Traces of Time . . . May 8-14, 2016

Traces of Time . . .

This week 

~ May 8, 2016 
to 
May 14, 2016

in IDAHO ~

May 8, 2016 - Sunday  - Mother's Day

Today we were in Rexburg for Mother's Day.

Shawn, Sam, Michael, and Grampa fixed breakfast for the two mothers.

Sacrament Meeting was a "Mission Farewell" for a missionary going to Chile, I think.

After Sacrament Meeting they had the mothers go out first and the Aaronic Priesthood young men were lined up to give each mother Florence chocolates packed in a 4-per-box package.  Now that's more delicious than flowers!

(don't know if we got a photo of them or not)

We had a wonderful Mother's Day Dinner which the boys, Ashley, and Daniel fixed.

Here's the other side of the table.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye and drive from Rexburg back to Burley.

Here is a photo with Jovan from Malaysia, who just graduated from BYU-Idaho.  He is staying with the Fishers for the summer.

Janie and Shawn are always so gracious and kind to us when we drive to Rexburg to stay with them.

We pulled out about 6:10, we were past American Falls before I remembered to get a photo of the sunset.

Got home about 8:30. What a fun weekend with the Fishers.

We are so blessed to know that because of the Restored Priesthood Temple Ordinances we can be a 

FAMILY FOREVER...

when we do our part.

May 9, 2016 - Monday

Didn't get any photos today.  I got my A1C blood test which I get every 4 months....it stayed exactly the same as in January: 6.7.  This is barely below the high normal mark of 7.0.

May 10, 2016 - Tuesday

LaRae and I went visiting teaching today. 

Visiting Teaching Message – May 2016

President Thomas S. Monson’s message

From General Conference

Sunday Morning Session – April 3, 2016

“Choices” 

“Our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the choices we make will determine our destiny.” . . .

“If we choose Christ,

we will have made the correct choice.”

We love you…

Your Visiting Teachers,

LaRae Crane – 678-5904

Eileen Petersen – 670-7235

We are here for you always.

After supper, Walt and I did an hour scripture study time.

May 11, 2016 - Wednesday

We went early to Twin Falls to do the 11:00 a.m. sealing session with our Burley 3rd Ward High Priest Group.  We had Buddy McLaws, Dan Black, Elaine Anderson, Don and Ardyth Green, Dan Green, David and Alice Hansen.

Then we did the one o'clock endowment session. There were 13 men and 16 women.  It's always good to review how 

Brigham Young described the endowment:

Temple Endowment

Endowment: "a gift.”

“A Celestial Course of Instruction”

Brigham Young said:

              “Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation…”                  

It was my turn to choose where to go for a late lunch/early supper.  I wanted Mexican food so Dale and Connie told us that Garibaldis is good on Filer Avenue.

We all ordered something different....and each said it was delicious!  Taco salad - Steak-something-like-fajitas - Quesadillas - and Enchilada/Taco with rice and beans Combo.

I asked Walt and Dale to stand together for a photo.  This is what they did.

Then they did turn around for me.  

"The only difference between men and boys is the size and price of their toys."

May 12, 2016 - Thursday

I got to go to two book clubs today.  The Library Book Club.  It was a bonus to have our outstanding librarian, Julie Woodford give the review today on Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

Here is the group.  Kathleen Hedberg had to leave before we took the photo. Left to right: Eileen Petersen, Luana Manning, Kathryn Hall, Marie Lambert, and Julie Woodford. 

Then in the evening we had our Closing Social for our Serendipity Study Club.  We had it the second Thursday instead of the third Thursday because May gets so busy with graduation things.
We started with a pot luck supper at Ilene Mai's beautiful home.

Karen Robins gave the "Whet Your Appetite" on The Lion and the Lamb about the 25-year mission of Willard and Rebeca Bean to Palmyra, New York. (more later)

Then each one had been asked to give a 3 minute summary of a favorite book they have read or one they want to read. 

