Fun in the Snow

Usually when we go to Island Park it is too work. Not this trip it was just fun in the snow. Yes, snow can be fun.

This bishop arranged with some friends to borrow their cabin and snow mobiles. His family from Utah came up and stayed for the weekend. FUN, FUN, FUN. 14 adults, 7 little children (the oldest had just turned 7). We ate, played card games, xbox, wii, ate, watched movies, ate, put together puzzles, ate, went to church, ate, played in the snow, ate some more and even snuck a little sleep in. Did I mention we ate, way too much. This waiting for the rest of the group to head out on a quick trip.
Helping the little ones with their puzzle. It's quite a challenge when their attention span is about 2 minutes and they want the puzzle done right now.

The adults played card games. Of course he didn't win.

It was nice to get away for a couple of days, spend time with family and just have fun.

Gone but not forgotten...

One of the best aspects about serving up to BYU-I is the many friends we made. Each semester many moved away from Rexburg, but our friendship never ended. They are eternal. We have made trips to Utah, California, Texas and even Boise just to check on them. This week some former 67th Warders Jared and Cait (he was in the bishopric) were visiting parents in Boise. We couldn't resist after all we had yet to meet their newest little one. We had a wonderful time. It was so nice to visit with them.

Bishop, Jace, Sister Beazer, Cait, Cole

Almost got the bishop to smile for this one.

Jared and Cole

We also visited with the Brysons. We took a group picture but not with our camera so you will have to wait until they email it to us so it can be posted.

Don't be surprised it sometime you get a phone call with a pending visit from us.

'We'll have a blue Christmas without you"

We got adventurous this year, and used all LED lights on the tree. Let's just say it's BLUE.
It makes a statement for sure. We are the talk of the neighborhood. Next year we will tone it down with some white mixed in. It's blue for sure but I love it, (except for needing to wear shades to protect the eyes when in the room).

This weekend our son had drill (Air Force Reserves). We didn't want him to drive down and back by himself and since we are without callings still, we tagged along. Some of the things we did were to attend the Primary Children's Festival of Trees, participate in a session at the Draper temple, hangout with computer geeks (not on the agenda, last minute pick up of a computer for someone, an adventure in itself), attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 'Spoken Word' broadcast and enjoy the lights on temple square.

Believe it or not we actually posed for a picture. It was bitter cold, but we toughed it out Idaho style, lots of layers.

We will miss sharing the Christmas season with our BYU-I 67th friends and hope it is a wonderful one for each of you.

Have a MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thanksgiving 2009

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had so many blessings to be thankful for. One of those blessings is the opportunity we had to work with and serve the members of the BYU-I 67th Ward. Even though we are sad to not be up there anymore, we are so thankful for the time we were able to spend up there. We loved every minute of it and feel as if so many of you are our eternal friends. Thank-you for your kindness, your patience and especially your love.
Thought I should let you know how the bishop spent his Thanksgiving, after we had eaten and done the dishes. Yup, he turned the counter into a work bench. So amidst the cheers of game playing (sorry no football, haven't learned to appreciate it yet) and laughing he did homework. No he's not going to school, he just brought his work home. That's just the way he is .

Hope your Thanksgiving was great, because ours was.

I love to see the temple

Tonight we went to the Idaho Falls Temple to do sealings with our home ward. One of the perks of the IF Temple is the cafeteria and Friday night Prime Rib. It's not as good as at 'The Pines' in Island Park but the price is right and usually there is tasty pie to go with it. We try to take advantage of it when we can and tonight was no different. The only problem or two was that it just wasn't the same as going with the 67th Ward. We went with the high priests, yes the old fogeys in the ward. We never felt that way up to the college. You kept us young. Part of being an old fogey is your eyesight goes and with it your taste in clothes. Not really, it just seemed that way. The bishop dashed home from work with just enough time to take a quick shower and shave and dress. He can do it in 15 minutes, only because he has low maintenance hair. When we arrived at the temple, who was standing their but Brother (now Bishop of the 79th ward) Stallings. We chatted briefly and then turned to head downstairs to enjoy our dinner when I noticed (and hoped Bro. Stallings hadn't noticed) what the Bishop was wearing. He had thoughtfully picked out socks, shoes and a belt, then hurriedly donned the first pair of suit pants, grabbing a coat as he went out the door. Blue pin stripped pants and a charcoal jacket, hmmmm, a bit nerdy. We immediately decided to change into our white clothes before anyone noticed. Dinner was tasty as usual. Later, as we sat waiting to start the sealings a wave of homesickness for the 67th ward hit. What were doing in a room with so much gray hair and wrinkles? It just didn't seem right. Interestingly most of the priesthood there had also been bishops of student wards. They could feel our pain and just encouraged us that it gets better with time. We luckily have a great home ward, but it just isn't the BYU-I 67th Ward. You are embedded deep in our hearts and are greatly missed. The church is still true, even in Rigby and the IF Temple is a place of great peace and love.

