Family, Flowers, Flying

Wow it has been two weeks and much has happened, so lets begin with a big update.

Bob digging the hole for the rock and wheel monument

Elder Peart, Elder Call, Bob, and President Platt (Evanston  Stake) setting the rock

Elder Lynn Summerhays, the former general authority over our mission, donated a wheel and beautiful carved rock to the mission.  Bob and I finished digging and adding gravel to the hole in preparation for the crane to come in and set the rock.  We are ever learning new things and this was just another one.  It is beautiful and now has solar spots to light it at night.  The saying on the bottom says, "To Those Who Came Before Us". That happens to be the song we missionaries learned last year and are doing again this year to sing in the wards around Evanston. It has become our theme song.

Debra with her wheel barrow full of gravel for the hole. .It took about 4 loads.

Bob and Debra by completed monument

Debra's sister, Rosemary Yates, came to visit on May 25-27.  She served here the year before we came and was so excited to come back. She served with Elder and Sister Peart and they were all glad to see each other again.  Friday we rode trail 6 in the side by side and saw many beautiful sights she wanted to see again.  The Spring flowers are really blooming, but it was still very cold, so we both bundled up!

Cold drive along trail 6

We hiked up to some arches and neat rock formation along the Dairy Bowl road.  There are so many beautiful places on this ranch.  I know we will miss them too when we are finished with this mission.

Bob and Debra at the arch above Dairy Bowl

Debra and Rosemary in the arch

Saturday Debra and Rosemary left Bob on the ranch without his truck and drove to Idaho Falls for what was suppose to be a reunion with all the siblings but it turned out to be a sisters reunion with Sherry, Richard, Linda, Rosemary and Debra.  This was over memorial day so we visited the cemetery there and Jon's (the big donkey) grave.  How we all miss him but are grateful to know we will all be together again one day.

Linda, Debra, Sherry, Rosemary (the sistee uglers) at Jon's grave (the big donkey)

While we girls were away Elder Barton helped to build a couple of bridges over deep ditches that are still running.  There will be several mud and water crossings but the deep ones we are trying to bridge.

Bob at "driftwood crossing" on trail 14 and 6

Sister Barton had two new experiences as soon as she got back from Idaho.  She pulled a truck with a tow strap so it could be jumped (the battery was dead) and then she pulled her first trailer, a two holer port a jon down to one of our staging areas.

Debra's first trailer pull  

In the middle of all this Bob's Mom, Evelyn, fell and broke her right wrist.  It did require surgery and we are so thankful that our sweet Daughter, Heidi, was there to help out and be with her.  She is recovering and in good spirits.

Evelyn, Bob's Mom, just before surgery for her broken wrist

On June 1, we flew to Austin Texas for our oldest grandson, Brenan Mayhew, high school graduation.  He graduated Cum Laude, with a distinctive graduate award.  He will be attending BYU in Provo Utah in the fall.  We are so proud of him and his accomplishments.

Brenan Jacob Mayhew

Proud  Grandpa and Grandma at Brenan's High school graduation

We celebrated with dinner at Salt Lick BBQ, the best BBQ we have ever eaten.  We have to go there every time we visit Austin.  Sometimes we go twice but not on this visit!

The whole gang eating the best BBQ ever at the Salt Lick in Austin TX

The next morning we got up early and went to an indoor sky diving place called I Fly.  It was so fun.  Bob says it was beyond awesome.  That should definitely be on everyone's bucket list!  You are inside a big wind tube like thing and you just lay down on the air and fly!

Jacob, Shaylin, Brenan, Debra, Bob, Kyen, and Heather ready to fly! 

We went to church with the family and then flew back to the ranch today.  It was so fun to be with family but also to get back to the ranch and our mission.  Treks start this week so our next blog will be all about our first trek of 2017!

The wild flowers are blooming in full force and so pretty.

Growing in the middle of the road

pretty wild flowers at D L and L

Coldest Week Yet

Our week started out so great!  I found out one of my cousins, Connie Asay Wigginton lives in Evanston.  We were able to get her number and visit her and her husband Floyd.  Floyd and I were in the same class at Pleasant Grove High School and Connie always lived within one block of me as we were growing up.  We had a nice visit and will be seeing more of them now we know they are here in Evanston.

With my sweet cousin, Connie Wigginton

Monday was our warmest day so Bob and I took a 3 mile hike up to "Romance Rock"  It is a beautiful view from there.

View from the top of romance rock.

At the base of romance rock.

