March 2019

Friday, October 24, 2014

10 October 2014

The fall of the year is here! How wonderful the month of October has been. We have enjoyed the beauties of the changing of the seasons. The air is cool but not cold. The nights are chilly but the days are warm. This is a month of transition.

To begin with, we no longer live in our home on 13^th street. The Randalls live in our home, Orey and Danielle. We live with my mother on Melody St. across town on the west side. For one month we will be here until we move to Arizona at the end of the month.

Just before conference we picked up Marianna Augusto from Beira, Mozambique. She is the first female Mozambican to the US. We had a wonderful visit and I was able to refresh my Portuguese while visiting with her as we showed her around Temple Square before taking her to the MTC.

We were able to attend General Conference in SLC and our missionary reunion with those whom we served in Mozambique. It was delightful, both the conference and the reunion. We sat with Jeanie and Paul Ross at conference and had dinner with the Joan Hall, the Spendloves, the Banks, the Wollenziens, Paradises, the Coxes and the Davis. We also had a luncheon with the returned missionaries. Great times.

We stayed in the Holly and Jon home while in SLC. They were away to a wedding. While we were there we made plans for their wedding the end of the month.

For the most part our time here in Idaho Falls is spent and for the next year and six months we will be away from our ward and home. As a result of our intentions in serving another mission (our paperwork has been submitted) we were released from our callings in the ward. Dawn has served faithfully (beyond the call of duty) for nearly 2 ½ years. As well I have served nearly 2 years as High Priest group leader.

Our plans are to continue to do family history and study Spanish while we are away in Arizona. So we are packing our belongings and plan to leave on Tuesday the 28^th of October for the wedding in SLC and the 1^st of November driving to Bullhead City, AZ.

General Conference October 2014

Marianna Augusto

Maddox Cafe Brigham City, Utah

The last of the Farmer's Market in October

3rd Ward Relief Society Presidency 2012-2014
My new muzzle loader CVA Bobcat 50 cal

Dawn in SLC (Wasach Mountains)

Fall on the South Fork of the Snake River

Dawn jogging the Green Belt in the fall.

Woody at the target range

Geese on the river

Walking the Green Belt in October

Friday, September 26, 2014

09 September 2014

The beautiful month of September was a pleasant time spent out of doors under warm skies and much dryer than August.

Now that the grand kids are back home with their parents, Dawn and I have time to do a few things on our own. She is still very busy with the Relief Society. Never a slack time! We do manage to push in a few activities, i.e road trip to Salmon area.

Our neighbor, Pauline Mickelson, is moving this month and Dawn has helped her ready for the move. Dawn will have a reception on Saturday 27 September, 2014. She is in her 90s and Dawn has cared for her quite often. We attended the Methodist church services where Pauline played the piano for the last time after over 50 years of service.

Josh and his family visited us and stayed at granny Julia’s house early on this month. We always enjoy their company.

Saturday we returned from a short road trip to the Salmon River area. Julia, Dawn, Christine (Dawn’s sister) and I drove from Idaho Falls, up highway 28 through Leadore, Idaho (site of the Purcell ranch) all the way to Salmon along the Lemhi River. At Tendoy we took a side trip to the continental divide to visit the site where Lewis and Clark camped looking for a crossing to the Columbia River.

Dawn and I have been reading the book “Undaunted Courage” by Steven Ambrose. As a result we wanted to visit some of the areas they traveled. We stopped at the Sacajawea Center in Salmon, Idaho. The center has done a wonderful job in preserving the history of the Core of Discovery expedition. (Just a note; as a result of reading of the adventures of Lewis and Clark, I have purchased a muzzle loading rifle and am excited to hunt grizzlies!!)

From there we drove up the Salmon River towards Challis and stayed at the Grey House B&B along the river. This was a beautiful area and as we coursed down 93 toward Challis we stopped to fish the river. Once in Challis, ID we stopped at the Hot Springs campground to visit with Lorna Hammond (my Swedish relative). She had retired and moved to Idaho Falls.

Lastly, before coming home we drove to the Craters of the Moon national monument. It was very interesting seeing such a variety of lava formations as early as 2000 years ago.

Now that we are home we have to attend to the task of moving once again. We have asked the Randals (Orrey and Danielle) to move into our home for the time we are in Arizona. We hope they will stay longer since we are putting in for another mission beginning in April of 2015. This mission will be for one year only.

As of the 29^th of September we will be moved and living with my mother until we leave for Arizona the first of November.

All of this in one month, yet it seems we are constantly headed for another adventure each month. There is so much to do in getting ready for someone to live in your home. We are looking forward to making the transition. Also, we are looking forward to a release from our callings in the church so we can plan our mission. Good-by to the Relief Society president and High Priests group leader in the 3^rd Ward of the Central Stake of Idaho Falls.

Garden Squash 2014

Took out the plants for ease of management.

Grass in place of bushes.

The front flowers are gone!

Christine has a new grand baby!

Summer time at the ball park!

Josh and family up for a visit

Good by to our friends the Crofts

Road trip to Salmon...Dawn at the kilns

Lemhi range in the background

Shoshone village at Sacajewea Center

Greyhouse Bed and Breakfast on the Salmon River

Fishing the Salmon

Good bye Pauline

Hello Randals

Woody and the grandsons (Izy and Carter)

Julia at Lone Pine restaurant

First Campsite in Idaho

Continental Divide (Montana - Idaho)

Lewis and Clark passed through here in 1805

Sacajewea and John Baptiste Charbanneau

Deer in the morning on the Salmon River

The Trapper's cabin at Greyhouse

Challis Hot Springs Resort

Craters of the Moon

National Monument near Arco

Bristle Cone Pine

The girls at Craters

Sunday, August 31, 2014

08 August 2014

Wow! What a busy month. To begin with the Kurowski kids came home with us from California to spend a week. We started out in a flurry and continued on the rest of the month.

