Seagulls in the Mountains: February 2014

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Memo of My Missionary- Very Very Very Very Busy

my week has been very very very busy indeed. i did get to go to the temple on thursday. i will be sending some pics and posted some on facebook. I did Jesse and my companion did Charles.i just left the cards at the temple since all their work is done now. if you want me to get them back for you i can with some help. I pray Jesse and Charlse accept these ordinances so they can be with us in eternity. know that all is well. love ya

scammed i bought EFY 2012...all brand new and shiny still wrapped in the plastic...i opened it and this is what i found! there was no CD!!! so i basically donated 17 dollars to desseret book lol.

The Patriot

i love this picture. the old man in the picture is Curt Greer. he was baptized about 4 years ago. he is a fireball of awesomeness! the most patriotic guy i have ever met. we are now in the process of helping him better understand what went on in the temple.

Exchanges Elder Lambert and I

while we were on exchanges we did service all morning. cleaning up tree branches from the ice storm at a widow's house. it was way fun! but really wet! it's always wet here lol. there were a lot more branches than i thought there would be cuz they were so spread out. we filled up two whole trailers full :) she paid us in cookies! and some way yummy Hawaiian chocolate! We had a fun exchange! also do to my bad planning we ended up having two dinners that night! let's just say i was so close to puking lol.

my ipad mini

don't see this every day!

My new friend
were walking down the street and
i saw this guy basking in the sun. had to snatch him up and give him some love. he excreted some sorta stinky body fluid all over my hands...it sucked lol. i love animals.

Study time

Elder Lambert and I doing studies in this picture. :) Personal study time is one of my favorite times of the day. i love being able to dive in and study by the Spirit. I have a firm testimony that the Spirit will literally tell you all you need to know if you are worthy and ask in faith :) Elder Lambert has been out a long time and he gave me some great teaching ideas. :)

Oh the sunshine! blessed sunshine! let the peaceful happy moments roll!

Portland Temple!

LOVE THE PORTLAND TEMPLE! also the visitor's center is way cool too! it is all virtual! i walked in there and there was about a billion sister missionaries working there. they all looked and stared at me...i awkwardly retreated to the bathroom! been a long time since i have been around so many females. anyway the temple was awesome! it is so so so so big! and there are like four endwoment rooms. the new temple movies are so cool! i loved being able to go through with the names of my ancesters. :)

so that little pool there in front is so clear and shiny...i sorta accidently stepped in it cuz i literally couldnt tell where the steps stopped and the water started

Friday, February 21, 2014

Snowstorms are normal here.

None of the stores are selling sleds. They have gardening stuff out.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Large Lego, Minion Manacles, Proliferate Pachiderms

This was Morgan's design for his Pinewood Derby car this year.

He didn't win any races but he had fun.

He's become a lot more social this year. He never needed much.

He recently told me he wants to play football. That's new too.

Nicole has been making rubber band bracelets. These are her most elaborate.

We had a moment of Origami obsession in my house.

Aren't these adorable!?

Folding these involves a LOT of steps.

Nicole put them in Rainbow order.

Friday, February 14, 2014

January Jaunt

"You can never go home again."

I don't know where that came from or what made it so famous. It is true, though. And not just of "going home"; it's true of different stages of life; of singular phases that helped you become who you are.

When I was younger, it bothered me, but now I'm at peace with the natural way that life just rolls along. My past formed the person I am as I wandered along without direction, not really knowing who I was; not aware of the potential I held.

When I was a single mom living in California, I spent a lot of time at the home of my very good friend, Stacy. She was too young to be like a mom to me, but too old to be like a sister. Yet, she taught me so much
. One of her daughters was planning to go through the temple for the first time so I took Rylee down with me and we had quite a trip.

Waiting at the airport for her first ever plane ride.


Walkin' the mile... walkin' the mile...


Safety first!

Stacy had a lot going on, but I convinced her to take me down memory lane. This is the house my parents bought when I was 14. There used to be rose bushes lining the front of a green lawn. There are very few grassy lawns in the whole high desert now. A few have decorated with gravel and some have concrete, but most are just like this. Bare sandy dirt. How do they even get rid of the sod? Not even a weed is trying to live here. It's quite depressing. We stopped by my old high school which looked like it was abandoned. Falling apart. Peeling paint. Chain link fences around it. My sister said it is still in operation as a high school and it is really bad.


Not a rebellious teenager anymore.

Rylee doing chores with Stacy's grandkids. They are so adorable.

Two of Stacy's daughters live right across the street from Disneyland. Her oldest daughter lives up in the high desert, and her one son is back east in the military.

Darby tells her little nieces and nephews that if they behave well she'll turn on the fireworks for them. This night, she did it for Rylee! (Disneyland fireworks show. Would it still hold it's magic if it happened every night?)

One perk of leaving Star Valley and going out into "the World"---> RESTAURANTS GALORE. Everyone just took turns picking a place to eat. I was in heaven. This place had the BEST pork chop I've ever tasted in my life.

A new temple added to my roster!

Proud of you! Go back regularly! VERY regularly.

Christmas at the Newport Beach Temple.

Not one flake of snow.

Mallory hung around with Rylee while we did our thing.

Took six shots to get everyone to smile at the same time.

Live on purpose.

Memo of My Missionary- Elder in Quotes

Anthony doesn't say much about his companions, and in all his moving around I didn't know who he was comps with in Santa Clara, or who his current companion is. So, I asked him.

Tyson West!

THIS is not nor has ever been his companion. I figured there must be some great significance because of the exclamation point which he added after Tyson West!

So, I asked him. Here's his response: "yeah tyson is a SV boy. um his family lives in lower valley."

Elder Kunz baptized at 19 then came out here

Again, not ever his companion!

elder Russell and Me

I don't know if this was ever his comp?

Then, he sent this picture, with this caption:


Elder Gosar-Gosar was one of my first zone leaders back in my Coos Bay days. he is headed home this week and im taking over his area.

So, I asked him if he was becoming a zone leader. This was his response: "haha...haha...HAHA no im not. i dont want to be."

my new friend!

Um... I don't think this was ever ANYone's companion.

meet the new comp elder ellsworth-we got double transferred...it blows

This is Anthony's current companion.

"Shaw and Curtis were my Santa Clara comps. Curtis is on his way to Brazil as we speak."

I asked him how he liked moving so much: "president needs to stop moving me. im an emotional wreck. i dont know anyone. i cant get comfortable."

I told him that he's probably being prepared for something!