January 2013

The new year had special meaning for us as a Russell family. As a part of our Christmas celebration we traveled to beautiful Costa Rica. Dawn and I traveled with Julia, Holly and Jon to Phoenix where we met Robyn, Wayne, Kesler and Indy. Once we arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica we stayed at the Holiday Express motel for the evening. The next day we drove in two cars to Uvita along the western coast.

Robyn had rented a house in the mountains for all of us to stay. After resting up we were not long before we reached the beaches at Dominical. The boys surfed and the girls spent time on the beach and in the waves. For the next two days we spent touring and scheduled three excisions.

The first excursion on our third day in the beautiful country was a boat tour from Ballena State Park. From the boat we snorkeled the whale tale reef. This was Dawn’s first time in the ocean snorkeling. We saw many fish and I filmed the fish with the new GoPro camera. It was a long swim back to the boat. While resting up we looked for whales and dolphins at sea. It was not until we returned to the caves south of the park did we see dolphins. Two large bottle nosed dolphins swam next to the boat.

The next day we left early for Baru Hacienda to zip line with the family. This was Julia’s first time on a zip line. Our guide was so helpful and encouraging. She did it without hesitation. After eight zip lines we were ready to get on with the next excursion. While we were waiting for our trek to the zip line we walked through a butterfly garden. Also, our guide pointed out many animals on our way to the zip line stands. We say anteaters, sloths, monkeys and many insects.

After the zip line experience we had to drive for 2 hours to Sierpe to boat the mangroves. Jon and Holly went to Ballena to dive while we cruised the river with a guide. This was an exceptional tour. We saw so much flora and fauna. While navigating through the water hyacinth we came on a giant crocodile. There were others as well as American alligators along the shores of the river. The birds were remarkable. There were parakeets, scarlet McCaws, herons, egrets and many others. There were an abundance of iguanas and we even saw a green boa constrictor. But the highlight was the while faced capuchin monkey with a new born on her back. How exciting to see her come right up to the boat. It was here we saw our first Howler monkeys. We had heard them each morning near our mountain home.

The food was excellent, the people treated us with respect and courtesy. The weather was perfect and the landscape beautiful. It was a great trip. However, there were a couple of incidents worth mentioning. First, I contacted a colony of  Trombiculida , known as “chiggers”.  From my feet to my upper body, they caused extreme itch. No one else was affected. Also, I was seriously ill from a sore throat and fever but it lasted only two days. Dawn began to cough and so did Wayne and Jon. The rest seemed to escape the virus. Once we got home we have many in our area who are experiencing sever flu symptoms.

Our return to Idaho Falls, Idaho began as we boarded the Express Shuttle with temperatures below zero. There was little heat in the shuttle and hours of freezing conditions caught up to Dawn and she became ill. Her cough lasted weeks. Fortunately, I was unaffected and neither was Julia. She did remarkably well the entire trip.

Our trip to Lava Hot Springs (-5 degrees)

The water felt soooo goood!

It is time to get out sweetie!!

The remainder of January was spent indoors since the outside temperature was below zero every evening and in single digits during the day. We finally were so cold, Dawn and I left for Lava Hot Springs to get into the heated pools. The temperature remained cold (-5 degrees) outside but the water was very warm. Then we visited Gordon and Paul Anderson in Newton, Utah and it was even colder in Cache Valley. We managed to do a cross country ski during the day. On our way to Midway, Utah the air quality was so bad we could hardly see the mountains.

The real reason for our trip was to get into “hot water”. So I scheduled a “update” scuba dive in the only warm water in the entire western states. The Homestead Crater is the perfect place to scuba in the winter. This volcanic pool lies under a dome of lava. The pool is 96 degrees and 65 feet deep. My instructor, Eddie, was terrific and I felt comfortable with the skills I had to check off to get updated certification. Now I dive in the Caribbean after completing this dive. I have not been on scuba since 1996 when I left the Army and duty site at TAMC Hawaii.