One of the most remarkable events of the month was rain. It rained on and off the entire month. The weather patterns have changed. Normally in August it is dry and warm. Even today the last day of August it is raining this very morning.

From my picture file I can see all the events with the Makalaya, Orion and Elinore Kurowski. We did the following together: biking, hiking, swimming, movies, new clothes, Chuckers baseball, picnic, shooting, Tautphus park, camping in Montana and Coeur d Alene and many other fun things a home. They were bored and played on their cell phones constantly. It is hard to understand how kids today find pleasure in technology and not the real world.

We drove them back to Coeur d Alene and Katie picked them up at the Coeur d Alene Resort camp ground. They were so excited to see her and rushed to the car and Elinore fell and did damage to her hands and knees. It was a quick good by and off they went to their home in Kirkland, WA.

Once the kids left Dawn and I rode the Coeur d Alene bike trail from Harrison toward Cataldo, ID. Then from Harrison toward Plummer across the Chotcolate lake. The next day we rode the famous Hiawatha trail at Look Out Pass between Montana and Idaho. This is a story in its self.

Dawn and I drove to Deer Park, Montana and spent Saturday night at Deer Park KOA. Sunday morning we were in church at the Deer Park Ward. Very pleasant. Then the next two day we spent getting ready for our next adventure. However, Dawn had a funeral to attend to, since Sister Mortensen died. She did it all on the road making assignments for food and services. It was all complicated by a wedding not scheduled the same day at our chapel. None the less it was done.

She constantly works on programs and events in the Relief Society. On our trip to Colorado she was arranging for the Visiting Teaching “Rejuvenation” conference coming up in September.

We are planning a move in October and so she has talked with our new bishop about a replacement for the Relief Society president. She has been in for over two years. It is a very demanding position in the ward.

Well, in our preparation to backpack in Colorado we visited old friends in Utah on our way over. The Kent and Esther Sumsions in Lehi, Utah were glad to see us and catch up on their family events. Next we visited the Godbolds in Orem, Utah and finally Don and Shirley Morris in Spanish Fork, Utah. As a result we got caught up on all the activities of our old friends in California.

Finally we drove through Price, Utah and stayed in “Pillow Talk” motel in Wellington, Utah for the night. That was an experience in its own.

The trip through western Colorado was remarkable. The mountains were so high and the forests were so green. Avon, Miniturn and then on to Leadville, these were all towns along route 70 then 24. We stopped in Buena Vista for lunch before ending up in the little ghost town of St. Elmo

There in St. Elmo we met Dave Davis, our friend from Maryland. He had invited us to do a backpack in the Collegiate range. We were just below Princeton mountain for 14,000 ft high. Dave had brought with him a compiled history of his great, great grandfather, Howard Kelly, who had lived in the area as a rancher and miner.

We stayed at the Ghost Town B&B thanks to Dave. It was wonderful. We also were able to tour the town through a contact Dave made, Melony. She was an original descendent of residence of the 1880 establishment. Gold mining and lumber made the town thrive. The railroad was an engineering marvel through the mountains and we traveled along the old rail path while staying in St. Elmo.

The next morning after staying at the B&B we were off to Grizzly Lake. It took all day to get to this very high and beautiful place. It began to rain just minutes after we had set up our tents. I was exhausted from the arduous hike to the lake. Dawn was a champion in backpacking up the steep trails.

It was very cold that first night and we did not get out of bed until the sun finally broke over the towering peaks to the east. After we dried our gear we hiked toward the saddle of summit peak to reach Pameroy Lake.

We climbed through rock beds, brush and steep forest terrain to reach the top. Once on top we could not go over to the other side because it was too steep with packs. So, we stayed in the high reaches of the mountains until morning.

It took us all day to return to St. Elmo. After lunch we drove to Buena Vista and stayed in a motel to clean up and rest up. The next day we drove back to St Elmo and hiked to the Alpine Tunnel along the rail path over the mountains toward Pitkin. That was a seven mile hike without packs and most delightful.

After we said our good bys to Dave we drove to Fairplay, CO. and toured the museum mining town. That evening we stayed in the Voltoin Motel down town. This place was old and yet comfortable.

The next day we traveled to Boulder, CO. leaving behind South Park (a magnificent range land). We arrived at Yates Lancing’s home late afternoon. We spent the night with this wonderful family (Dawn’s recipient of the stem cell transfer). Yates was doing well. We met his children Tenka and family and daughter Teal. We had dinner at the Med (Mediterranean) restaurant and toured the downtown mall. The next day before leaving we walked with Yates in his neighborhood before saying good by.

Our trip home was uneventful, however as we arrived in Rock Springs, WY to lodge it started to rain heavily. The next morning it was overcast and cold. We stopped in Pinedale, WY for snacks and there was snow on the mountains.

After arriving home we found all in order and was glad to finally sleep in our own bed. Camping is great but tiring. We certainly hope to do more backpacking in the future but look forward to always returning to our beds.

Dawn jogging at the Green Belt

The end of the month was marked by golfing with Woody and Julia. Also, a surprise visit from Josh and Danielle and the kids. They are with us today the 31^st of August 2014