Dear Kids,
      What a beautiful fall day! I had to hop on my bike and go to the library, and when that wasn’t enough, I rode off and did other errands. Oreo has been playing in the leaves. The McGettigan kids made a pile of those crunchy dry cherry-tree leaves in our back yard, and Oreo gets his kicks out of jumping into them. Then he backs off, gets another running start, and jumps into them again. Is he really a cat, or something else?
      Wasn’t conference great? (Or “confrince,” as TAMN calls it.) I loved the talks, and I loved having lots of people around. It was raining at the cabin (and probably everywhere else,) but even that was great. All that good cabin dirt was getting saturated, and we were getting saturated with good advice from the church leaders. What could be better! Sunday night Dad and I went to my mission reunion, at the clubhouse of a ritzy neighborhood on the east side, and we had a great turnout. It was our 40th anniversary bash, (40 years since my mission president arrived in Germany) and our flyer had promised authentic German kartoffelsalat (made by me) and bratwurst, grilled by Dave Trimble (the resident of the ritzy neighborhood.) (He builds dialysis centers and leases them, if any of you want to know how to get super rich.) We had at least 35 people, some of whom had never come to a reunion, so it was a great success. Oreo was there, too, in his cage in a corner, because we were on our way home from the cabin. He quit yowling when I brought him some bratwurst.
      Earlier in the week, I had the fun of tending Macie for two mornings, while Vanessa was at a speech pathology conference downtown. Macie is so easy-going; she just sits and plays with toys, and smiles. She is also a good eater! I kept her happy with bananas and cookies and some bottled peaches that Vanessa brought. (I had forgotten how good bottled peaches taste! Especially when you’ve just pulled the lid off the jar!)
      Dad and I are hopefully leaving for Albuquerque Thursday afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa. We’ll be back Monday afternoon. Then, the following Saturday, we’re leaving for a week in Michigan. Can you believe two oldsters like us having so much fun?
      I love you all! Mom