Week 51
I'll just warn you right up front--there are a zillion pictures in this week's post.  It was homecoming week and we want to share the full experience with you.  We also had a pretty busy week separate from homecoming, so lots to share.

Best news is that my great nephew Brigham entered the MTC on Wednesday in preparation for serving in the Vancouver, WA mission.  He went on October 26th, the one year anniversary of when we went to the MTC.  He is the 7th missionary in our family to be serving right now--his sister is in California, his two grandmothers are companions in Croatia, his cousin is in New York, and his aunt and uncle are in Stillwater.  Love being part of a missionary family!

We had a wonderful week at the institute.  Brother Valletta was ill (which wasn't good) but we got to fill in for his Wednesday evening class (Foundations and Doctrines of the Book of Mormon).  It's the biggest class of the week, and we had such a good discussion in class.  Our D & C and Book of Mormon classes were also especially enjoyable this week, as well.  As I keep saying, we simply love our YSAs and enjoy working with them so much.

FHE this week was pumpkin carving, and Elder Kerr's was one of the best!

Friday one of our YSAs received her endowment, so we went to the temple with two other YSAs to share the experience.  Hannah is waiting for her mission call, which should arrive this week.

Seth, Hannah, and Nicole

OK, now on to America's Greatest Homecoming celebration.  One of the highlights is the House Decs (that stands for Greek House Decorations).  The homecoming theme for the year is announced in the spring, and the houses start working on their designs then!  This year's theme is A Cowboy Dream. 

We've previously posted pictures of the structures being built, because the frat houses started in late August.  There is a competition between the houses (each is paired with a sorority) for the best display.  They have to have moving parts (thank goodness they all have some engineering majors on board--I don't know where they learned welding) and they are massive.  On Thursday they start attaching the "pomping" that they've been working on inside the sororities since the end of August, as well.  The kids work around the clock (literally through the night) to have everything up and running by 5:00 pm Friday for the Walkaround.

Just a word about what the YSAs did during all this.  The institute is surrounded on all sides by fraternity and sorority houses.  At 10:00 pm on Thursday, about 8 YSAs started taking donuts around to all the houses (about 14 of them) to cheer the kids on.  Then during Walkaround (when the streets are blocked off and 80,000 people wander through the Greek neighborhood from 5-10 pm on Friday) the missionaries and YSAs had a free lemonade stand in front of the institute and also let people inside to use the restrooms.  They went through about 30 gallons of lemonade and talked to a whole lot of folks!

Here are some "work in progress" photos taken on Thursday morning, Friday morning, and Friday evening of the house right across the street from us:

24 hours to go from frame to finished!

What is hard to believe is that every bit of color you see is 4 inch squares of tissue paper poked in chicken wire!  They are completed in long rolls and brought on site to hang.  The detail is astounding, and the color shading is hard to believe--these pictures just don't do them justice.

Here are some more pictures of the decs:

Notice 6' 2" Elder Kerr by the top one for scale--he's dwarfed by the dec!

Here is a picture from the newspaper of the crowd at Walkaround:

Earlier in the week the fountain by the library was dyed orange, and various clubs put up signs on the library lawn--all addressing the theme, and all judged.

The fountain on the right is actually downtown--can't leave a possible orange spot un-tinged

Theta Pond even got in the homecoming act with a big lighted sign:

 Saturday was the Sea of Orange homecoming parade--it was fun.  Just a couple of floats, but lots of marching bands from high schools in the state, lots of horses, lots of farm equipment (antique and modern), and a variety of other entries (130 in all).  It started with a formation fly-over by the aeronautics club--they spewed orange smoke.  The first few minutes of the parade were especially touching as the grand marshals were representatives of all the first responders to last year's tragedy.  Then there were four riderless horses--each with a blanket of flowers and cowboy boots backwards in the stirrups--for the four people who were killed in last year's parade.  The first three were full-sized horses, but the last was a pony because one of the people killed was a little two-year old.  There were no dry eyes as the horse went by.

Riderless horses to honor the dead

More shots from the parade:

Mostly to show orange Corvettes, but bottom right is the OSU president and the First Cowgirl (that's what they call his wife)

The gorgeous Clydesdale horses are pulling a coach carrying many of the people who were injured last year

All in all a very fun and busy week.

Week 50
First, a creepy tale for Halloween.  When we arrived here last November, the Walmart had an infestation of black birds (grackles, starlings, or a combination of both).  The trees were bare of leaves, but full (about 100 per tree) of birds.  They made a horrible racket, swooped and darted, and in general made going to Walmart at night horrifying!  When winter came the birds went away.  Well, about a month ago they started coming back, and they are now here in full force. If you've seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds, you have an idea of how awful this is.  The noise is almost deafening, and the way the birds fill every tree and fly around is, again, creepy!  This is the only thing that makes a coming winter look good.  I don't know where they spend the day, but these birds are faithful Walmart shoppers by night.  This picture was taken several weeks ago at dusk--there are many multiples of this many birds now.

