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.

August 2012

August is a month of transition, the end of the summer and the beginning of fall in Idaho and the end of school vacation and the return to the classroom. As for me it is the best month of the year living in Idaho. The summer heat is tempered by the cool evening and the crisp mornings. The end of August brings sober thought of the approaching winter months. Fortunately, the fall weather is so often so beautiful. The color begins to show up in the leaves of the trees in our neighborhood.

So many things have happened to our family in August. Personally, I finished a long term project that began early spring. I began the restoration of our 1971 VW. After setting idle for two and a half years following our mission, I was anxious to bring it back to life. I began by rebuilding the brakes but soon ran into trouble beyond my capabilities so I took it to Volkswagon Bob for help. He gladly took it in and put on a new master brake cylinder. Then on the 3^rd of April said it was leaking oil and would need a new seal after sitting so long. We decided to rebuild the engine as well. He said he would have it out the end of the week. Two weeks passed and then on the third week not hearing form him I was concerned. Then my neighbor told me his obituary was in the paper. He died! Oh no! It took months to get my car out of his shop due to legal matters. Paul Phillip (my neighbor) and I finally made contact with family members and rolled it up on a flat bed along with collecting the engine, mufflers and parts.

Woody helped me put it back together and after weeks of working on the body it was ready for paint. Woody did a remarkable job in painting the car. It runs wonderfully and I am the talk of the town in my “new” VW. How fun it has been driving around this last month.

We were anxious to see our grandson “Burton” Mariner, so we invited Monica and the baby to visit us in Idaho and get out of the Arizona heat. They were here a week, during which time we had lots of fun. We went to Tautphus Park, walked the Green Belt, and went to Jackson, Wy. There we met with the Taows and camped out at the KOA managed by Swen and his new wife Brenna. They took all of us down the Hoback River on inner tubes. What a treat.

The most remarkable of all is the Brock Hostteter story. Dawn and I drove to Salt Lake City after his brain surgery performed at the Primary Children’s hospital. Robyn Lau was busy helping when we got there. Brock did remarkably well and was convalescing at home once we arrived. 

Robyn and Dawn worked hard in the yard removing weeds and cleaning the front yard. Then they spent two days staining the front fence.      I worked on the lawn irrigation system, repaired the toilet, and cut down tons of grape vines in the back. The kids and Robyn also painted the furniture in Ella’s room. Along with a new couch, Bar B Que, and computer the Hostteters were getting back to normal. Brock has had such an incredible procedure to reduce the seizures. We are so grateful for his wonderful spirit through all this. Thanks to Holly and Jon for their constant efforts in helping this young man.

Dawn and I also managed to squeeze in a golf game at Lakeside golf course with Angie and Bill Bytheway.

Lastly, the month would not be complete without a trip to Lagoon with the Russell grandkids. Dawn and I spent the day with Josh, Tate, Baya, Dax and Boe at Lagoon. Robyn and Indy also joined us for rides, food, and entertainment at Lagoon. 

What else could we have stuck into one month. Besides the travel and guests Dawn has been VERY busy in her new calling. As ward Relief Society President, her days have been filled with new activities. There is a learning curve that has required longer hours in serving. Besides the new calling we are spending more time at the temple as ordinance workers at the Idaho Falls temple.

Summer has been filled with activities for the Russells!! Did I tell you we ran in the Graffiti 5K! Too much, I will have to put it on Youtube!

July 2012

July is the month of the Sage Family Reunion.  The events leading up to reunion kept us busy. We had contacted all the members of the Sage family and outlined the events and activities. Woody, Julia and Dawn and I had divided up the tasks of preparing for the reunion.

 Julia was in charge of the food. In addition to stockpiling paper products and freezing food stuff, she also had house guests. Tara and her kids were here for month before the reunion. Amir, Gussy, and Franny had the time of their life between the rubber water pool on Julia’s lawn and the tree house at Woody’s place. We enjoyed their busy little bodies and took them around the river and the park.

Woody planned the “Sage Shoot-out” by making targets for the pistols and rifles. His son, Chad did a beautiful job on the certificates. This event was held in Rexburg on Thursday, July 26^th. We had about 20 family members participating.

