Valelntine's Party and other stuff...

Some of us never grow up... Just like Helen's
grandkids, we thought it was funny, too!


Doug's temple pants on wrong-side-out
so I could alter them. I think his legs are
too short, too!


Pillowcases sent to us by the YM/YW of our Farmington
ward. Everyone signed them and they also sent yummy
candy. What a fun idea!


"Now who do you think that is??" Everyone had
a blast trying to figure out who was who on our poster
of wedding pictures. It was the hit of the party I think!


"Say Cheese!" Everything was just about ready.
Notice all the people still looking at the wedding
pictures in the back... They all loved that!


"Let's eat! I'm starved!" There was some really
good food and it was enjoyed by all!


"You want to know if I think he resembles who?"
I thought it was an easy question... Sponge Bob Square
Pants, Incredible Hulk, Superman or Pillsbury Dough
Boy! Doug and I liked the question when we came
up with it!


Not only the audience, but the couples in the game
had a fun time. Lots of laughs. They were all good
sports, and I don't think we damaged any marriages.


The men really pondered trying to get the right
answer. Sometimes it worked! They were cute!


Elder and Sister Nicolds singing a love song. Elder
Nicolds had made this Valentine heart with their
pictures (about the time they were married) on it.
It was a total surprise and she about cried! It was fun!


This was a red letter day! Doug singing with me
for the very first time!!! He did so great! But he kept
asking me if I would sing really bad so he would sound
better... I didn't need to... He did great!


"No hair on top of that shiny head... " And he sang all
the men parts back to me. (But he didn't like saying "Too fat to
give me a close embrace..." I think he might have
felt there may be repercussions!)


All the Elders singing to their wifes. It was fabulous!
All the women loved it, and the men were pretty proud
of themselves, too! Then they gave their wife a rose!

