Hinton Sibling Reunion

October 21st-24th was our Hinton sibling reunion. It was held here in southern Utah.  The plan was for three of the five of us who live here to host the three families coming from Arizona.  But the night before it was to start, things started falling apart:  Sherrie, Rick's wife, had a kidney stone and surgery was scheduled for the next day.  Clark and Nan both came down with COVID-19.  Lorene, who lives here got very sick with an upper respiratory infection.  Though she tested negative for COVID, she was not able to participate.

Mark, who was in charge of the reunion decided it was best for us to go forward with it, though we would be missing three of the eight couples.

Kathy painted this picture of the Hinton family home.  At the end of the reunion, she presented each of us with a framed copy of her painting.  We will treasure it.

We gathered at the club house of the condos where Mark and Kathy live on Thursday evening.  Ada and Don provided a nice dinner of lasagna soup (I will be posting the recipe on hungryhintons.blogspot.com soon.  It was delicious!), bread, and salads.  After dinner, Jim introduced the theme of the reunion- our ancestors.  Much of what he said was so profound.  

Jim was then slated to be the first presenter.  Each family member was assigned a specific ancestor line to do a presentation on.  We had freedom to present it any way we wanted.  Jim did his that evening.  After the presentation, Ada served delicious peach dessert and we watched the movie, "Legacy."

Because Dave and Gerri are not vaccinated and there was concern as Leslie was headed up to visit her 97- year- old mother after the reunion, we stayed masked and socially distanced throughout the reunion.  It was a pain.

On Friday, while the men reminisced, the women made these crafts with all of the necessary supplies, prepared and sent up by Sherrie.  Rick had to drive a couple of hours to meet up with Jim and Leslie for them to bring all of  the things they had prepared for the reunion.  Clark and Nan also sent up everything they had prepared.

Preparing for a socially-distanced meal at the church in Washington.

Each of us holding our craft:  Kathy, Leslie, Gerri, Ada, Me.

Getting ready for one of the presentations in Hurricane on Saturday.

We spent Saturday in a Hurricane chapel.

Ken presenting on Nathan and Sarah Tolman.  It was really interesting.  All of the presentations gave us such an appreciation for our heritage.

Though she couldn't attend, Lorene sent her presentation which was puzzles and games about the ancestors.

On Saturday, we visited the graves of ancestors in the Hurricane cemetery.

Jim, Dave, Don, Ken, and Mark.  Missing:  Rick, Lorene, and Clark.

Leslie, Gerri, Ada, Kay, Kathy  Missing: Sherrie, Mark G., Nan

Don gave a very interesting presentation on some of our ancestors there.  They were stories we had not heard before.

After visiting the cemetery, we had permission to go through the family home.  The man who bought it is completely renovating it into two apartments.  He changed the roofline, making vaulted ceilings upstairs.

Inside the upstairs.  The most common comment was how small it all seemed.  But everyone loved the vaulted ceilings.

The second bedroom upstairs.  I always loved this bedroom with the windows.  We lived in this house for a few months when Ken's parents were on a mission, right after graduating from college.  This was baby Kristen's bedroom.

The bathroom upstairs.  It will be so nice.

View of the upstairs from the other side.

One of the bedrooms downstairs (Lorene's room.)

Many gathered in what seemed the tiny master bedroom.  Was it really this small?  Ken's parents had a king-sized bed.  We were wondering how it fit.

The stairs seemed just the same.  They were about the only thing that did.

This will be the kitchen area in the downstairs apartment.

The storage room downstairs used to be much bigger.  They took out the L-shaped part, making more room in the living room.

Gathered in a downstairs bedroom telling stories of things that happened there.  This was Ken's bedroom that he shared with Rick as a teenager.

The downstairs bathroom will be particularly nice.  I loved the shiny tile and flooring.

Don set up his tripod with his camera and we tried to get pictures of the whole group, but the remote control was not working, so this is the only one we got of everyone there.  It was ironic that it was the one in which we wore masks!  I guess that time stamps it.

We then had a nice lunch back at the Hurricane church.

Some more of the ancestor games.

Studying for the final test!  Yes, there really was a final exam.  We all passed.

In the afternoon, we all watched the BYU game together.  It is fun to watch BYU with the Hintons.  Most are true blue fans, and the rest were good sports to let us watch.

