It's been a few weeks, but here's the blog!

This is at our ward party. It was a Mexican Fiesta Party.
Yes, they even got me up to do the Mexican Hat Dance!


Getting ready to break the pinita. The kids loved it.


The kids in our ward scrambling to get the candy
from the pinita!


Really amazing... Doug wanting even more mayo on a
tuna sandwich. He used to not even eat tuna because of
the mayo... You've changed, Doug! (That sentence was
for my kids!!)


Delores, eating peanut butter and jelly! I never
did that at home. It isn't too bad once in a while!


Mom and Jeff going into the Sacred Grove.


Smith Farm rock wall boundry... this time
with Jeff. We couldn't believe that he was
really here! It was great!


This picture was taken in the exact spot that I took
one of Doug last time! Like father, like son!


Jeff and I at the enterance to the Sacred Grove.
The Smith Frame Home and barns are in the
background. That proves Jeff was really here!


The three of us at the Joseph Smith log home. (I know,
these are all the same places as I have shown before. But
this time... Jeff is in the picture!


Jeff standing on the Smith Farm with the Palmyra
Temple behind him.


Jeff in the Peter Whitmer log home.


All of us at the Whitmer Farm standing by a "The
Moment After", a bronze work depecting the moment
Peter, James and John's hands came off Joseph's head.


Filling the car on a nice "warm" day. In NY you have
to keep hold of the gas pump or it won't work... cold!
It was nice to have Jeff here to help, though.


This is the place that Brigham Young had his home and
his sawmill. There is nothing here now! It was sure cold!


Me in front of the "Rose Bowl". Now when you all
come to see us you know one thing that we will be doing!


Really, this is my bowling score... I have only had one
score higher than this in my life!!! 189, WOW!

It has been two weeks since I have posted a blog, but it is hard to remember all of the fun things that have happened. If I take this in chronological order maybe that will be easier. Our little ward had a Mexican Fiesta night. We had some food and a program and of course a piñata. Our ward is so excited over anything that you do. The kids thought it was Christmas when all the candy fell from the piñata. It was a fun night even if they did make me get up and do the Mexican Hat Dance!

Doug and I have had been experiencing some changes in our lives… I know that you are all hoping that it is a religious improvement, but it is in our eating… I have been known to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich occasionally. And like it! More amazing than that, is that Doug now puts mayonnaise on his sandwiches. In fact, the other day our sandwich was rather dry (it was tuna and he doesn’t like it to be too wet). He smeared mayo on the outside of the bread and then ate it with a knife and fork! Now that could convince you all that the end is near! ‘Doug and Mayonnaise’ are just not two words that go together! What is even more weird… I didn’t think that it was too dry! Doug, you’ve changed!

Jeff had three Med School interviews this last week. He arranged his travel so that he had a couple of days here in Palmyra with us! We wished that Laura could have come with him, but she was stuck in “real life” going to school! Next time, Laura, you come and make Jeff stay home. It was great to see him and take him to the historic sites. We could have given him a tour, but it was kind of fun for us to have some of the other Senior couples do that so we could feel like we were on the tour, too. We learned a few things and enjoyed spending the time with Jeff. When he left, the apartment sure got a lot “bigger” and quieter! It was fun. Most importantly, we just hope that one of the schools will offer him a position in their medical class this fall. Everyone keep him in your prayers!

Friday night we went out to Elder and Sister Jones house for dinner. They live on the John Young Farm property about 30 minutes from here. In fact, Elder Jones (who is a FM missionary) remodeled the homes there. You see, there was once one John Young house. Then in about 1920 they cut the house in two and moved half of it across the street. Then they added a little bit back onto the original home. Elder Jones has done a really nice job and it was fun to see what they are like. He then wanted us to walk to the Brigham Young farm and mill site. I talked them into driving and boy am I glad… It was about 1 mile away, in the cold, wet, evening air. We just barely got back before it was pitch black outside by driving the car. Doug and I would have frozen to death if we had walked. I am sure that Doug’s back would still be in a giant spasm and I would still be wrapped in a blanket. It was much nicer by car, and we lived through the cold because it was of shorter duration. We played games with them after dinner and had a great time. The missionaries out here are such sweethearts!

Yesterday we went to the Nicolds (another set of FM missionaries) for dinner. We were trying to have a night for a newly baptized member of our ward to get to meet some other people in the ward, but at the last minute she bailed out so we had a good time without her. Hopefully we will be able to do it again so she can attend. We are so much fun, I would hate for her to miss us!!! Hahaha!

On our preparation day this week we decided that we would have some fun. Usually we have so many errands and other things to do we don’t have time to just play. But too many other things or not, we decided to play. One of the things that we did was go bowling. My first game wasn’t anything to write home about, but my second game was… so I am writing home about it!! It was my second best all time high score. If I had marked in the first two frames, it would have been even better. Because I wasn’t sure that anyone would believe me, I included a picture of the score sheet. Yes, I got a 189! Doug and I were laughing because I just kept getting either strikes or spares and neither of us could believe it. (We have see me bowl before, you see.) Anyway… I am not sure who had more fun. Me getting the 189, or Doug cheering me on to do better! He is such a nice guy! In fact, he is the one that remembered to take the picture before we left the bowling alley so that I could put this on the blog!

It has been a two-week period of ups and downs, but thankfully the ups outweigh the downs. We are doing good. I’m not sure that I will ever be able to stay up past 10 PM again in my life (I almost didn’t before I came on our mission). After Jeff left we had to crash a couple of nights at 9 PM to try to sleep in on the front end of the night! We go to bed tired and then get up and go again… it is great! I hope that everything is well with all of you. We love you and miss you! dnd