Banana Bread & caramels!

Finally, I have no more frozen bananas left in my freezer!  I made tons of banana bread to clean out all the bananas, as I had accumulated quite a few in the last few months.  I buy a ton of them when they go on sale for $.29 lb. which is not often, it's an amazing deal lately.  Then our family doesn't quite eat all of them before they get super ripe, so in the freezer they go.  Today was a chilly, wet day, perfect for baking!  Love the smell of banana bread wafting through the house.  We were able to get quite a few huge bags of leaves off of the lawn yesterday - but not wanting to do it today, as it is raining & cold.  We are supposed to get a little snow tonight.  If we do, it will be our first snow of the year.  Weather has been super warm, we have been spoiled, so I guess it's time to get cold now.  The warm weather is so nice for walks & just enjoying being outside & doing yard work, but not so great when it collides with cool weather fronts.  About 4 days ago, at least 50 tornadoes, they think maybe 75 tornadoes, hit south-central Illinois, a small section of Missouri and parts of Michigan.  Some towns had sections of houses that were completely destroyed & just missing.  The houses were carried off elsewhere.  It was quite the destruction where the tornadoes touched down.  Eight people died in the storm.  When compared with the Phillipine typhoon, considering that so far, they figure about 5,000 people have died, but they are not sure they will ever know how many people are gone, as many of the islands that were hit are fairly isolated & it will be a long time before all the dead are accounted for.  Awful to read the news & see the dead lined up in body bags - that they don't have enough of - and being buried in mass graves.  All of the LDS missionaries are now safe & accounted for, but what a lot of work there is to do now to help the Philipino people recover.   They are facing shortages of food, no electricity, no water & it's so hard for relief trucks to get into where the people are needing help, as the roads are impassible & destroyed.  The devastation is unbelievable.  They were just hit with an earthquake last month that was pretty hard in some areas.  There have been alot of earthquakes, floods, volcanoes erupting in the last month or so.  It seems like the weather is getting pretty intense in many areas of the world.   Or maybe I'm just paying attention to it so much because of Typhoon Yolanda, as they call it in the Phillipines.Phillipine Typhoon Haiyan in Nov. 2013
     Tonight is a busy night, as we are trying to decide whether to brave the weather and head to Liberty for the girls Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and get back to Excelsior in time for Seth's opening night for the high school play he's in @ 7:30.  It's going to be tight, but I think we can make it.  There is also R.S. tonight for the Wood Heights ward that I wanted to go to, but can't, so I'm sending alot of my banana bread & caramels for the baked goods swap.  I'm sad I can't go to the Interfaith choir rehearsal either, as they are singing "My Kindness Shall Not Depart from Thee".  It's such a beautiful hymn about Joseph Smith & his sufferings in the Liberty Jail.  I first heard it when I attended the historical presentation @ the Liberty Jail to celebrate 50 years since it was first dedicated as a visitor's center.  Elder Ballard also spoke there & it was a wonderful conference.  I realized after listening to the presentations that we have been so immersed in the early Saints history since living here in Missouri.  We've had the chance to learn so much about the early days of the church & the things the saints experienced, just by living here & being so close to historical sights.  I felt truly blessed that our kids know so much because of the many experiences we've had while living here.
    Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  I'm always amazed at how fast the holidays approach.  Time seems as though it is getting so fast all the time, no matter how hard I try to slow our pace of life down, it just keeps zooming past us.  I probably need to be a better time manager, as it seems to slip through my fingers so quickly.
