Woods and Ordination

In preparation for our mission, we have made several ‘to do’ lists; things to do on our rental properties, things to finish on our own house, things to do to get ready to leave, questions to ask the mission home – anyway, you get the picture. When considered in total, the tasks appear insurmountable. Fortunately, we just tackle them one at a time and we don’t get overwhelmed. And, we are making progress.

With Sandy’s help on the tractor last week, we were able to clear a lot of the ‘danglers’ from the ice storm damage in the west pasture. That involved Sandy at the wheel and me in the bucket; she would raise me high enough to either cut the limbs or wrap a chain around them so we could pull them off. Very effective-although there were a few times when Sandy forgot which lever moved the bucket which way. I managed to hang on in spite of her best efforts! I was also able to reclaim the fence line in that area; the weeds and shrubs were making a valiant effort to hide the fence. I spent some time neatly stacking the firewood that I had just been dumping in a pile behind the barn; another 50 foot by four foot high wood pile. I feel like a squirrel hiding nuts in various places for winter: we now have four different wood pile locations.

We have been working through a real estate agent we met in St Louis on making an offer on a duplex there. The photo below is one of the duplexes we've been thinking about. We offered, they countered; we countered and they countered again with the same price; we then accepted their price and are waiting to see the contract they want to go by. Sandy had also researched another duplex and made an offer on that one Friday morning. She thought it would be quick and easy to do; the agent emails us the contract, we read, sign and fax it back to him. Unfortunately, he had another appointment in the morning that took longer than expected and it wasn’t until 1 pm that the contract was signed and faxed.

That is significant because we had decided on Monday that we would drive to Vicksburg and visit Andy and family since Nathan had his 12th birthday and would be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday. I was actually ready to leave at the appointed hour of noon – and then got to wait an hour before we left. We drove through Little Rock so we could get our International Drivers Permit and multiple passport photos for our visa from the AAA office there. We arrived in plenty of time to get that taken care of and then continued to Vicksburg. Although we didn’t arrive until about 9pm, the children we still up (Kera had let them stay up late) and surprised to see us. We didn’t do much Saturday morning (we did help Kera make 14 quarts of apple pie filling from some Granny Smith apples she had picked) and then went swimming in the afternoon. At the pool is a swingset the grandkids enjoyed. Sunday during the priesthood hour, Nathan was ordained at deacon and had asked me to do the ordination; it was honored that he would ask. He is a responsible young man. After church we headed back to Kera’s, had a quick lunch and hit the road. Just had to take a photo of Emma enjoying her food. We managed to navigate the 370 miles in about 6 hours and 20 minutes without having to refuel once—about 39 mpg..

At home we found a note from the ‘chicken sitter’: one of the chickens was not to be found Friday evening when she came to feed and lock them up for the night. Ace, the only black and white chicken has not been seen since we left on Friday. And there is no evidence of what may have happened to her. No feathers, no body parts, nothing. Today while I was pressure washing the house, I let the remaining three chickens out; an hour later when I took a muster, only two reported in. Fearing the worst, I called Sandy to help look; on the south side of the garage we heard a rustle in the plants and found the ‘lost’ chicken, plus five eggs. Apparently she, and perhaps some of the other chickens, have been hanging out in that location for some time.

Working off another one of those items on one of those ‘to do’ lists, I was out in the woods clearing the four foot weeds that grew up in the area where we had the fire last February. I couldn’t run the bush hog through there since I haven’t cleared the down limbs. So I ran the Shindawa through there to cut the weeds so I can find the downed limbs and cut them up for fire wood, or for the fire. And that is this week’s major project, sandwiched in between home teaching, GED classes and such.

We also had Vela, our good friend and tax preparer, over for lunch and to get some financial and other ideas on ways to handle our affairs while we are on our mission. She is always so much fun and we learned some helpful suggestions from her. To obtain a visa to Kenya, we need a letter from the local police station attesting to our good standing in the community; I was able to obtain those without cost. Sandy has been busy researching the most economical way to obtain the three shots we need. We can pay a local doctor about $450 per person or get two from the military at Ft Leonardwood, MO and get a prescription for the third at $9 per person. That is a no brainer!

Sweat Week

Happy 1st Birthday to Steven Reck and a Happy 12th Birthday to Nathan Fox on this Tuesday.

This was sweat week; meaning the heat and humidity combined to result in large quantities of sweat pouring forth from my body. It started Monday when I helped move the widow Elizabeth Edwards, a 93 year old, from her home of 23 years into a one room facility. She looks the same as she did 14 years ago when I first saw her at church: a smiling face and white hair that looked as if she had just come from the beauty salon. Her mind is still sharp as ever, but she has cancer and has decided she is not willing to go through the treatments; she only has a few months to live. So sad.

