The seasons are changing, the children are growing and it's fun to watch them! 

Grandson George celebrated 16 years (below third from left) with friends....they can really put away the food!

And Simon (12, in light blue) and Hannah (14, with white dog), Marc's kids, celebrated their birthdays at my house with all our Utah family. (Emily took the photo).

I enjoyed a short visit from Ecuadorian friends, the Guerrero family. Daughter Erika is studying at BYU, her brother at BYU Idaho.

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A friend wrote after the return of her son to Ecuador from Mexico: 

Es increíble cómo la misión cambia la vida de los jóvenes. (It's incredible how the mission changes the life of young people!) These wonderful young missionaries below at the Provo Mission Training Center will grow and mature in 18-24 months....for many members of the Church of Jesus Christ it's almost a rite of passage. 

                                        

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I'm grateful to grow older enjoying, friends, family, and trips to new and beloved familiar places...even if I can't jump over or from rocks anymore!

   Sand Harbor at beautiful clear Lake Tahoe with friend Marilyn. 

Last September it was so smoky we could hardly see the lake. The water level is so low because of the long drought in the western states.

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Traveling between California and Nevada one crosses Donner Pass, one of the most historic sites in emigrant history. It is named for the ill-fated Donner Party pioneers who chose a long short-cut, and were caught in winter storms as they followed the Truckee River into California, in 1846-7. The more fortunate half were rescued before they died of starvation and exposure. Growing up in California, I had friends, the Donner family who descendants of Tamsen Donner (whose journal/letters I am reading), who warned against the short-cut.

The Donner visitor center has an excellent exhibition on the building of the Transcontinental railroad, and of the 1000's of (mostly Cantonese) Chinese who built it. Conditions and wages were poor.

 The 20th century brought huge advances in transportation with the automobile, bus, truck, and then the airplane. and what next??

         Above Donner Lake we enjoyed hiking and beautiful view.

We had quite an adventure almost losing car keys and then almost running out of gas and almost needing friends to come rescue us. But we made it back to Reno and enjoyed lovely sunsets. 

And then it was refreshing to fly back to Utah above the smoky skies and ash-covered plane windows to breathe fresh air and to see the changing colors of the Utah hills (notice the reddish trees and bushes). Soon all the trees, especially the aspens will be a vibrant yellow.

I'm grateful for a peaceful, warm fall day in my garden. Wishing you peace and well-being, too.

I look forward to our semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ on October 2-3, where we can hear music and messages of ways to find more hope and peace in this turbulent word. 

You can tune in to enjoy all or part:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts?lang=eng&video=16339403840441677119&mode=watch