The Final Weekend of Summer

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac (and Google), September 22 is the first official day of fall this year.   That made this past weekend the final official weekend of summer 2026.  Here are some of the highlights.  

Friday morning we had some very heavy rain and even some hail!  This is the view of the condo complex behind our home at about 8 a.m. Friday morning. We had heavy rain and thunder storms off and on throughout the morning. 

A very sad result of Friday's storm is that this lightening strike killed a 19-year-old hiker.  We know it was this strike that killed the young hiker on Mt. Timpanogos (which I can see from my front window) because the time stamp on the photo was the exact same as the moment the hiker was struck and killed.  Tragic. 

The rain finally let up about mid-morning and we ventured out to get some shopping done.  

We were able to go to Walmart for a few things and then go over to Winco for our regular groceries.  As soon as we got our groceries in the car, it started to rain again, but not as heavy as earlier in the day. 

In the late afternoon, I decided to venture out for a walk, even though it was still cloudy and quite windy. 

I finished most of my walk, then in the last two blocks, I heard thunder and the rain started again. Fortunately, the heavy rain waited until I was back in my house.  

It rained off and on, sometimes quite heavily, for the rest of the day and well into the night.  It was the most rain we have had for some time. There was flooding some places and even a tornado in Davis County which is north of where I live.  Tornados in Utah are pretty rare. 

We did not g et any rain on Saturday, and there were some blue skies but also a lot of clouds.  We went out for a morning walk and it was cool enough for a jacket. 

I spent some of Saturday morning taking everything out of our fridge, and cleaning and reorganizing it. I threw away some forgotten and out of date food items, and cleaned every shelve and drawer. I love a clean and organized fridge. 

We also worked in the garage, further organizing and putting things away. We made enough progress that we can once again get one of our cars in the garage, so that was nice.  Our goal is to get rid of even more things so we can get both cars in the garage. 

Saturday evening, Charly and I went to the temple to worship and pray.  It was a lovely, peaceful evening. 

After the temple, we had some delicious pizza from our new favorite pizza place that is literally only a couple of blocks from our home. 

Sunday morning we went to church.  This beautiful painting of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples is just outside of our chapel and I saw it as I went in to the worship service.  I love the paintings of Jesus in our chapels. 

After church, I ate lunch and spent most of the afternoon getting ready for my daughter and her family to come to Sunday dinner. I made sloppy joes and we had baked beans, cut-up fruit and salad with it.  This is a cake I baked for desert. This was a new-to-me cake recipe called Are You Kidding Me Cake?  I got the recipe from a blog/vlog friend, Kathy at Kathy's Happy Home 2 on YouTube. 

Here is the recipe as I wrote it in my recipe journal.  The cake was excellent - my family gave it 5/5 stars!  We had it with vanilla ice cream. 

Here is the recipe I used for the sloppy joes I made. They were so good - another recipe I got from Kathy's Happy Home!

We had a delightful eating and visiting together. Only three of the grandchildren came because the oldest granddaughter is serving as a missionary and the oldest grandson had a project due for one of his college classes and he had to finish that.  I'm so grateful that we were able to enjoy an evening together.  We made plans to get together again soon.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week and Happy Fall! 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

Best of the Week - Friday Favorites

Here are some of my favorite parts of the past week.  I'm joining with Susanne over Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five to share good things and gratitude. 

😊We got a nice newsy email from our granddaughter, who is now at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) learning Norwegian.  She will be leaving for Norway on September 30.  This is a picture of her and some of the new friends she has made.  I am so grateful that she is have a good experience and is so happy to be serving a missionary and helping others come to Jesus.  

😊 The shelves we had built in our garage were finished this last week, earlier than expected.  We are very pleased with the new shelves and are grateful that the contractor who built them did a great job and was finished ahead of schedule. 

😊 With the shelves finished, Charly and I have been reorganizing the garage and putting things we need to keep on the shelves.  I'm grateful to have all of this extra storage room so we can keep our garage neat and organized. 

