August 16

As the official temporary sign maker this change has put a lot more pressure for me to make more signs to send more people to more places than ever before.  But, since it kept me busy for two and a half days I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have made five light weight sawhorses that are easy for me to carry around and load in and out of my truck to post the signs on at major intersections. I keep them at my place so they are readily available when I need them.

We recently passed the two thirds  date of our mission so we have allowed ourselves to talk about what our life will look like when we come home. Things like: do we get Mom a car or try to share my truck; if so, what and when. When perusing car ads last night I shared with her the details of a used Toyota Highlander. She asked what color it was - like, I mean is that really important? The color was "Salsa Red Pearl" - since then she has been harassing me to have Ben go look at it and buy it so it is ready and waiting for her when she comes home- all because of the name of the color! Sheesh! What we guys put up with. She could care less about the age or the miles or probably the cost - it's all about the name of the color.

We are talking about whether and how much I will work - whether to paint or teach. And, of course we still haven't figured out if we will be stable on our retirement income. Your mother dreams and talks about trips - but I am holding out for an Alaskan cruise with my children and their spouses in a couple of years.

Mom is planning on giving service again at the Humanitarian Center. She will not be working making the big bucks as she officially gave up her license and certification - and of course working at Justice for Girls or Buy Buy Baby is out of the question.

(She would spend way more than she could ever make!) Needless to say we are facing full retirement and it is a little scary realizing we have no idea what we are doing. We just want to be with our family and friends - especially those of you that are reading this blog spot. That's all for now - love Dad

August 9, 2015

Well- it's that time of week again. I'm sitting outside in my lounge chair just veggin' after riding my bike around the lake. It is very peaceful even though Interstate 90 is buzzin by. We had a special surprise this week with a two day visit from our good friends the Schwobes. She texted on Wednesday that her husband was determined they were coming. She is always so worried about "imposing" where David is more lets just go and say "hi". It was great. It was enough notice to get our floor swept and the paint shop cleaned up out of the living room. They got here in time for dinner with us on Friday and then Sat. Morning I worked hard and got lunch and dinner done so that we could spend Sat afternoon and evening with them. We went to Leavenworth, where the highlight was the beautiful flowers. We came back to our home sweet home and had Costco ribs I just happened to have on hand. Then a second rousing night of Penuchle! May I just say that the women held their own both nights which isn't always the case.

This was our last big week of girls camp. The next group is a huge group that rents the whole place and is called "The Church of the Blessing." There is something interesting about them, but I can't remember what it is. We'll have to fill you in next week.

Our group starts to dissipate this week. One of the wranglers goes off to college. Actually, now I think about it, I need to confess that the usual paragon of patience and kindness (aka - your mother) totally lost it this week with three of the young people here and had to be called in to the principal's office. The issue was regarding what time they showed up for dinner without calling to say they would be late (which, just to clarify, is the rule)....well they came in looking for food 40 minutes late and we were all but all cleaned up. Let's just say I did NOT win the battle and from now on the food has to be left out for an hour. Oh well, I am here but to serve - right?

Dads cold got much worse before it got better. He still occasionally goes into fits of coughing up a lung, but in general is feeling better.

Oh yes, one other thing. Jill, the manager's wife, has a beautiful vegetable garden. She has basically left town for 6 weeks and has asked me to hand water twice a day and harvest said veggies. The 10 species of tomatoes I can handle. It's the forest of romaine I have no idea how to do. It looks like I need a machete. I've got to go on the Internet to find out how. Homemade Salsa anyone?

Love - Mom

August 2, 2015

Some of you noticed that I took a brief leave from writing last week. That was because the only thing I could think of to say was "no news is good news" (I think). not that I have anything monumental to share now but here goes-

Another hot week but we made it till August! My highlight of the week was watching a trek group of 300 get loaded up and off and then seeing them come back. They were divided up into companies of 50. As they rounded the bend coming back , one young man was heard to say as he realized where he was "you mean we were this close last night and we didn't know it!" I don't know if he had known, he might have gotten to the freeway and hitchhiked home.

There's been a lot of talking and thinking about our ancestors this past month  and so I have certainly had the opportunity to reflect on both our pilgrim and our pioneer heritage. In our scripture study we have just finished reading the D&C and have been reminded of the early history of the church. It has made me appreciate all the sacrifices they made on l our behalf.

Our young Elders have had a viral gomboo that unfortunately I have now. Don't worry about me, it's just a bad cold involving the entire breathing system. Mom had to break the Sabbath and go buy me both DayQuil and NightQuil. No, she did not take the opportunity to buy a Diet Coke since she was already breaking the Sabbath (at least that's what she says).

I continue to make signs - both permanent and temporary. This week I did some that needed to have small reflective beads painted into the grooves of the letters - an interesting paint job I'd never done before.

We are planning a tourist type of experience for next Thursday's. We are going with my friend, Steve Schauerhamer and his wife to San Juan Island.

The dynamics of the personalities here is undergoing a change. The long-termers that were here before us are officially getting "trunkey" and when they are gone next month Mom and I will have been here the longest. Does that mean we're "the Senior - Senior Couple"? Who knows - love Dad