Week 43 - IT'S BEEN A WHILE, We're over the hump

Total Exposures Filmed  260,600 to date, BUT WHO IS COUNTING?

We are going to post a running total of the number of exposures that we have taken. It will help us and you understand the progress that we are making. 

Classic Oklahoma. Mighty fine.

FAMILY MATTERS



                 HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BRITTA

AMBER

GRANDPA CHECKING THE FISH
AT BASS PRO SHOP FOR HIS BIRTHDAY



Jeff



Britta and Jason

Congratulations to BRITTA
the newest member of the Church in our Family




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Jason and Jen's Family (left to right)  Bryn,
Brodie, Jason, Britta, Jen, Brylee, Brooklyn

This is Tammy Malone, Craig County Cleck.

As we have been preparing to move to her
County,she invited us up to a community
gathering on a Saturday in June. We
enjoyed her welcome and particularly
enjoyed the roast pig.  We learned a new
term from Tammy;  "Scaredy Hole" is an
underground tornado shelter. 

What's Next!
We will be finished with our microfilming work in Lincoln County by the first of next week.  We still do not know where are are going next.  We were planning to transfer to the Tulsa Mission and film Craig County Oklahoma.  There have been some issues with this County accepting the terms of agreement with the Church to put the records on the internet.  If those details are worked out within the next week, we will still be going to Vinta, Craig County to do about 6 weeks of filming.  We cannot find housing for such a short term, so we have made reservations at the Holiday Inn Express for a six weeks stay. After we complete this project we will be transferred to Iowa.  If the problems are not worked-out with the County before we are ready to leave Chandler, we will go directly to Des Moines, Iowa.

We have had several conversations with our supervisor about going to Iowa.  There are mulitple projects there waiting for missionaries to film.  One that interested us was a 4 month project in the Iowa State Capital complex in Des Moines.  Arrangements are being made with the Mission President in Des Moines for us to arrive sometime with in the next 8 weeks.  When we complete the project in the State Capital we will likely be moved to another project within Iowa to finish our mission. We are perfectly happy to be mobile and flexible.  We have had to make some mental adjustments with the slow decision making and the unkown elements of the job. We look at this as adding to our adventure.     

This should be self-explanatory

We spent much of our spare time in June trying to find short term housing in Vinita.  The only housing we could fine that would rent on a weekly or monthly basis were old, old motels that rented to construction workers and other transient folks.  Not too pleasant.  That is what brought us to deciding on the Holiday Inn Express.  The Family History Department is helping with this. 

The Mission President in the Tulsa Mission also put us in contact with the Bishop in the area.  He suggested that we contact a couple in Canada that had a cabin near Grand Lake.  We contacted them but determined that it was too remote and did not have internet capabilities.  We also had a member from the ward offer us a travel trailer to live in.  The Bishop quickly put a stop on that idea.  Thankfully, he knew something that we did not. 

The ward that we would be attending, if we go to Vinita, is the Grove Ward.  We attended the ward in June to try to get some help with the housing.  While there, we learned another new term.  We were talking to a senior couple who were returned missionaries.  They quickly asked where we were from.  When we said, "Utah", the sister said, "oh you are from the FACTORY".  I do not think that she meant this as a compliment.  But, as I thought about this later,  I am grateful that we are from 'The Factory".  It is readily apparent to us, as we have observed missionary work here, that the real strength of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes from the many missionaries who are trained at the Utah Factory.  You should be grateful also. 

Moving Update:
Just a few minutes ago, we learned that a contract has been arranged in Vinita, Craig County OK.  So we will be moving, up there, the end of next week.  We will likely finish that small project in 4-8 weeks.  We will be staying in the H.I.E.  The Mission President of the Iowa Des Moines Mission has been contact and will prepare the way for us to move there in September or early October. It is so nice to know what we are doing.  Now we can make all of the plans for housing, insurance transfers, mail transfers, and an endless assortment of other details.  This is good and we are pleased.



CUSHING WARD
We have continued to work with the Elders to teach and invite.  We have recently met several times with a couple that we have greatly enjoyed.  They are about our age.  He was a preacher, previously.  He is a contractor/landord now.  They have been very gracious and inviting.  Initially he was unwilling to read the Book of Mormon and apparently had some old misunderstandings about Joseph Smith.  The last time we were with him, we were able to read with him from the Book of Mormon where the true fullness of the Gospel is contained.  He now is reading from the BofM on his own. 

This is Elder Cronin-Levitt.  He is an amazing missionary.  We had him and his companion over for dinner a few weeks ago.  When he found that Granpa was a war veteran,he told us about a project that his mother and sister started. They make these quilt to give to veterans around the world to express appreciation to them for their sacrifice and service.  They also go to schools and involve students who write thank you comments to veterans.  They have done this for more than 5,000 veterans.  Elder Cronin-Levitt presented Grandpa with this quilt and letter.

Independence Day with Teri Taylor and her family
On the 4th, we traveled to Edmond, Ok to attend the local parade with Teri (Kangas) Taylor.  You may remember that Teri and her family lived next door to us in Wellsville.  She has recently experienced a divorce after 20 years of marriage.  Whenever we can, we have visited them and spent time with her great children.  It has been a blessing for all of us.




Oklahoma knows how to do a parade.  Some of you may know that
Grandma loves parades and Grandpa avoids them whenever possible.
This parade lasted for about an hour and a half.  Every minute was
interesting.  Grandpa has not seen a parade like this since he was
a little boy watching the Days of '47 Parade in Salt Lake.   



