You know your tired when....

"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow"...well, sort of!

(This is what my Seminary class used to call Sister Clark's self-portrait...go figure!)

Ok, you people who enjoyed lots of beautiful snow this past weekend. We were gearing up for the weather forecast advisory for Friday night for 2 to 5 inches of snow after midnight. Well, I was excited to see our dusting of snow Saturday morning and took these pictures of it covering our flowers and our tomatoes…covered with tarps because of the freeze warnings the past couple of nights. Dale and I bundled up and picked 30 lbs of roma tomatoes for his marinara sauce he made. I helped him cut up peppers and tomatoes and then ran errands and did some needed shopping as he finished up and simmered his sauce in the afternoon. Here is a pic of his beautiful results already put away on our storage shelves.

He is such an avid canner and I am amazed at his patience with the whole process. It snowed all afternoon, but the ground was too warm I guess for it to stick. The stores were packed and it was like shopping for Christmas. I was getting excited again because I figured when the temperature dropped, it would probably start sticking. Last check out my bedroom window at midnight Saturday night before I went to bed showed big, beautiful flakes falling and I knew we would wake up to some snow. WRONG! No snow on the ground in Jerome Sunday morning…well, southwest of town where we live. Dale texted a picture from the Seminary building in town where we meet for our YSA branch meetings that showed 2-3 inches. Neighboring towns received a foot of snow between Friday night and Sunday morning. As we drove into church, the closer we got to town, the more snow we saw. And of course it was all melted by noon.

Just wanted to share these delightful creations that Collette has carved and painted, don't want to steal her thunder, I am sure she will blog about it when she gets a chance...but they certainly brighten up our holiday decor.We're having beautiful sunny days this week in the 50’s and upper 60’s. So, no more whining for snow, I am sure we will get it soon enough and hopefully more in the mountains where it is really needed.

Mikelle's Blessing

We traveled to Pocatello to the blessing of our sweet little Mikelle, Jeremy and Sarah's baby, on Sunday, September 21st. I had my camera but didn't take any pictures, I just get so busy visiting and eating and catching up with all that is going on with Chad and with Jeremy's family in Pocatello and Jef's family in Idaho Falls. Jeremy gave a beautiful blessing and the day was very special. We all gathered at the park across from his church and enjoyed the afternoon together with our family and Sarah's. I asked Jeremy to take some pictures of Mikelle in her blessing dress so that I could post them for you all to see. She is a little angel.
Her older brother, Isaak, loves her very much. We are blessed to have such a great family and such sweet grandchildren.

Mission Reunion

Well gang, i recently attended my mission reunion (as of Thursday) in Heber City, UT at my mission president's house. It was just fantastic.

It was great to catch up with my old companions and friends from the mission:

THE Elder Fackrell (he's mulalu!!)

Utley and I...comps in the MTC

Millet, Baldwin, me, and Batt (none were my comps)

Elder Curran (my comp), Me, and Elder Ray (I guess they are "Brothers" now)

Brother Kapp and I

The highlight of the evening was definitely going to visit the grave of my late mission president, President Duke:

Elder Brown and I

One of the senior couples, Elder and Sister Moore, who served with us, gave a wonderful tribute to President Duke. It was appropriate and reflected President Duke's joking nature and his rock solid testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was so glad to see Sister Duke again:

I had not seen her since she left after President Duke died on my mission. What a wonderful opportunity. I thank the Lord and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve the Lord in the Uganda Kampala Mission. We were given a wonderful report on the current status of the work in that great land. Rwanda has been added to our mission, but no proselyting missionaries are currently there. President Christensen visited Sudan and found that land even closer to the gospel than ever. The work is rolling forth amongst those people that I love so dearly. The church is true!

"I Sat on THE Couch Club"

We visited Chad this weekend at Idaho State, we were there for the baby blessing of Jeremy and Sarah's beautiful daughter, Mikelle. (That blog will come shortly) As parents, we are proud of our college son, he is putting his smarts to good use. He has joined and served in many clubs while there at ISU. We found out that he is now undertaking a serious project and is currently serving as President of the "I Sat on THE Couch" Club. Below is a picture of "the beloved couch" that sits in his apartment in Shubert Heights....so pretty and colorful, retro in style...and the main focus of this well organized club... to honor those who have had the privilege of sitting on this beloved couch.
Here are the prestigious administrators of this club.

Officers:
Chad Clark (Idaho State)
Couch President and Booker
Matthew Noble (Chad's roommate) (Idaho State)
Couch Owner
Bailey Robertson (Idaho State)
Couch Picker
Cyndal Golightly (Idaho State)
Couch Fixer
Ryan Beau Bradley (Eastern Idaho, ID)
Couch Transporter
Group Type:
This is a closed group. Members must be invited or approved by an admin.
If 5,000 people join this group, Matt will go to Vegas and get hitched!!

Chad's reported on his facebook 9/3/08 - "What a glorious moment! We have officially (or actually unofficially....) had 25 people sit on THE couch. We've decided to shoot for 100....so tell your friends and family.......We should mention that the person who gets the most people to sit on the couch (besides the current officers) may be given a position....and a nifty t-shirt....just saying.....so get on that. "

I am sure that they have upped the numbers since then and of course we added to them with our experience this weekend. And besides sitting on the beloved couch, we were invited to join the "I Sat on THE Couch" Club. ( I personally joined and want a position and will forgo the t-shirt!)
Ah, kids learn SO much these days in college and I personally am glad that my children are applying their education to serious matters in the world!

First Twin Falls Scheduled Temple Sessions!

Yahoo! We are scheduled for sessions in our new Twin Falls Temple the day it is open for regular sessions on August 26th! This temple is by appointment only, so yesterday I called and set up Collette and I to do some iniatory work. We have tons of names that our YSA Branch did the baptisms and confirmations for and we are going to get to work to continue their progress. Dale and I are scheduled for endowment sessions on Thursday evening the 28th and Friday evening the 29th. Friday the 29th, two of our young single adults are going through and then we will be with them and their families the next day for their marriage. We also have baptisms scheduled for September 12th for our YSA Branch, which is totally exciting. We can have two times, one at 5:30pm and the other at 7:30pm to accomodate work and school schedules. Dale reminded the young single adults that instead of having to meet at the stake center 2 1/2 hours before our time in the Boise Temple, we can meet there 1/2 hour before we head over to Twin Falls. So cool! Can you tell I am excited??? Now, if I can just get over the nerves for the upcoming dedication. Out last rehearsal for our dedication choir is in Shoshone this Sunday. We have been practicing a long time and we are all anxious to be a part of this glorious temple dedication. I am going over with the conductor of our dedication choir to check out the organ that is being placed in the celestial room on Tuesday morning, the 18th of Aug. Then our choir will have the last rehearsal there that evening at 7:30. We will meet at the Magic Valley Mall on Sunday, the 24th to be bussed over to the stake center adjacent to the temple an hour before our 4:30 session. We will warm up in the stake center and then walk over to the temple. Our session is the one that will be broadcast outside of our 14 stake area to any stake center that decides to carry it. So Chad and Jeremy will be able to view it in Pocatello and maybe Jef and Sarah in Idaho Falls if their stakes do so. The cornerstone session and the early afternoon session will be broadcast to our 14 stakes. I am so looking forward to this glorious experience and will post all the details soon!

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