Halloween at our house

Halloween is a big thing at our house, not because we are in love with it but because we get so many trick or treaters. One year we got over 600. Tonight was typical of most, about 400. That's a lot of Candy. The little ones are so cute we love it. Even the dog likes it. It's hard to tell from this picture but you've seen the shows on TV that have mobs walking the street. That's our street.

I grow my own pumpkins and they always turn out unusually shaped. It makes them more original to carve. This year we decided to try something new. Cookie cutter to make most of the cut outs. It was super easy, fast and they turned out very unique. We will do it again next year.

Hope your Halloween was as nice as ours.

And the new bishop is.......

It was inevitable, we've known for over 3 years that this day would come. Did we want it too, NO! We (the Bishop and I) have felt like the luckiest people in the church because of the opportunity we have had in serving at BYU-I and especially in the 67th ward. I know that we are better people because of this. It has truly strengthened our testimonies in the love of our Heavenly Father for us. So many of you have touched us in one way or another and always for the better. We have loved every minute of this service. Thank you for your love and support and help in making the ward function and succeed like it did. Every person was valuable. You will all be greatly missed.

The last thing we did was have a bishopric social. I wish we could have had the whole ward but our house is only so large. We fed them and talked and reminisced and laughed for old times sake.

(Note: I am in the picture, not willingly that is for sure)

After dinner some of the guys took on the dishes. Thanks it was a great help, (I don't let many load the dish washer, one of my hang-ups). They should be on the activities committee they did such a good job.

After all this they began the practice for the song that we requested. "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy". It was a well known fact that we had the most musically talented Counselors and Clerks in the stake. They sounded wonderful and I can't thank them enough.

The wives as they enjoyed the practice.

Oh and last but not least the new bishop is Jay Kohler, with counselors Golden Tawzer and Tyler Peterson.

Where were we?

Just sharing a few pictures of our (the bishop and I) Texas adventure. We left Wednesday afternoon for San Antonio TX, to watch our son graduate from Air Force Basic Training. Our flight included a lay over in Dallas/Fort Worth. Some of our former ward members just happened to live there and met us with a plate full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They really look great and are slowly meshing into life there, but miss everyone back in Idaho.

Our Son Airman/graduate Beazer and the Bishop.

We took advantage of going to the Alamo. Despite the cold and rainy weather there was a 20 minute wait. We also went along the riverwalk, quite a pretty place, lots of shopping and restaurants. We also went to our first semi-pro hockey game (the home team lost) and tried alligator.
Overall the trip was COLD, WET, RAINY, basically miserable weatherwise. The only sun we saw escorted us to the airport. We spent alot of time doing the hurry up and wait, and wait, and wait. We are tired, but happy to have spent a few days with our son before he goes to tech training in Mississippi.

F(Family/Friend) HE

Every few weeks we try to get couples from our ward over for a type of FHE. When we remember we take pictues and then when I remember I post them. This last Monday we had several couples over and I did remember to break out the camera. One of the perks of owning the camera is I decide whether I am in the picture of not. I decided not this time.