On our way back home we stayed with Josh and Danielle. They were busy doing home storage. She is canning meat and vegetables in her new glass jars. We had fun with the kids before leaving for home the next morning. It is worth mentioning the drive home. That morning we traveled through a freezing rain and ice covered roads. The drive was harrowing as we traveled at a snail’s pace. There were cars off the road and trucks passing us within inches. We finally got clear of the terrifying conditions at the top of Malad pass.

Lastly, we stopped to visit with Bill and Marsha Peterson Schmitt. I had not seen they since before Linda had passed away. She is my second cousin and an avid genealogist.  I have an interest in working on the Peterson family history. Rosanne Boardman has recently returned from a visit to Sweden. She spent time with our Swedish family members. How about a trip to Sweden to meet our living relatives? I am thinking seriously about it. Dawn also has many Swedish relatives still living in the home lands.

The sunset from our house in Costa Rica  

The ocean at Dominical

Jon and Holly 

The burgers are ready!

Fun in Costa Rica!

Ballina Park boat ride 

Our lizard friend 

Here we are at Dominical Beach 

Robyn and Wayne in their landcruiser!

Playing cards at night in Costa Rica 

Uvita Beach 

Ready for the ZIP!

Mother and new baby 

Sierpe River tour 

Too many monkeys

Costa Rica has it all!

December 2012

Busy, busy, busy…The month of December is a very busy time. We have attended the Idaho Falls Temple ordinance worker dinner and fireside. We have visited so many of the ward members and provided for the children who are less fortunate. We had been busy getting gifts ready for the grand kids and off to the post office. Dawn has written a family letter and mailed a stack of Christmas cards to our friends and family members.

For Dawn, it is a non-stop effort in visiting and planning for the ward Christmas party. She and I were in charge of decorations and the meal. We did it last year as well so it was not as difficult as far as planning.  We met last Saturday and there were a boat-load of folks at the dinner. Dawn also arranged for a “Ugliest Christmas Sweater” contest. She wore her Christmas sweatshirt she has had for 20 years. Believe it or not another sweater won out!

This is the second week of convalescence for me. I had the sides of both my big toe nails removed. A piece of cake, right; well I am still hobbling around and it is mighty sore. Dr. Toleman said the procedure was 80% sure of no return of ingrown nails as they turn in with age.

Right now we are getting ready for our trip to Costa Rica. Julia, Robyn, Wayne, Kesler, Indy, Holly, Jon, Dawn and I are going to Dominical Costa Rica for a week. We plan to hike the jungle, snorkel the ocean and eat the food where it is warm and away from the cold of Idaho.

Today I shoveled snow for the first time this year. Out front the snowmen lawn ornaments are finally looking like they belong in Idaho. Although it is melting fast we did have an inch of snow this morning.

Oh, we received our Kashmir rug we bought in India last week. I will need to list it in our household items under home insurance and then put it in our will for our children to decide who will have it after we are gone! However, it is surely worth it because of the beauty it adds to our home. It is hand woven and took over one year to complete.

Following surgery 

Lonely Snowmen!

Christmas Cards for friends

   

The Kashmir rug from India

 This is Dawn making Christmas fudge for the neighbors. She has her hair in curlers getting ready for the next party!

Ugly Christmas sweater 

I hope to add a few photos of scarlet macaws and flying fish in the January blog after returning from Costa Rica. I also will have  video on YouTube taken with my new GoPro camera (above and below water!) Until then.

Lastly, we wish all of our friends and family a very 

 Merry Christmas!

November 2012

New Delhi airport

One year ago we planned a trip with the Nebekers to India through Fun for Less Travel. Month after month we paid our assessment and saved for the adventure. At one point I was not sure if it was worth it. After all we had just returned from Africa and were we up to another long travel to the other side of the world?

The time came for us to leave. We packed light and left Idaho Falls on the bus shuttle to Salt Lake City. It all began the next morning at the SLC airport meeting up with the Nebekers and many of the other attendees.

From SLC we traveled to Houston, TX then on to Newark, NJ. As we approached Newark we could see downtown New York still showing standing water from the storm, Sandy.  We left NJ on the 2^nd of November at 6:30PM and arrived in Delhi, India at 6:20PM on the 3^rd of November. We were tired yet excited.