😊 With the new wood shelves complete, we didn't need these smaller shelves we had been using for storage.  I listed them on Facebook Marketplace, and they were sold literally in less than an hour.  I'm grateful we were able to sell these unneeded shelves so quickly. 

😊 We've had cooler weather and rain this past week.  I'm grateful that the hot summer weather is apparently behind us for this year. 

😊 Thursday night, Charly and I attended a lecture by the author of a series of books on Apocryphal texts and how they relate to scripture.  It was a fascinating topic and an excellent presentation. Charly and I love things like this. The lecture was well attended as you can see.  We learned a lot and we both got one of the author's books as part of the price of the ticket.  I am always grateful when I have the opportunity to learn new things, especially things that reinforce my faith!

That's all for this week's favorites.  Enjoy the weekend and I'll see you again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"If you want to find happiness,

find gratitude."

~ Steve Maraboli

 

Another September Week - Almost Fall

Wow, September is almost half over.  The older I get, the faster time passes.  Here are some of my favorite things from the past week.  

The new Rose of Sharon bush that I bought and planted over the Labor Day weekend seems to LOVE its new home in my front yard.  It is healthy and thriving and giving us beautiful flowers to enjoy. 

I'm excited that the little bare root apple tree that we bought for $10 and planted last spring has finally started to come out in leaf.  I think that the sunny days and cooler temperatures have helped bring it out of dormancy.  I hope that this tree will survive the coming winter months. 

These are some of the little grape tomatoes I harvested from small tomato garden.  These tomatoes are so delicious!  I'm so glad that I have room for a few tomatoes in my small backyard.

We've had some lovely fall-like weather this past week.  Our temperatures were still warm - in the 80s, but the evenings and mornings were cooler.  I'm loving the fall leaves turning on the mountain sides near my home. 

I subscribed to Angel streaming service this past summer, and as part of that, we have been getting free movie tickets to Angel releases. This past week, we saw the new Angel film Runner.   It was a good action-packed movie, with no objectionable language or sex, although there was violence.  Charly and I enjoyed the movie and we are looking forward to more free movies as they are released by Angel Studios. 

Our big project this week was moving things around in our garage because we are going to have some storage shelves built in our garage this coming week. 

Josh came down on Saturday and helped us with moving some of the heavier things.  His help is much appreciated. 

This is the wall where the shelves will be built beginning Monday.

Sunday morning brought some blue skies, but also some low, dark clouds, as you can see in this picture of nearby Mt. Timpanogos. 

We went to church Sunday morning.  We always get there a few minutes before the service begins and there weren't many people there when we got there.  A few minutes later, when the service began, the chapel was full. 

In our Sunday School class, after the worship service, we were studying Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.  

Sunday was my birth mom's 87th birthday. Here is a picture of her that my sister texted me.  I think mom looks pretty good for 87.  She is also in good health mentally and physically so that is a great blessing!

Josh ate dinner with us Sunday, then when he went home, I went for an evening walk.  It was a great way to end a very good and restful Sunday.

This past week, I've been reading The Secret Lives of Utah Wives on my Kindle.  When I started the book, I had my doubts, however, I am finding it an excellent, tightly written mystery.  I am really enjoying it. The plot of the book really doesn't have much to do with Utah, other than the using the names of some well-known places in the state.  So far, there isn't much objectionable in it. 

I'm also reading this scripture study book about the characteristics of Jesus Christ  and how he helps us with our problems - Wonderful Counselor. 

Gratitude for this week:

• Worshipping at the temple this past week. 
• Getting an email from my granddaughter who is studying Norwegian and will be going to Norway to be a missionary soon. 
• Getting our garage ready for the new shelves. 
• Having Josh come down to stay with us over the weekend. 

Praying for: 

• My children and grandchildren. 
• Our nation.

Looking forward to:

• Getting our garage shelves built. 
• Going on a little trip next month. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Labor Day Weekend Update

I've been having a few problems with Blogger lately, but hopefully things are now fixed and working well.  Here is how our Labor Day weekend went. We didn't have any big plans for the weekend, but it was an opportunity to enjoy some down time after a busy week, and also get some things done.  