On Friday morning we had the “The March of the Sages” fun run and walk around Freeman Park and the Green Belt around the Snake River. The 4 ½ mile run started at the pavilion in Freeman Park then after all the way around the upper end we ran down and around the falls end of the Green Belt. There were about 12 runners completing the distance.  Completion metals were given to the participants.

 Then on Friday afternoon we had a golf tournament at Heise Hot Springs. Many of the family members participated. Dawn had made gift notes with gold characters hand decorated for those who participated.

Finally on Saturday we had the big picnic at Freeman Park. We provided the food and drink for over one hundred members of the Sage family. I presented a Sage Family power point presentation on our 

June 2012

June is the month the sun reaches the most northern journey. The days grow longer and the temperature is warmer. It was not until after the middle of the month did the days got warmer.

The garden was an item of interest. After a slow start, due to a late freeze ( June 2 nd) the recovery process began. Then late into the month the temperature increased. Not only increased but got hot and the plants have grown after a lot of work. We are now eating beets, peas, greens, radish, and many raspberries.

June also brought us new and exciting activities in our lives. I have been personally been busy as a board member of the YMCA. We are in need of a new CEO. I meet with the selection committee each week. We visit the " Y" regularly.

We have planned a major event in the month of June. For months we have planned to take the Kurowski kids to Disneyland the end of June. The schedule worked out perfectly with our temple assignment. So we left Idaho Falls on 19 th of June and spent the night in Caldwell,Idaho. Our plans included attending the wedding reception of Elder Kroon. It was a wonderful reception and we also visited with Elder Vance.

The next day we traveled to Vancouver, Wa to stay with the Hodgsens ( Mike and Louise). The weather was wet but delightful. Our visit with Natalie and Brian and their son, Ryden was delightful. The meal they provided to us was delightful.

Following our visit with the Hodgsens we traveled to Kirkland, Wa.  We spent the night and then drove to Bellingham, Wa. The children ( Orion, Machelae, and Elenore) were excited to fly for the first time in a jet airliner. Arriving in LA late afternoon gave us time to check in at the Clarion Hotel just a few blocks from Disneyland. The kids swam in the pool until it closed at 10:00pm.

The next day after a wonderful breakfast, we got transportation to Disneyland. The day was filled with rides, food, and celebration of the occasion.  We are so glad the parents ( Brian and Katie) came along. They are such good parents.

The next day we decided to go to California Adventure Land. What a great day. It was filled with fun. We rode the Ferris Wheel, White Water Raft, and 3D movies, food,and shopping. Late that night Dawn and I returned tour hotel with little Eleanor asleep on the shuttle. She held her baby Minnie Mouse.

On our return home after arriving back in Bellingham we still had an hour and half drive back to Kirtland, Wa. Early the next day we traveled to Sandpoint, Id.  The Kelleys invited us to stay with them on our way back to Idaho. How delightful! They drove us around to see the Lake Pend Oreille and downtown Sandpoint. It is a beautiful area.  Then home for an incredible meal of steak grilled and wonderful desert. Their house is so comfortable in the beautiful forests of northern Idaho.

The next day we had a causal breakfast before leaving for Montana. Driving through northern Idaho (Coeur d'Alene, Kellog, Wallace, and Mullen) brought back memories of when I was going to college at Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Wa. so many years ago.

We drove through beautiful Montana, Missoula, Anaconda and stayed at the KOA in Deer Lodge. Finally we were able to campout. We had a beautiful spot next to the Clark Fork River. We watched the fish jump, deer eat in the fields and the muskrats swim up the river. The next morning we spent time touring the Deer Lodge prison. It was very interesting and all so enjoyable with the addition of touring the automobile collection adjacent to prison.

Before we entered Idaho we stopped at Dell and ate at “The Stop Along The Road” café. We had the hamburger and fries along with the other cowboys eating along side at the counter. Afterwards we drove back home.

Since our arrival home we have been extremely busy getting ready for the reunion coming up in July.