A visit from family

Barrett, Beckie and family arrived shortly after Midnight, July 18th and spent a few days with us in Louisville.  After a late  breakfast on Saturday we went across the street to the vegetable farm and bought some produce for our dinner. 

 Later that day we went to the Slugger Museum in downtown Louisville.  We took a tour of the museum and got to see how the Louisville Slugger Bats are made. Each of us got a miniature bat to keep.

 Sunday we went to church in the Shawnee Branch.  Barrett and family followed us and went on a tour of the branch picking up those who needed rides. 

Mom had a nice meal prepared after church.  We had all the missionaries join us for dessert. (They ate at the Lemmon's house).  In the afternoon we rode over to the Locks with our family and Elder and Sister Lemmons.  They took this picture of us.

Monday, Mom and I worked at the office in the morning and were joined by Barrett and Beckie at noon.  We went to the new KFC store, bought lunch and took it to Tyler Park.

After lunch we went to the river and walked across the big four bridge to Indiana.  It was one of the hottest days we had this summer with high humidity!  We came- home had  supper and took the kids swimming at the pool.  Tuesday Mom and I went to work.  Barrett and Beckie came by and brought Amelia to stay with us.  She worked with us on Tuesday while they went to tour the Toyota car factory in Georgetown.  They make a car there every 43 seconds.  We had a lot of fun with Amelia at the office.  She was definitely a hit.  Wednesday morning they left for Nauvoo, Illinois.

They were able to take in pageants on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings and then drive to St. Louis on Friday to catch a plane back to Seattle early Saturday Morning.  


On Friday, the 25th we decided to have a pioneer day celebration for the missionaries who came into the office. We barbecued some chicken, had corn, beans, watermelon, brownies, etc after their District Meeting. They are Spanish-speaking missionaries. 

The last picture is us hanging out in Louisville on Saturday prior to going to the Slugger museum. We really enjoyed Barrett, Beckie and family visiting.  Their family has really grown up while we have been gone. Love to all!

Fourth of July in Kentucky

 We had a great 4th of July and weekend.  We worked in the office on the 4th.  It was fun to put up the American flag in front of the office. 

 We were visited by a group of Elders and Sisters who are all Spanish speaking and work with the Louisville 5th Branch.  They were at the nearby chapel to have a district meeting.  

After taking their picture they wanted to spell out AMERICA using body signs.  The Sister on the end was the exclamation point.  

We left work a bit early and went home to enjoy a few minutes of the holiday.  We had a lot of fireworks in the neighborhood.  We watched a new BYU movie on the internet entitled "We the People" about the creation of the Constitution of the United States. 

Saturday we were out shopping and ran into a caterer who was selling barbecue pork with all the trimmings.  We bought some and then brought it home and ate it on our patio.  

The Last picture is a map I had made of our mission showing the branches and wards.  It goes from Olney, Illinois, to Beattyville, Kentucky.  The drive time from one end to the other is roughly 8 hours. 

Sunday Mom and I taught Gospel Principles and had a investigator in our class who had been talking with the Elders in our branch months ago and then stopped.  He said that on the Saturday he was walking down Bardstown Road praying to know what God wanted him to do.  Two of our Sister Missionaries came up behind him on their bikes and started to talk with him.  He took this as a sign that God was trying to tell him something.  He called the Elders to get the address and came to church.  We hope he will continue to be taught.  

We had a small group at church but still had  a wonderful testimony meeting.  It was the Lemmons' turn to host lunch for all of the Missionaries.  It was a real treat  to have someone else do lunch and have it at their home.  In the evening we visited a Sister in the Branch who is having some health problems.  She just got home from the hospital and needed help changing the bandages on her arm.  I was glad I've had some first aid training. 

Today we took our next door neighbor who is 80 + years to visit his wife who is in a rest home nearby. He has a friend who is able to take him a few days a week. We had offered to drop him off any time on our way to work so he took us up on it in order to go with his wife to some Dr. Appointments. So we are able to spend some time talking to him about we do.

We loved seeing all of your Fourth of July pictures and hearing about your Holiday. We miss you all but are grateful for our opportunity to serve here. We are also grateful for the wonderful country that we live in and  the sacrifices of all who have come before us.

Mom's birthday and saying goodbye to the Woodbury's

I had a wonderful birthday last Friday. Thanks for your love and support. Here is a picture at the office with some of the missionaries who came in on my Birthday. Dad brought me roses that you can see behind my head and he had the missionaries sing to me. 