For our family home evening Jolene Allphin, the author of the book Tell My Story Too, came and talked with us.  She has compiled hundreds of stories about the Willie and Martin handcart companies and the Hunt and Hodges wagon companies that traveled with them.  The book also has stories of the rescuers.  One of the stories is about the Blue Angel, Joseph Young, who was a rescuer who rode in on a white horse or mule wearing a blue coat.  In the snow all they could see was the blue coat coming towards them, hence the name the Blue Angel.

Jolene Allphin with her Blue Angel coat

We worked inside most of the week as the high temperatures were in the mid 30's.  We had a couple of nights in the low 20's but thankfully our pipes did not freeze again.  Are we getting used to this weather?  NOT!  But it sure is getting green and pretty.  We had several short hail, and snow storms that only stayed on the ground for a few hours.  It even drove a couple of the cowboys into our trek center to escape the storm.  They closed down I 80 at Evanston for 24 hours because of the snow which was much worse east of Evanston.  Cheyenne had 36 inches of snow! Makes us even more thankful for our nice warm trailer!

Cowboys leaving after the storm

Debra was in charge of making 21 new port-a-jon plugs.  What they do is keep all the "you know what" from splashing out of the pot as they are moved around the ranch.  Bob is still working on the 89 port-a-jons getting the new ones mounted and ready and the older ones repaired.  I am not sure how this new skill will help us in our post mission life, but for here it is an important job and someone has to do it!  (all the missionaries)

Debra at the table saw

Debra at the belt sander

Siisters Howard,.Theler,and Peart working on the plugs  

One of the finished port-a-john plugs

Bob bolting port-a-johns to one of the new trailers.

Bob helped Elder McDowell (also from Mesa) one cold blustery day upstairs pulling up the floor to install some new lights in our main room.  Together Bob and I made some window sills for the trek center out of the beautiful wormy maple wood that the hand carts are made out of.

Elder McDowell and Bob taking out the floor to add lights to the downstairs room.

Bob with one of the four beautiful window sills he made.

On Thursday night we had another special guest, Andrew Olsen.  He is the author of "The Price We Paid" and "Follow Me to Zion"  We get the best of the best firesides.  It helps to understand the great but necessary sacrifices those great pioneers made for each of us whether we are members of the church or not.

Andrew Olsen, a great fireside.

We went on a very cold and muddy side by side drive on one of the trails to see how much water is still out there.  A LOT.  It is not passable yet for the trekkers who come in 2 1/2 weeks, but we are praying for weather to help dry out the trails.  We are telling our trekkers to bring extra shoes and socks because there will be water.  This is so different than last year when we saw one day the whole time we were here with a little sprinkle and NO water on the ranch except a few little ponds.

Debra driving and freezing in the side by side.

We are expecting warmer weather this week, and hopefully our last snow storms but certainly not our last cold night.

Four Seasons in One Week

This week has been busy and crazy with the weather.  It began last Monday with a fireside given by Mike Erickson.  He is an author of the book "Destiny's Song".  It is the story of his great great grandmother and her trek with the Martin handcart company.  He also sings with a group called Cedar Breaks.  He played his guitar and told us stories. 

Mike Ericksen

That afternoon we had a crazy hail storm.  You should all experience that in  trailer!

You will just have to imagine the, sound it was loud!

Bob in the water line trench.  It was very muddy!

By Tuesday it had warmed up to where we could paint the trim on the addies doors, and dig trenches for the new water line they are taking into the depot.  They are hooking it into the well we use on the rest of the village.  Have I told you how unbelievably good this water is here?  I wish we could take this water, cold and pure, to our home in Mesa.  I have never had better water!

Debra with paint brush in hand at the addies

Bob and I then took a side by side up to trail 6 and had a fun snow ball fight in one of the unmelted drifts.  They are melting a bit and the water is somewhat soaking in.  We all rode trails to figure out if they were passible yet.  Everyone has "river crossings" where there has been no water before.  We still have 3 weeks before the trekkers come and hopefully by then we will have some more drying out.  The wind blows like crazy so that should help some.

Snow ball fight field.  Our attempt at a selfie?

Several of the Sister missionaries braided new pull ropes for the handcarts.  Ever learning new skills!

Sisters Clark and McDowell braiding ropes.

All the missionary couples drove to Afton Wyoming to attend the Star Valley temple on Wednesday.  It was a beautiful drive.  We went in and out of Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming a couple of times each way.  It was a beautiful drive and I have to eat my words that Wyoming is not beautiful.  It is gorgeous and very diverse.  It has flooded fields all the way up and back.  It is very green and the temple is very small (the smallest one I have visited) but the spirit was very large.  We love the temple!

