Week 38
The funniest part of FHE this week was two weeks before at Ward Council when the activities chair said, "If you see a hill, text me the address."  They were planning to go ice blocking (sliding down a hill on blocks of ice), but hills are kind of hard to find in Stillwater.  They finally found a location behind a reservoir that worked well.  We brought our giant bubble wands for a co-activity, but, being Oklahoma where the wind comes rushing down the plain, it was too windy for them to work.

Nice and cool on a hot day!

This has been a really quiet week.  Our classes went well, our Tuesday Twiddles were fun, our projects at the Wondertorium are coming along nicely, we finished early at Elite Repeat yesterday, and Church meetings were good today.  Elder Kerr's physical therapy hasn't brought him any relief yet, but he still has four weeks to go, so we hope for some improvement soon.

We've had a break in the extreme heat because of several days of thunderstorms.  Hard to believe that the 90s could be considered cool, and on Friday the high was only in the 80s--almost needed a sweater!  It really felt comfortable compared to the previous weeks.

When we went to ward prayer at the institute tonight, the automatic gate out of the parking lot was broken again--the sad part is it has been broken all summer and just got repaired on Thursday!  This is the 3rd time since we've been here that it's been vandalized.  

This week we got to work out on new equipment in the cardio room at the YMCA.  A kind soul put a bequest in his will that took care of a new roof and a new cardio room.  New flooring, 4 new treadmills, 4 new elliptical machines,  new recumbent and regular stationary bikes, and a rowing machine.  Pretty nice!

This is the last week of classes for the summer, then one week of break and the Fall semester starts.  A couple of the YSAs who have been gone for the summer came back this week, and we're looking forward to the rest returning in the next two weeks.  It will be wonderful to have them "home," along with the new students we're sure to have.

Week 37
Recipe of the Week:
1 part rubbing alcohol
2 parts water
Seal in zip lock freezer bag, seal that bag in another zip lock bag, freeze until slushy.
Yield: 1 slushy ice pack.

How, you may ask, do I happen to have that recipe.  Well, Kerby's Achilles tendon has never actually healed despite his two weeks in a boot, steroids, and several more weeks to test the theory that time heals all wounds.  So the doctor referred him to physical therapy and he had his assessment session on Friday.  Becky specializes in feet and ankles, and feels quite sure that in 5 or 6 weeks he will be free of pain and able to walk without a limp.  She gave him some exercises to do at home and the ice pack recipe, then next week she'll start the therapy.

It was hot hot hot this week.  104 degrees today, 103 yesterday.  Air conditioning is one of the world's great inventions, and we are grateful for it every day!

Yesterday was my serger lesson in Hennessey.  Sergers have changed a lot in 30 years, so it was good to have that update.  (I've got one more project for the Wondertorium that will use the serger, then August 9th will be our last day volunteering there.  It was fun to be able to use our extra summer time helping there.)

Prairie Quilt--home of my serger

After the lesson we drove up to Enid to check it out.  Enid is larger than Stillwater, and is home to Vance Air Force Base.  As we drove into town, two jets zoomed over us, flying in perfect unison.  We later learned it was the 75th anniversary of the air base, and the Thunderbirds were in town for an air show.  It actually started later in the afternoon and we didn't see it, but we were glad to see those two practicing.  Interestingly, there is a Marshalese speaking branch in our stake in Enid, because so many people from the Marshal Islands came here to work at the air base.  There are 4-6 Marshalese speaking elders serving there.