It seems like it has been harder and harder to get a blog up once a week. The last two times it has been every two weeks… Maybe that won’t become the pattern and I will get back to my once a week blog. We’ve had some fun things go on these last two weeks, and some special things, too. We’ll start with the fun things!
Helen sent me some pictures of her grandkids eating oranges and they all had them in their mouths… so the orange picture is for her… nothing really special about it except that it just goes to show you that some people never grow up.
We ordered some temple clothes for Doug when we were called to work in the Palmyra Temple. Everything fit except his pants. We sent them to Helen so exchange them and send them back to us. After she exchanged them she talked to us and said that she thought that the pants were huge… they would never fit Doug. We assured her that they had to because the others were too small. Well, it just so happens that she was right. The first pants must have been miss marked because the second pair was really big. We decided that it would be easier to take them in than send them back. The picture is Doug with his temple pants on inside out so that I can fix them. The picture doesn’t look that unusual but we thought that it was really funny. I guess we are really turning into missionaries… Really stupid things entertain us completely! Anyway… that is what that picture is all about!
We got a package in the mail a few days before Valentines Day. It was from the YM/YW in our home ward sending us some goodies to eat and some cute pillowcases that they had all signed. It was fun to get something from home. As we read all the names of the kids, we got to think about them and their families and remember just what a nice ward we belong to. We are extremely blest to know such neat people! So, thanks to the YM/YW for the nice surprise.
I was in charge of the Sr. Missionaries Family Home Evening Valentine Party on the 13th. It turned out really good and I had a lot of people tell me that it was the very best party we have had… (they said that about the other two that I did, too, so I think that is something that they just say!) I do have to admit it was really fun, though! We had asked everyone to get us a copy of their wedding picture (or close to it) for a little game. We put them on a poster and then had everyone guess who was who. I think it was the funniest thing watching everyone try to figure the pictures out. There were a couple that were really hard and a couple that were really easy. I was actually surprised that some of them had a really hard time with Doug and I. We all laughed and laughed. (The next day we put the poster up so the young sisters could see all the pictures… they really laughed! But then they started thinking about how they might look at our age and that sobered them up!!!)
We had a nice dinner and then we started the fun. We played the "Not-So-Newly-Wed Game". We asked the men several questions and then the women. I was surprised that they struggled with them… Of course they were questions like: What cartoon character will your wife say you are most like? A. Sponge Bob Square Pants B. The Incredible Hulk C. Superman D. The Pillsbury Dough Boy? They were all questions like that. Doug and I had a wonderful time coming up with them… We figured that if no one else thought the questions were funny, we did. We just tickle ourselves sometimes with our wit! Anyway, everyone else thought they were funny too (thank heavens) so the game was a great hit.
Then we had a couple of songs. The Nicolds sang a nice love song. Elder Nicolds had made a heart with some of their "younger year" pictures on it without her knowing about it. While they were singing, I held it up for everyone to see. It just about made her cry. It was nice.
Then the most amazing thing happened!!! I got Doug to sing with me!! Yes, after 32 years of him saying no, he said yes! (But he said I could never ask him again!) I think that it must have been something to do with being a missionary and feeling like you have to do things that you might otherwise never do in a million years! Anyway, whether or not you believe it, we sang "Darn It Baby That’s Love" (which is a funny family "love song") I have sung it with my sisters for a hundred years, but this was the first time with Doug! He did a really good job. He has a great voice, but he doesn’t think so. You could understand every word (mom would have been proud) and he was right on pitch. He was scared to death, and since he had been having fainting spells, I let him sit down while we sang. (I wasn’t going to let him off the hook… it might be another 32 years before I caught him at a weak moment!) EVERYONE loved it and laughed and laughed. They all complimented him after the party on what a nice voice he had! I was so happy that he had a "good" experience (if you can call him being terrified, ready to kill me, and almost having a stroke a good experience!)
The grand finale was a song that I taught the Elders. We practiced it a few times without the women knowing about it. I had made signs for them to hold up as we sang. V – your so very sweet, A – you’re adorable, L - is the lovelight in your eyes, E – you’re exciting, and N – you’re so nice to kiss, T – is the tender touch we share, I – idolize you so, N – no one ever knows, E – everything you are to me. We love you very much, we’re here to tell you such, We send this Valentine to you! They did it so good and the sisters all loved it! It was great. After the song, all the men gave their wives a rose! I really helped them make some points with their wives this Valentines Day!!! I think that the men really had fun with it, too! They all acted tickled that they could "pull off" something that good for their wives! Funny Stuff!!
I was really enjoying having the party being over when our new director came up to me and said, "That was a great party… Start working on one for March!" and walked away. He knows how to ruin a perfectly wonderful "it’s finally over" feeling! Write or call with any ideas you might have on St. Patrick’s Day parties! Yikes!
Now that I have covered the fun stuff…. Some really good stuff is, Jeff has been accepted to Medical School. Kentucky and Ohio have both offered him a place in their class for next year. He won’t hear from some of the others until May, so this is a relief to know that he will be going somewhere. They are leaning towards Ohio for school. (That makes Andrea crazy since she was there for the last 3 years and now that she is in Alaska, Jeff might be moving to within an hour’s drive from her old home!) Life just isn’t fair! Anyway, we are thankful for the blessing of Med School for Jeff!
I ‘d like to tell you another of the neat thing that happened this last week here at the HCVC. We were there working one night about 6:00 PM when a black truck drove up and parked in front of the main windows (where the Christus Statue is located). He sat in his truck for about 5 minutes and we figured that he would just drive away after he looked at it. He finally got out of his truck and came in. He nor his wife were raised in any kind of religion. That was great with them until they had a baby. They are now "looking" for a church so that they could raise their kids with some kind of religious background. His wife had read the News Week article about the Mormons, and about 2-3 times a month he drives past the Hill. That night he decided to come in and find out a little about our church. (He didn’t know why, but we did!) He said that he only had about 10 minutes, but he was with us for about 40 minutes. He was very interested, especially about eternal families, but he didn’t want to give us his address or phone number. He wasn’t sure if he wanted missionaries to come to his house yet… he wasn’t sure he was that committed. But he did want a Book of Mormon so we gave him one and gave him our phone number in case he had any questions. I don’t know that we will ever hear from him again, but I think that some seeds were planted that will someday take root and bring that little family into the church! We are keeping him in our prayers and hoping all goes well with him.
I guess that is all the news. We seem to be busy and we are happy, so all is well. We miss everyone, but when you write emails and comments, we feel much closer to you all. I would really like to kiss and hug the grandkids, but I will one of these days! Until later, All our love, dnd