The OLD folks at home

I may have survived the summer (Mom) and the constant allergies but I am not certain about Dad. I think the house painting may still be the end of him. He has come up with this terrifying way of painting the front of the house. I cannot help him. It makes me ill to even look at how high up he is. I know I am weak but I comfort myself that only one person will fit on the contraption he has rigged up. He takes Jim’s forklift, hooks a pallet to it, and then hooks the ladder to that with bungee cords. Yipes!!!! The front of the house is about done and I am glad we chose the color we did. It is called almond and almost matches the lighter brick in the array that makes up the house. The trim is cream. We still have some brown because the garage door is brown and the metal around the windows in the great room are also brown.

We had Braden with us for a couple of weeks. He was fun to have around although I teased him about having “teenhimers” which is something like Alzheimer’s but is a passing phase. We did a lot while he was here. We took him to EFY and got him settled in. We bought lunch there. AnnMarie took him to buy ice cream at the BYU Creamery. She also picked him up on Saturday. We then went to the Pitts family reunion in Price, bought ice cream at the “Y”, attended the Ute Stampede (and parades) and the Mormon Handcart Pageant. Did I mention that we bought ice cream at BYU? We went to the 4th of July fireworks and had some of our own, thanks to Todd. We also went to the Spanish Fork parade on the 24th and, along with AnnMarie and family, went to the park there for Navaho tacos. Did I mention that we bought ice cream at the “Y”? We then had a picnic with Joneses and watched “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Braden and Jim did the sparkler thing. The fireworks at Mona the night of the 24th were even better than the 4th of July fireworks in Nephi. We were all impressed. We went fishing at Ferron, went to the Manti Temple grounds, the Provo Temple grounds and Salt Lake Temple Square. Gramps and Braden had dinner at Brick Oven. We also ate dinner at our local Mexican Café. We also had visits from cousins, ate too many treats and stayed up too late (well, not Gramps, he doesn’t do late). I am proud to say that I did not gain any weight though I didn’t lose any either. Julie helped Braden learn to make a DVD of all his photos which he set to music and 

The Pitts reunion was shy just one living brother, Uncle Morgan. Aunt Pat was there, as were Bob and Dad Howard. Of course, Aunt Bea and Uncle Ken are both dead. Uncle Morgan was not able to be there. (Just so you know, Aunt Pat says that I would not go to sleep unless I held on to someone’s neck. They then had to talk the whole time. If they stopped talking, I would open my eyes and then the process would have to start all over. She thinks I liked to feel the vibrations of the talking. She said she used to get tired of talking. I don’t know if I believe that. She is, after all, a Pitts by birth. As far as I can tell, all Pitts folk like to talk.)

LHT and MT went to “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Present A Celebration of Life!” We could not take Braden because we already had tickets, supplied by Auntie Helen, before we knew what days he would be with us. He was visiting a friend in Sandy so we just picked him up afterward. It was a thrill to be at the event billed as “an evening of music and spoken word to honor President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the occasion of his 95th birthday.” We went to the dress rehearsal so Gladys Knight was not there but another girl, blond, sang in her place. She was quite wonderful. Donny, good sport that he is, took the stage to sing “Danny Boy,” in place of the opera star who could not be there.

We have enjoyed visits from many of the family members and have had quite a bit of fun. We are looking forward to visits from the Waites and from Erin and Donovin. We have a wonderful daycare going and, according to AnnMarie, the attorney, it is legal. One sad note: The garden looks terrible! Dad was down at the wrong time of the year to do any weeding and I couldn’t keep up on my own. Jim and Julie devoted some time to the project but we have all decided it is a loosing proposition. We do have a few pumpkins growing amid the weeds so they must be hardy. The apricots are now all jam. That means summer is nearly gone. One day, while we were jamming, I dropped a jar (hot) as I was putting the lid on and had to clean up and Dad, the same day, dropped a pan of paint and had to clean up. Now you can call us the cleaner-uppers. 

We hope to have a final visit from some of you before school starts.

Happenings

Remember the Labor Day (weekend) campout. We are looking forward to it and can hardly wait to spend time together. (Anybody have any fun ideas?)

Grandpa Pitts has his test to determine whether he has lung cancer or not on Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. in Provo at the Doctor’s Plaza. Uncle Bob is driving him to the appointment and is going in with him.