Hurricane Update!

Owen and Evangeline are doing pretty good.  Here is the text he sent his family.  "Everything is back to normal except there's tree branches everywhere, there's no power, and the upstairs neighbors kids are home from school.😃"  I checked with Aunt Becky this afternoon and they still don't have electricity and also no hot water.  But hey, they are Duncans and of course we all know what the family crest tells us--LEARN TO SUFFER!

Florida Duncans

I thought everyone would enjoy seeing the church that Owen and Evangeline have become a part of.  I heard Owen's first sermon and was so impressed.  They are settling in and now are preparing for a hurricane headed their way!  Keep them in your prayers. 

California Duncans

After the 5K run that Ava and Perry did they enjoyed some family time.

5K

Perry flew home for the weekend and he and Ava did a 5K run.  I'm impressed!

Game Night

Another football game for Ruth and her roommate.  This one had an ending that BYU fans always enjoy.  They won! 

Grandparents Day

I attended my first Grandparent's Day luncheon in 2010 with Lincoln, Ruth and Jane.  This month I was able to go with Graham for the Grandparent's Day breakfast.  Eden was home sick.  It is always so fun to spend time at an elementary school.  It is a tradition I look forward to every year!

Ben is Good, Don't Worry

Thank you Aunt Becky for starting the text like that.  Uncle Ben was riding his bike home from work yesterday when a driver was looking left for an opening and turned right into Uncle Ben.  After his first ride in an ambulance and his first broken bones and several hours in the hospital emergency room he got home.  The driver stayed with Uncle Ben and I'm sure he felt terrible.  The bike looks okay but Aunt Becky said that it definitely received some damage.  Ben's pinky and ring finger on his right hand were dislocated and they had to numb it and reset them.  He received two broken ribs and said he has a machine they have him using to make sure his lungs stay clear.  Today he said he sneezed and that was pretty uncomfortable.  All in all he is doing pretty good and of course he went into work today!

When Mom's Away

While Aunt Becky was at the hospital with Uncle Ben, Jeremy was in charge of feeding Peter and himself.  That involved opening a can.  As you can see in the picture he encountered some struggles!  I keep saying but people don't listen that they need to have auto shop, woodworking, cooking and sewing classes back in schools!  I am sure that using a can opener would have been discussed.  Don't worry I think that Peter and Jeremy got fed!

On the Road

DOWN MEMORY LANE.  I have had a unique experience as I have been transporting people to appointments.  I still remember as a girl driving around Phoenix with my dad and he would point to a house or another building and say “I built that.”  I was so impressed with him!  Now so many years later I can’t remember any of the buildings he pointed out but whenever I am in Phoenix, I love driving down the road and all of the sudden saying to myself—that’s where I had my first job at a soda fountain, there is my high school.  There was my Elementary school.  Oh look, that is the house Kitty lived in when she married her third husband.  Hey, that’s the apartment Grandpa and I lived in when Bill was a baby.  There is Grandpa’s high school.  That building used to be a bar that Grandpa went into when he was a paperboy to collect money for the papers he delivered.  That’s the building Grandpa did an intern-ship in when he was working on his Master’s Degree in Public Administration.  There’s the building where I met grandpa for the first time when I went to a church dance in Phoenix.  The list goes on.  Although many of the buildings are worse for wear the memories are still clear and bright and make me smile each time I happen upon a place that played a significant part in my life. 

Love This!

Meg sent me this picture and I love it!  Recently Ruth went into the Y Center to pick up some lunch.  She heard someone calling her name and when she turned around there were two beautiful cousins having lunch as well.  Ruth joined them and they had some time to catch up.  

Ensign College

Uncle Bill was asked to speak at the Forum on "Religious Freedom in the United States Constitution" at Ensign College today.  Katie, Abby and Aunt Cathy were there to support him and Aunt Cathy took these pictures and sent them to me.  If there is a link to hearing his talk I will let you know.  

re

Madrid Spain

Miriam has arrived in Spain and it seems that she is making herself comfortable in her new digs and is handling the classes she signed up for just fine.  What can I say--she's AMAZING!  Her first days in Madrid she had a little tour of the area and then settled into her apartment and began her college experience.  She is taking 5 classes.  Three Spanish related: literature, grammar, and theatre. And she has a sociology class and one about the history of Madrid.   She has to adjust to eating in Spain in the coming days.  Breakfast at 8 a.m., Lunch at 1:30, and then dinner at 8 p.m.  She did make an exciting discovery after she visited an office supply place.  They have an Aldi.  Aunt Becky told her to take a picture of the produce section.  Apparently they were both excited!  Miriam will be in Spain until December 23rd.  And then--back to boring Bronx!

National Palace of Madrid

Her apartment isn't on campus.  It's a 35-40 minute

subway plus bus ride away! 

This is her apartment during the day.

This is her apartment at night.  Her bed raises
up to the ceiling during the day and lowers down at night.

Probably don't need to tell you what this is!

This is her refrigerator.  She said
it is the size of a boot size shoe box

On the Road

This is my final musings from last weeks drive.  

TENT CITY.  I had a brief reminder that no matter what your circumstances are you can take time to make your surroundings better than they may be otherwise.  I hadn’t been to tent city for some time and when I drove into the community of homeless people and hundreds of tents, I was again saddened that people live that way.  Once the passenger was out of the car and I was driving away, I saw a woman sweeping the dirt around her tent.  I was touched by that and remembered a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois many years ago.  Grandpa and I walked down the road towards the Mississippi River where the Saints who were being driven out went to cross over into Iowa.  Along the road they have now put up signs with quotes from journals of people who left at that time.  One that really touched my heart was written by Bathsheba Smith.  She wrote: "My last act in that precious spot was to tidy the rooms, sweep up the floor, and set the broom in its accustomed place behind the door.  Then with emotions in my heart...I gently closed the door and face an unknown future; faced it with faith in God and with no less assurance of the ultimate establishment of the gospel in the West and of it true, enduring principles, than I felt in those trying scenes in Missouri."  The woman I saw this week lived in a tent that may sleep 3.  Inside I suspect were all of her belongings.  I don't know what brought her there but it was her home and she still wanted to make it nice.  I was humbled by her gesture. 