That afternoon I ended up removing an air conditioning unit from a rental in preparation of installing a new one. Then I spent two hours on the riding mower beating the grass into submission. Then I came home and did the same to our yard. Sweat day number 1.

Tuesday I started working on the bath room of a rental home that just became vacant. It needed a new tub surround, but before the week was over that project grew: the walls got painted, the old flooring removed, new vinyl installed, and new light fixtures. The previous tenant needed a larger home and moved into one managed by our property manager. Her husband had just cleaned the house they moved into, and when he came to look at what needed cleaning at the house they just vacated, he was not happy. On the surface it looked okay; but it wasn’t. He spent at least 12 hours washing walls, floors, appliances, etc. Even with the air condition on, we both were sweating. Sweat day number 2, 3, and 4.

Friday, at that same rental house, I cut back some of the brush growing on the fence line and removed a vine that had managed to camouflage two eight foot pine trees. Made two pick up loads of debris. This was a two shower day. I came home, cleaned up and went to my local Red Cross donation center. I am surprised that people take time to donate; all the associated material to review, the questions to answer – takes 30 minutes to complete before they draw your blood. And that process is only about 10 minutes. I understand the need to provide ‘safe’ blood, but I find the questions frustrating. I came home and spent two hours riding the tractor bush hogging the west pasture. Sweat day number 5.

Saturday I attacked the fence line with the Shindawa; but it said it was too hot at 8:30 to work longer than 15 minutes and quit on me. So I used the other weed whip for an hour and then finished bush hogging the west pasture and then disposed of the burn pile in that area. Sweat day number 6. Sandy returned home from Girls Camp about that time, so it was appropriate for me to call it quits for the day.

This week we had an opportunity to watch two movies. One was loaned to us by a friend and was on the history of the LDS Church in Africa. Interviews were conducted with early African members who, in many instances had prepared congregations for the time when the Church would be established in several African countries. Really an amazing story of faith and patience. A couple of people had suggested watching “Out of Africa”, a movie starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep and based on a true story in Kenya starting about 1913 for a period of 10 (?) years. Beautiful scenery and wildlife.

The chickens have been pretty faithful in producing about three eggs a day. Yes, we know there are four chickens and no, we don’t know which ones are laying. But the eggs are good.

Girls Camp! Cha-Cha!

From Wednesday to Saturday, I got to experience Girl’s camp. We had to be on the road by 5:45 am. The camp is a Girl Scout camp and actually pretty nice. Our cabins were plywood with canvas half sides, which we kept rolled up all the time.

That allowed us to hear the cacophony of insects roaring all night long… Which sometimes drowned out the giggles and conversation of the girls. We had a 10 (by path)-20 (by road) minute hike from our camp site to the main camp area where the dining hall, the pavilion, the pool, and all the activities took place. And (ugh) it was a 4-5 minute hike to the bathrooms—but they had SHOWERS! The camp site did have porta-potties a few minutes walk across camp which I used at night. That was after I had a discussion with an armadillo about who had the right of way on the path.

The weather was seasonably hot and muggy. The first day, we swam and showered. The second day, as I was anticipating a shower, they told us the water had been turned off the night before with the septic problem. We had been using the emergency supply, and it was now about gone. No showers, no flush toilets. Grungy to bed, but they fixed it late that night. Yeah! Then on Friday, the A/C in the dining facility froze up. That was the afternoon I was helping with the cooking. But it was still cooler in than out.

The food was outstanding! Yum! The girls were great! Our ward girls had lots of fun and those who were new to camp loved it by the end. We camped in levels and while we were initially assigned to 2nd level, the 3rd level leader had only one helper and 14 girls. So Sis. Hall and I moved to 3rd level and helped there. Again, great girls. I just wish I were better at names!

In spite of bug bites, little sleep, and hot weather… the leaders put an incredible amount of work into the camp. The activities were imaginative and fun. The girls grew spiritually and it was a fantastic experience. Clearly the Lord blessed me to enjoy camp.

Onward and upward

Greetings on this beautiful day in the Ozarks. It is the beginning of a new month and exactly three months until we report to the MTC in Provo; we are excited!

After spending almost a week here in Mountain Home with his family, Dan left early Tuesday morning to drive back to Kansas City. Then about noon on Thursday, Rebecca and her four children departed for Rolla, MO to rendezvous with Dan so they could drive to St Louis for the night. Friday Dan and the two oldest flew to CA to spend time with his parents and Rebecca started the two day drive back to VA with the two youngest. It was a sad day in Mountain Home when they all left; even the heavens wept – it rained Thursday afternoon. With the departure of the grandchildren, life is not so exciting and adventuresome; we miss those daily hugs, kisses, silly grins and giggles. Prior to their departure, I was finally able to get the zip line installed. The 35 foot ride starts from the tree house; the end attaches to a tree limb so there is no ‘George of the Jungle” tree slamming. Check Rebecca’s blog for pictures. After all the ‘encouragement’ from Joshua to get the zip line installed, it was received with a lot of reservation and cautiousness from the children; I suspect he was anticipating a leisure A or B ticket ride and he ended up with an adventurous thriller of an E ticket one instead. After getting accustomed to the line, just being pulled back and forth, they gained enthusiasm, and soon Joshua, Marian and Callie were zipping down the line.

