October Birthdays...

Today we finally were able to celebrate Brady and Steve's birthdays.  We couldn't around Brady's because we all had Covid and then we couldn't the weekend of Steve's birthday because they were out of town so there you go!  Lindsay made one of her famous birthday posters.  She looked so grown up with her newly pierced ears and straightened hair.

I made a cake for each of them.  I did a Harper Hornet cake for Brady since this is his first year at Harper.  Brady's is a vanilla cake with lemon mousse filling and Steve's is a lemon cake with lemon mousse filling.  I was glad everyone liked them.

So handsome!

Brady got a lot of nice things.  We gave him the Under Armor sweatshirt & shorts, Harper pullover, Reece's pieces, and earbuds.  Cole and Kacie gave him the Las Vegas Raiders t-shirt.  Steve and Kris gave him the Boise State t-shirt and Dutch Bros and Little Ceasar's gift cards.  Stacie's family gave him the cool leatherbound travel photo album and antique compass.  He got money and candy from grandpa and grandma Talbot.  Rosie and mom and dad also gave him some money.  We gave Steve some new lenses for his Oakley sunglasses.

Overdue Visit With Brandon...

Back in June when we brought Brandon home to celebrate his birthday (since we couldn't in April due to Covid) mom & dad got him a new tv.  At that time they wouldn't let us in his home to set it up for him.  Today they finally let us in to see his new room and set up his new tv.  He was so happy to see us and it was so nice to finally spend a little time with him.  I think he is really going to like it once they get it hooked up to the internet and he can watch some music videos and maybe even some games with the ESPN app.  We got some really cute pictures with him.  He has major Covid hair right now...haha!

He was so cute playing with this guitar we gave him too.  

Hopefully, he doesn't drive everyone crazy with it.  

I sure hope we can see him again soon!

More Corn Harvest...

Rosie took these cute pictures of her and Caleb with dad on the combine.  

She came for a week to help out.

Covid really wiped these two out and we are so relieved they were able to recover.

Aunt Barbara Passes Away...

On October 7th they took Barbara to the doctor because she had a bad cough and they were worried about Covid.  Juliene said they were horrible and said she didn't have pneumonia and they didn't even test her for Covid until they asked them to.  They finally sent her home and said she wasn't mourning properly.  Saturday the 10th they took her back to the doctor and they found out that they had left a message on the phone that she did test positive for Covid but they never got the message.  This time they said she had double lung pneumonia and needed to admit her to the hospital in Boise.  And of course, no one could be with her because of Covid.  Because her oxygen dropped so low they had to put her on a ventilator.  She was on it for a couple of days and then they were able to take her off.  

All her kids, siblings, and mom and dad were able to have a zoom conference call with her.  Her speech was very labored but she seemed like she was doing better.  She would even tease her brother about having a better hair cut than him and she saluted everyone goodbye.  I think everyone was hopeful that she was going to be able to pull through.  Then Sunday the 18th the doctor told her she was going to have to go back on the ventilator.  She told the doctor she didn't want to and wanted to go home.  The doctor said she wouldn't make the trip home her lungs were in such bad shape. (Reid almost decided to stay another week but they figured they need to go home to check on work and everything.)  The doctor approved for Wade and Stoney to be with her when she died.  They were able to have another zoom call with all her kids and siblings and mom and dad so they could all say their last goodbyes.   Wade and Stoney were able to stay with her over the night and she seemed to do better with them there.  Makes you wonder if someone was with her all along if she wouldn't have done better overall.  They let her have some banana popsicles and she even asked for an omelet but I'm not sure if they let her go that far.

Rosie had a little therapy punching out bread dough for some cinnamon rolls that we took over to Weston & Lori's house where all the kids were staying together.  We just can't believe how much this seems so much like Uncle Vaughn's passing.  Rosie and I had a nice visit with everyone and I told Juliene I wasn't working Monday and could help in any way I could.  She said I remember you saying those exact words exactly three weeks ago...so surreal.  

She surprisingly made it through the night so the doctor finally agreed to let them take her home.  Wade was with her in the ambulance (with Stoney following them) and somewhere around the Garrity exit in Nampa she passed away.  They were almost home when the Idaho Coronor called them and said they needed to go back to Idaho to have them pronounce her dead since she died in Idaho.  Talk about a nightmare.  Wade said he looked at his watch when she took her last breathe and it was the exact same time that his dad passed exactly three weeks ago at 11:22 am.  They finally got her home around 1 or 2.  Rosie and I went with mom and dad to go see her and all the kids.  Logan's wife Emily has been struggling with Covid and pneumonia too so they weren't there.  She also has been in the hospital which has been so scary since her baby is due any day.  I can't imagine all that Logan is going through...it's so sad his baby girl won't know his parents, in this life anyway.  I was able to get a few tender pictures of Juliene and her mom's hands and then some of Weston's family with her.

One of the kids found this old picture of their dairy when it was still active.  In the backyard where the corrals are is now a nice big lawn and play area for all the grandkids.  Aunt Barbara had hired Beth Wolfe to paint the Hawaiian mural in her back yard.  She never got a chance to see it completed.  :(. Mom said in Barbara's memory she is going to bring in some sand to go under it for the kids to play in, but that won't be until it gets warmer.

This fun backyard and home will never be the same without Uncle Vaughn and Aunt Barbara...

I took a picture of her fridge...It meant a lot to us that she had so many pictures of all of us.

Looks like I'm going to be doing another slideshow! :(

CCFC and Brady's Celebration Cheesecake...

The corn at grandma's place hasn't been harvested yet and dad needed a place to put the cows before all the water is out of the canal.  Because of that, we all volunteered to help build fence.  We were all kind of treading it, but with all the help we got it done faster than we anticipated.  The weather was perfect and it was fun all working together.

Scott, Brady, and I are feeling much better but dad and mom are still struggling with it and now Reid and laura are starting to get symptoms so he called ourselves the CCFC...Covid Cattle Fencing Crew. haha!  I posted the picture below on my Facebook and Instagram story.

These two had some trouble getting the electric fence to work but eventually got it.  After we ate lunch we took some 4-wheelers out to help the cows find the water.

We then got ready to take Brady to the Cheesecake Factory in Boise for his birthday.  We couldn't go on the 5th because we had Covid then.  It was fun having Mckinley with us.  Brady was happy to finally get his celebration cheesecake... I was bummed they were out of the pumpkin cheesecake.

Too cute!

When we got back Tara & Tommy, Wade and Juliene came over and we had a fun visit.  We also had fun playing mafia.  It was hilarious when Scott gave himself away.  You should have seen the look on his face when he realized what he had said.