On a happier note, this is the start of homecoming week at OSU, home of America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration.  I'm not sure who hands out that designation, but apparently it's official, and reading about the activities planned for the week, it just may be true.  They expect 80,000 alumni to come to Stillwater for the events. The work at each frat house constructing the framework for the Walk-around is growing feverish.  Each structure has to have a moving part, so those are going on now.  On Friday, the paper pompom art will be attached, and the displays will be up for a couple of days.  Tonight the fountain by the library was dyed orange--hope it stays orange so we can see it tomorrow.  (The other tag line here is, "America's Brightest Orange.")  We joined in the fun last night by going to the Cowboy Stampede--an honest to goodness rodeo!  It featured the OSU Rodeo Team and teams from several schools in OK and Kansas.  Here's what we saw:  bareback bronc riding, tie down calf roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding.  This is the 70th year of the OSU Rodeo Team, and they take it seriously.  It was a lot of fun--between the contestants, crew, and audience, I've never seen so many cowboy hats and cowboy boots in one place in my life.

There's only so much a phone can do in the dark and with lots of fast action, but here is Kerby's attempt to capture a little bit of the rodeo.

Pistol Pete stopped right in front of us for a minute

National Anthem, bareback bronco on left, Pistol Pete and calf roping on right

Barrel racing top left, steer wrestling bottom left--bull riding on the right

This will be a somber week for many in Stillwater.  It was at the homecoming parade last year that a woman deliberately drove into the crowd, killing four and injuring 46 people.  Today's paper had a story about one of the injured who has had more than 2 dozen surgeries and had to re-learn how to walk.  There are many more hard stories, but lots of stories of people coming together and supporting one another.   The first responders to the tragedy last year are going to be the parade marshals this year.

Today was ward conference, and all of the meetings had a wonderful spirit and important messages.  I really think our stake president, President Bowman, is a powerful leader.  He never fails to give uplifting, edifying talks.

Week 49
We had our two Monday classes (Teachings of the Living Prophets in the morning and Doctrine and Covenants in the evening) and, as always, enjoyed them both.  Then it was off to FHE for face painting and a movie.  We didn't stay till the end, but enjoyed watching the creations take place.

For Soup Tuesday we had loaded potato soup--a fabulous, hearty soup.  Unfortunately it was in the high 80s that day; not very soup-conducive.  However, the next two days were in the 60s and would have been perfect for hot comfort food.  Today it hit 90 degrees!  This just isn't the fall weather we're used to.  A few trees are starting to change color, but it really doesn't look like autumn yet.  But the humidity has been way down and the mornings are pretty cool, so I guess fall is trying to come.

Wednesday was really exciting--we had our teeth cleaned and got our flu shots (not at the same place)!  I forgot to mention last week that the orthopedic surgeon wants Kerby to rest his tendon, so he's back in the boot for 2 months.  He needs to do his stretching exercises two or three times a day to keep flexibility, but wear the boot the rest of the time to take pressure off the tendon.  Not very fun, and the boot nearly drives him crazy, but it does seem to be improving slowly.

Friday was Fall Break, so we went two hours south to the Chickasaw Cultural Center.  http://www.chickasawculturalcenter.com/ just in case you want to check it out.  It was an absolutely perfect day for walking around the center.  First we had lunch at the cafe.  We got the Chickasaw Special, which is an Indian fry bread taco, a traditional hominy and pork stew, and grape dumplings.  The dumplings are little dough pieces cooked in thickened, sweet grape juice. They were pretty good, but Kerby said I don't need to get the recipe.  There are lovely sculptures on the grounds and a replica of a typical Chickasaw village.

The exhibit in the museum was very well done and very interesting.  We also watched a demonstration of a stomp dance, a very traditional form of dance always done around a fire.  Around each leg, the women now wear 16 cans containing river pebbles and fastened to leather bands.  They take twice as many steps as the men to keep the rhythm with the pebbles rattling.  Before cans, they used turtle shells with river pebbles, and in the far past, they used "deer toes"--the little tips of deer hooves--to make the rattling sound.

On the top left, from left to right, are deer toes, turtle shells, and cans used in the stomp dance through the ages--top right the woman is showing the cans fastened to her legs. . . bottom right the audience has joined in

The grounds are beautifully kept, and the day was lovely, educational, and fun.  We stopped at the temple on the way home, so ended the day with a spiritual boost.

