Snowed In

                I probably mentioned in a few posts that the geographical boundaries are huge in the ward where I currently reside.  We don’t have snow but there are some members who woke up to snow.  Some made it to church.  At least one family was snowed in and unable to make it to church.

          We took Jaime back to Ashland.  During our drive we encountered some areas of slow moving traffic due to snowfall.  It’s weird to think about.  It does look pretty in the hills and mountains and brushed on trees.  We did not encounter any problems.  Oregon snow (at least the western end) has nothing on Utah snow.    

Rain and Games

 

        Rained all day today.  

        Richard asked if I would like to 

        watch something with him.  

        I said I would rather play games.  

        Jaime’s last day with us as 

        we return her to Ashland tomorrow.  

        We played Sniggle – 

        a game put out by Amway. 

         Funny, huh?

Extended Christmas

     In September Kevin had called Richard to ask if he would join him for a safety convention in San Diego.  Kevin paid for Richard's plane ticket - but Richard had to drive to the Portland airport. They both collected trinkets from the show and brought them home to share.  

    Richard had brought socks and tee shirts (the tees he had purchased in San Diego) and a stuffed whale for Jaime.  I remember taking pictures of the shirts and socks and asking Jai which she preferred.  I placed all items in a bag and added earbuds and a deck of cards to the mix.  I don't know why we missed giving it to her then - but somehow the entire bag of goodies got misplaced and was not retrieved until yesterday.

    For Christmas she had asked for a letterman's jacket featuring "Five Nights at Freddy's".  It had been the only thing she had asked for.  There was a delay on shipment however and we were told that it would not arrive until after Christmas. Richard purchased another coat for her to wear.  I wrapped it without box and she thought it was a stuffed toy.  Thus we went out and purchased a squishmallow as I thought she would be disappointed by the coat (which by the way is warm and does fit her personality).  There were more than two gifts under the tree for her as Ryan had sent gifts from the family.  No FNAT coat.

    Jaime had spent the last 8 hours of 2023 with friends.  Both Richard and I were in bed when 2024 arrived.  And she returned home shortly after midnight.

    Angela and Sam came over on New Years Day and we played games with them for three hours.  I believe all five of us really enjoyed ourselves.  I know for a fact that the girls did.  We continued to play a few games after they left.

    Yesterday we found the San Diego treats when we were looking for something else. We presented Jaime her tote bag of goodies. She opened more gifts yesterday than she had on Christmas.  Her final gift was opened just after 5:00 when Richard went out to check on the mail. She also clobbered us in Spades.  I think it was a really great day for her.

 

Soft Socks

 My feet LOVE all the socks I received for Christmas

Opportunities to Serve

           We always have opportunities to serve no matter where we live – there is community service, charity organizations, shelters, Red Cross . . . the list goes on.  When I lived in Salt Lake I would put in hours of service in various church projects such as the pasta plant, the dairy, the bishops storehouse, the cannery and Deseret Industries (2^nd hand thrift store) to name a few.  I lived within minutes of those buildings.  In Oregon we are located one and a half hours south of the nearest storehouse and one and a half hours north of the pear farm which I have mentioned in a few of my posts.

          When I was attending church in my son’s ward in Utah there was an announcement made for volunteers to clean the Jordan River Temple which I have learned is the busiest temple in the world.  I felt impressed to volunteer if I could and offered my services.  I had assisted in cleaning the temple two times before and enjoyed having that experience. 

          I bore my testimony in their ward and meant to put in a plug for how fortunate the members were to have temples so near to them but also be able to volunteer to work at a large variety of places sponsored by the church.  But when I returned home I was reminded of a service that I don’t think most members have the opportunity of doing and that is feeding the full time missionaries. 

          Missionaries in Utah are over stakes and I don’t believe are given the same opportunities for really getting to know the members the same way as those that serve in single ward boundaries as opposed to stake boundaries (see here for LDS language on what ward and stake mean) especially small wards (or branches) as missionaries are able to eat with members regularly.  When Richard and I lived in Kearns Utah we did have the missionaries over more than the average as we were the ward missionaries at the time. 

Pros and Cons

Stamps and Paying Bills – I Don’t Want Them to get the Wrong Idea

  

          Every time I look for a stamp to add to my bill I smile as I think about my mom’s comment about paying bills and having only “love” stamps to use.  She didn’t enjoy adding Love stamps to her bills because she didn’t “love’ paying bills.  Who does?  I just found it amusing.  But there are some companies I search for the ugliest stamps I can find.  I don’t enjoy paying bills either.

Good Neighbor Ron

           Ron is such a great guy.  He always takes out the trash and brings it in for the widows and elderly.  He keeps himself fit by walking around the neighborhood and is very observant.  He’ll pet Bonnie and allow her to lick him.

        We were walking Bonnie recently when we noticed a sheriff’s car following a white truck – and then a second sheriff’s car.  What in the world?  Evidently Ron had reported a pervert and the police were just checking up on his concern. He is a very good Samaritan. I am happy to call him neighbor.