I’M SORRY.  I drive all kinds of personalities.  Some of my passengers are honestly wonderful, friendly, and enjoyable.  Maybe that is why when I have a grouchy customer it really sticks with me.  One particular day this week I kind of started with that personality and by the time she exited I was exhausted and felt very sorry for her daughter whom she lives with and has to hear this continual complaining every day.  It just seemed like there was something in the air because throughout the remainder of my day I met several similar personalities and realized how exhausting it is to be with someone who lives under a continual cloud of misery.  After one of those rides, I thought to myself--I hope I never become old (wait—too late for that hope) bitter, ungrateful, and negative.  Then I also thought that in case I do become that kind of a person I should apologize to all of you ahead of time!  Please forgive me if I can’t see the beauty in the world around me. Please forgive me if I forget to say thank you.  Please forgive me if I don’t remember how wonderful each of you are and have always been.  Please forgive me for forgetting!

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

 21 Years Old

We don't grow when things           are easy; we grow when                       we face challenges.

One the Road

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED.  I’m not sure exactly what that means but I’ve heard it all my life.  But this week I did a good deed and had a very interesting but messy experience.  I picked up a passenger in north Phoenix and I was to drive him back to Scottsdale about 12 miles away.  The first thing he asked when he got in the car was if there was a McDonalds because he was really hungry.  I broke a rule and since it was late afternoon, I decided he probably was hungry.  On the route home there was no McD’s but I spotted a Taco Bell and asked if there was something he could eat there.  He said yes, so I pulled into the drive thru.  He told me what he wanted and I repeated his order to the employee.  As we drove away from the window he started cursing and saying that they didn’t give him any hot sauce so I offered to go back around and get some for him.  Then he started yelling that they gave him the wrong tacos so I said I’d tell the lady when I got to the window.  I told her the problem (all the while the man was eating those wrong tacos) and she very graciously said that she’s have them make the right ones.  I then asked if she would include some hot sauce for him and she did.  Finally, back on the road when the cursing began again.  This time he was mad because she gave him mild instead of hot sauce.  At that point I had about all I wanted to hear and got him home as quickly as I could.  Once at the address I got out of the car, got his walker out of the back and looked forward to getting away from him as quickly as possible.  But no—he wanted me to carry everything in for him and so I did.  After he got out of the car and handed me his stuff, I looked in the back seat to make sure he didn’t leave anything and realized that there was food everywhere.  Once I got him to the door I went back and cleaned up the shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sauce that was left behind. I made a mental note not to offer to stop for food again.  And to bring wet wipes in the car from now on!

Go Cougars!

This beauty is ready for some BYU football.  So proud of Ruth as she is keeping busy and participating in all the activities of college life.  Today we are having our own tailgate party.  Grandpa and I started these in California with Perry and Ellis and when we moved to Arizona we've been able to keep the tradition going!

On the Road

I did a lot of driving this week.  In fact, on one day I earned $191.00 so I am feeling pretty impressed with myself.  That being said I had several interesting experiences that were first time occurrences in my short driving career. 

OOPS!  I have been driving long enough that I often go to the same facilities to take someone to or pick someone up from.  The last ride of my day brought some delight when I found out that the person I would be picking up lived about 40 miles away (which meant I was going to make some good money!)  I always call before I get to the place to let the people know when I will arrive and the color and make of my car.  When I arrived on sight. no one was outside. but after a few minutes people started coming out.  I unlocked my door and rolled down my window so I could make sure I picked up the right person.  Out comes a man who walked directly to my car, opens the back door and climbs in.  I said, are you ? (His name) and he replied yes with a smile on his face.  I told him welcome and then gave him the address of his destination and asked if that was also right.  Again he smiled and said yes.  So off I go.  We had driven about 10 minutes when my phone rang.  When I answered it, a member of the facility staff asked if I was driving anyone.  I said yes, repeated his name, and then she asked if he had on a red shirt.  He did.  She then said that is not ….. So at the next exit off the freeway I headed back to the facility with this two-word passenger.  When I got back, he opened the door, I said goodbye and he walked back into the building.  Sadly, another ride had been ordered for my correct passenger and I made no money off of that trip.  From now on the door stays locked until the passenger tells me their name. 

Happy Birthday Perry!

 25 Years Old

If I could give my grandson three things--it would be the confidence to always know his self worth, the strength to chase his dreams, and the ability to to know how truly deeply loved he is.

Jeremy!

Jeremy has now joined the braces brigade.

Lincoln's New Apartment

Ruth settled in at a dorm on campus and Lincoln found a new apartment this year.  He is just a few minutes from where Ruth lives.

BYU Cougarette!

Ruth just completed her first week as a freshman at BYU.  She tells me that it was GREAT!  With the help of her mom, Lincoln, and some Gilbert friends she got moved into her dorm and is working at the Creamery (famous at BYU for their ice cream!).  I talked to her yesterday and she said everything is going really well.  Not surprised at all to hear that.

As part of Freshman Orientation they made a human Y. Ruth was 
one of those blue dots!

California Duncan's

The California Duncan's made a trip to Cambria and Cayucas before school started up again.  Uncle Andy sent some pictures which included Caleb's birthday, a school performance Ava was in and some great looking Mexican food they had.