Week 48
Yesterday we had a baptism--always a wonderful experience.  Johnathan wandered by the booth that the missionaries put up on campus every week.  He said as he talked with them and the YSA members who were with the elders, he simply felt they were teaching the truth and that he needed to learn more.  We don't know him well yet, but hope to get to know him as he comes to institute.  The bishop commented in ward council today that for the first year he was bishop we had no baptisms in the ward, but now we have had six in the last nine months.

Elder Richards, Johnathan, and Elder Van Alfen

At FHE on Monday, the activity was bleached T-shirts.  Instead of adding color, as in tie-dye, you tape down a cut-out then spray bleach water on it, followed by vinegar to neutralize the bleach.  We weren't going to do any, but there was an extra shirt, so Elder Kerr decided to make a chess piece.  I think his knight was one of the best efforts of the evening.  Too bad the shirt is too small for him!

Artists working madly

Kerby's stellar knight

On Saturday morning we had a CES in-service in Edmond.  Brother Valletta showed a picture of Walter Johnson--a baseball player from 100 years ago who was the fastest pitcher ever in that time period. He then showed a picture of a player today, and asked how he would fare if dropped into the game 100 years ago.  The answer is likely that he would be a far superior player--faster, stronger, taller, better nourished, in better condition, etc.  (Walter Johnson's pitches were just over 91 mph--unheard of in 1916; the fastest pitcher today does over 105 mph and almost all current pitchers do over 90 routinely.)  Brother Valletta then asked us to consider how emphasis on the body has completely overshadowed emphasis on the character today.  The societal focus seems to have moved completely to the 'tabernacle' and away from the spirit it houses.  A really interesting discussion followed about how to help students with doctrinal mastery.  This was more applicable to the early-morning seminary teachers than to us, because it's the first year of doctrinal mastery replacing scripture mastery in seminary.  It will work its way into institute in another year or two.  

One of the things I really enjoy at the institute is putting up spiritual thoughts on the bulletin boards and in frames in the lounge area--I change them every month.  I create a lot of them myself, but the LDS website has some incredible picture quotes. Perhaps I was the only person around who didn't know about this website, but in case anyone else is unaware, here is the link to an amazing array of beautiful picture quotes:  https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/categories/inspirational-picture-quotes?lang=eng  Interestingly, the October, 2016, General Conference quotes are just lettering (no pictures), but they are still great for printing and posting.

I just can't say enough about the wonderful young adults in our ward.  They continue to amaze us with the depth of their testimonies and desires to follow the Savior.  Our classes are so delightful to teach because the students (though few in number) are mighty in spirit and participate so thoroughly.

Week 47
Just a few more examples of OSU school spirit around town--these are at Walmart and are made out of Dr. Pepper, Fanta, and Coke cartons:

Hanging from the rafters

That's Pistol Pete

Yesterday was the game against the Texas Longhorns, and OSU won handily.  We did our Walmart shopping on Friday night, and anything that you can think of for use in a tailgating party had been completely wiped out.  There are RV parking lots (commandeered from student housing--don't know where the poor students park) that are just full of RVs from the night before the game until long after the game.  Folks pay $1500 to be able to park there for the six home games.  In the VIP RV parking lot, they pay $15,000, and some people have more than one slot reserved!

We had a very nice temple baptism trip on Wednesday--just love the dedication of our wonderful YSAs, and love getting to know the ones who ride with us better.

That's Thomas doing his "sorority girl pose'

The wildlife report this week is all in our apartment.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings we woke up to mouse droppings on our stove.  We put out some traps, but haven't seen mice or their droppings since--don't know if they ran off in fear or just ran off (or died somewhere in the apartment--ICK).  Then on Friday night, Kerby called me to come to the vanity, and there was a little salamander about 1 1/2 inches long just sitting quietly on the counter.  Can't wait to see what comes to visit next.

On Saturday and Sunday, we watched General Conference at the institute--about 15 were there on Saturday and about 20 today.  What wonderful, uplifting messages from all of the speakers.  It was especially great to see Zack, who's been a member 2 months, soak it all up.  He was just overwhelmed by the conference and the spirit he felt as he listened to the speakers and music.

Between the sessions today, Brother Linsenmeyer brought his grill to cook steaks and chicken, and others brought potatoes and toppings and desserts.  Several more YSA's came who'd been watching the morning session at home, so there was a good crowd.  The main dessert was my surprise birthday cake.  Elder Kerr got help from Nicole in ordering and picking up the cake.  As I've mentioned before, it's very hard to surprise someone you're hanging out with 24/7!

I got some beautiful flowers from the grandkids yesterday (I highly suspect their mothers of making all arrangements).  All in all a very nice Stillwater birthday.