Before everyone left though, we did have one egg from the chickens, and the evening they left the chickens deposited three more. So far we have a total of five eggs, about ¾ the size of large store bought eggs. They don’t seem to have a regular schedule for laying. The garden continues to overwhelm us with beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. We haven’t done any canning or freezing of the produce this year since we will be gone on our mission.

This past week I concentrated on clearing more downed limbs from the eastern side of our property. The county closed the site where limbs could be hauled to, so burning is really my only recourse to get rid of the limbs. I love the tractor; I can wrap a chain around a 10-12 inch downed tree and drag it to the burn area and cut it up at the burn site. Saves a lot of manual labor on my part. I managed to get the eastern area cleaned up, with the exception of three fallen trees that will be cut up later for more firewood.

After sitting dormant in the garage for several months, I finally spent some time with the Model A so it could be driven again. It had a water leak, which I concluded after discussion with several people, was probably a head gasket problem. Rather than replace the gasket, I purchased a product designed to seal leaks. It seems to be holding water now, but I need to drive it more to find out. Drove it to church this morning and it did fine.

Sandy had been communicating with bankers and realtors in St. Louis. She drove up Friday, talked with them and spent much of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning looking at properties. One seems quite attractive, some others pretty good. She has a long list of questions the realtor will look up and answer, then maybe some investing will take place. It’s exciting and nerve wracking.

We're going to Africa!

We had a busy and eventful week. Monday we drove to St. Louis to look at properties and see abut setting up a team there. We saw properties with 3 realtors, talked to 2 property managers, and spoke with one banker. We saw about 12 properties in person and several dozen more on paper. I had plotted this grueling trek to the hour. We left Mountain Home at 6:30 and got to St. Louis at 11:30. Saw properties with Peter McKercher and talked to his property manager. Mostly we saw duplexes and 4 plexes with him. We looked at some he was working on, and one he’d already remodeled. At 3:30 we moved on to the next realtor. We spent an hour or so discussing what we wanted with her assistant, Tony, before going and seeing properties. Mostly they were single houses. One was $9,000 and about 3,000 sq feet that needed a total remodel. Such fun to see and such potential… but too costly for us. We saw another house partly remodeled and the house next door that had been beautifully refinished and was now being offered for a mere $289,000. We finished there about 8 pm. I’d been struggling with bronchitis for the last week or two and was dog tired. We finally got dinner, checked into the hotel and crashed.

Tuesday we saw realtor #3 and her assistant. We really clicked with Amy. She seemed to know exactly what we were looking for. She deals with many foreclosures and the banks ask her to look at them and evaluate them for resale. She has a handy-man refurbisher who she’s worked with for 10 years and can take a distressed house and restore it. We saw a possibility with her. Then we went back to Realtor #2’s office and visited with a banker by phone and with a property manager. Then we headed to the temple and did 2 sessions. Again, we had a 9 pm dinner.

Wednesday we left by 7am so we could shop at Aldie’s and still get home in time for Tom to go to work by 12:30. I think I kind of dragged around the rest of the day. Dan had arrived for a week’s visit on Tuesday and Rebecca and Dan went over to work on the house in the afternoon and I watched children. Wednesday evening we celebrated Tom's birthday with liver and onions and a great chocolate cake.

Saturday,evening we had a pioneer pot-luck dinner. Then the Young Single adults went to the Drake’s house for a movie night. We saw “Forever Strong,” a really good movie—even if it was about rugby. The young adults seemed to have a good time. We let them know about our mission and announced it Sunday as well.

Saturday afternoon, Tom finally got in the zip line for the kids. There are more techniques for zip lines than we probably know. It turned out to be pretty high and when we put weight on it—like me—it really roared down the line. The grandkids were a bit timid about the whole thing. They started out at the bottom, just getting slid up a ways. But after we left them on their own, they figured how to hop and ride and finally got the courage to go down from the top. They had a raucous time! Here Sandy is showing them how to ride. Here Tom is trying to convince nervous children that it's all just fine and lots of fun!

Thursday Dan and Rebecca went on a mini-moon and we watched children until Friday morning. Thursday about noon, we got the white envelope with our mission call! How exciting! Kenya, Nairobi! We will go into the MTC at the same time as Sue and Steve—November 2^nd. We are way excited. We spent the afternoon on the computer trying to find out about Kenya. The mission includes Kenya and Tanzania. English and Swahili are the national languages and then there are about 40 tribal languages. Rebecca took a picture of us with our mission call.