     We are currently trying to get our renter to vacate our farm in Gallatin, as he hasn't paid rent for 3 months now.  We have heard that he may be moving to a new place at the end of November.  Hope that's true, as we don't have excess funds to go through the legal system to get him out of there.  It's frustrating to have to deal with these kinds of situations & people that take advantage of another's kindness.  We had offered to lower the rent for him, with the understanding that there was work to be done that he was welcome to do if he felt like he wanted to.  Because we had lowered the rent to help his tight financial situation, we didn't have extra $ to fix things up.  We thought he understood this arrangement, he seemed very willing & happy with it before he moved in, but after he moved in, things changed & he began complaining about all the things he wasn't happy with & expecting us to come up & take care of it.   We tried to work things out with him, but he became very unreasonable, & so now we are hoping to get him out of there, as we have new renters that will pay more & are willing to sign a contract (this renter refused to, at which point we should have never let him move in).  They also are not worried about what needs to be fixed up and this time, we'll have it in writing, so they can't change their tune once they are in our property.  We've learned some hard lessons, that it doesn't always pay to try & help out those who you feel bad for.  It's sad that people do these kinds of things, but what you send out comes back around, so I guess I should feel bad mostly for our renter, who takes advantage of others in this way.  He sure has made it hard for us to be carrying 2 mortgages, at a time when we're supposed to be supporting Daniel on his mission.  We've had to ask family for help with his mission costs, and that was hard to do.  So many have offered to do what they can each month, but it feels wrong to rely on them so much for our responsibilities.  I sure hope our current renter truly is out by the end of this month.  That would help us so much, as we have better renters waiting to move in as soon as they can.  I was not very happy when we went up there to hand deliver his eviction notice and saw how bad our property & farmhouse looked.  To  make matters worse, they didn't do anything with my precious apple trees & apples were rotting on the ground.  I told him I was going to pick the ones still on the tree.  He said he didn't care, he didn't like apples anyway.  I picked a couple of bushels of apples & brought them home to can.  We have lots of applesauce for the winter.  Grateful that we were able to avoid wasting all that fruit.  I was amazed that the apples had no bugs in them & were a huge size & in such good condition,as there has been no one to tend my sweet apple trees.  That was the hardest thing, leaving my fruit trees.  They were just starting to produce profusely & then we had to move.  I really miss my peach trees.  That is my favorite fruit of all time.  Hoping to get more fruit trees planted this next spring at our new house.
     Well, there is so much to say about the scary things that our illegal citizen/President Obama is implementing.  Too much government control, ridiculous changes to the Constitution.  If ever there was a time that the constitution was hanging by a thread, it is now.   I think the U.S. is headed for a financial crisis in the next year or two.  I would be surprised if we even have a year left before the economy crashes.  Things are not headed in a good direction.  There is alot to worry about, yet I am grateful for the wonderful days we still enjoy as a family.  I know that this won't last for too much longer, so I feel grateful for the many blessings we still enjoy.
      Daniel has been on his mission for almost 3 months now and is learning, little by little, how to speak Castellano.  Chilean Spanish is quite fast and different from the Spanish that we learn here in the U.S.  I would so much love to go and pick him up from his mission when he is done, as that is where I served my mission as well.  I've always wanted to go back, but never have been able to.  It would be so amazing to take our whole family there as well, but just way too expensive for our tight budget.  I hope I get to travel alot in the next life, as I really had hoped to do more in my lifetime.  I love making travel plans, figuring out the best route and places to see along the way.  There is so much to learn about in this wonderful world of our Heavenly Father's and I so wanted to spend alot of my days seeing as much of it as I could.  I hope to have that opportunity some time in my life.  I have much to be grateful for, good kids, a good husband & knowing the truths of the gospel.  I love how much learning there is always available to us in the gospel & in many other areas of life.  This is such a great learning environment.  God knew what He was doing when he designed our mortal lives.  If you refuse to learn, life just is orchestrated that you have to learn something.  Your life becomes very challenging if you refuse to learn certain lessons, those challenges help us to learn things that we probably otherwise wouldn't have without having to figure out how to overcome obstacles that come up in each one of our lives.  I just am amazed at how God orchestrates things for each one of us.  He truly is all powerful and all knowing.  It's our job just to trust Him & try to follow where He is leading us.
     I've been called to teach Gospel Doctrine in the Wood Heights ward and I really love it.  It's challenging, but so rewarding, as I study & prepare to teach gospel truths.  I really enjoy teaching alot, esp. about the gospel. So rich & inspiring.  I love how I feel after a good class discussion.  I love the insights that people share with each other.  It just is a very fulfilling calling for me.  So grateful for this opportunity.
  

Month of Gratitude (didn't we do this last year)? Never can have too much gratitude, eh?