Some Oklahoma facts:  Oklahoma has the second highest population of native Americans in the US--over 320,000--and they comprise 9% of the state population.  (California has the highest population with about 360,000, but that's less than 2% of the total population.)  There are 39 different tribes officially recognized in OK.  Some of them were always here, but many of them were driven into this region when the US government forced eastern tribes from their homelands into "Indian Territory" in the mid- to late 1800s.  At the end of that period there were 67 tribes in what later became Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma license plate says Native America on the bottom:

The picture is of a statue called Sacred Rain Arrow, depicting an Apache warrior shooting an arrow skyward as part of a prayer for rain.  It has been interesting to see the specific license plates for members of the different tribes.  Out of the 39 tribes, 31 have a distinct license plate.  They are all different from the OK standard plate and from each other.  Here are just a few samples:

We have just two weeks left of our Church History and Missionary Preparation classes and three more Tuesday Twiddles.  The summer has really flown by, and it's hard to believe OSU classes will begin on August 15.  We have learned much and truly love serving with our young single adults--in institute classes, in the ward, and in all the ward activities.

Will end with a picture of Sisters Smith and Belshe at dinner today:

Week 36
P.S. to last week's Nature Report.  I forgot to mention another treat--the mimosa trees.  These will grow in Utah, but I've only seen two there.  Here they are quite common.  The pink powder puff blossoms just make me smile.

Family Home Evening was another crazy game--this time Paint Twister.  The YSAs had to come ready for a mess, but they sure had fun.  Each color dot had a big squirt of paint on it, so every move got color somewhere.

The air conditioning was out in half the institute building Sunday through Wednesday afternoon, so we moved Tuesday Twiddles to the bishop's house.  Not quite our usual turnout, but still enough to have a great time.  That has been a really wonderful way for us to get to know the YSAs and them to get to know each other better while having fun playing and snacking.  The idea for the Tuesday Twiddles really was an answer to prayer about what to do in the summer when schedules are lighter and numbers fewer.

At about 11:30 Wednesday night the wind began howling.  I really thought our windows were going to be blown out (or something wind-born would be hurled through the windows).  Then the wind stopped and the rain began--just pouring.  At the same time an incredible thunder and lightning show began.  The thunder sounded like it was in our backyard, and lightning was flashing non-stop for about 30 minutes.  In the morning we saw hundreds of tree limbs and branches strewn about on our path to the institute.

Well, on Thursday I couldn't sleep so was in the office reading.  At about 11:30 I started noticing light flashes through the curtains.  I peeked through the window and was treated to another lightning show.  I opened the curtains and blinds, sat in the desk chair and just watched for half an hour.  The light-up-the-sky flashes came in big, bigger, and biggest, and I timed them.  There was a flash (sometimes filling the whole sky, sometimes just part of it) every 3 to 5 seconds for over 30 minutes!  There were no lightning bolts, only cloud to cloud flashes.  There was thunder, too, but it was very faint, so this storm wasn't nearly as close as the one on Wednesday.  A little after midnight some rain came, again, not as wild as the night before.

Wednesday was transfer day, and we lost five missionaries, but gained seven.  There are a couple of threesomes until a mid-point transfer in four weeks when two of the missionaries will go home to be there in time for school starting.  The new missionary in our ward is straight from the MTC--Sister Belshe.  Also, one of our YSAs, Sienna, will enter the MTC this week for her mission in Helsinki, Finland.

On Friday we went to the temple--in the endowment session we saw Nicole from our ward.  After that session the three of us did sealings for some of Kerby's family names; Nicole as proxy for five daughters.

Yesterday was the 24th of July stake party.  There were a bounce house, water slide, and snow cones outside.  The stake provided grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, and members brought all the rest.  They also had a baking contest--breads, pies, and cookies.  I was one of the judges for the pies, and the 1st place prize went to the best lemon meringue pie I've ever tasted.  Kerby's cookies tied for 3rd place.
Kerby also said the opening prayer.

Before the party started, the counselor in our Relief Society asked if I would be willing to teach the lesson today, because the person scheduled to give it was out of town.  I was happy to do it and we had a good discussion.

Nothing else of much importance to report, so I guess we'll just keep plugging away on our mission in this wonderful little corner of the world.

Week 35
We had a wonderful July 4th with Kim/Doug and the girls.  Here is a picture of them by the Bumble Bee transformer on the west side of town:

We had lunch at Mojo's, a restaurant with a four-lane bowling alley attached.  Pretty fun to watch how excited Wendy got every time her ball got launched down the little bowling ball ramp.