Attending were Delores Green, Bonnie Fronk, Jennie Egbert, Terri Smith, Karen Robins, Marilyn Gibbons.  
Second row: Carolyn Taylor, June Tilley, Carol Cheney, Ilene Mai, Eileen Petersen, Kathy Barrus, and Karma Lambert.
Susan Young and Linda Petersen are not in this photo. Susan will send her better photos taken with her camera on a tripod.

I snapped this as everyone was gathering to line up for the photo.

It was a marvelous time together.
Here are the outgoing presidency with June Tilley.
Eileen Petersen, secretary; Kathy Barrus, vice president; and Susan Young, president.  
The new presidency will be Bonnie Fronk, president; Carol Cheney, vice president; Jennie Egbert, secretary, and Eileen will do the invitations.

Everyone helped clear with dishes. Ilene Mai's neighbor, Carolyn Taylor stayed late and helped rinse and load all the dishes into the dishwasher.  

We thank Ilene for all her work in preparing for us to come to her home.  I saw her Saturday night--2  days later and she is still tuckered out from getting everything ready.

May 13, 2016 - Friday

Kathleen came and worked with us from 10:00 to 12 noon on Walt's Swedish line.  We so appreciate her help!
I finished getting the life sketch of my  Mom's sister Lorraine Huffaker Christensen and her husband Ray Christensen into the "life story section" of familysearch.org.
I had forgotten that my Uncle Ray was the only boy in a family of six children.

Eric Page came over to check our shingles which his Construction Company had installed in 2006 while we were in Guatemala.  There has been leakage under the bottom row of shingles causing water damage in the roof and also in the sofets and fascia.  He says the warranty should be good for 25 years.

I went over to see Bonnie Hansen.  She is better and could have come to our Closing Social for Serendipity Book Club, but the e-mail didn't get to her. I am so sad that she didn't know about it.

It was Ruth Melling's birthday today, but we couldn't find her at home to give her our homemade card.  We don't know if she went to Utah to be with her kids.
(Found out Sunday morning that her friend, Diane Hill, surprised and drove her to Almo to have her birthday dinner at The Out Post.)

May 14, 2016 - Saturday

We had a serendipity ourselves (happy surprise) when several ward members came on "Burley Clean Up Day" and helped us cut down a little dead tree, do some pruning of our other trees and lilac bushes, then hauled all the limbs and branches away.  The gals pulled out the quack grass and other weeds all along the front of our porch.

Here's the dead tree and some of the young men who helped.

Here's Loyd pruning the backyard lilacs.

The gals pulling weeds.

Almost everyone who helped. Steve and Sherry Ormond had already left.  McKay and Tyler had gone to the dairy to work.

Front row: Eric and Kiley Jones Pierce and their 3 darling daughters: Kinsley, Aila (oh, she's not in the photo, but she was there somewhere), and Becklyn; Amber Greyson.
Back row: Kathy Marker, Elder Murphy, Elder Wade, Matt Greyson holding his son Jeriah; Bryce Hales, Emily Hill, Philippa behind her husband, Lloyd Sutton, and Walt Petersen.

What a blessing this was for us!!

Tonight we went to the wedding reception of Jordan Pollard and Austin Dickson. It was so beautifully decorated in Victorian era lace and satin and lots of other lovely antiques.

You won't believe from the photo that it's in a barn out at Declo.

Ilene Mai took a photo of us.

...Then we took a photo of Ilene Mai and Elaine Fowles.

Here's some of their gifts.

Walt and I got some candy as we were leaving.

I'm so sad that I moved the camera and didn't get a good photo of these darling gals--Julene Thurston, Dawn, and I didn't know the third gal-- who were serving the yummy refreshments.

There were pies of every kind, ice cream, strawberry short cake, fresh fruit, and plates of chocolate chip cookies on every table.  The gal on the right in a white shirt is dipping ice cream.

All these pies were from Idaho Joe's in Twin Falls.

Terri Smith served the lemonade.

Just outside the front door of the barn were more tables, but also some of the old farm machinery.  I think Terri told me that Tammi was calling it "The Shabby and the Sheik" with the old farm implements along with the elegant Victorian.

As we were walking out to go to the car, Walt stopped to look at an old potato planter.  John Kloefer came over and shook his hand.

 It was fun to talk to him and Suzanne and their daughter, Jamie, who recently returned from her mission--I think it was in Florida.  She will be returning to BYU-I.  She said she had a social dance class from Janie Fisher when she was there before her mission.

Wish I'd taken a photo of the bride and groom: Jordan and Austin Dickson.  What a wonderful wedding reception they had!  Someone told us it was the first wedding reception they've held there.  But Edie Adams Jones said they are having one there in July for someone in their family.

I zoomed in for a picture of the "D" above the door.  It's one mile east of the turn off into Declo.  At 950 East go north a little ways and you can't miss it.   We left just before the dancing was scheduled to begin at 9:30.

Traces of Tme . . . May 1-7, 2016

Traces of Time . . .

This week 

~ May 1, 2016 
to 
May 7, 2016

in IDAHO ~

May 1, 2016 - Sunday 

Today there were 15 testimonies shared in our Sacrament Meeting.  It always strengthens our testimonies to hear these testimonies.

Dan, Emily, Lanada, Kayleen, Little girl, Matt, little boy Mason, his sister Jossilyn, toddler brother Logan, mother Ashley, Diane, Young married sister who is moving soon, Amber, Elder Murphy, Elder Wade. (The last two are the new Elders who have been transferred into our ward after our ward having Sister Missionaries for several years.)  

In Sunday School Brother Watts taught Lesson 16: "Ye Shall Be Called the Children of Christ."  This encouraged us "to seek and maintain the 'mighty change of heart' that comes through exercising faith in Jesus Christ." Mosiah 4-6

Our Relief Society President, Lanada Kerbs, taught us about
Anger and Forgiveness.  She said she inherited several Church books from her father and found quotes in many of them about these two subjects.

Her father taught her  "Don't react first. Listen first."

"Check your words, keep your tongue in subjection, be obedient. Think first.

She quoted Brigham Young who taught that when you least feel like praying is when you need to make your knees bend and pray.

We need to faithfully ponder our own concerns.

Avoid Satan.

Sister Carson (new in the ward) made the comment that when you hear a person starting to talk negatively about another person, just say: "She's my best friend."

Then Sister Kerbs showed the short DVD "70 times 7" about

Forgtiveness.

Geroge Albert Smith taught: "We should remember how our Heavenly Father forgives us. "Ye Ought To Forgive One Another."

Colleen commented "It hurts us more than the person we are mad at if we don't forgive them," adding from her own experience, "time and space will heal."

Kathleen added: "A person may not even know we are angry at them. We are the one being hurt by not forgiving."

Megan asked: "How does Christ see this person?"

Emily said in closing that she teaches her kids that "Getting angry is a choice."  So when she is becoming angry at her kids they say to her: "Remember, Mom, getting angry is a choice."

At 4:30 we taught Debbie the Temple Preparation Lesson #4.  There are six lessons to teach before a person goes to the temple, and Lesson #7 is taught after they go to the temple.

We pray you have had a peaceful and restful Sabbath Day.
As we end this May 1st, we bear testimony that...
Heavenly Father lives, loves us, and knows us by name.

Jesus Christ is the first-born spirit son of Elohim (Heavenly Father) and the only Begotten Son of Elohim in the flesh to come to live on this earth.  He also knows us, and knows us by name.

The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead and guides us to make right choices.

Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and The Restoration of all truths came from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ, hand in hand with the Bible as the Testament of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior.

President Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet today for the entire world.

Of this we testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.  

We are looking forward to this first week of May.

May 2, 2016 - Monday

Brian’s book choice for May 2016
Brian sent this e-mail on April 25:

I'm so excited to choose my first book.  Yet, I am very nervous since I am still on probation for the CPBC*.  I'm bummed that Caitlyn Jenner's memoir is not out yet...I'm kidding of course.  I have narrowed it down from six to four books.   

[*Cool People’s Book Club is what Brian asked if he was cool enough to join with his siblings.  And, of course, he is not on probation at all!  We are all excited to have him join in.]