      Yet another week has flown by - Thanksgiving being just around the corner.  We can't believe November is half-way through already.  We've had amazingly warm weather, Sat. was 70 degrees & we had a wonderful time all day, working in the yard & getting ready for the BMP (big Mormon party) at our house that night.  It turned out to be an Alex party, as most of the kids were close to his age, but we had everything from 11 - 18 yrs, although Seth ditched the party, as he was invited to another party with a friend from the ward.  They had 4 wheelers, so I can't say that I blame him.  All we had was pizza, pop, pizza rolls & brownies.  The kids had a great time & it was fun having them here.  Love the Mormon youth in this area, such great kids.  Funny thing happened as the night wound down, I was hurrying from our sunroom into the kitchen to grab a barstool & forgot that I had finally closed the sliding glass door.  I was literally running & ran into the door.  Now I know how a bird feels when they hit the windows in flight!  Needless to say, I was stunned for a couple seconds, couldn't figure out what had just happened.  Then the pain hit & I writhed on the couch for a few more seconds.  Matt got me some ice & my nose didn't swell hardly at all & didn't turn black & blue, so it must not have been that bad, although it is still sore to the touch.  I was grateful not to have a bruised or discolored face, as I was teaching Gospel Doctrine the next day.  I love to teach & had so much fun getting a little Family History Tree done for my lesson & for our home.  It made me so curious as to how all these people got to America from Denmark, England, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, France, Norway, etc.  I found myself wondering where all their stories are at, we have some, but there's so much we don't have.  These lives are so interesting to me - love reading their histories.  It's so important, esp. for our family, as we are so far from any family at all, that our kids understand where they come from & what their ancestors were like.  Studies have shown that people who know their families, extended & ancestors & have good relationships with them have much more resilience for things in life.  I was so happy with how our Family Tree turned out.  I was able to find a beautiful hand penciled tree that Matt helped me figure out how to use power point to move all of the names I could fit on there around until I had it where it was legible.  It's great to have that in our home & I was amazed as I was looking at geneology charts on the computer, how many lines still have so much work to do.  There is so much done already, but still so much left undone.  My lesson on Family History has made me realize how important it is do help those who have gone before.  I kept thinking about Megan & how much she has done.  I want to be more like her.  She is such an inspiration to all of us. 
      The girls have their concert at the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony the same night as Seth's opening night for the play - hopefully we can hit both of them, trying to decide whether or not to go to the Interfaith Thanksgiving rehearsal that night as well, as they are singing one of my favorite hymns of all time abt. Joseph Smith.  "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee" YouTube has a fantastic version of this, sung by a complete choir & orchestra.  I first heard this hymn at the Liberty Jail Symposium that was held with Elder Ballard to celebrate the 50th year of the Liberty Jail visitors center.  The young missionaries sang it and it was so moving.  Not very many dry eyes in the audience.  It was so neat to visit with some of Joseph Smith's descendants who were there.  Some of them are now members, but many are still not.  Being there made me realize how much we have already learned abt. the history of the early saints, as so much of the presentation was a repeat for us in many things.  There were obviously many things that we didn't know (like how the Liberty Jail door got reunited with the building), but I felt so grateful that our kids know so much about the early saints because of our many experiences here.  I hope that will stick with them throughout their whole lives. 
     I think I've mentioned this before, but instead of e-mails all the time, because many times you probably don't have time to read my lengthy e-mails, I have a blog for our family activities.  This is our family's personal history basically, so anytime you want to catch up on what we are doing & once I figure out how to upload pictures & videos, you can just visit our blog @ blogspot.com (Argyles in Missouri).  This will save both you & I time, as I won't have to feel obligated to catch up everybody in these e-mails & you can visit the blog when you feel a desire or find time to visit.  Blogging is so fun, very addictive way to keep track of family life.  Really enjoy Shahna's blog.  Just fun to see what is happening with our families.  We love you all & hope your week is wonderful.  Watch out for closed glass doors, they can be hazardous to your face!
