Tanner's Baptism

Last Saturday, October 11, our eight-year-old nephew Tanner was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father, my brother Steve, performed the baptism as well as the subsequent confirmation, which Tanner's uncles and Grandpa Keeler joined in on. This event was held at our stake center in North Salt Lake. (In case I've not mentioned it previously here on Paco Nation, JB and I now belong to the same stake as they do.)

A few other family members were asked to participate in the service. Jana 1 conducted the music, Mike gave a great talk on baptism, and Danny was one of the witnesses. Also, we all filled out 3 x 5 cards with messages of encouragement for Tanner, and they were compiled together for to have as a keepsake.

Following the program, we gathered at Steve's and Summer's home for refreshments.

Conference Breakfast/October 2025

The latest general conference of the Church took place on October 4 and 5. Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, passed away about a week before; but conference went ahead under the direction of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. JB and I tuned in to all five sessions, and we enjoyed the messages and the Spirit that we felt.

Roxana Bongioanni, whom I taught the missionary discussions to in Lima, Peru, nearly 29 years ago, was in town with her family to attend the Saturday morning session in person. While they were in town for the weekend, they requested to meet up with JB and me for dinner on Saturday. Roxana requested a local Peruvian restaurant, since the ones near them in Sacramento (where they now live) aren't very good. Thus, we found ourselves together at Rocoto in Bountiful.

It was wonderful to reunite with Roxana, as well as to meet her husband, Ross; their son, Bruno; and daughter, Paula—last of whom, you may recall, we had previously met in June 2019 when Paula came out to Salt Lake City to attend EFY. (She has since served a Spanish-speaking mission in New York City.) The food was also pretty great.

JB and I also gathered with family on my side for breakfast on Sunday morning prior to the Sunday morning session. We enjoyed pancakes, breakfast casserole, fresh fruit, and a number of other tasty selections.

50

In spite of my best efforts, I had another birthday on Friday. This one was a pretty big number and something of a milestone for me. All I can say is that it was one more than 49 and one fewer than 51.

I don't know how I got here. Where has the time gone? Emotionally, I feel like I'm about half that age at best; meanwhile, my body feels like it is 20 or 30 years older than that.

Anyhow, JB spoiled me rotten. She took me out to lunch at Penny Ann's Cafe in Bountiful, one of our favorite new local restaurants, where we always seem to get breakfast food, no matter the time of day. Apparently, if you tell your server that it's your birthday, they will bring you a free scone to accompany your meal.

JB also took painstaking time and effort to collect recorded video birthday greetings from family members, a few close friends (Pepe and Darren), and myriad members of the Improvables. It was very well put together and was very touching. I'm truly blessed to have wonderful people in my life.

Finally, many of the same people from that video congregated at our house that evening for karaoke, featuring also pumpkin cheesecake, chips, and other snacks.

At one break in the action, I caught Danny taking the pumpkins only from JB's bowl of candy corn treats. (The thing is, I also do this.)

The partygoers picked out "Weird Al" Yankovic's "One More Minute" for me to sing. I accepted. Ben, Steve, and I collaborated on Mr. Big's "To Be with You." Many of the niblings got in on the act, and I even convinced JB to sing "That Thing You Do!", which is of course the title track of one of our favorite movies.

We ended the evening by watching BYU play West Virginia in college football. The Cougars beat the Moutaineers, 38-24.

Plowman Family Dinner/September 2025

On Sunday, we congregated at Ben's and Adi's home in Centerville for monthly family dinner. Hamburgers and hot dogs, in a last hurrah BBQ of the summer season, were the featured menu items. We also enjoyed fresh fruit and veggies, chips, salad, and JB's wonderful pumpkin cake and peaches and cream sensation as desserts. (I helped by ... get ready for this ... making the crust.)

(Takes a bow, blows kisses to the crowd.)

Ahem. Anyway, most of the gang were there. We celebrated our three September birthdays: Biz, eight-year-old Tanner, and three-year-old Sam.

You can't have a family party without a rousing game of "Pass the Parcel." Dave's and Jessica's dog Woody remained in the circle and was the center of attention.

In the backyard, the niblings built forts for a Nerf dart war (basically just as it sounds), while Ike lounged in the hammock:

Sam was very happy with his new toys, which complemented his collected of cars from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars.