Temple Portico and A Life Well-Lived

On Friday, we went to help Alan and Linda move into their beautiful new "palace". It is a very beautiful home. Jay was the builder and he outdid himself. We also drove by the temple to see the new construction. It is also beautiful. We couldn't get really close, but if you look really hard you can see that the old archway now has a front door which shows up better in the second picture. The third picture is the side entrance from the upper parking lot. For those who haven't seen our own Columbia River Temple, this was an archway/entrance to the temple. It's now been closed in to provide a larger entry way/waiting room, etc. We were duly impressed. We have another week before we go back. I'm anxious to see the inside.

We lost another good friend this week. He was a wonderful cowboy who drove big hay trucks and was the ultimate volunteer in our community. He was very active in Fire District 11 having served as volunteer chief and commissioner. My sister blogged about a poll taken of 3,000 people who said President Obama was their #1 hero, Jesus Christ was second, and Martin Luther King third. Like Julia, I take exception. If ever there was a true hero put on this earth to help mankind, it was Willis and he did it with good humor, the milk of human kindness, and true gentlemanliness.

Cookies, Crooks, and Country Jam

I don't know where the time goes! Our days are pleasant and quiet--and short! We're still waiting patiently for our call. We got a call from the mission office in Salt Lake on Monday so we know the papers are there. Maybe today.

I've included pictures of some of our activities:

Sammie persisted and helped me bake and decorate over ten dozen Valentine's cookies. We had a nice talk. Sammie's a perfectionist and her cookies were very precisely decorated. I, on the other hand, slapped on frosting and sprinkled stuff. We delivered most to various families. The next day three or four dozen were purloined by some cookie thieves to my dismay while we were at the temple.

Here are some of my personal projects which I'm trying to complete before we leave. The three single blocks which are in a pattern called Free Trade but is really just a glorified Sawtooth Star are for a local project. The red one is my own and the other two are for others in the project. The feathered star block is for our "mission" quilt. It is, by far, the most difficult piecing I've ever done. The 32 little four patches which you see are already sewn around the purple. I've made every mistake to be made and have done as much "unsewing" as I've sewed.
We went with Marissa to get her new glasses. I don't think I've seen her wear them since.
This is the beginnings of an old time country jam session of the Washington Old Time Fiddlers group. If you look closely you can see Joe playing the guitar. His father-in-law is also playing the guitar. This was lots of fun. Old time fiddlers don't use acoustics, high tech gadgets just plain ole strummin' and pickin'. Joe played the guitar and the fiddle while we were there. And, finally, another little guitar player. As Joe says, she's the darling of the group and monopolizes a short microphone at just her height. Sorry that the picture is just a little bit blurry.

A Superb friend and home teacher

In this blog, I want to pay tribute to our home teacher, Bob Dixon, who passed away this week. Over the years, he was our home teacher two or three different times. Most recently, we can't remember how long. When he started this time, he wanted me to tell him the most important thing he should know about our family. I told him that I didn't like my home teachers to come on Sunday. Over the years, we've spent many a Sunday evening visiting and learning from Bob. He never shirked his duty as a home teacher and friend. He came most often alone and we'd spend a couple of hours visiting. Sometimes Yvonne came as his companion.
Bob and his family lived on Block 11 and attended Church with the Gunters. They were relocated to Royal and Bob was here to greet us when we came as newlyweds. He fought in Viet Nam and was a hero who saved a man's life. His was proud of his country. Block 11 people and events were favorite topics in our discussions. He has been a good, good friend and a superb home teacher. He always had obviously studied the lesson well. I always enjoyed Bob as our Gospel Doctrine teacher because, although sometimes it was uncomfortable, he made you think about whatever it was he was teaching. For the last several years he's taught the Blazers in Primary and thanked me more than once for choosing him when I was Primary president. Our Christmas present was always a box of apples which he had handpicked for us. Though he had back problems, he came and helped in the heat to roof our house.
We will surely miss him.

Eternal Family

This is a happy family! We were at their chapel in Spokane and Ty and TJ were baptized! It was such a happy weekend for us! We loved it. The ward rallied around the family and welcomed them into the ward. We'll return on Sunday for the confirmations. Note in particular how much Dylan has grown. He's getting very tall and lanky. Also please note Ashlynne's "beautiful" socks. She's such a delightful, little character. We love Ty and TJ and are proud of them. They're working now towards a temple marriage as soon as possible.

The Ball is in motion

We had our interview with our Stake President, President Leavitt tonight. It was a wonderful interview and we were excited by our opportunity. He will "push the button" to send our papers to Salt Lake tomorrow morning he said. He said the turnover time is pretty fast for senior missionaries--2 to 3 weeks. We are excited and a little numb. We'll keep you informed.