Greg's Mission

In a week I will be happy to report that Greg has been out on his mission for 10 months. Since I am his mom I will be thrilled when he hits the one year mark and I can start counting down the months until his return. This mission thing has been bittersweet.

I wouldn't want him anywhere else, but I still miss his quirky personality. But he is loving his mission. I hope that when his time is up he will come home. In this picture he is with Elder Rangel. He was companions with him in the CTM and loved him, so he was thrilled when they were made companions in the field. They served together for a few months and were a great team. They hope to be able to serve together again.

Every Wednesday we wait anxiously for Greg's e-mail. I don't know how mothers made it through before e-mail. It helps to hear from him every week. His letters are inspirational. He has such a love for his Savior and the Atonement. He is an example to his family and everyone he teaches.

He was transferred a couple of weeks ago and went to an area that had a ward and their own building. He got there and the missionaries before him had no contacts, no investigators and said the ward mission leader wouldn't help them. Alot has changed in a few weeks. They have baptisms lined up and the ward mission leader is working with all his family and friends. They do splits most every night with members from the ward.

I hope when it's time for me and Steve to serve I will be as great of a missionary as my son.

Closing the cabin

I always dread the weekend when we have to drain the pipes and put things away for the winter. I keep dreaming of the time when we can keep it heated all winter and we won't have to close it up. Here are the two rooms we finished this year in the basement. We have a bedroom and a small family room. This gives us space to sleep six more people, so we hope next year to have plenty of company up there. The first couple of years we were so tired from working hard that it was nice to shut it up for awhile. But the last couple of years we have learned to relax a little and take the four-wheelers out for a spin. Last weekend we were sitting around the fire at dusk and I asked Steve if he wanted to drive the loop in the dark. He took me up on the offer, which in hind-sight was not the smartest idea. The temperature was in the 30's and it was dark and we had to cross the river two-times. So we got dressed really warm, I grabbed my gun but of course left the flashlight and we headed out. Luckily we had a half moon to give us some light. It wasn't scary until we started talking about Cain and how Joseph Smith looked him in the eye from the back of a horse. We ended that conversation and concentrated on seeing any wild life. By the time we made it down we were cold. Crossing the river at the bottom of the loop was scary. There is a part that is un-even and it feels like your going to tip over. We made it and hurried home to sit by the fire and get warm.

Halloween

This will be the last year that Taylor can dress up for Halloween at school. Unfortunately I am not creative and couldn't help him come up with a good costume. He searched the internet and somehow came up with the little Caeser Pizza Guy. He bought the cloth and found the leaves for behind his head. I did help him make the pizza. I had made the snow white costume for my girls when they were little. Braelyn loves princess and made the cutest Snow White. While we were putting Taylor's costume together we pulled out the wigs. I had the black one on and Braelyn thought I was beautiful, so I put it on her. Then we had to put one on Berkley so we could see what she looked like with hair. I think she looks like a cabbage patch doll.