Burns, Leifsons, Goms, Bishop

Watsons, Jacksons, Andersons, Sis & Bish Beazer

(I got talked into being in this one)

Blue Screen of Death

The year has started out with a bang at the Beazer house. It began with the "Blue Screen of Death" and of course it wasn't properly backed up. First we heard some strange clicking that came and went. Our immediate reaction was to back up and shut down, only this was not what it wanted to do. It locked up promptly, something it likes to do when it's feeling stubborn. Then came the evil blue screen with something about an unmountable boot sector proudly displayed on it.
Luckily we have another computer, which was used to research out what this lovely error message could possibly mean. It didn't look too serious just time consuming. We put a call into our specialist, (after the bishop is barely computer literate and I am only a few grades ahead of him), who walked us through some fairly simple steps. How hard could it be to drop in a CD, click a few keys and sit back and wait, and wait, and wait. Several hours later, the screen said all fixed, just restart. Hah, what a laugh. No such luck. The blue screen presented us with a new message, winsrv can't be found and must be reloaded before it will agree to work. Another call to the specialist, who help us with some good old-fashioned dos commands to hopefully fix the new problem. Again failure, what could this be? This was now serious and it sounds as if it will need a complete overhaul. But what about the important files that weren't properly backed up. With computers side by side, we downloaded software on to the cooperative computer that could possibly breath enough life back into the obstinate one to retrieve the precious data. First attempt failed, of course. Second attempt took a while, but it somewhat worked. It's a good thing our specialist is from the old school, and knows linux commands.
Now we are waiting until the life support team comes up to vacation so we can transport it down to Utah to the specialist, who will do a more thorough check up, run more tests and determine what kind of transplant surgery will be needed. It's very likely that it will come back, after a long recovery period, as good as new, except it will have lost it's long term memory.
Please be patient with the bishop as he has to share computers again.

PS. The specialist just happens to be the bishops brother who is a computer program with a masters in computer science. The only draw back is he lives in Orem, luckily we come and go from that direction often enough it shouldn't take more than a few months.

Hanging with the Bishop

The Bishop and Sister Beazer invited a few folks over for an evening of getting to know you and games. Kind of a Family Home Evening. They really need to do it more often. There were more invited but they had other commitments, something about packing and moving. Natie and Kate, Barry and Audra, Blake and Lynn (the newest ward members), Sister Beazer and Bishop
The bishop is setting a new years goal, and that is to have more of the ward in our home, more frequently. Let us know if you would be willing to make the trip to the big city of Rigby.

Happy New Year to all!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...

I'm posting these for all those who have decided to spend Christmas someplace warm and green. Today we ran up to Island Park to do a quick job. We have snow and bitter cold down here in the lower elevations but they have a ton of it up north. It was beyond beautiful. The tree looked lik snow soldiers marching proudly down the sides of the road.

The elegant swans and geese didn't seem to mind the cold. They spent their time preening and eating.

It was Christmas card perfect, even the fence posts wore caps of snow.

So for those of you who have to spend the break golfing and sun bathing, we here in the land of snow will be enjoying a truly white Christmas and loving every snow flake.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a great New Year.

How the Bishop does Thanksgiving

Just in case you wondered what the Bishop does on Thanksgiving here are a few pictures.

First we begin with the pre-dinner nap. This is critical so you have plenty of energy to tackle all that turkey.

Then there is the post dinner nap. Even the dog, Pugsy, is worn out by eating dinner (he loves brussel sprouts and marshmellows).
While the rest of the family is playing games he is ever focused. Work, work, work.
Then he tackles his talk. Yes, he is scheduled to talk on Sunday along with the Jared and Marc. I will be there, hope you will also.

Another hidden talent

When the Bishop isn't being bishop, boss, husband, father, son, set designer, train engineer, uncle, and basically a jack of all trades and a master of none, he is helping the neighbors with their projects. Tonight he was a busy setting up for a wedding.

The wedding reception should be beautiful, done in orange and browns, a rustic house complete with picket fence and wishing well. Besides being our neighbor the bride is Sister Beazer's visiting teacher.

Just another side to the bishop

The Bishop and singing cowboys

another side of the bishop: SET DESIGNER

About 10 years ago our neighbor, who is a member of the city Chamber of Commerce, asked the bishop to help him with the backdrop/set for the Bar J Wranglers, which the chamber sponsors each year. After the first couple of years the neighbor just turned it over to us and the Bishop runs with it. For those of you who are not from this area or are not familiar with the Bar J, they are a group of singing cowboys. They spend 2 hours entertaining with lots of jokes and the old cowboy classics, such as "Tumbling tumbleweed" and "Ghost riders in the sky" The set we have used for the last three years.

