My Elder Graul

I love Elder Graul, he has been our assistant

for the past few months and he is in our

home a lot.  

I have the incoming and outgoing missionaries

put their name on a cup so that we don't waste.

Elder Graul always comes up with something clever.

Like the "Holy Graul"

and the little bear, GGRRAAUULLL!

Finally!

I am soooo behind.  This was a huge milestone to get 

through August, now I'm only a month and 25 days

behind, ah shucks, that's still two months behind.

Stay Tuned!!!

Make sure you go back and watch for my catch ups,

or ketchups, just kidding.

(posted on October 25, 2012)

Warm Reception!

When we showed up for the baptism, I could tell there was something

going on in the cultural hall, so I snuck in to take a peek.

They were setting up for a wedding

This must be for pictures or something.

It's really fun to see the differences, 

Utah receptions vs. Canadian receptions

We've only been to one, we've seen one being set up while we 

were having a meeting in the chapel and we are invited to one tonight.

But from what I can tell, they plan on dinner, which we don't do

in Utah, they have the bridal party at a table in the front,

see the above two pictures.

And they do their best to make a church gymnasium look

like a reception hall.  I love the chair covers, that has to be pretty

pricey, they must buy and borrow.

It's fun to see what the latest color schemes are.

NLT

We are training new leaders today, gearing up for our transfer next 

week.

We always like to welcome them to our home.

Just to give you an idea of the shoes that have to be filled,

we have terrific leaders right now.

I  hardly measure up.  ;)

I woke up early, again, to make homemade, warm cinnamon and

orange rolls.  I'm getting better every time.

Cinnamon

Orange

ice cold orange juice and milk

grapes and my new favorite, blueberries

Oh, they turned out soooo good

Ahhh, what a tough decision

fruit looks gorgeous, 

drinks poured,

everything's ready to go

all we need are some elders to eat it

They seemed to really enjoy it.

Office Dinner

We are having the office missionaries over for a dinner party

tonight, I am so excited to entertain, it has been too long.

I planned the menu,

set the table,

put on fall flowers

and waited.

I made baked brie for an appetizer and everyone brought 

something to share.  I served marinated chicken on the 

grill, Sister Woodruff brought root vegetable bake, Sister

Eklund brought buns (rolls) and Sister Meldrum brought

a salad.  Everything tasted so yummy.  I even made

homemade ice cream for dessert.

The Eklund's, they are finishing up their service mission so they

can serve in the South African Temple, she's from South Africa.

The Woodruff's, they will finish up their service mission in May, 

they've extended their mission to three years, bless their hearts,

they will finish up just 2 months before we go home.  They've served

with us the entire time we've been here.

A picture of us with the Eklund's, the Meldrum's left before we

started taking the pictures.  We had a wonderful evening.

We presented all of the couples with a book to show our appreciation

for their time and service.  They are all unbelievable.

Random Blog!

Random Blog!

We passed this gentleman the other day while we were driving,

he was wearing these long blades and using ski poles to help him along.

FUN!

These are the tomatoes that came off my own tomato plant.

I have a very sweet visiting teacher that heard me mention that I 

missed having a garden, small as it was.  Within a week she brought

me a tomato plant in a pot with two beautiful flowers.  She even 

provided plant food to help it grow. 

Not too bad, and they tasted soooo good.  It was fun to go out back

and pick my little crop of cherry tomatoes.

Clouds, I love the clouds,

they are so awesome and they change every day.  The sky looks

different every day of the year.  Pictures do not do them justice.

You'll just have to come up here and see for yourself.

This was ridiculous, this is a gas pump.  I had to take a picture.

When I saw it was diesel, I thought, well that's why, then

I noticed that diesel was cheaper than regular.

105 litres of gas for $120.00, ridiculous.

Let's Take a Walk

I have done more walking outdoors this year, than I

have in the past two summers, combined.  In the past,

I wouldn't even step outside of the house because of the

mosquitos.  They were so bad, Chris would come home

from running and he'd be covered.  Ew!

So I have quite enjoyed myself and the wonderful 

walking path behind our home and the little island that

it leads to.  There are always new things to see.

They just put all new timbers on this bridge that leads

to the island.  It looks really nice.  There is no doubt, they

 take care of their parks, new bridge, paved walkways, 

newly planted trees and bushes.  It is nice now, it will

be gorgeous next spring.

I found this fuzzy little friend the other day while

I was walking.

I had to stop and take a closer look.

Then I went out the next day and found this little

guy on our front step.  He was wrapped up in our newspaper.

Boy, can he travel.

This is the second bridge we walk or run on to get to the other

side of the island.  It's quite a nice walking path.  Some parts

shady, others sunny and lots and lots of friendly people.