Week 52--One Year in Stillwater!!
Yesterday was our one year anniversary of arriving in Stillwater, and we have exactly 6 months to go until we leave on May 5. Technically our release date is April 26 (18 months after we entered the MTC) but we are going to extend our time so we can complete the Spring semester.

Since Monday was Halloween, FHE was, of course, a Halloween party.  Fun decorations and treats, and several rounds of Halloween-themed Minute to Win It games with three teams competing.  It was very fun.

Tuesday night at about 11:30 we felt the 4.5 magnitude earthquake centered in Pawnee.  Lasted about 20 seconds and gave us a good shake, but nothing like the big one in September.

By Monday morning, many of the House Decs from Homecoming were already down--the houses spent the rest of the week getting the metal frames deconstructed and pulled down.  So much work for so little time!

The house across the street on Monday morning

Monday night Hannah (pictured outside the temple last week) received her mission call--Scotland/Ireland Mission.  She is so excited and she'll be a great missionary.

Every week the missionaries assigned to the YSA ward set up a booth on campus--it's from 1-3 pm alternating between Wednesday and Thursday.  It's location varies as assigned by the OSU folks.  The missionaries generally find a few people to teach each week and get to talk to lots more.  Several members of the ward participate at the booth as well.  Last Spring they used a handmade poster that was hard to see and didn't do very well in windy or wet weather.  In August we had this vinyl poster made that includes a message and picture on both sides.  It seems to work well.

After we wandered by the booth, we went to the new Welcome Area by the student union.  It was just dedicated last week, and features statues of a mare and her foal.  The mare represents the faculty, staff, and alumni who nurture the new freshmen (the foal).  There is also a pretty little fountain and a saddle statue on a fence, I guess just representing OSU Cowboys.  It really is a lovely spot.

To get there, we went through this lovely garden outside the Atherton Hotel--it's run by the Hotel & Restaurant Management students and is connected to the student union.

Kerby's poor tendon was tired after the long walk.  He is still in the boot for 3 or 4 more weeks, and feels like the heel is improving but very slowly.

After we caught a mouse a few weeks ago, we've just kept a sticky trap by the refrigerator (mostly because they came in packs of 2).  Yesterday I just happened to look down at it and there was a mouse--still wiggling!  Even though we're friendly, sharing the house with a mouse is not on our list of charitable activities.

So, at the end of a year, we are very grateful for the call to serve in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Mission--Stillwater Church Education System.  It has been a wonderful experience.  We love working with the YSA ward, we love studying the gospel so intently and teaching our classes, and we love the young single adults in Stillwater.  (And we love making soup and bread on Tuesday, even if it does wear us out!)  We're looking forward to what the next six months hold.