The first week in November we go in late the night before, after the students have left and things settle down at the local high school, and hang the scrims (big white sheets), starch them and lay out the set. Then they next morning he goes in and stands up the rest of the set, working around the students and with the studio A team to get the lighting correct. Just as school gets out the cowboys show up and set up their instruments and sound system.

Show time: Donny "The Smurf" who plays the steel guitar and several other stringed instruments , Tim a champion fiddler, Scott the lead tenor and oldest of the original Bar J, Dan who sings deep, deep, deep and of course Brian who hangs on to the bass fiddle/cello and keeps everyone on their toes with his antics. A favorite of the show is Granny, who comes out and sings a mixed up song.

After the show it's time to tear down the set. We work side by side with the cowboys while they pack up their instruments and take down the set, sweep the floor (that's my special job) and turn out the lights. Despite the hard work and late nights this is something we enjoy.

No Thanks

To who ever shared this flu, no thanks. Bishop went to bed last night feeling a little off and it didn't take long before he was making frequent trips to the bathroom. So the tithing settlement appointments for tonight will need to be rescheduled. Sorry about that, but he doesn't want to share this flu with any more than necessary.
PS. Dr. Jared Thompson called in some orders, bed rest and Gatorade, so he is working on getting better as soon as possible.

Conference Weekend

It doesn't happen very often but the Bishop sneaks away for a day or two. One of the perks of serving at BYU-I is the people we become friends with. FYI, the bishop served as a counselor in another ward, 11th Ward. Their executive secretary became one of those great friends. They just moved back to Idaho (from southern Utah) and we decided to hang with them. We had a great time and really enjoyed the kids. He colored with the girls, played find the monster with the boy and even snuck in a little conference. Helping with the shoes.
We took them to eat at a place that had a play area. We had forgotten what it was like to try and get little ones to eat and keep track of them playing and still get a few bits in yourself.
We love all the people we have gotten to know and are thankful for this opportunity.

Who is he really?

There is a secret side to the bishop that he doesn't share with many people. You just have to catch him in a weak moment as someone did this last week. In 1939 his grandfather and brother built a train. Not one of those cute model trains that many little boys have, but the kind you ride at an amusement park. Over the years they expanded it, retrieving track from some of the mines around Idaho, until it was 1/3 of mile long, 2 engines, 3 cars and a caboose. The Beazer Short Line departs from the station, taking you past the forest, follows the ditch, then over the bridge, around the horse pasture, back over the bridge, past the repair shed, though the tunnel (aka his shop), past the garden before ending back at the station. People of all ages, colors, sizes and nationalities have been taken for rides. The sound of the engine cranking up brings all kinds of people out of the woodwork, usually neighbors. Today it was a group of lively Achievement day girls. Wow, were they lively. The weather was perfect which made it nice. It will soon be time to put it away for the winter. Since his father died 5 years ago the bishop has been the head engineer. I am just a member of the section crew, and the official gate tender. (sometimes the horses like to wander) Despite the time and work involved it's something we enjoy.

TWO years memories

Two years ago this last week we bagan this adventure. It has been the best two years so far of our lives. We feel so privileged to have been able to serve in the BYU-I 67th Ward. Some of the most incredible people have lived in Stonebrook and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. We are so blessed to know each and everyone and feel we are better because of it. They have taught us so much. I wish there was enough room to include pictures of everyone, but that would take pages and pages and you may get bored with our memories. So if you don't find yourselves in here it isn't because we didn't care, it's just a space issue. Jonathan and Deja on HALLOWEEN.
Gordon and Kristen at the bowling party Steven enjoying pizza after moving day
Julie and Lisa
Brother and Sister Broulim

One of several temple prep classes. We love doing temple prep, it gives us a chance to really get to know some of you.
Spence and Amber at the Summer Luau Diana and Logan
Jeremy and Brooke
Russ and Emily Jones

Ryan and Aly
Jeremy helping at the quilting bee
Brother Wilding (high counselor) and Bishop
Todd and Bishop
Ben, Zach, Bishop, Spence
Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives.