A Halloween Baptism

Our fourth 8 year old to be baptized this year was Oliver. Although his birthday was at the beginning of the month, it took place on Halloween, Grandma Caroly gave one of the talks. We enjoyed visiting Aunt Gwen, age 90, who is my chief consultant for the family history of the Lallatins, Moffats, and McLeans that I am writing, I hoped to have it done by now but my tumble and brain surgery earlier this summer slowed things down, but I hope to have the first draft done by Thanksgiving. I had a great time sharing old timer stories with my brother Spencer. It was a bit chilly but no snow.

We visited the Layton Temple site to take rocks with our names on them to be placed in the concrete under the foundation.

We also hunted for ducks and geese in the city park.

The baptism went well.

That evening we went Trick or Treating and warmed ourselves around a campfire in the backyard. At one house we got hot dogs fresh off the grill, at another fresh donuts and hot chocolate. Everyone came home with lots of candy.

Of course we had to collect eggs from the chickens every evening. They were every color imaginable.

We made it back in time for me to work all day at a polling station for the national elections November 3.

Wendy Needs a Babysitter

The middle of October, Wendy and Daniel needed a babysitter while they flew to a convention. They discovered that with the cheap airfares, for only $50 they could fly-in the professionals, Grandma and Grandpa, much cheaper than hiring someone locally. We gladly did it even though it was quite a bit colder than in Florida, While there we made it to the cemetery at Sleepy Hollow. We didn't see Rip Van Winkle or the headless horseman, but did follow what looked like a yellow brick road of fallen leaves.  

Visit to Owen's Baptism

 Owen turned 8 in May and was supposed to be baptized. However, with the Corona Virus lockdown it couldn't take place until the first part of September. Flights were cheap so we were able to fly up to take part. We got to go sailing at the lake cabin, take a sauna, plan our family reunion for next summer, and enjoy the baptism.

Great Grandson Mark

 We're now great grandparents. At the beginning of the summer Mark was born. With the corona virus going around, it was a couple of months of waiting before we could hold him. Here are pictures of his mother, great grandmother Caroly, and great grandfather Roger (aka Mickey Mouse) holding him. Isn't he handsome?

New Driveway

 With all the hurricanes passing by Florida, we've had lots of rain, meaning our yard and driveway have become a mud bog. Our sweet generous children chipped in money for 13 truck loads of shell to create a race track type driveway high and dry out of the mud. Here are some pictures of the work in progress and the semi-finished project. We just need to smooth it out and even out the edges to make it look nicer. The horses have enjoyed the racetrack in front of the house.

Walk About

 As part of my recovery from brain surgery, I take 2 to 4 mile walks most every day. One thing wonderful about living in Florida is that the scenery is delightful. Here are pictures from on of our favorite walks, a boardwalk through a swamp. Enjoy the view!

Brain Surgery

 On June 12 while taking a 4 mile walk on an unpaved road near our house, I stumbled, struck my head, and lost consciousness. All I know is that one minute I was enjoying a pleasant walk with my wife and a visiting daughter, the next minute I was in the hospital having brain scans. The verdict, a concussion.  I was pronounced fit and released from the hospital for about four weeks. Then I was suffering headaches so  they rushed me to the hospital for an emergency operation to drain about a pint of what I call "brain juice". You can see a sample draining from my head to the container in my hand in the first picture. After a four day stay, they released me on my birthday. I'm doing fine at home doing exercises and two mile walks to get back in shape. Here are pictures of me stapled together with my brain drain and my scar a month later to satisfy your curiosity. I had to shave my head so the hair would grow out evenly.

Corona Beard.

Many of us have taken advantage of the enforced isolation of  the corona virus by growing beards. Now the question is, as things return to normal, does that mean that the beards go?

I decided that I looked 20 years older with a beard so I shaved it before going to the marriage of granddaughter Summer Wilcox and her new husband Jack Doyle.

I think I look quite a bit younger. When you are 78, every extra year you can get, you grab hold of.

 Because of restrictions, only a few of us were able to attend. Here is our side of the family.

Graduation Season: David

The third innovative way to have high school graduation was to rent out the Daytona International Speedway and have all 300 or so graduates drive around the track with their families in the car or truck with them and announce their name as they drove by the podium. They announced their names as they crossed the finish line with a checkered flag waving.

Of course, with so many cars and trucks that look alike, if was easy for your graduate to speed by before you had a chance to get a look on your computer, especially since the camera wasn't aimed at the finish line. With some 300 or so graduates, it took two hours for them all to speed by. There wasn't even time for speakers. I'm sure it was fun for the graduates to drive on the speedway, but we thought they could have planned better how to use the camera.

We think this was David's big black truck below

 but it sped by so fast on the screen we weren't sure.

 At least we got a picture of him. 

When they announced his name, a grey truck was speeding by.

At least we got to enjoy the two and a half hours in the comfort of our home office.