Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home this year. With the pandemic, we thought it would be better to stay home. This year was to be spent with the Gambles, but when Mom got the coronavirus, that nixed those plans. So, we stayed home and celebrated as a family.

Speaking of the coronavirus, Mom is recovering. She said that she is feeling better and has been eating. We got word on Thanksgiving that Fran, though, was really bad off. It is a big worry. She has been put into the intensive care unit to stave off the double pneumonia that she has. I will be SO glad when a vaccine can be developed so that the big worry can subside. Hopefully soon. Plans to start mass testing of the several vaccines are being formulated, and hopefully one will be approved early next year.

BYU and Idaho State have both started their basketball seasons. BYU won their first three games while ISU lost their first three games.

Give Thanks

 The prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has given us direction to express our gratitude for all that Heaven Father has given us. As such, I would like to express my thanks for my family--my parents, siblings, wife, and children. They are the reason I live, the reason I work, the reason I play. It gives me great joy when I see them happy. It also gives me great sorrow to see them sad. Without my family, my life would be but naught. Thank you Heavenly Father for the plan of happiness and the opportunity to live together forever.

I am afraid that if I try to number my blessings, I will forget something. These are just a few of my blessings: the wonderful country, state, county, and city in which I live and the freedoms from living here; the job that I have that provides the income to support my family; the friends who support me when I need it; the love of family and friends; the fandom I have for BYU, ISU, Marsh Valley, and the other sport teams that I follow. These are but a few of the things that I am thankful for.

As for the news of the week, COVID is ravaging our communities. We got word that Mom and Todd have COVID. It was confirmed on Monday. Today, we received word that Dick and Fran have it. I will be so glad when this scourge is over!

BYU whipped North Alabama 66-14 yesterday. Their next scheduled game is not for 3 weeks. However, rumors abound that BYU and other schools are talking about scheduling games.

SLOW DOWN!

 

On my way to work on Tuesday, I approached in the northbound lanes to Inkom where snow was starting to accumulate on the freeway. It was just a skiff of snow so I did not think much about it. Before I knew it, though, the back end of the pickup started to slip and pretty soon I was spinning out of control. I started to go into the median and as I started to spin into the direction I was originally going, I braced myself for a head-on collision as I had crossed into the other side of the freeway. Thankfully, no traffic was coming towards me and I went back into the median. I finally came to a stop on the left shoulder of the northbound lanes. I sat there trying to compose myself all the time thanking Heavenly Father for protecting me. I will bet my heart was beating 200 beats per minute. I could not believe that I had just did a complete 360 degree spin and did not hit anything or cause any damage. I got out and looked around the pickup to see if all the tires were OK. I did see that the tonneau cover for the bed had come loose and will need some minor repairs. It took me some time to calm my nerves and drove into work at about 40 miles per hour the rest of the way. I even drove home slow that evening. It was really scary!

Mom and Todd have been tested for COVID. They will not know the results until tomorrow.

We have had some deaths in our small community. The daughter of ward member Lonnie Jones, Angela Ralphs, was killed. Barry Andersen from the First Ward (formerly lived in the Second Ward) died from COVID, and Jeannine Davis passed away. She was 90 years old.

Eventful Week of Highs and Lows

 The week started off a little scary. On her way to her cheer practice, Angie was reaching for something when she over-corrected which caused her to lose control. She wound up on the side of the road, but she was unhurt and the pickup was not damaged. She was a very lucky girl. Angels were there to help her through her ordeal. It definitely was a learning experience!

She was not done with car problems, though. On Saturday, she went to Soda Springs to see a friend, on her way home just before Lava after Fish Creek Pass, she ran over something that caused a flat tire. Again, she was lucky to have the flat where she did. She was able to get completely off the road so it was safe to wait, and when I got there, to change the tire.

One of the highs of the week was when Deb got a call from her doctor to tell her she did not have cancer. During a visit with her doctor several weeks ago, she found something that concerned her. So she did a biopsy to see if it was cancer. Thankfully, it was not. One less worry!

One big low for the week was the election. Unfortunately, it appears that Joe Biden has been elected president. It will be four long years. What is really frustrating, is that the Republicans did really well in all the other elections. It seems a little fishy that Republicans won a lot areas that they were expected to lose, but did not get the president reelected. It stinks. Something does not seem right.

The best high of the week (even higher than the low of the lowest--election) was BYU's big victory over Boise State. For the first time, BYU defeated BSU on their blue turf, 51-17. It was dominating. Every other game in BYU has lost by the skin of their teeth. Finally! It has been too frustrating watching BYU find ways to lose in Boise!

Halloween during COVID

 

The week was pretty typical. I went to work, Deb went to school, and the girls also went to school.

For Halloween, we went to Brigham City. Actually, it was not for Halloween. It was for a baptism. Strider Silvester, the son of Kaylee and Michael Silvester and the grandson of Lynn and Leisha Brower, was baptized. It was a nice ceremony. After the ceremony, we went to a luncheon at Kaylee and Michael's home.

We went through Logan to go home. We stopped in Swan Lake to visit Mom. Todd came to see her for the weekend. She told us they went to Jerome to see Sid's team play in the state playoffs. Unfortunately, they did not play well and lost 45-7.

Lilli wanted to go trick or treating so we took her to a few places in Downey then went to Arimo. We visited with the Jons for quite some time.

BYU whipped Western Kentucky 41-10.

Angie went to her friend's place in Soda Springs on Saturday. After spending some time there, she went to Lava to hang out with her friends there. She stayed in Lava with her friend Lainee Morrison and then came home before church today.