That night, we went out to eat with two missionaries. One is in our branch and his birthday was last week also. 

I got lots of calls and texts with singing and birthday wishes from the family and the missionaries.    

Saturday, the 21st, we took a ride to Brandenburg and then down to Madisonville to deliver mattresses to missionaries. We are getting a lot of new elders this transfer and so they are forming a few threesomes.  It was a long day. We took the van and drove 400 miles but we got to see a lot of the mission country. Both towns we went to were pretty small but they both had a chapel, which we went to see. It was very hot that day and were glad to have the missionaries help to unload.

One day Dad and Bro Lemmon went to set up a new apartment and left Sister Lemmon with me in the office. She was trying to catch everything up before they left for a week for a medical apt in California.  We had six phones to answer and it became pretty comical which one to answer, because they all look alike. 

Tuesday was transfers.  I put in a picture of the parking lot with dad putting a bike rack on the back of a senior couple's car. It was a crazy day- but we did it!  We had a car transport come right after the parking lot cleared from transfers to pickup two cars sold by the church.  We just barely got them loaded when it was time to drive the departing missionaries to the temple for a session.

We have a picture of the Woodburys - their last time to be at the temple. This is a bitter sweet time for them. They will leave on Friday. They have been great and we wish them the best!  

The Woodbury's and Assistants went to pick them up the new mission president the next day. President Brough (the new mission president)came into the office on Friday afternoon, so we got to meet him for a few minutes. Saturday morning, Jason went over to the mission home and set up the computers for the new President. He dropped me off at the office to pull Media (sister Lemmon's job) because we were getting so behind. I also had lots of baptismal forms still to be processed. It was our best month in the number of baptisms .  When he was done setting up the computers we went out to lunch and then we went grocery shopping and did laundry and cleaning in the afternoon.  

June update

Earlier this month the Halvorsen's ended their mission and headed home.  They have been working with us in the office since we started our mission and will be missed.  This is a picture from when we went out to dinner with the Halvorsen's at O'Charley's.

  On another day we took 2 of the Elder's from our branch out to dinner because one of them had a birthday. We took them to Franco's.   We do a lot of eating out, but I'm sure you've noticed. 

One fun thing we got to attend recently was the high school graduation for a boy in our branch. We took his younger sister with us and then brought them both home.  We enjoyed it and there were excellent speeches given. This picture shows a cross section of who was there. We felt bad that the boy's mother wasn't feeling well and decided not to go.

On Friday June 13th we celebrated our Wedding Anniversary. 

After work we drove southeast and spent a few minutes at the Abraham Lincoln Birth place.  They have a memorial building that covers the spot where he was born. They have an old cabin inside that is representative of the cabin he would have lived in.  

Years ago, the Nancy Lincoln Inn was built near the site with several small cabins for guests.   

This is a cabin built about 9 miles away where Lincoln was raised as a boy.  

We ate dinner at Colton's Steak House and Grill in Campbellsville on Friday Evening.  

Here is Barbara with some cowboy friends.  Can you see the guy checking her out through the window?

Saturday morning we met the Lemmon's at Russell Springs. The picture shows the mission van at the apartment we were closing.  The Senior couple who lived here went home at the end of their mission and we had no one to replace them so we had to close this apartment.  We were able to get all the furniture in the truck and trailer.

Here we are at Betty's OK Café in Columbia.   We ate here after we got the van and trailer loaded and were headed back home.  

This is a picture of the smokestacks for the electric generating plant a couple of miles from our apartment.  We went on a walk by the river where they are located and the sunset made a beautiful picture with the steam coming from the plant. 

Finally we had a nice Father's day.  We served dinner at our apartment with the six other missionaries assigned to the Shawnee Branch.  Barbara fixed a great meal with ham, potatoes and all the fixings. Notice the cute Father's Day Cake, and one of the Elder's making music with our glasses.

Celebrating Memorial Day

May 26, 2014

We didn't write  a week ago because it was Transfers and was a very busy week for us. We did get to go to the Temple on the 20th with the 8 Elders who were leaving to go home. We took a picture with 3 who we had served with ( 2 in the Shawnee branch and 1 was assistant to the president and worked in the office with us). 

The 2nd picture we took on Saturday with the group from the Shawnee Branch that we took to the Temple to do Baptisms.  I made it black and white, because our camera was shooting pink again.

It took us 2 1/2 hours to pick everyone up and get to the temple but it was a great experience once we got there! It was one sister's 1st time to the temple and she has been a member for 30 years. We always take everyone out to McDonald's after the temple- so we added a shot of us at McDonald's. 