This was the activity that Rick and Sherrie had prepared and sent for us to do.  We had two teams and we had to get the pictures of our ancestors in the right place.  We were the "young" team.  The "old" team creamed us.  But we got it right!  I say "we" but it was really Mark and Ken.

I didn't get pictures after that.  But after more visiting, we cleaned up the church and went home.  Because we meet at 9:00 am, everyone came to our sacrament meeting the next morning.  Leslie and Jim stayed for the second hour with us, then came to our home for lunch and visiting.  It was so nice to get some two on two time with these heroes of ours.

Though we certainly missed those not in attendance, it was still a nice reunion.  We hope all of those who were ill are recovering well.  We are grateful to be part of this fine family.

Still Life with Breadcrumbs

 

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this story, the setting, and the characters. I liked the quiet, calm feel of the book, with the reader being privy to the thoughts, concerns, and contemplations of the main character- Rebecca Winters. This is the second book I have read by this author. I really like her style. I will continue to seek out and read her books.

View all my reviews

Lil's Bus Trip

 

Lil's Bus Trip: The brand new uplifting, feel-good read from Judy Leigh for 2021 by Judy Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this delightful book. I loved Lil and her daughter, Cassie, and how they see the best in the world and in others. This author has a gift for characterization- making them feel like friends. It was fun to “visit” the places in Europe that they visited and experience the culture, people, and sites. The long title of this book has the word “uplifting” in it. I found this story to be exactly that.

View all my reviews

The Secret: Dare to Dream

 This poor family can't catch a break until a mysterious, handsome man enters their lives.  A bit predictable, but an enjoyable film.  We watched it on Netflix DVD at a time we needed some cheering.  It was the perfect remedy.

Two Ramen Noodle Clocks

 Out of the blue, four year old William announces, "We have two ramen noodle clocks!"  What?  What do you mean?  "See, we have two ramen noodle clocks."  Ah, roman numeral clocks.  Pretty smart little guy.

There's a Poly in My Pumpkin

 We got this adorable SOS message from our little Lissy.  Evidently there was a roly poly in her pumpkin.  

A Touching Photo

 After the BYU/ Baylor game on October 16th, both teams gathered on the field to offer a prayer.  I am so very touched by this photo and the devotion to God displayed- keeping the game in perspective.

A Happy Chalk Message

 When we got home on Saturday night, it was too dark to discover that our neighborhood children had left us a special chalk message thanking us for letting them play in our yard (which they do nearly every day.)  We discovered it the next morning when we went to church.

Be Warm, Be Joyful, Be Relevant

  I have been asked by our Relief Society presidency to prepare an article for each month's Relief Society newsletter on spiritual preparedness.   I thought I might just as well publish those articles here as well. Some, including this one, I have published on this blog before in my mantra section.  Though slightly altered, it is about the same as what I published before.

One of our main responsibilities to prepare for the latter days is to be good missionaries and help gather Israel.

In a talk that Elder Russel M Nelson gave in 2010, he suggested three keys to being good missionaries. 

"Let your response be warm and joyful. And let your response be relevant to that individual. "

Once, when we were on a cruise, I had just read that talk.  As I was finishing it, my husband came to find me to tell me it was time to go lunch.  So, not ten minutes later, we were seated at a table with some wonderful people from Florida, not members of our church, but very involved in their own Christian church.  We immediately started talking about religion.  These words were going through my mind :  "Be warm, be joyful, be relevant."  Over and over those words played in my mind as we had one of the most delightful religious discussions I have ever had.  Our attitude invited, especially the woman, to ask very direct, candid questions about our beliefs.  I kept reminding myself: warm, joyful, relevant, warm, joyful, relevant.  It was such a positive experience.  We found common ground.  This fine couple had a "calling" to visit folks in a local rest home.  We told them about our own visiting and home teaching (at the time) program.  They just lit up about that.  Ministering to others was obviously dear to their hearts.  We lingered long after lunch concluded, visiting and sharing our beliefs.  

Elder Nelson was right.  Being warm, joyful, and finding what is relevant to the individual makes for sweet gospel-sharing experiences.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

 We really enjoyed this old classic with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day.  It was very suspenseful.  Aren't old movies the best?