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.

What to do with all the spare time?

So what does one do with all their spare time now that they have Tuesday nights free. After 7 1/2 years of wearing a white shirt and tie (he only wore one this week)and being in Rexburg it's time to find out what goes on our house. This week was rather nice. We had a cooler full of apples to take care of. What else could he do, the bishop helped out. He peeled enough apples to make 10 quarts of apple pie filling and a dehydrator full of slices. He even cleaned up. He's an alright kind of guy, and I think I will hang on to him.

The next night he tackled sewing, yes sewing. Each year he does the set for the Bar J Wranglers. It takes some real thought, and work. We have used scrims in to past and he wanted to extend them out. I ironed and he sewed and did a great job. A real Suzy Homemaker. Who knows what else he will take up. Maybe now instead of just looking up recipes on the Internet he will actually start cooking them. He tried making rice krispie treats the other day. Don't ask, they didn't turn out.

Hopefully you will all have a great Halloween. We will be open for Trick or Treaters until we run out of candy.

Too much time on our hands

We (the bishop and I) went to the home ward to church, and it was awful, well maybe not that bad. It's just we felt so out of place and our hearts and minds were somewhere north of here. Sunday morning was strange, we weren't quite sure what to do with all the extra time. The home ward meets at 1 and the bishop was use to leaving about 9 to be there for his first meeting. What does one do with all that time. We read the newspaper, he finished a book he'd started, (the first one he's made it all the way through since being called up there), I indexed, We started dinner, just ordinary stuff that we haven't done together for the last 7 years.
The bishop has commented several times through the last 3 years that he didn't know what he thought about before because the ward was always on his mind, whether it was a calling to be filled or someone to be helped or just the general welfare of everyone. I guess we will find out. He hasn't stopped thinking about you. We'll just keep thinking of you for the next eternity or two.

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.

A frequent familiar memory

This is/was a familiar site, so often seen around the complex, especially at the end of a semester, whether moving in or out. The moving van. Of course a move needs a little help and it wasn't unusual to see several men step up to the task. It didn't matter if it was the first or third floor they showed up.

It also wasn't unusual to see them rewarded with goodies or even pizza.

A pizza sandwich.

Moving will always be a big part of the school scene.