    Still no progress on our farm, but we are just praying & hoping that our real estate agent was right in that our current tenant has plans to move out at the end of this month.  Keep us in your prayers, as this would be such a blessing to us right now.  Thanks for all you have done for us & we hope to be able to return the favor at some point in our lives.  J.T. has been on his mission for a year now!  It's hard to believe his mission is half over.  He says the work is hard, but he loves being a missionary.  He is having some testimony building experiences & we hope that this will be something that will stay with him for the rest of his life, as he will need to reflect on his mission many times, as I worry abt. the support that isn't there for him when he gets home.  We may be needing to help him out again, I would hate him to be inactive after his mission.  He has come so far & has made alot of progress with so little support.  He is such a good kid & we were privileged to get to know him better.  Daniel is loving being a missionary as well.  Still struggling with the language, he's somewhat self-conscious abt. sounding silly when he tries to speak, so he's been relying on his companion alot for help.  He loves his companion & they are a good match together.  He loves the work & loves the gospel.  Thankful for the opportunities he is having to serve in the field.
     A friend of mine has a missionary daughter in the Phillipines & we have been following all of her updates.  One of her friends was one of the sister missionaries that was trapped in the apartment that flooded.  They were finally able to break through a hole in the roof & stayed on top of the roof for 3 hours while debree flew all around them & bodies were floating by.  I can't imagine what they have been through, along with all of the Phillipino people over there.  Our prayers are with them.  There is so much to be done there.  So grateful for the church and all they do to help in situations like this.  This friend's daughter has a Phillipino trainer that lost 9 family members in the typhoon, 2 of them being her parents & many of them siblings.  They need our prayers & support.  They are setting up a fund to help this family, so wish I could contribute something.  It will be so nice to get our farm situation resolved.  It's frustrating being so tied down with finances.  I know the Lord is helping us, as I've felt his comfort many times, even when my faith was dim.  The hardest part abt. trials is being patient for the Lord's timing.  But I really do trust that He knows what is best & our part is to just do all we can & then trust that somehow things will work out. 
      We were so surprised to hear abt. the 40 tornadoes that hit parts of Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, etc.  Strange time of year for tornadoes, but it has been unseasonably warm, which affects the weather in this way.  Many towns were completely destroyed.  People don't know where their houses are, nothing left, just carried away.  I'm always amazed by how people seem to come very quickly to how little the things that we accumulate matter.  They are grateful that their loved ones are still with them and realize that is what really matters.  We  pray for each of you often.  We love our families & hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  You are each dear to our hearts.  Thank you for the wonderful people that you are & for sharing your lives with us.  That means more to us than you will probably ever know. 
    God bless you all in the coming holidays & don't forget to visit our blog! 

I crack myself up, really, I do.  After studying for my lesson on Family History for the Gospel Doctrine class in our Wood Heights ward, I think to myself, "You know, I really need to start a blog so that I can keep records of our family activities & things that are important to us."  Yep, that's a great idea!  Too bad I didn't remember that I've already started a blog, clear back in 2009.  I have submitted hardly anything, because I evidently forgot that I was blogging now.  Love how my brain works, or doesn't.  Oh, well, it still seems new to me that I'm blogging again.  That's the wonderful thing about a brain like mine, is that old things seem new.  Like good movies or books that I've already read.  Or great conversations that have already been said.  Would really like to see a scan of my brain to see what's going on in there.  Could be scary!  Anyway, feeling like I want to keep up with my family's life somehow, so here goes my meager effort. 
