Things I want to share today...

Camilla has become obsessed with Raggedy Ann and Andy, infact on Friday she wanted to be Raggedy Ann and so our resident makeup and costume man fixed her up and here she is as Raggedy Ann!

Neal turned 18 months on the 5th of August. At church that means he is officially old enough to attend nursery. Yesterday Eric took him to nursery and when I stopped in to check on him he was sitting at the little table having a treat and loving every minute of it! The sweetheart ladies who spend their time in the nursery assured me that he was doing well and they'd come find me if I was needed. They never came to get me and so I guess that means that Neal is in nursery! I find it so hard to believe that 18 months has gone by so quickly and with the scary beginning of Neal's life, it sure is a happy, joyful, constantly on the move time now! As you can see from the above picture, Neal is overjoyed after two hours in the nursery!!!!

My friend Greg Farrer called me last week and told me that he was coming to Utah for a visit and wanted to see us. I have known Greg since I was 13 years old and he is like a part of our family. Greg would stop in at our house at Mt. Charleston often and we'd spend time visiting and laughing. Greg has always been good for a BIG BEAR hug and lots of love. I'd not seen Greg since 2005 when we moved away from Las Vegas and so I did really want to see him. He called me on Saturday morning to let me know he was in Utah, but wasn't too sure about where he was. His sweet wife, Gerrie, was visiting her sister and he had stayed at the hotel room to get some sleep since he didn't sleep very well the night before, he informed me that the beds were REALLY HARD. So we began the process of trying to figure out where Greg was. I really did want to see him. I couldn't figure it out and so I encouraged him to call his brother, Doug, who lives in the Salt Lake area to see if he might have a better idea of where Greg was staying. After a few hours of trying to decide whether to set out in search of where I thought he was, Eric said he thought it would be better to try for Sunday since we had a reception to attend and Greg & Gerrie also had a reception to attend. I agreed.

Talking to Greg brought back so many memories in bits and pieces. When the Farrer's moved to Mt. Charleston it really opened up some fun times for me and my family. Ray Farrer soon became our branch president and Mary Farrer our Young Women's president, so in those two church callings they influenced my youth tremendously. They also brought with them their great family, Greg, Clarke, Liz and Doug (Becky was married and didn't live at home any longer). Sometimes when our parents would go on their date night or to the temple, Clarke and Liz and sometimes Doug would come to our house and be with us so that mom and dad would feel better about leaving us alone. I'm not saying babysat us because I was 13, but living so far away from other people and since I didn't drive they felt more comfortable having older teens stay with us. Liz and Clarke always provided lots of fun for us. We spent many hours at the Farrer's home on Mt. Charleston as well as had fun youth trips with them to California and Utah. I could go on and on..but I won't.

I called Greg and suggested that we get in contact after church on Sunday. So that's what we did. Greg informed me that he was going to Doug and Stacey's home later that evening and so I immediately thought.."Great, we can call them and see if they wouldn't mind us coming to visit as well, then we'd see all of them together." Stacey was gracious enough to let us come at the last minute and she gave me directions. Eric again suggested that now I just go with my sister, Bev, so we would have a chance to visit without our little ones climbing all over us or having to keep them entertained. At first I wasn't sure I liked that idea because I knew Greg wanted to see the kids and I wanted Eric to have the chance to get to know Doug and Stacey whom he hasn't been around much and see Greg and Gerrie again, but then I saw the time and again realized he was right. It was getting later for our little guy especially and the trip alone would be a few hours. So I called Bev and she agreed and we set out to find Doug and Stacey's home. Bev and I had a fun visit and we found their home without any problems. As we drove up Mill Creek Canyon Rd., we began to make comments like..."wow, they live so close to the mountain" and "This reminds me so much of Mt. Charleston"..ha, ha.

We found the home and knocked on the door and were quickly greeted by Doug. We hugged everyone and began visiting, we were also able to see Doug and Stacey's children who are all grown up. Madison is married and beautiful and Boman has his mission call to North Carolina and is going to the MTC in October! Again memories flashed before my eyes of seeing them as little ones the size of my own children now. Time flies. We caught up as much as we could and talked of friends we knew and some of our experiences together. We shared about our parents and found out about their parents. Enjoyed a delicious peach dessert that Stacey made. The time went by so quickly, but I was noticing that we were all yawning and eyes were drooping and it was very dark outside. So finally Bev and I said our goodbyes and felt happy that we had that time to get reacquainted with two brothers that we love so much and their wonderful wives.

As Bev and I drove away and were making comments I said, "Isn't it amazing that we have known each other for over 20 years?" and then as we were counting it up we realized it has actually been 32 years since we first met the Farrer's. It made me think of a comment that Doug made when we were talking of a friend who was killed in a car accident, he said "you just never know how much time you have to be with a friend". It made me thankful that Greg contacted me and that Eric was so agreeable and suggested that we make the trip to see them and that Stacey and Doug opened up their home. It also made me thankful for friends who have been such a positive influence in my life. Perhaps we have not always stayed close, but through our parents and their parents we have always had some contact. I am so thankful The Farrer's moved to Mt. Charleston all those years ago. I'm thankful that Liz was like an older sister to me. I'm thankful for the crushes I had on Clarke and Doug and for the all the things that Greg has taught me over the years. I admire Greg's ability to love and never be afraid to say it or show it, I'd like to be more like Greg. I do love those Farrers, all of them! So as I sleeply walked in to my own home to find everyone asleep, except Eric who was waiting up for me, I told him I was very thankful for that time he gave me to spend with my sister and my friends. He said he was just glad I made it home without getting in an accident, I thought again...I had a lot of practice driving long distances from the time I was 16 and sometimes really late at night! Then I crawled in my bed..so thankful to be going to SLEEP!

From left to right...Greg, Gerrie, me, Bev, Stacey and Doug.