose was born, then Daniel and Shannyn and Albert went later to enjoy the darling grandkids.

Everyone went to see Baby Rose, but I think Theo was the star of the show.

Beautiful Aila and her devoted dad.

Emma got stung by a bee.  That looks way more painful than my scorpion sting.  If it weren't for the facial numbness and dizziness...not to mention how ugly a scorpion is... I think I would rather be stung by a scorpion than a bee.

Shadrach and some of his fellow Hmong missionary friends at a mission reunion.

Albert opened his mission call in their new house so there would be room for friends...and cookies.  He is called to the Santa Rosa, California Mission.  It is right on the Pacific Coast Highway from the Goldengate Bridge to the border of Oregon.  What a beautiful mission that will be.  And Albert will be just great.  He is so prepared and eager to serve.

~REBECCA AND SCOTT~

Nothing scares Parley!  Not even having to do everything with a cast on his leg.  I think he has since had it removed.  Happy day!

Parley made a breakfast egg casserole.  I was so impressed.  He knew what he needed and asked Sara for each ingredient.  These are screenshots from a video of him, making the dish.

Dallin and Sara in DC.

Harvey is so helpful.  Especially taking care of his sister...even when she takes his lollipop. (check the smiles section) 

Allison and Taylor went to NYC.

On Lillian's post, from which I copied these pictures, she said "There are only two seasons...fall and waiting for fall."  I guess in Cedar City autumn is a real season and not just a substitute for winter like it is here.

Polly is enjoying college life.  She does things with her roommates and other friends, some of whom are not LDS.  They seem to all have a great time together.

She especially loves living close to Lillian.

Rebecca's birthday.  Scott filled her kitchen with balloons.

Rebecca and Scott are enjoying the "empty nest" life.

Hockey game, baseball game, I think, and a play...Westside story.

Happy Birthday Jared!  He was so thrilled that Rebecca gave him $10!

They attended an early morning (6:00) temple session and caught the beautiful sunrise.

Rebecca's birthday party.

Rebecca got this wonderful idea...to help the YW nieces work on their personal progress.  She invited them over to learn how to bake.  They each chose two items and she got the ingredients and helped them with recipes and baking tips.  She even helped them make a recipe book, and gave each one a bottle of pure Mexican vanilla.

Rebecca and Scott's boarders.

~JEREMY AND ERIKA~

Erika had to go in for some surgery and let someone else play doctor.   Her family was so loving and supportive.

A friendly bowling competition?

At the Sunday night supper/birthday party.

Erika and Jeremy with Governor Ducey at a fundraiser that Joel sponsored.

Reygan's in love...💞  His name is Drayton Lavender.  He's going to BYU.  We met him last month and really like him.

Another home improvement project that Erika and Jeremy are undertaking.  Every time we go there, we see more and more differences in their house.  It's going to really be a showplace.

Fooling around in the Halloween costume section at Goodwill.

Making a movie.  Dallin and Jori are extras.

Helping the parents.  Jeremy put on the new coded key pad at the Gilbert House.

We took pizza to their house on scary movie night, and watched Monster House.  Even that movie is funny when you watch it with Jeremy.

~RACHEL AND TONY~
Rachel and the twins spent some time in Gilbert, hanging out with the Brown boys.

Catching the sunset as they drove into it.

Living in the desert has its hazards...besides scorpions, I mean.  Luke and Isabel found a Gila Monster on the road on the way to their house.  I've actually never seen one in the wild.

One hot day in September they went to Discovery Park and found that it was more fun than they expected.

Perfect sunset...perfect spot.

When Mary was feeling sick, and her boys were driving her crazy, Rachel brought over a furniture box from her store for them to play in.  They had a whole day's worth of fun and entertainment with it.  Rachel even got in to show them how it's done.

Rachel teaching her YW class, including her lovely girls.  Rebecca went with her that day, so she took some pictures.  Thank you Rebecca.

I asked Rachel to take some pictures of the temple for next year's schedule card.  We loved them all, but we are using the 3rd one.

At Rebecca's baking day

Isabel's dog, Cleo, got hurt somehow.  She had a broken pelvis and other internal injuries that they didn't know about.  Isabel had to leave for an EAC tennis trip, but she was so worried about Cleo.  She left detailed instructions for her mom and siblings on how to take care of her dog while she was gone.

But poor Cleo was more injured than they knew and evidently was in a lot of pain and misery.  She finally passed away on the last day of the month and Tony and Luke and the twins buried her.  Poor Isabel.  She was gone and didn't know what happened.  Hopefully, she'll be able to see it from Cleo's point of view.  She is now free from her pain and discomfort.

Isabel, enjoying her tennis trip, blissfully unaware.  She was devastated when they finally told her about Cleo, so sad that she wasn't with her when she died.

Rylie went to Gilbert to attend real estate school and stayed with us in the Gilbert house.  On our last day, she finally was able to go with us to P.F. Chang's with Joel's family.  It was nice to have her, and I think she had a good time.

Stephanie ordered her some Chunk Cookies.  It is a little company that makes homemade chocolate chip cookies and delivers them hot and fresh to your door.  They are at least as big as a man's fist.

~ESTHER AND SHAD~

Soren and Brody with the twins

Sleeping on the trampoline.  They didn't stay out all night because it was too hot!