Hard to say good-bye to these little girls!

Haven't had a nature report for a while, so here goes.  We have really enjoyed the plants that just don't grow in Utah.  First is the crape myrtle--comes in tree or bush size, lots of colors, blooms all summer, and is all over town.

The other is hydrangea.  They're about through blooming now, but they've been beautiful.

We aren't seeing our blue heron as often as we used to, but we've seen one or two white egrets almost every day.  This morning we opened the front door because we heard our resident lizard scratching around outside, and there were both the egret and heron in flight over and landing on our little pond.  Those big birds are just magnificent in flight.

We named him Eddie, but for all we know she is Edith

Wednesday we met the new mission president--President Mansell.  He had a meeting with all the missionaries in the south part of the mission on Tuesday then came up to Stillwater on Wednesday for the missionaries in the north.  First he met everyone individually, then he had two of his sons and his wife speak briefly, then he spoke.  President Mansell is very dynamic and there was a wonderful spirit in the meeting.  Among many things, he said that he wanted his missionaries to work hard, be obedient, and have fun.  He's been a YSA bishop for the last few years, so working with the missionary age group is right up his alley.

 Thursday was a ward temple baptism trip.  When we bought our Highlander, it was with the intention that we'd be able to transport YSAs, and we've had at least two passengers for every ward temple trip.  This time five passengers rode with us, and three went in another car.  Afterwards, we treated everyone to dinner at Smashburger.  Such great YSAs, and we love being with them.  Our numbers are down because of summer break, and it will be good to see the "returnees" and we hope many new students in the fall.

Today was Sister Christensen's last time for Sunday dinner with us--she's going home on Thursday.  Sister Smith is excited and scared because she will be training a new missionary straight from the MTC.  It's her first time as a trainer--she's nervous, but we know she'll do a great job. 

Week 34
Shortly after we received our call to Oklahoma, I told Kerby that I seriously doubted anyone liked us enough to come visit us in OK.  My friends the McGuires, serving in San Diego, have had all of their children and grandchildren come (some more than once).  By the end of the summer my sister's children will all have visited her in Croatia.  But Oklahoma?  Well, we were delighted a couple of months ago when Kim asked if they could come see us! Doug, Kim, Wendy, and Amanda flew into Tulsa and drove to Stillwater on Friday afternoon, and will leave tomorrow about 5 pm.  Our little apartment doesn't really have room for guests, so they're staying at a motel just two miles down the road.

So, I'll apologize right off the bat for the number of darling granddaughter pictures.  We've been having such a good time with Kim and Doug and their little cuties.  We've also been reminded that parenthood is not for the faint of heart nor the lethargic of body and mind.

Wendy is wild about Minnie Mouse

Amanda is not so sure about this

Wendy still loves stories

Kim and Wendy making big bubbles

Hey--the bubble wand matches my rompers!

At the splashpad

Goofy Papa!

Our OSU fans

By the giant boot topiary

Feeding ducks on our Sunday stroll around Theta Pond

Because there are so many of our YSA ward members away for the 4th of July weekend, our ward went on hiatus for today, and all of us still in town were just to attend one of the other two wards.  That was convenient for us, as we could go to the 9am-12 noon meetings and still accommodate lunch and Amanda's afternoon nap. 

Not quite like the big trampoline at home, but it will do for a quick bounce

The great volunteer effort at the Wondertorium this week was making 12 little baby doll diapers out of an old flannel sheet.  Just have to put the velcro on them Tuesday, and the four dolls in the nursery will have bare bums no more.  Kerby worked on refurbishing some neat stick horses.  (Wendy had a great time at the Wondertorium on Saturday--so much for little people to do.)

We always enjoy our classes, and can scarcely believe that OSU classes start again in 6 weeks.  The summer is winding down (that's good and bad; the heat and humidity can end much sooner, but the long days and uncrowded campus will be missed).

We hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July--despite the odd political climate right now, we are so blessed to live in this country.