A week ago we took several people from the Branch to the Crestwood stake center to a swap and shop where things you don't want any more are given away for free. Our car was overloaded on the way home with all the goodies they picked up. It would have been a great picture but we were too busy juggling items to take a picture. It was a fun day for all. Every one kept saying how they loved America! You can get a lot of things for free! When we dropped off one of the girls from the temple a few days later her brother was outside and he was wearing a Wasatch Wasps t-shirt. He said his mother picked it up at the swap and shop! Small world! Jason and I were "Wasatch Wasps" in High School!

Sunday we were planning to feed the missionaries and the Lemmon's offered to bring some stew they were making, so they came to dinner also. Here is  picture of them.

There is also a pictures of the missionaries enjoying the food. We got two new elders at transfers. We miss the ones who left, but always love the new ones who come. 

Monday, (today) we had to work at the office, but we planned a Barbecue for lunch. I made everyone eat outside. We found a tiny piece of shade to sit in. It was 90 degrees with 90 % humidity. I think it was our hottest day! But very fun.

We invited the Woodburys and we got our pictures taken with them. They leave in one month and the Halvorsens leave in one week.  The Lemmons are training to take their place. They were supposed to serve only in the Shawnee branch, but we are happy to have a replacement for Halvorsens in the office. They are over cars, housing, referrals and media.

With the Mission President and his wife.

We left work early on Memorial day and went over to Cave Hill cemetery. This is a large cemetery near the office.  It is beautiful, has 213,000 people interred in it and also has a National cemetery.  The first picture is of the Confederate dead.  The confederate flag flies over this portion and has the inscription on it base CSA Confederate States of America.  

This is the National cemetery with the flags.  It was beautiful today with all the flags. 

It was a great day but we missed being with our family.

Mothers day in Kentucky

Last Sunday evening, May 4, our new Senior couple, the Lemmons,  arrived here. We visited with them and the Halvorsens took them to their apartment.

Monday night we stayed late at the office to plant a pot of flowers to go out front. Here is the picture of the flowers we planted. They look so cheery! We planted some at our house also. Then the Lemmons came over and we took them on a little tour of the area. (They were looking for Walmart). 

Tuesday was the missionary leadership council so we had 30 plus missionaries for breakfast at the office.  Then they go to meetings at the mission home. Their meetings ran long so we waited for missionaries to come back to the office to pick up media and did not leave the office till 6:30 pm. 

Wednesday, Dad helped some Sisters with the brakes on their bikes.  That evening, we transported some young women to mutual.  During Mutual, we visited a family with the Lemmons. 

Thursday, Dad spent helped out a member of our branch who was at court.  That evening we took the Lemmon's to visit a sister from the branch who is a shut in. She is very fun to visit and makes us laugh. 

Friday evening we went shopping for Mother's day and it was pouring rain all the way home. It's not like Washington rain. We couldn't see anything!  

Saturday we went to a baptism for a man in the branch.  We took a sister who is taking the missionary lessons as well as three other young women. Again, pouring buckets of rain.  After the baptism there was chili feed at the branch followed  by a dessert auction. It was to benefit the young  women's camp program.  We took a banana cake that sold for $50.  The young women made over $1000 to help with their camp.  It was a lot of fun for everyone. 

Sunday we had took several to church and then after taking them home, we picked up the four missionaries and brought them to our apartment for a Mothers day dinner of roast beef, potatoes, gravy, carrots, salad, French bread, and multiple desserts that we bought at the auction. 

We had the three Sr. missionary couples there plus the 4 missionaries.  One of our elders is ending his mission on the 14th and another is being transferred on the 13th. We always grow to love them and hate to see them go. But each transfer is a growing period for them as" all our transfers in life" are necessary for our growth. This picture includes the Lemmons on the right.

After dinner the Elders all called and or skyped with their families.  We played Seek while they were having their turns. We took the Elders back to their apartment around 7 pm. 

The last picture was taken last Monday in the office.  The Lemmon's came into the office for training. They will be replacing the Halvorsens who leave at the beginning of June.   The three Assistants to the President fixed lunch for the adult couples and it was a very nice lunch. The assistant on the right leaves on Wednesday. He is done with his mission.

Then at 7:00 we went to the mission home to have dinner and meet the 7 new missionaries who just arrived. 


On Tuesday night we went to a special temple session with the departing missionaries, the mission president and his wife and the other senior couples.

Thanks for all your calls and cards and packages for Mother's day. It was a very nice day!