Beautiful Star Valley Temple with the ever blowing Wyoming wind!

We had our warmest day on Thursday.  It got up to 75 degrees.  That didn't last long as Saturday night it went down to 23 degrees.  With the wind that is VERY cold.  It was not like this last year.  We are expecting more snow next week!
Brother and Sister Frogley did a fireside for us on Thursday night about ministering angles.  It was very good.  It was about doing our family history and how our ancestors have a vested interest in what we do with them.  They are about us to help us and lift us up.  As the scripture says,
D&C 128:15 And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.

The Frogley's

We continue to clean, repair, and ready the port a jons for the trekkers.  It is like anything new thing we do, the more you do it the easier it gets and the better we get at it.  We are getting pretty good at "port a jons".
We have two "stray" sheep dogs that keep leaving their flock to visit the missionaries.  They are pups and quite like the prime rib that Elder McDowell fed them the first night.

Elder Barton, don't you know missionaries aren't allowed to bring their dogs!

We had two route reviews this weekend with the Bennion Stake and the Layton Creekside Stake.  These are groups that we will be leading when their youth come up.  We are looking forward to treks starting, and the weather settling down!
Today is Mothers Day and all the Elders fixed our Sunday dinner.  We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, muffins and all the fixings.  It was delicious.  Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful Mothers in the world!

An welcomed Sisters visit as the Elders prepared Sunday Dinner.

The Elders busily fixing dinner for Mothers Day.  An unusual site!

Mud, Sand Bags, Spring, and Wedding Bells

Weather wise this has been a beautiful week!  We have had two days that have reached 70 degrees and the snow is melting quite fast.  Now we deal with mud up to the axels of the trucks.  We got stuck, called for help, the rescue truck got stuck and we called for more help.  It took two trucks to pull us both out. (The rescue truck was worse off than our truck)

The first stuck truck.  Elders Barton, Morretti, and McDowell unable to dig it out.  (the 4 wheel drive failed)

Second truck to the rescue.  (it's four wheel drive WAS working)  It was stuck worse than ours.  Note the tow strap.  It took two trucks to pull it out!

Some of the torn up meadow the Elders had to repair.

The ranch manager, Mike Meek, and wildlife manager Scot McFarland, came and spoke to us for FHE (family home evening)  It always amazes me how the church has all aspects of living covered.  Scott took us out the next morning at 6 AM to watch the sage grouse mating dance.  We saw a couple but because of the weather it was not as amazing as we saw last year.
Debra went out with three others sisters to paint the Dairy Barn.  We had a great time and a neat walk around that area.  Again we I say we have some outstanding missionaries that we serve with.

Sister Wilson, Sister Barton, and Sister McDowell painting the dairy barn.  Sister Moretti was taking the picture.

Bob and Debra worked a lot with the port-a-johns this week.  That is one of Bob's main assignments. There are 89 port-a-johns that he is responsible to keep repaired, maintained and moved around.  We are getting pretty good at hooking up trailers and working together.

Elder Barton, king of the port-a-johns

Sister Barton nearly getting blown away in the Wyoming wind!

Six couples went to Bear River to help the community fill sand bags for the expected flooding in that community.  We helped fill and move 1,000 bags.  This was after a full day of work at the ranch so we were mighty tired at the end of that day!

We helped fill over 1,000 sand bags!

Filling sand bags for Bear River

The sheep are back on the ranch with their babies and the baby cows are out and about.  Spring is definitely in the air.

The sheep being moved across the pond behind the trek center.

A pretty blue bird that flew into the "skunk shed" with me.

Signs of Spring.  This nest was on one of the port-a-johns!

Cows and their calves by one of the many water ponds that will not be there this summer.

We are hoping and praying for good weather so the trekkers can get onto their trails without sinking in the mud.  We need some warm weather.  All of the Elders went out one day this week to shovel through 3 snow drifts that are deep across our roads in an effort to help them melt faster.

Bob on dumpster duty

We had a great happening in the family on Friday May 5 (Cinco de Mayo)  Bobs Mom, Evelyn, was married to Warren Steffey.  We were so grateful that our Daughter Heidi and her husband Wynn and daughter Alea were able to attend and did much of the preparation for the wedding. They were able to facetime us through the ceremony so it was almost like being there, minus the hugs.  We hope they have many years of fun and happiness together!

We are well and enjoying our mission and just hope and pray that the blessing given to us by Elder Durham continues....that our bodies will be renewed and strengthen in the work.