Friday was a memorial service for a friend. Tom went to the grave side service before heading to the midway duplex to clean and mow. I had an appointment at 10 am with a nursing home to do a spa treatment with the locked wing. It was interesting. Mostly hand massaging with lavender and a few agreed to foot baths with peppermint and Epsom salts. Then when I was done I went to Doug’s “wake” at their quilt shop. Lots of biker friends there. In the afternoon, Dan gave us a phone number of a friend’s parents who returned from their mission to Kenya three months ago. We called and talked to Bro. Pocock and learned lots of good things—mild temperatures, apartments furnished. Cell phones. Internet. Name brand foods. All the conveniences of life. He got so excited talking about his mission, he wanted to go back. The people sound wonderful. We are so excited to be going!

Here are the children enjoying the chickens. The chickens have provided a lot of entertainment for Marian, Callie and Delany. I think they-- the chickens-- will be glad for peace and quiet.

The blog and I are not getting along. I can't cut and paste. My pictures don't want to move. Blah! And that's how I've felt this week. BLUCK! Nasty cough. Hacking up a lung. The best I can say is that it's not at its worst.

Friday Tom discovered a leak in our water line. We were without water most of the day until our favorite plumber came and dug a trench for the new line. The grandchildren thought this was a fabulous adventure. When he told them chickens loved worms, they searched through the dirt!
Bruce arrived at 2. By 5 we had water and the trench was closed up.

Tom and Rebecca powerwashed the High St. House on Monday when it was raining. We got about 3 inches of rain this week. Enough to change plans for house painting several days. Rebecca took kids to "help" but it turned out to be less than effective. Here's the before photo.

Here is the after picture. There is still trim to paint, but it looks SOO much better!

Deborah left on Monday. Sadness.

Dad continues to work on the tree house. He installed one of the windows and ordered the Zip Line stuff.

Saturday, while Tom was busy painting, Sandy went to Branson for a Girl's Camp meeting. Got a lot of stuff sorted out, learned a lot. Discovered there was much yet to do. Girls' Camp is in early August.

Boring belated news

Skipping a week of letter writing because we are just too busy is similar to skipping church: it sure is easy to skip the next week as well. But we really were busy last week! We had 10 adults, and 12 children under the age of 12, staying in our house and keeping all those stomachs happy was a full time job.

Deborah drove in from SLC on Monday 29 June with Sarah and Steven. Then on Wednesday, Andy and his family of seven drove in from Vicksburg while Adam, Savannah and Denali caravanned from Tulsa with Dan and Miranda. The majority had left by Tuesday, 9 July, but not before we engaged in a lot of fun, food, games, and great times. Of course we all had to hold the newest addition the family, Denali, and enjoy her cute smiles.

Memorable moments include: 1. taking five canoes, eight adults and seven children down the river for a five mile float, enjoying the scenery, wildlife (not sure what is so ‘wild’ about turtles) and splashing. Only Adam seems to have gotten sunburned. 2. We also hosted an open house to introduce Denali to the locals and we had lots of yummy goodies to share with friends. 3. Watching the grand children play together; they really got along very well. The chickens were a big hit.4. Playing the usual games (and I didn’t lose this time). 5. Catching up on the latest family news. 6. Enjoying a home made fireworks display—mostly courtesy of Miranda. The kids lit little ones in the early evening, and then the adults had fun with the wild cascading things once it was dark. Callie, Savannah and Denali watched from the upstairs windows inside.

On Sunday morning, we served the traditional Bisquick cinnamon cake before getting all of us to church with plenty of time to spare. It was fun to take up two rows and the children reconnected with some of the older church members. By Monday, July 6, the numbers began to thin. Andy went back to Mississippi. Kera took the children and went to see her Mom, who is not doing as well as we would like. Miranda and Dan left on Monday afternoon, after doing some more pawn shopping. Adam and Savannah and Denali left on Tuesday afternoon. Wow! The house was almost quiet.

Wednesday Deborah and Sandy went off to do some house hunting with Kevin Darracq. They got through 7 of 9 houses before Steven had enough and Deborah found one she liked well enough to have Tom take a look at it. Tom was busy at the Midway duplex building a deck and stair railings. Wow! He did a fantastic job! He is also back teaching at OMART. How hard it seems to be to make time from his busy schedule for teaching. Fortunately they are flexible about when he can come and teach.

Saturday we went to the lake to swim. The children enjoyed it and we met two other church families there. Alas, it was windy and stormy. That made the lake choppy and tended to blow the children toward the edge of the roped-off swimming area. We decided it probably wasn’t wise to swim in the thunder and lightening and so cut our time short.

Monday Deborah put in an offer for the little house then headed home. Alas, another offer came in that trumped hers. So, less work, less stress, less results.