Friday and Saturday, I got a few new plants in the yard. Home Depot and another nursery we like near here had Labor Day sales going so we took advantage of that and got a couple of little trees for the side yard (only $10 a piece) and a small bartlett pear tree for the backyard, which was on sale for 30% off.  

I got some mums for some pots I have, and also a pink Rose of Sharon bush, a red peony plant and a hydrangea plant. I spent a lot of time planting this weekend, but everything looks good and I am excited to see the new plants grow next spring! 

I finished this book, Mail-Order Bride, Friday night.  It wasn't bad.  It's been a long time since I've read anything by Debbie Macomber so this was a nice, light "chick-lit" read. 

Saturday, Charly drove up to Salt Lake City to take Josh out to lunch.  They wanted to try a Japanese place near to where Josh lives now.  I don't really like Japanese food, so I stayed home and listed our charcoal grill that we haven't used since Covid (2020) on Facebook Marketplace.  We don't really have room for things we don't use any more, so I was very pleased when the grill sold in a matter of hours.  Now we have extra room in the backyard where it was going stored.  That space will go to good use when I plan my garden next spring. 

Sunday morning we went to church.  As I was going into the chapel, I notices this picture collage on the wall of the room that the children meet in.  I love the emphasis on learning about Jesus, our Savior. 

Sunday was a cloudy, overcast day.  I went for two walks, one after church and another one in the evening with Charly.  You can see how cloudy the skies were, which also meant the temperatures were lower.  We seem to be moving into fall, weather-wise. 

This is what I made for Sunday dinner.  It's a pretty good casserole that I got from a content creator on Facebook.  Charly really likes it and so do I.  We had corn on the cob with it.  I love corn on the cob at this time of year.  

Here is the recipe for the casserole I made.  Please don't be offended by the name the content creator gave it.  It is easy to make and very delicious.  This was the second time I made it and I changed a couple of things, which are in blue ink.   I have started keeping a "recipe journal" where I write down recipes I make and also note any changes each time I  make them.  

I wanted something tasty for desert and had been wanting to try Dolly Parton's Cuppa Cake recipe from the movie Steele Magnolias.  I wasn't sure about this recipe, but it turned out to be seriously delicious.  We had vanilla ice cream with it, as Dolly Parton's character suggests in the movie. 

Here's the recipe from my recipe journal.  I expect that I will be making this one again. 

Monday was a cloudy and overcast day, and the temperatures, while still warm, were cooler and more fall-like.  This is the view I had as I went on a morning walk to the post office near my house. 

I went to the post office to mail a birthday card to my birth mom who will be 87-years-old at the end of the week.  She's doing well, still lives in her own home and is still sharp as a tack.  She loves to shop at Kohl's.

Later Monday morning, we drove to South Jordan to see Josh.  He needed some shoes for work and there was a good Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off sale going on at a shoe store we like.  Josh got a new pair of shoes for work, and Charly and I both got some new shoes too.  

These are the shoes I bought.  I used to where Sketchers, but lately I have not had good luck with that brand, so I got a pair of Aasics and another pair of New Balance shoes.   I do a lot of walking, so good, comfortable, supportive walking shoes are important to me.  

After shoe shopping, we dropped Josh off where he lives.  He had plans to go to a water park with some friends from his church congregation in the afternoon.  Charly and I had lunch at a new to us Chinese restaurant near to where Josh lives.  We enjoyed a nice lunch date, although we both agreed that we had both had better Chinese food. 

When we got home, I folded and put away some laundry, then took a little break and did some reading.  Afternoon resting and reading is a perk of retirement that I love!

I worked out in the yard later in the afternoon, then went for an evening walk after dinner.  You can see that we ended up with some blue skies and thin clouds.  This is the view from my backyard deck.  You can see that some trees are changing colors in the mountains.  I love this time of year!

That's all for now.  I hope you all had a good Labor Day Weekend and that the coming week is a good one!  See you again soon!

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