Opposites October

We have had a month of highs and lows, ups and downs, ins and outs.  It's been a very mixed up month.  However, that means we are more equipped to appreciate the good times and celebrate all we have been blessed with.

We started the month off we a trip to the local pumpkin patch with Elizabeth's preschool class and Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood.  This is always one of Elizabeth's most favorite field trips - there is a small corn maze, the pumpkin patch owners read a story and teach the children all about  the different types of pumpkins and gords and then the kids get to pick their very own pumpkin.

In preparation for the upcoming winter season we have been completing some outdoor projects at home.  I tackled both flower beds in our front yard (we don't have any flowers, just shrubs and trees but I'm not sure what else to call them).  I spent one part of the day pulling up the cement mow strip, removing the old weed barrier we had put down when we first moved in seven years ago and getting rid of any and all weeds.  When Chris came home we put down new weed barrier, then reinstalled the cement mow strip like a puzzle and the put down new bark.  It looks beautiful.

Chris has spent some time up on the roof replacing shingles and making sure that there will be no leaks when the rain and heavy snow begins and then he also decided that he'd like to have outdoor Christmas lights this year (purchased last year on clearance) so he put those up as well.  We can't wait to be able to actually turn them on, but don't worry we won't be doing it any time until after Thanksgiving.

October usually signals a big change in the weather in Utah.  We have seen leaves start to change colors and fall to the ground.  The girls and I took the chance to go for a drive and to enjoy the scenery. We took a short hike and had a picnic lunch in the back of the car.  It was a great day and one of the many reasons why we love the four seasons in Utah.  Only 20 minutes from home and we experienced all kinds of fun things like jumping in puddles, throwing rocks in rivers and listening to a wood pecker.

 

Elizabeth celebrated a momentous occasion this year...she turned the big 5.  We had a little bit of a drawn out celebration as her birth date October 26 was on a Wednesday but Chris would be out of town for work training.  So we had a small party with friends and family the Saturday before where we decorated the basement with all things Hungry Caterpillar including a neat sign, balloons set up to look like a caterpillar, cupcakes, apples cut and layed out to look like a caterpillar and gummy worms and m&ms. Everyone brought a favorite book as a present to add to our home library. It was a lot of fun.  On her actual birthday we had her cake and a few presents and then when Chris came home the next day we did a few more gifts.  I'm not sure the poor girl actually knows when her birthday is due to all the extra days of fun.

 Then of course when you think of October you might automatically think of this instead

Chris took the girls trick-or-treating this year while I went to the grocery store - seriously the store was empty - it might become my new Halloween tradition.  I was able to not feel rushed and got everything on my list and nothing extra.  Elizabeth was a lady bug and Olivia was a monkey.  This picture doesn't have the kids looking at the camera but it shows me that they were having the time of their short lives with their dad.  We had lots of candy and visited family.  And it was great weather.

That brings us to the end of the month and the opposition - my grandfather on my mother's side passed away and while I'd like to say that he lived a great life and he was old and he had been sick for a while so it is all for the best it's been a little bit more than difficult.  When I keep busy and don't think about it too much then it isn't so sad but if I have some down time and think about it then I'm sad to know that I can't go visit him and that my grandma who was married to him for sixty-one years doesn't get to see him every day.  Good thing I believe that I'll see him again one day - it makes me happy to know that he isn't in any physical pain anymore and that as my cousin Quate said 'He's playing golf with John Wayne'.

As part of my grandfather's life celebration, I was able to help make slideshow with pictures from his life.  We talked as a family about all the wonderful memories we have of grandpa and in a way we were able to remember that he is still with each of us in all that he taught us and when we remember him.

1924 ~ 2011 Salvatore Sam Mele, husband, brother, father, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle, cousin and friend passed away peacefully at his home in Salt Lake City on October 28, 2011.  He was born in Sunnyside, Utah on September 7, 1924 to  Salvatore and Rosina Oliveto Mele of San Giovanni in Fiore, Italy.  He married Marjorie Jane Stringham on July 15, 1950.  Sam and Marge raised ten children.  The core of their relationship was sincere affection and friendship that centered on the family.

Sam served in the US Navy during World War II.  He received a Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Utah in 1951 and worked as a metallurgist for over 30 years.  Sam had an amazing talent for designing, building and fixing anything - and a garage full  of implements to prove it.  He was also a skilled jewelry maker, designing and handcrafting jewelry for his children grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Sam enjoyed the simple life - talking with Marge, gardening, bowling, golfing, eating Sunday dinners with the family, solving the daily JUMBLE puzzle and watching western movies and TV shows.

I remember him as a gentle and caring person.  He was always interested in my life and took time to teach me the proper way to do things, whether it was spelling words correctly, making delicious food, starting to sing the Happy Birthday song or learning a new skill.  I miss you.