This got our attention! 
A major hail storm hit 40 miles away from Chandler in Edmond, Ok.  There is a huge automall containing 12 dealerships and about 2,000 cars (I check this number out on Google Earth).  This automall was in the direct path of the carnage.  We visited the
automall several weeks later.  By this time some of the damage had been cleaned up.  Grandpa walked down a line of 20 GMC Yukon Denali ($60k vechicles).  Every hood and top looked like someone had taken 100 swings with a sledge hammer.  It was amazing to see the extensive damage that occurred.  Every dealership in the mall had this kind of damage to every vehicle on their lots.  We were also amazed that many new cars had been quickly replaced by new vehicles and that the dealerships had already taken this setback in stride.  Almost like it was a way of life here.  It was shocking to us.  Grandpa took a bunch of photos but the damage was not as easy to see in the photos.

Softball size hail that fell in Edmund, Oklahoma in June.  We

were actually about 20 minutes behind this storm as we returned

from the Temple late at night.  These solid balls of ice drop from

thousands of feet and are traveling at 300 miles per hour when

they hit the earth.  There were homes, in the area, where the hail

balls came through the roof, insulation, and sheetrock to rest in

interior rooms.

The Chandler version of Logan's Cruise-in
We spent a couple of hours, on a Saturday a few weeks ago, at the local BBQ Contest/Car Show and Mud Race.

There was a line a football field long to run

in this mud race.  Only in Oklahoma.

This is serious BBQ competition

Saying good-bye to a friend
We have made some good friends here which have helped us to cope with life alone and in a new place.

This is Wendy at Boomerang.  She has

been very kind to us. Of course we have

been very kind to her because we have

dropped a bunch of money here.

Another Saturday Excursion
We showed you this unique barn last fall. We finally stopped to check it out

This is the interior ceiling. It is set

up for a wedding on this night

B A T T L E O F T H E G K I D S
Ground Rules:
Some emphasis is important: All of these solutions can be found on the internet. Work together to find the answers. Do not go to the Web. This little bit of family fun will deteriorate quickly if you do. You are on your own honor.

The Grandchildren will compete within two age groups; those that are now younger than eight (the BRANIACs) and those that are now eight and older (the MINDBENDERs). Grandchildren will remain in their respective groups throughout our mission. The winner within each group will be the first grandchild to send the correct answer by text to Grandma's iphone (435-757-8561). Do not text Grandpa because the winner will be determined by the time the text is sent to Grandma. There will be separate contests for both age groups based on what we judge to be appropriately difficult for the age. The prize for the week, for the winner of each age group, will be $10.00 deposited into the grandchild's savings account that Grandma opened for you when you were born. At the end of Grandma and Grandpa's mission the winner of the most blog contests, in each group, will receive a Grand Prize when we return home. We will give reports on your progress as a winner. The ground rules will be that you cannot use the internet to find your answers. Parents should use your own judgement about the age of the child, the level of help that you provide, and family fairness. If grandchildren want to work together, their winnings will be split based on the number of participants on the team.

______________________________________________________
BRAINIACS
Previous winners:
Won By Brainiacs:  Ali  
  

Last post question :  How do you get a giraffe in the fridge?

     answer:  Take the elephant out then put the giraffe in.


  



_____________________________________________
The Next Brainiac Challenge:

All of the jungle animals had a jungle party. 
Who was missing?

______________________________________
MINDBENDERS

Previous  Won By Mindbender: Bryn and Brooklyn


Diners are eating establishments where people go to find comfort foot that tastes delicious but can give you a heart attack in one meal. They offer fast service, oversided quanities, and there are no dress requirements. The waiters and the cooks have developed diner language of their own. This fast talk allows them to make fast orders with a minimum of confusion between the cooks and the waiters. Customers do not even attempt to understand what they are saying to one another about your order. Diner talk is a subject of this challenge.


Some terms we already know that originated in diners:

• Sunnyside Up - (also know as 'fry two, let the sun shine')eggs cooked on the bottom and the yokes unbroken and uncooked.
• Over easy - eggs cooked for a short time on both sides so that the yolk and whites are still runny inside.
• Short Stack - a stack of 3 pancakes
• Mayo- mayonnaise
• The Works - everything on it. Sometimes also called "sweep the floor".

Some terms that you likely do not know:

• Cops and Robbers - coffee and donuts
• Cow Paste - butter
• Drown the kids - boiled eggs
• Hail - ice
• Hug one - orange juice
• Two cows, make 'em cry - double burger with onions

Answer:

What do the following "diner talk" phrases mean?

• Eve with a lid on - Apple Pie
• Checkerboard - Waffle
• Foriegn Entanglements - Spagetti
• Cackleberries - Eggs
• Whistleberries - Beans
• Mouse trap - Cheese Sandwich
• City juice - Water

  

_________________________________________________
The Next Mindbender Challenge:


Grandma and Grandpa have produced 260,600 photo images of documents in the first half of our mission.  Each image (photo) that we film uses about 1 inch of film.  How many  miles of film have we produced. 

Only in Oklahoma

A few weeks ago we were traveling to the Temple on the freeway at 80 miles per hour.  We noticed that the wind was blowing and gusting across the freeway.  Grandpa looked at his driver-side mirror to see, to his amazement, a roadhog (Harley) passing us with his hands folded in his lap and, of course, without a helmet.  He continued past us without his hands on the handle bars, then changed to the outside lane, in front of us, with his steering still untouched.  At this point, I wanted to catch up to him to take a photo, but he was too far ahead.  I looked down at the odometer to check the mileage. He traveled for more than 3 miles with his hands off the handle bars. Soon he went out of sight. Truely unbelievable.  Although he did not wreck, he was certainly wreckless.  DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. 

A drive down a very nice country road.  I cannot believe Grandpa got his clean car dusty.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.

GRANDMA AND GRANDPA