     Last weekend, we had the chance to listen to the girls perform with Liberty Youth Chorus in their first concert this year, well, that's not entirely true - they did sing the National Anthem at a William Jewell football game at the first of this year.  They did fabulous & I was so proud of their efforts & cuteness.  Natalie is quite the performer, as you could tell she was really enjoying being in the spotlight & doing a few dance moves while singing.  She's a natural.  Hannah & Madyson did amazing as well, & were very cute to watch.  Kristyn is more reserved in the way she sings, seems a little more self-conscious, probably due to her age.  She amazes me everyday with her dedication to getting things done that she needs to each day.  She is progressing like wild fire through her Personal Progress goals & it's so neat to see her setting & reaching her goals.  I could learn a lot from her persistence & dedication.  She is such a gentle soul & I constantly have the feeling that we have an amazing young woman in our midst.  Last night, for the YW Evening of Excellence, she & another young woman played 'What Child is This' - she on her cello & Johanna on her violin.  I got to accompany them on the piano.  It was amazing she did as well as she did, as she hasn't picked up the cello much since we moved & the cello that we have now is a little too small for her.  She only had 3 days to practice, as I forgot that she had mentioned that she wanted to play something on her cello the week before.  She reminded me again the following week, which I was thankful for, as I completely spaced it.  I didn't find her music for a couple of days after that & so, it was basically my fault that she had to cram all she could in the short 3 days that she had.  I was a little worried how she would do, as our practices had lots of challenges, but she pulled it off very well, considering the limitations she had.  It wasn't perfect, but I was amazed how good she did.  We were very thankful for Johanna's help as well, as adding the violin to the piece really made it nice.  Natalie loves going to Activity Days every other week.  She is such a social bug & loves playing!  I love how great she is with Hannah & Madyson.  They have a lot of fun together!  It's fun to see them having time to be together.  What a huge blessing it is to be home, spending time together.  I feel very blessed to have time with my girls.  Seth has been active in preparing for the High School play, they perform next weekend.  Looking forward to seeing him in that.  Alex plays with the high school band as well & often has chances to play piano for YM, priesthood classes & sometimes in sacrament for special musical numbers.  I'm grateful for the chance to see my kids have opportunities to share their talents, as they've worked hard to be able to learn the music they have. 
     Seth also was recently approved for braces by an organization that helps families below a certain income bracket.  He is extremely grateful for this chance, as he really doesn't like the huge spaces between his front teeth.  We feel very fortunate that he has qualified for this program, as there is no way we would ever be able to afford braces.  I get very tired of always having to say, "no, we can't afford that", but I would rather do that than go to work as often as I did the last year, because then I never had time for my family.  I was always running from one thing to the next & felt quite stressed from all the pressure of trying to get everything done & keep up with both work & family life.  I don't know how working moms do it all - it was exhausting.  I feel like I'm still recuperating from the stress that came with trying to do both for too long.  Since I quit working, I have felt quite lost in how to relate with my family, as I have time with them again & I'm not quite sure what to do with it all.  I know I love being with them, but I feel somewhat at a loss as to what to do now.  It gets better with each passing month & I know that I just really need to let it sink in that I really can be with them now.  I didn't realize how hard it was on me while I was going through it, but I'm realizing more & more how much everyone was just in survival mode while mom was gone.  Mom's really are the 'mother to all living' that takes place in the home.  It seems that all life & energy seem to stem from me.  There are times that it makes me feel special & loved, but too often, it makes me feel tired & unqualified.  I don't have an endless supply of energy & positive living ideas.  Sometimes it's nice to have someone else be in charge of bountiful living, but I suppose it really is a blessing to be able to have such an influence in the lives of others - I just hope I do a good job!  Motherhood is quite demanding most of the time, but I would take this job over any other! I do like a break now & then, but I know that I am very blessed to have the opportunities that I do, plus my kids are just great people to be with.  They teach me so much and I hope that they will always know how much they are loved.  My biggest regret has been not being able to travel with them as I had hoped.  I so much have wanted to share the wonders of this world, just even the U.S. with them, but we are always too poor to even do much more than go camping, which is great.  It would be greater if we could go camping outside of the 1 hour radius that we usually do, but that is better than nothing.  There is just so much to see & experience, I wish that there were some way to share a lot of it with my kids.  That would be heaven to me.  Maybe in the next life, as I really don't see a way for me to accomplish the things that I would like to with regards to traveling.  We can always watch movies about the places I would love to visit.  It's not the same as being there though, but at least it's something.   Well, I am supposed to get lunch going soon, so I better get back to the realities of taking care of my family.  I do love to write & am grateful for this outlet.  I had started journaling on line as well, but then couldn't continue with that, as I forgot my password & gave up trying to remember it.  It was good while it lasted.  Hope that my kids don't inherit my forgetfulness.  It's frustrating at times, but a blessing at other times.  I wish I could just forget how I get to do dishes every single day - wish that seemed like a new thing!  The day that dishes seem new will be the day that I know I have really lost it!