From the beginning I wish to acknowledge how efficient the Fun For Less travel group really were. They moved our baggage, arranged for transportation on time and made this trip a wonderful experience. The busses moved us to the Trident Hotel in Delhi where we could rest up. Then beginning early, following a fabulous breakfast, we were back at the airport on our way to Kathmandu, Nepal.  As soon as we arrived we were on busses to explore the city and see the Buddhist temples before returning to the Hyatt Hotel. All our baggage had been taken to the hotel and we were met with a warm welcome.

The next day we boarded the Buddha airplane and flew to Mt. Everest, close and personal. We even were allowed to visit the pilot in the cockpit! It was spectacular and our return was safe.

While in Kathmandu we visited the Bagmati River to witness a cremation. Then we flew on to Varanasi (the oldest city in the world) India. From Varanasi we flew to Agra (home of the Taj Muhal) and following our visit to this incredible city we took a bus ride to Jaipur and finally on to Udaipur before flying back to New Delhi.

The photos tell the story so I will include them with discriptions.

There is no way I can tell all we came to enjoy and appreciate in this exotic and marvelous land of Northern India. Looking back on our trip to India, I can honestly say it was so worth the effort. We have broadened our understanding of the eastern cultures and religions. One last thought I had when returning to the United States…this society is so young compared to the ancient existence of India, the land where civilization began.

Golden Buddhist Temple in Kathmandu

Plane ride to the Himalayas 

Mt. Everest some 29,000 ft

Cremation in Kathmandu

The Hyatt at Kathmandu

Before the Taj in polluted air

The yogis of India and their snakes

The Red Fort of Agra

Vishnu the Hindu god of order

Dawn feeding an elephant

Our elephant ride to the Amber Fort in Jaipur

The Samode Baugh garden

The beautiful Mughal palace

The Jain Temple at Ranakpur

The Palace Fort at Udaipur

Udaipur Hotel (3rd in all the world for luxury)

The garden walk at Oberio Udai Vailas Udaipur Hotel

Palace on the edge of Udiapur lake

India Gate in Delhi

October 2012

To begin this exciting month of travel and activity, the news of Monica and Adam expecting a GIRL to be born in February was paramount. We waited for the announcement and were delighted with the news of a new grand-daughter.

The beginning of the month we drove to Utah to attend General Conference. On our way we stopped to visit with Elder Astle who recently got back from Mozambique.  He is one of the last elders we served with before we left almost one year ago. It is hard to believe time has passed so quickly.

As always, we stayed with Josh and family in Layton, Utah. I was able to accompany his scout troop on activity night. Danielle helped Dawn with her Relief Society work.

Before the conference we were able to play golf with Angie Bytheway, Dawn’s cousin, and visit with Holly and her family. Brock is doing well. Thursday night we had our Maputo Mozambique Mission reunion. There were many of the missionaries we served with in attendance. Also, every mission president to Mozambique was there: Spendloves, Packards, and Wallaces. It was good seeing all of them and particularly to visit with Chanizi living in Washington, DC now. She is the adopted daughter of the Spendloves.

Friday was spent shopping downtown SLC and golfing with Angie. Friday night we drove to Orem, Utah to attend the reception of Jennifer Godbold. She was recently married to a man from Nigeria, Africa. He was very handsome and very nice. We were so happy for Jennifer.

The Mision Presidents

 Dawn is crossing the walkway across the road to our apartment in SLC. We stayed at the University of Utah Guest House on the old Fort Douglas campus.

 Josh and his family at Heritage Village at the historical park across from Hogle Zoo, "This is the Place" monument.

Next to temple square 

Just outside the Conference Center

Halloween is filled with pumpkins on our steps! Along with many other decorations for this exciting holiday.

Then Sunday we were at the Conference Center early to find a seat in the balcony. We were so delighted to be there with 30,000 others. We were fortunate to team up with the Ross’ and there grand children upon leaving.  They were with us in Mozambique. They had served previously before we arrived in the mission. He also served as a sealer in the Johannesburg temple speaking Portuguese.

