Garden Time

		garden project VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On one of the photos you will notice Elder Grimmett on the left.  The Elder with the shovel is demonstrating how to make the rows.  The Church garden projects started 20 years ago in Peru and have been successful in various places around the world.  The soil here on the Navajo reservation is devoid of nutrients so a department at BYU examined the soil and decided on what might work to grow gardens.  Last year was the first year  of the project and it was very successful.  We are signed up this year to have a garden so will send photos during the summer to follow our progress. Right now we just have the sheep manure spread on the dirt.  That will be followed by a thick layer of sawdust and on top of the sawdust will be fertilizer and then comes the tiller which is lent out by appt.  Right now the tiller is in need of repair so Elder G. is thinking he’ll just buy one because time is a wasting.  More to follow.

The Blue House

		Our St Michaels House VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our house is warm and cozy as you can see.  The washer and dryer in the kitchen make for extra counter space.  I love the big window in the living room and am happy to have an office.  There is also an empty bedroom which I use for my ironing board and a guest bedroom which will be just right for company.  I thought I had a picture of the house on the outside, hence the title blue house, but I guess that will have to wait.  Must have taken that photo on my camera.

From St. Michaels, AZ, our new home

   We just got online this afternoon and it’s kind of late at night, but I wanted to say hello and that I will send pictures and information as soon as I have time.  We will be very busy tomorrow  and Sunday, so maybe Monday night I can post a lot more. 

We are both happy and well, however,  a week ago tomorrow, which was our first Saturday here, we awoke to a snow storm.  Clive got up to fix some breakfast and had a sudden pain in his back on the left side.  Within seconds it became very painful and 5 minutes later it was agonizing.  We live just off of a highway across which is a medical clinic.  We hurried out to the car and were covered with snow in just that short distance.  We were alarmed when we found that the clinic wasn’t open on Saturdays so drove back to our house with Clive in such searing pain that I didn’t know what to do and he couldn’t think straight.  Another missionary couple live close to us but they had gotten permission to go to Salt Lake to have a minor surgery on his trigger finger so I didn’t know where to get help. Then I realized that the missionaries would be home so I knocked on their trailer which is just next to our house.  Two of them responded immediately and they gave Clive a blessing.  One of the Elders explained to us that the nearest hospital for us was in Gallup, 30 minutes away.  He gave us directions and off we went.  The storm lightened up somewhat the closer we got to the hospital.  A cat scan revealed the problem, a kidney stone.  To make a long story not quite so long, we came home to wait it out.  The stone was within the size the doc would expect to pass without surgery.  It was so hard to see Clive suffer and he wouldn’t accept the narcotics the docs offered because he had learned from experience that they make him terribly sick, but that evening it finally passed.  The last wave was so painful that he threw up, but that was the end of it.  By the next morning he was good to go to Church and has been fine ever since.

We were so surprised when we checked in at the MTC to find some of our temple friends checking in also.  I’m sorry this pic is so fuzzy, but hope you can identify from left to right, Brother and Sister Wynia, ourselves, Sister Windley, and Brother and Sister Starr, all of whom worked with us in the Spokane Temple.

 

39ers farewell

I am a member of the 39ers club named as such because the three of us who started the club were born in 1939.  However, most of the members who have come along since, and there are 10 of us now, are 39ers in spirit only.  Unbeknownst to me my friends made quilts for Clive and I to take on our mission with instruction that when we are wrapped up warm and cozy in our respective quilt we are to remember the warmth and love of the 39ers for us.  Thank you so very much dear friends, and especially thanks to Jackie, Coleen, and Gayle who picked out the fabrics and to Jackie and Coleen who did the cutting and sewing.

 

Lewis & Clark play

Enjoyed watching our granddaughter

,Zoe, in her Lewis and Clark play last night.   Our grandson, Cody, who is now a husband and father was in the same play when he was a fourth grader learning Idaho history.  He played the dog who was always saying, “Ruff”.

Zoe was an Indian maiden.

Ready for Sacrament Meeting Talks

Spoke in our ward today for last time before we leave on mission.  Refer to earlier blog.

Non-Farewell

  Today Clive and I spoke in sacrament meeting.  Our assignment was Elder Walter Gonzales’ conference talk from last April, Followers of Christ.  Farewells have been done away with, but having missionaries speak just before they leave for their missions continues to be a common practice in the Church.  Relatives still want to be there to support their loved ones through this non – farewell experience and we were no exception.  Mark and Billie and girls from the tri-cities area and our Boise kids, Ron and Cathy, Ryan, Kristen and Adam, David and Heidi, and also locally Michael and Erin and family and Tyler, all attended our sacrament meeting, along with Erin’s parents, MIke and Jill Murphy.  Dan is sick in bed so he and Jenni weren’t able to come, but I’m sure they would have loved to be there.  We appreciated very much the attendance of those who came and know the ones who couldn’t come were there in spirit.

With our boys here we took advantage of that fact and had them move our living room couch and love seat downstairs for us.  We left two chairs in the living room that we can use during the next couple of weeks until we leave.

Yesterday we had a big blizzard with snow coming down about an inch an hour.  It looked like winter wonderland which was fun for Adam who isn’t used to such snowstorms in Boise.

Tomorrow I finally go to the eye doc to get my eyes checked for glasses.  I’m so anxious to finally be able to see again.  Dr. Fagan said he thought he could get my glasses back within a week.  I’m going to hold him to that.  Six weeks of having such poor vision has given me a new respect for people with eye problems.  Bless their hearts.

Our plan is to go to Church next Sunday with MIke and Erin as Sophie is giving a talk in Primary.  The next Sunday, March 11, we want to go to Church in Kellogg so dad can bless the sacrament with Tyler.  On the coming Friday, March 16, we will leave for Boise and attend Church in Cathy’s ward as she is giving a talk that day.  Monday the 19th we will drive to Aberdeen to visit the Landvatters for a couple of days.  On Thursday, March 22, we will drive to Dee and Sharol’s house in Sandy.  Friday, the 23rd, we will go into Salt Lake so dad can do some business in Church headquarters and that evening Joyce is having the Duggars over to say goodbye to us.  We will go back to Sandy that night and for the weekend.  Monday morning, the 26th we enter the MTC.