Friends and Relatives

     Last week after returning from Utah we were busy doing something just about every day. Monday evening we were invited by park friends, Bill and Carla Dodds, to attend a meeting with them at their Christian church for the second session of a 3-day series of meetings with music and sermons dedicated to the subject of "Heaven." The guest preacher was a visiting pastor who travels nationally. I had a difficult time with my stomach for most of the meeting and had to step out of the chapel but I still heard all. It is always interesting to learn what is taught by other Christian religions. Many of their beliefs correspond with ours but I am always grateful that we have been given a "fullness" of what has been revealed and restored by the Lord to us in these latter days.
     On Tuesday we visited Dad's Aunt Eula in Chandler. While there we picked oranges, tangerines and grapefruit and Dad helped Kevin with cleanup after he had trimmed part of an oleander hedge around the property. We are very grateful that they are willing to share this delicious fruit with us that might otherwise go to waste. I don't think Arizonians fully appreciate the abundance of citrus fruit available in this area. Perhaps they think the same of much of our colder climate fruits that also goes to waste in back yards back home. That evening we went to a karaoke jam in the park clubhouse. Not many people showed up and the equipment was not working properly so several musicians went to fetch their guitars and an auto harp and took turns singing impromptu songs, many of which were unfamiliar but fun, for our enjoyment for nearly two hours.

On Saturday we met with Dad's Queen Creek cousins, Milo, Ivan and Alayne and kids for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went back to Milo and Ivan's home for games for the evening. We had a great time with lots of laughs.
     This past Tuesday we went to a dinner show in the park. We had BBQ chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, a roll and a cookie. Then we were entertained by a group made up of two married couples from Colorado called the "Saddle Strings." They were very entertaining with good music, jokes, audience participation and dancing.

The next day we joined a large group of park residents for a 49th wedding anniversary for park neighbors Bob and Lori Bruns at their 5th wheel RV site near ours. Many of these people have been coming here for years and know each other well. We are still relatively newcomers trying to remember many new names.

And then yesterday evening we met at a Mesa restaurant called Wild Berry Diner for a dinner to celebrate JoAnne Campbell's birthday. She and Peter are our Canadian neighbors across the street that we got to know well last winter. The food was excellent and we all had a great time.

We then came home to another of several swims this past two weeks followed by the animated movie, Robin Hood. At the pool we met a new couple, here for just a couple more weeks from Emmett, Idaho along with two new Canadian couples the arrived recently. The Idaho couple, Terry and Susan Howard, are LDS and we have invited them to attend meetings with us tomorrow.
     This morning we enjoyed the $3 pancake breakfast offered by the park each Saturday. The pancakes are delicious with the usual sausages, scrambled eggs, orange slice, syrup, jam and butter. Then I spent the afternoon at the flea market and then visited Michaels craft store with my artist fried, Gayle Bramwell. Wow, what a store!