blogging again, finally . . .

It's a beautiful fall day, September 25th and I have 40 lbs. of apples waiting to be processed.  I was able to do 60 lbs. yesterday, so exciting to see that many quarts of applesauce & juice.  I did a couple of bushels of tomatoes last week, loved how the salsa turned out, all 19 pints of it.  Wasn't as excited abt. the spaghetti sauce, but got almost 2 cases of that as well.  It feels good to be canning again.  Didn't have much opportunity in Kansas City, as there are not as many resources (orchards & gardens) available to us at good prices & we were not able to have our own garden at our rental place, so I'm loving the self-sustaining atmosphere we have found in Excelsior Springs.  I had so many empty bottles that needed to be filled.  It is very gratifying to see the food storage being built back up again.  So grateful for that opportunity.  We love our new home here in Excelsior and after our busy summer of moving for 3 days, heading to Nauvoo Pageant for 2 weeks & coming home to finish moving & then getting Daniel ready to leave for Chile on his mission, it's nice to settle into our homeschooling routines & getting some canning & more unpacking done.  I love having time with our girls.  It is so gratifying to be with them after a year of working during the evenings and not seeing them much at all, as they were in school during the day.  I feel for those who have to do that longer than I did.  It was hard, but makes me appreciate the gift of being with my kids.  It goes so fast, as sending Daniel off to Chile has shown me.  It was so hard leaving him at the airport all by himself.  He's a big boy, but I just wish there would have been other missionaries there to travel with him.  He made it fine & now is almost done with his instruction time at the CCM (Chilean MTC).  He is so ready to go out & start teaching.  It's fun to see how eager he is to get working.  So excited for him to serve where I once did.  I love that he gets to serve in my same mission.  So proud of the good young man he has become. 
    Well, the apples won't can themselves, so I better get moving.  Love blogging - I just need to take the time to do it more!  Kristyn will be 13 next Friday!  Hard to believe she is officially a teenager now.  I love her so much!  She is such a sweet young woman!  She has been such a blessing in our lives.  How did I get so lucky to have these amazing children!  I have been richly blessed! 
   I just have to put my schpiel in abt. government woes.  So worried about what Obama is doing to our health care system, our educational system, our financial system, everything he touches seems to go down-hill.  Not to mention the Benghazi horrors.  He's not even a citizen of this great country - how did he ever get elected?  The more I hear about him, the more I just put my head in my hands & cringe.  Now we are on the verge of war with Syria, except we have defaulted to whom?  The Russians.  Things couldn't get much worse, until we actually start the war.  If this isn't the last few years before the Savior comes, I can't imagine a better scenario.  Everything is ripe for destruction.  Wickedness & war & abortions & financial crisis & government has it's hands in everything.  If the constitution isn't hanging by a thread, I don't know what you call the state of our country.  I love this land, I love the freedoms it has represented, but things are not good & it's obvious to most people that our country is in trouble.  Never been more thankful to have a prophet on the earth, as General Conference is approaching, I plan to take notes on the things that the Spirit will speak to me.  I'm so very concerned & yet I know that we have to go through what is ahead.  Hope is dim & yet we have been told this is coming for many years.  I hope we are as prepared as we should be.  Food storage, FHE, scripture study, prayers, listening to our church leaders, active in the church, trying to do all the things that we have been asked to do.  Striving to be more like Christ in our everyday lives.  Knowing we are so imperfect, but trusting in the Lord to help us overcome our many weaknesses.  I know we are in the Lord's hands, but when you see the government doing what it is doing, it's hard not to worry about what lies in the future.  So looking forward to General Conference & sitting at the feet of the Savior, so to speak, as His servants relay what the Lord wants us to know.  Grateful for the many blessings of the gospel.  We are so blessed.
