Fond Farewell

Today we went to transfer meeting.  The pictures we took 

yesterday didn't turn out so well, so we took them again.

I took treats for the new trainers and it was fun to see the new

missionaries meet their new companions.

We had a wonderful transfer meeting, with testimonies from the

out going missionaires.  And a beautiful song, upon my request,

from a few of the elders going home.

nice companion ties

We had a delicious lunch for the out going, I made pepper beef

sandwiches, had orange chips, orange frog eye and

orange buns. . . of course!

would you expect anything different

and frog eye salad complete with spiders

Next time we need to hide the markers!

We are trying something new, we had a bigger lunch and

then we had snacks for dinner, they seemed to like it.

It was kind of like a mini open house of mine, we enjoyed

mozzarella sticks, little weinies, grapes, carrots (orange),

Patti's bean dip with chips, green pepper jelly with crackers, 

taquitos and lemonade.   I didn't even have anything, not hungry.

But I made sure we had a yummy dessert, chocolate layered

yum, decorated to look like a graveyard.  That I had.

A fond farewell to a few of Canada's best, we will

miss you.

Goodbye, Hello

Today we put an elder on a plane for home, he is

ill and we pray that he will get better soon and return to us.

Our new group of missionaries arrived a few minutes early,

but it still took them over an hour to make it through customs.

It looks like a little luggage train when there's 10 of them.

We loaded their luggage into the trailer and the elders rode in the

van and we took the sisters with us.

We drove to the mission office where we had lunch with them.

Sandwiches, 

chips, olives, carrots and pickles.

and I made homemade oreos with orange filling, orange butter cookies

and maple leaf cookies.

It was a spread fit for a spook.

After lunch, office business and interviews at the mission home

we had dinner a fireside and tucked them all into bed.

Needless to say they were exhausted.

We got seven elders and three sisters today,

welcome to Canada,

need I say more.

Conference and Training

This weekend is conference weekend,

I look forward to this all summer.

This morning we trained new leaders for the upcoming

transfer.  I was watching conference on tv and called them

upstairs when President Monson spoke and announced the

new temples.  It made me cry when they announced the new Provo 

Temple to be built in place of the burned down tabernacle.  The

church is amazing, they make things work, always.  

We spent the rest of the weekend quietly watching conference,

it was very lonely without Courtney and without being

able to go to the cabin.  Some day, soon.

Signs of Fall

We attended a district meeting at the Millwoods Stake Center,

look, more signs of autumn,

I love the word "autumn"

I love that we actually are seeing an autumn this year, last year 

the leaves turned and two days later they dropped and were gone.

This has been an exceptional fall.  I'm trying to enjoy every minute.

Another tender mercy!

Grande Cache

After zone conferences were done and all wrapped up,

we needed to rest our souls and our brains.

So we took the long way home.

Finally!

Mountains and fall leaves,

I've waited 15 months for this.

my hand at photography

I'm as bad as Chris, I'm always giving him a hard time about taking pictures

of "weeds",  the camera never does do the real scenery justice. 

 But his was so pretty.

gorgeous 

100 miles south of Grande Prairie we drove into the tiny town of

Grande Cache, we stopped at the visitors center and took in

the sights.

These are lookouts from years past,

an awesome canoe hollowed out of a tree, 

and this real cool teepee, I think it's some sort of warming shed.

This is called a winter cache, hence the name of the town,

this is where the trappers would keep their furs and meat,

in cabins on stilts, away from the animals.

A summer cache was a little more simple.

Add a large piece of glass and this would make the most magnificent coffee table 

This is the joining of the Sulfur River and the Smoky River,

this is the Smoky River and the Sulfur River was pristine blue,

and when they meet, the two colors swirl together.

Look what my camera can do, panoramic!

and another.  If you look closely, you can see the look out in the 

top left hand corner, about two inches in, just before the blue sky.

This is the picture that shows the two rivers meeting,

in the top left hand corner, just below the yellow trees in the shadow

of the huge rock wall.

Look how milky the water looks.

Tim Horton's What!

The morning we were leaving town,

we came across the Tim Horton phenomenon.

This was a little Tim's on the outskirts of town,

and there were no less than 25 cars in line, at the drive up window.

Say Tim Horton's What!

The Old Bridge

The next leg in our adventure.  President Cherwak

told us of a wonderful suspension bridge.  Should we?

Why not!

This was a cool tee pee along the way.

Not sure it's purpose, but it was impressive.

Now this bridge, it was something else.

magnificent

it made the entire valley picturesque  

awe inspiring

out in the middle of nowhere, why here, why this type of structure

it fits right in with the turning leaves and the scenery

Feels just like San Francisco.