Autumn update

Cameron has gone fishing, I am recovering from a week of being really sick, and a lot has happened over the past several months, so I decided to do a quick update. So, here's what's been going on with us:

 - The thing that has impacted my life the most lately, is that on September 14, I lost my sweet Grandma Hiatt. It has been such a difficult thing to deal with. I think about her every day, and there are times when I forget that she is gone. I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with her during the last year of her life. Being unemployed was truly a blessing sometimes. I would drive her to appointments with her doctors, and during the last few months of her life when she couldn't be left alone, I got to spend many precious days with her. She forgot a lot of things, and it was hard to watch her fade away, but the gift of that time spent with her is something I will always cherish.  Grams kept her keen wit and fun sense of humor until the very end. In the few days before she passed away, our family came together to care for her and for each other, and that is another thing I will cherish forever. I will probably post more about the entire experience sometime, when it makes more sense in my head, but I am so grateful to have had such an amazing woman in my life. I have so many wonderful memories of her, and I learned so much from her.

 - Cameron did some freelance work for one of the guys on his team at Westech. He designed some silicone watches for a clothing company. He really enjoyed the process, and the opportunity to learn more about product design outside of waste water treatment. He is such a talented man in so many aspects. I loved when he would run his preliminary designs past me and ask for my input. His watches are sold here if you're interested :)

 - I turned 32 - Ahem, I mean, 29 - on October 1. It was a fabulous birthday! Jorjette was able to fly in from NYC for the weekend, and we went to Wendover to see Dwight Yoakam! We had such a blast...feather boas and birthday tiaras, getting our boogie on with Dwight, and just being our amazing and fabulous selves. Cam was a trooper and a total sweetie to give me up for the weekend. I love it when my Big City Sister comes to town, and he knows how special she is to me, so he is very understanding and accommodating when she comes.

 - Cameron and I were able to go to New Mexico in July for the Whetten reunion. I went with Max and Sharon last year, but Cam hadn't been able to go for 3 years. We had a great time. Cam was excited to see his cousins, some of them he hadn't seen for several years. We always enjoy our time with the Whettens. They are such a great family, and a lot of fun! We had lots of games and activities, beautiful weather, amazing food, and great campfire music. We are already excited for next year!

 - We decided this year that the first weekend of August is designated for the Kelley Family Camp-out. This year we went to Great Basin National Park. We hiked to Stella Lake, toured Lehman Cave, and had a wonderful time. My dad was so excited to tour the cave with all of his grandkids. I think he would love to still be a ranger out there doing daily cave tours, if he could. He is always very courteous of the tour guides, and usually hangs in the back of the group so he can tell us things that the guide might have missed. We look forward to our adventure next year, wherever we decide to go.

So, there you have our quick update - which turned out to be kind of long!