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn

Energy by Vaclav Smil

The Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun

100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Let me know if too many have read any of these and I will rule them out.

Brian

Brian's e-mail Monday morning...

And the winner is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

chosen by Brian for May 2016

The Alchemist is a novel by Brazilian author

Paulo Coelho first published in 1988.

Originally written in Portuguese, it has

been translated into at least 67 languages

as of October 2009. 

Originally published: 1988

Author: Paulo Coelho

Preceded by: The Pilgrimage

Followed by: Brida

Characters: The Shopkeeper, 

The Coptic Monk, Melchizedek, 

Fatima,The Alchemist, 

The Englishman, Santiago

Genres: Quest, Drama, Fantasy

We are looking forward to listening to the audio of this book for May.  We welcome Brian to The Siblings Book Club.

Today we had no set schedule.  Bob Worthington brought some painters to give us a bid for painting the second story wood siding on our home.  It always takes our breath away when we see how much everything costs.
Walt, Bob, and David.

They could start about the end of June and estimate it would take 12 days to finish.

Then another painter. Justin, came to give us an estimate on painting the siding, soffets, and faschia.

Later in the afternoon, Algot, who came on Friday, returned with his estimate.

It all takes our breath away and is many times over what we thought these repairs and painting would cost.

A bright spot of the early evening was Kathleen Hedberg's coming over with some of her strawberry rhubarb.   

And she brought and planted a start for us on the southeast side of our yard.

Ruth Melling brought us some of the homemade chicken with homemade noodles.  What a delicious supper it was!  How kind of her!

For Family Home Evening we

May 3, 2016 - Tuesday

Today we went to the temple with Dale and Connie because she is taking her Mom to the doctor on Wednesday.

Walt and I took names through the 3:00 session for Kathleen Hedberg and her friend from SLC.      

It was good to see Susan Tuft and Sam Williams--the coordinators for Tuesday.

 Dale chose to have dinner at The Sizzler.  It's always great to have lots of choices for fruit and veggies. 

I took this photo as we were walking up to the entrance becauses their snowballs are in bloom, but they don't really show in the front left.  We hope we still have snowballs for Memorial Day to put on the graves.

We were suprised when we got back home to see that Ted Cruz has dropped out of the Presidential campaign.

May 4, 2016 - Wednesday

Today worked on the computer. Walt biked 30 minutes, I walked 30 minutes.

We had another estimate done for replacing the rain gutters. 

Then got a photo of us.

This evening we went to the Retirement Party for Garth Williams.  We saw Garth and Sam's youngest son, Brandon, who moved from California to Hailey, Idaho, last year to manage the Goode Motor there.  He, his wife, and their 6 children loved skiing this winter at Sun Valley.

We saw several friends we had not seen for a long time.  Garth's brother Marc and Kate Williams, and their daughter Heather now lives in Rupert.  Marc and Kate are enjoying having five grandchildren closer now.

Sam (Sandra) got to say a few words.

Garth was given a fishing rod for one of his retirement gifts.

Here are two of Garth's paintings that were on display.

I think Garth said the paint wasn't dry on this new painting he just finished.

We enjoyed being a part of Garth's Retirement Party.

We just missed the full sunset as we drove back home via Bedke Boulevard along the Snake River.

The lilacs are in full bloom now just south of our home.

Walt even stopped a minute by the lilacs.

Wish these would stay in bloom all summer long.

May 5, 2016 - Thursday

Today I am baking rolls to take at 6:00 p.m. to the annual Stake High Priests' Dinner for couples, widows, and single sisters.

Mark Peterson is in charge of this and always does a great job.  There is always an excellent program.  

next

May 6, 2016 - Friday

Today Kathleen Hedberg helps us with Family History.

next

May 7, 2016 - Saturday

Today we are driving to Rexburg for the Idaho Ballroom Academy Spring Concert.  This is the organization that Janie and Shawn started in 1997 which is keeping ballroom alive in Idaho.  It has grown over these 19 years.  They currently have over 400 dancers in the program.

We will stay overnight and be with them on Sunday for Mother's Day.