October is a wonderful month

                   Emily and  enjoyed Lucie's middle school choir concert

Cordelia was baptized in Provo on October 14, 2023, by her dad, Peter, talk by mom Rebecca, and attended by lots of family and friends

Cordelia with her girl cousins, except Kelly in Iowa, serving a mission. Back: Ming Lu, Hannah, Lucie; Elise, Stephanie, Evie &Phoebe

      along the way walking to church on a beautiful fall morning

Birthday party for Nanci Thomander visiting from Palo Alto: Paul and Sara Gilman, Tom and Katy Taylor, Nanci and Darryl

Flying over the Great Salt Lake then Lake Powell on the way to Las Vegas to change planes for Reno to visit my friend Marilyn Johnson

                  In Reno, Nevada, along the Truckee River

And a spectacular day at Lake Tahoe: Sand Harbor was pleasantly almost deserted after the summer crowds, though too cold to swim

Tahoe is the 2nd deepest lake in the US (after Crater Lake in Oregon) and so clear that objects can be seen to a depth of about 67 feet. It is about 3 miles long and 1 mile wide.

After a picnic at the lake, we drove around the east (Nevada) side through South Lake Tahoe to Taylor Creek

In the fall the adult Kokanee salmon begins to turn red and the male develops a hooked jaw. This unique transformation signals the beginning of spawning season. For Lake Tahoe Kokanee its time to travel back to Taylor Creek where they were born using taste and smell to find their way. The female builds a nest, called a redd, where she lays anywhere from 200-1,800 eggs. Then the male fertilizes the eggs and both male and female die. Several months later the young hatch and gain strength by absorbing the yolk sac of their eggs. In the spring the young are swept out to Lake Tahoe, where they spend about 5 years before they repeat the cycle. Merganser and other ducks and birds and bears feed on salmon so there is a lot of flapping and chasing going on!

We drove the steep and precarious road to the Emerald Bay Lookout

At the head of Emerald Bay is the historic Scandinavian castle built in 1928. It has 38 beautiful rooms. Tea may be served on Fannette Island

Goodbye to a beautiful, and for me, nostalgic place, where I have spent some of the best moments of my life (Lake Tahoe). But October is also a special month for me celebrating the birthdays of my maternal grandmother (Gladys Chute Mears, born October 14, 1889), my aunt Helen Mears Gibson on October 11, 1915 (in top photo), my mother Dorothy Mears Allen, October 23, 1919 (on left with her sister Helen) and my friend Marilyn Johnson on October 23, 1941. They have each been mentors and played loving roles in my life.

I'm so proud of two grandchildren serving faithfully on missions

Elder Nick de Schweinitz and friends in Baltimore Spanish-speaking mission                                and 
 Sister Kelly Taylor (English and Swahili-speaking in Iowa), being hugged by our Provo neighbor, Tammy Runia, serving in the Young Women's General Presidency

I feel very grateful to be surrounded by and influenced by good people who motivate me to be a better friend and better disciple of Christ.