At the Sunday dinner/birthday party

Bishop Brown teaching the youth of his ward at a fireside...with cookies, of course.

"Old folks day" at school.   This is Brody, in case you can't tell.  Notice the belly hanging out over his belt.

Homecoming.  Bridger and Shad watching for Marlie's date; Then her brothers and Dad giving her advice...or maybe a hard time.

With Zack.  Aren't they just so darling?

With the other couples...of course, Marlie's the prettiest one.

After hamburgers at the browns, we went to Bridger's football game.  He's #70, getting ready to go onto the field.

Then Esther and Shad flew to Mississippi to see their old stomping grounds and their old friends.  They went to an Alabama game...The Crimson Tide.  Look behind Shad...Crimson indeed!

Shad's Alma Mater, and the water tower that shows the name of the town they lived in.

Dinner with friends and church with friends.

~THOMAS AND JENN~

Maya and friend walking down the alley into the sunset.

They all took a Labor Day trip to Angle Orchard to pick apples.

Kirtlyn is wearing Grandpa Hiatt's old, soft shirt.  Do you all remember it?  I'm glad Thomas got it.

They found asbestos when they were replacing the carpet at El Charro, so they are doing some renovating.  This is the bussers' station, all fresh and new.

They also refinished the cement tiles on the floor that were under the carpet.

Salsa Fest.  Kirtlyn and her friend Samantha Van Houten manned the El Charro booth.  Or should I say "girled" it?

At Rebecca's baking day.

Thomas and Jenn had a devasting leak under their sink, destroying their cabinets and wall, so they are replacing all the cabinets in their kitchen.  In the meantime, they are in a construction state. Before; during.  I'll show "after" next month.

Hanging out after dinner

~MARY AND TYSON~

Mama Lindsay.

Brianna's beautiful pull-apart cinnamon rolls.

Their basement flooded after one of our September storms, soaking the clothes in the downstairs bedrooms.

They had a Richins reunion in Cotton City, complete with a climbing wall.  Even Alex tried it!

None of the kids were hurt on this climbing wall, but Tyson was injured at the reunion when he and his brother rode an ATV in the desert.  His brother was spinning around and the vehicle flipped, throwing them out.  Tyson was badly bruised and the muscles in his shoulders and chest were injured.  It took him weeks to recover.  But it could have been so much worse.  Not too long ago, some kids, doing the very same thing, were badly hurt, and one of them died.  We're thankful that Tyson is going to be okay.

He also decorated Brianna's sheets with her nail polish 😳

Alex, treating Ethan to a ride on his scooter.

Brianna, posted these pictures of Ethan for his 2nd birthday.

At Ethan's birthday party at our house.  Super, perfect little boy's cake! Amazing mom!!

Presents!  Yay!!

Carson and Tyson went on a BLM dove hunt.  He got a dove (or two), so they had dinner that night.

While Carson was gone, Brianna filled in for him by mowing our lawn.

The boys eating popsicles and drinking zebra water while Brianna mows the lawn.

Ok.  This is Alex's attempt at making a recipe.  He made it up as he went along.  These are also screenshots.  His dish was graham crackers, ketchup, water and brown sugar.😋

Playing in Rachel's box.

Jared's red cast with everyone's signature, and his new stuffed animal.

Rachel made the mistake of putting Ethan on her lap when she was driving  (luckily it was down by her house), but he got the idea he was supposed to drive all by himself and kept pushing her hand away.  He was totally loving it!

At Discovery Park

At Rebecca's baking day; the girls getting Brianna ready to be a glamorous pirate in the play.

Brianna as a glamorous pirate in the community youth theater.

One of Tyson's clients flies a hot air balloon, and invited him to fly with them.  How fun!

Jared's birthday.  His cake was a mystery to me, but he totally loved it.  I think it was a Star Wars robot.  They took his friends to Discovery Park, made their own cupcakes and watched a movie.  

Brianna and Carson at a Cardinals game.

Lindsay's church drawing.  Look in the right top corner.

~MISSIONARY~

Shadrach is teaching at the MTC, and had the opportunity to see Docker while he was there.

Docker's last days at the MTC.  Last meal; smoke on the mountain; last selfie; new name tags .

Arrival in Boston; with his mission president and wife.

~SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE~

New grandma and experienced grandma.

More Colorado signage.

Harvey taking care of his baby sister.  Doesn't this put a smile on your face?  Look at Lucy's face when she is looking at him.

I caught the words on the back of Bridger's shirt when he was helping us at the Gilbert house.  Everyone should adopt that motto.

I saw this on Learngram.  I love that site.  I'm learning so much useless trivia.  At least this factoid is important!

It touches my heart to see the big kids being loving to the babies.  Good job, Luke.

So true.   I had one, and lucky for you, so do you.😃

How many of us have heard this same promise multiple times?  

Yes.  I'm with you, Junie.  Only my hair doesn't look that good when I go to bed with it wet.

So if you are looking for a way to keep your kids entertained in church...here's your answer.  I especially love the church headgear.

Aila

I've been a member of each of these classes at one time or another.

Isn't this just so perfect?

~LAST WORDS~

I almost skipped " Last Words" because I can't think of anything to say.  My brain is fried.  I guess I need maintenance closure as much as the temple does! 😏  I'll just say that we love you all very much and are looking forward to your October activities.  Send pictures!!