Wonderful Tucson!

Last Friday Marina and I drove to Tucson. We went through Las Vegas, which gave me a chance to show Marina my father Austin's home town of Parowan, Utah. It's a charming, sleepy little town just north of Cedar City. I showed her the bronze ram in front of the high school which 2 of my Halterman uncles donated to the city, and a beautiful little bronze statue of handcart pioneers in their Heritage Park, in honor of our ancestor, Bodil Mortensen, a young girl who died in the Willie handcart company, and our other handcart ancestors.

I showed her where my Rasmussen great-grandparents lived, also the homes of my Halterman grandparents and great-grandparents. She really liked the town, which she had no idea existed, and we enjoyed the beauty of fall in S. Utah, with the red soil and beautifully colored autum leaves.

As always, it was great to see Reed and his family. He and Reiko are wonderful parents, and it is so gratifying to see how they are teaching their children the gospel and giving them a good foundation for living their lives. Christian and Jens each had baseball games so I could see them play. Sometimes it was hard to tell which kid on the field was mine, but Christian is a dynamite pitcher--apparently becoming a legend in his own time, and Jens is a great pitcher and catcher and one of the key players on his team, as well.







The kids and I went to "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" which they really enjoyed, and Reed joined us for dinner at the Golder Corral. Luke came over on Sunday night. He is just making the transition from the Army to civilian/student life. He looked great and seems to be doing really well. He will always be special to me because he is my first-born grandchild!

Today is Jens's birthday. I wish I could have gone down this weekend instead of last, because he is turning 12 and will receive the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday. I would really like to be there, but the transportation was right to go when I did with Marina. Jens is a very clever and interesting boy. I loved spending some time with him. He likes to tell everyone his long, drawn-out complicated dreams, which is exactly what I always did, and his siblings respond the same way my family did, with "too much detail" and silly questions. His imagination will no doubt take him far!

Kai is a handsome young man. I let him borrow my car a couple of times, and didn't worry about him a bit. Miles is always his sweet, funny self. With 6 older siblings, he would have to be either really mean or really cute to survive, and he has taken the really cute option! I should have taken more photos. I'm sure you can guess which one is Reed and which one is Miles!





Reed's family is in our old ward in Tucson, which makes it really fun to go to Church there. I always get to see some of my dear friends who were so good to me when we lived there.

Marina and I drove home on Monday, this time through Page and Kanab, where I stopped to see my long-time friend Joyce Bush. We both started craving Taco Bell about the time we stopped in Beaver, but none there, nor in Fillmore, nor in Nephi, so we ended up with Wendy's about 9 p.m. Highway 89 was really a beautiful drive, and some different scenery for Marina.

Well, there is my latest report. I don't have any more travel planned for the foreseeable future, so I'll be busy at home quilting and scanning old photos! And anticipating some very fun holidays with family!

One last note about how Reiko is always so kind to me. She is such a sweet mother to her little family and a loving wife to my dear Reed. I am so glad she is in our family!