    As we had a FHE lesson on Zion's Camp last Monday, I talked with the kids about how blessed they have been to have lived where the early saints once lived.  We have lived only 3 miles from Adam-Ondi-Ahman, have been to the Liberty Jail countless times, have been to the Independence visitors center many times, have been to the Haun's Mill site, have attended the dedication of the 8 witnesses (or was it 3) monument in Liberty, have been to Nauvoo countless times, Daniel took his endowments out there, have felt the amazing spirit of Nauvoo many, many times, have found ancestors who were in Nauvoo & came west with the early saints, we have participated in the anticipation of the Kansas City Temple with great excitement & gratitude, our kids were able to take part in the cultural celebration of this temple with Pres. Monson in attendance, we have visited the Richmond cemetary where a few saints are buried, we have had the opportunity to help create the Far West campsite, our daughter Kristyn was among the first YW to camp there for YW camp (even I got to ride the zipline that day), we have visited the Far West temple site, the Independence temple site and have attended the temple in St. Louis as well.  We just have been so blessed to participate in the Nauvoo Pageant for 2 weeks, while visiting with Matt's parents who served in the Nauvoo Temple mission.  It's amazing all of the opportunities we have been given, just by living in this wonderful area.  We have had so many opportunities to learn more about the early saints.  You feel their spirits here, you think about the sacrifices they made, what they went through, it effects you deeply.  They sacrificed so much for the gospel & we can too.  I'm so grateful for what they have done to show how much the gospel is worth.  It actually has been a huge spiritual blessing to have gone through all the trials we have since we moved to Missouri as we feel a kinship to the early saints in their struggles.  Although, what we went through doesn't even compare to what the early saints endured, it definitely was a refiner's fire for us.  Having no water for a year and a half gives you more of an appreciation for when you do have it and for what it must have been like for the pioneers.  We did try to keep around 120 trees alive during that time of no water & we did pretty good until we made the mistake of adding livestock in the same area where the trees were planted.  They ate our little trees.  We know what it is like to have farm animals, to milk, to chase pigs & horses, to gather eggs, to lose a beloved milk cow after saving her from being stuck in the pond, to love the cute rabbits, to milk goats, to ride them, & to free them from getting their horns stuck in fencing, to watch our dad & husband almost be killed by our bull, to work hard at keeping up with 20 acres, to have horses, to lose chickens to racoons & fox, to have big gardens, all while trying to homeschool 7 children.  We know what it is like to have babies without drugs, to associate with Menonites & Amish as much as they will let us.  What an adventure we had, while it was so hard at times, I'm so grateful for that chance we had to live that way.  I'm also so grateful to be in a home that I love now & have space to try chickens again in the spring & have a garden once more.  I love this home & worry about how we can manage 2 mortgages until our Gallatin farm sells, but I know that Heavenly Father has brought us through more difficult things than this, so I have faith that somehow we will figure out a way to make it through this challenge as well.  If only we could sell the farm . . . I am grateful for all these things.

Nauvoo isn't far

Spent a day at the temple all by myself. It was so quiet, no one talked to me unless I requested it. It was heaven. I loved the peace and serenity of the whole day. Finally ate lunch at 2:00 and was very grateful for all the blessings of the day. Boys were excited to get a couple of new Tennis Shoes books, we look forward to finishing the series one of these years.

How's the Weather?

Well, funny you should ask. It feels like spring. It's been almost 36 degrees now for the past 3 days. We're loving it. Pipes in the house have thawed and hot running water is always a plus. We don't even need our coats anymore, no sirree - the sun is out and the ice is melting. The wind even stopped blowing, so it doesn't feel like 23 below anymore. Life is good!

Hey, your horse is out!

Really, our horse is out? Imagine that! He never gets out, wow! I wonder how that happened? Oh, that horse, yeah - he's a free agent. Well, he might get hit one of these days; well he might, but he's pretty savvy about the traffic around here, rush hour consists of about 7 cars going by at 6:45 a.m., plus a bus, and a pig truck or two flying on by. It happens again at 3:45. Other than that, what traffic? It only takes one you say, yes - that's true. We hope it never happens. After returning dear Chance to the pasture for the third time that morning, we just let him be a free agent, so far no dire consequences. He needs a job!