Life continues at a very rapid pace for Dawn, because she is the Relief Society president with many challenges ahead of her. Each day there are families to visit and assist. We have presented our mission experiences at a fireside at the church in October. I doubt many will ever want to go to Africa after we talked about the rigors of the mission. However, we have met the Metsteins in the Idaho Falls temple and asked them to sub for us when leaving for India in November. They were missionaries in Africa before serving another mission in Canada. We met them in the MTC. These are the folks who love to serve. I would love to go on another mission. Right now we are enjoying serving in the ward and stake as well as temple ordinance workers each Tuesday at 5:00AM each week.

Golfing with Woody and Julia is always enjoyable. We had our year end golfing outing last week. We went to Heise Hot Springs golf course and the weather was delightful. Now that we have snow on the ground, golfing has virtually ended for the season.

Max Bennett and I about to ride!









Dawn coming up the trail at Harriman Stake Park

One other adventure we were able squeeze in before the snow falls was a trip with Max Bennett to Harriman State Park. We rode with him for 15 miles on our mountain bikes around the rivers and lakes filled with ducks, geese and swans. We saw eagles (golden and bald) along with thousands of ducks. It was chilly and rained slightly but what a great trip before the beginning of winter. We hope we will have enough snow this year to ski the same area.

Halloween is the next celebration. Our house is decorated with all kinds of fall reminders. There are pumpkins on the steps out front and there are many goblins inside, sitting on the tables and stands in the front room.

We are in our last stages of preparation for our excursion to India beginning the first of November. We will be gone for two weeks. Our friends the Nebekers are meeting us in SLC to spend two weeks in Nepal and India. I am looking forward to the trip because the weather will be more desirable.

September 2012

This is the month of the beginning of the fall weather for Idaho. We can feel it in the mornings on our way to the YMCA at 6:00am. It is dark and cold. The VW has a limited time before being put to sleep for the winter months ahead.

We have had great weather for the State Fair in Blackfoot, Idaho. Julia, Woody, Val, Dawn and I went down on Seniors Day and enjoyed the exhibits, animals, and food. We met Daryl Peterson and his wife Barbara while in the commercial building. He has Lou Garrick’s disease and in poor health. It was such a treat to see him and he had saved photos and news articles of my dad.

The week of the fair was very busy for Dawn and I. We are ordinance workers in the Idaho Falls temple. The first week of September is designated additional Saturday assignments, so we completed 5 shifts in just over one week. We normally go to the temple at 4:30am on every Tuesday morning. Add to that two Saturdays back to back, we were very busy.

This is the time of year we get ready for the cold months. The hot tub has been drained and covered. The camp trailer has been cleaned and shrink wrapped and covered with a tarp for winter. Also, I cleaned and covered the bar-b-que until next spring. The Toyota and VW are going into storage soon.

One unusual event occurred this past week. Our ward party was held at Kate Curley Park. A genuine Luau with Kailua pig and all the pineapple you could eat came together Friday for an outstanding party. Even the weather cooperated. It was remarkably warm, just like Hawaii.

Our garden is hoping for one more week of warm weather just to ripen the tomatoes. We are planning to can salsa from our garden.  We have canned picked beets and bread and butter pickles from our garden. We have restocked our food supply for the coming months. The drought in the Midwest will drive up the prices on grain and meat products this year. We really need moisture for the crops and to extinguish the forest fires burning throughout the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Unbelievable damage has occurred to our forested areas in the western part of the states.

Fall is here following Spud Day at Shelley, Idaho. Every year there are more and more people waiting in line for baked potatoes. There must have been over 8000 people wanting to get a potato to eat. We left early because there was not room to stand. When I was young it was such a wonderful day to spend with friends. We competed in the potato picking contests, went to the movies, and of course, enjoyed the famous Idaho baked potatoes.

Fortunately, we met Daryl and Barbara Peterson at Spud Day among the hoards. He had several pages of history on my father, Benton Carl Russell. Also, he gave us many photos of Benton and a history of his drowning. It was all very appreciated.

This month closes with memories of warm and wonderful days. However, each day was filled with smoke from the fires in the mountains near Stanley and Salmon Idaho. Many fires were started by an electrical storm in June and have burned throughout the summer. Not only in Idaho but also California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon, the fires have raged throughout the Northwest. We are hoping and praying for rain to come. It would be the only hope of extinguishing the wildfires.