I couldn't resist

Barbara, my sister, sends me these letters from her grandson Will, Connie Campbell's son, I just couldn't resist posting this one.

Hey Everybody!
So this week has been pretty interesting. I got my new companion Tuesday
morning at 6. He's very different than Elder Preston for sure. He's from
Texas and his name is Elder Duval. We got back the apartment and he started
tearing it apart first thing. Our apartment was way clean, much cleaner than
any of the other apartments that I've been in. He said he was organizing. He
pulled everything out then started going through and and deciding what he
didn't think we needed that we could get rid of. Then he started putting it
all pack the way he wanted. He told me that he needed it to be organized in
a way that would fit him? But now we'll be looking for something that I used
to know right where it is and now he can't even find it cuz he can't
remember where he moved it to. I guess it's good in a way, but some of it is
a little ridiculous. Like all our pots hang on these hooks over the stove,
and he thinks we need to get rid of stuff in the cuboards so they can fit
down there cuz to him it looks cluttered. And he keeps eating all my
food:( But I'm really working on getting along with him; I know there's a
lot I can learn from this, and we have been getting along these past couple
of days a lot better. But at first he kept saying these little biting
comments, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle it. Like the
first night I said planning prayer I prayed for all our investigators and
stuff and he ridiculed my prayer and said we weren't at conference. He'll
say these comments and I don't know if he's trying to kid or if he's being
serious? And he keeps calling me greeny, but I'm learning to just deal with
it and not let it bother me. He did get him start washing his hands after he
went to the brathroom. Cuz he went to the bathroom, didn't wash his hands
then was over in my cheese making a sandwich and I asked if he washes his
hands. He said "no", so now he washes. Now I just have to figure out how to
let him know he needs to shower better or something, I'm pretty sure he
doesn't use deoderant because he has this really strong odor that just
eminates from him, that's probably one of the hardest things to deal with,
especially when we're in the car all the time. But I'm sure I'll come to
love him.
Other than that we've had some very good lessons this week. We have Patricia
that now wants to meet with us every week. She still wants to write her book
about how the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a true prophet,
but she still thinks we need to mix with the Christian Advent Church. She
wants to be baptized by authority, which she thinks both of these churches
have, but wants to keep here title of Rev. Jones. So we're not really sure
what we're going to do with her.
Then we're teaching this guy, in his mid 20's, named Mike. He's been keeping
all his committments, coming to church, and had a really neat experience
with prayer:) We're way excited for him!
We're teaching quit a few other people as well but they don't seem to be
progressing as quickly, but hopefully we can change that.
It's getting warmer here and we've gotten a lot of sap this past week. We
got about a quart last week from ten gallons of sap. And a lot of the snow
has melted away... Finally! But the mud is pretty bad.
Well other than that and my new companion nothing else really super exciting
has happened this week. I love you all so much!
Love Elder William Campbell

Oregon

I won't be blogging until we get home from Oregon on the 9th of April. Hopefully I can take some neat pictures. So until tomorrow night when we see our sons and their families.

Love you all

microwave ovens

Our microwave has been one of my best friends. I use it daily for quite a few things especially the timer. The other day I was timing Low-and-Slow Sloppy Joes in my slow cooker. Of course I used my microwave timer instead of my oven timer. I set it for one hour and then I was going to set it for another hour. The dish washer was going also, though that is no excuse, so it was noisy. Then I sat down at the computer and did a little arbitration on the LDS site. I wondered why the dinger didn't go off on the microwave, well you have guessed it. I set the timer wrong and the microwave had been trying to cook nothing and had burned out. Now I'm 20 years younger than my dad when he burned up his microwave and I don't think I have dementia.
But the deed is done. Sid kept telling me not to feel bad, but he keeps going over to Trudy's to use her microwave.

Yesterday he decided to take the microwave off the wall so he could see if there was a way to fix it. He called Steve over to see if he could help him lift it out. Two hours later they still didn't have it out.

When Baxter came home from school he took over because Steve had to leave. Well the guilt feeling started again. After Baxter had been here for over an hour Sid figured it out. There was a latch thingy in the front grill that all you had to do was pull it and wa la Baxter and he lifted it out. Oh the fun of growing old. Now I have a kitchen cabinet hanging on the wall.

Calvin

Back Flash Friday--Our Trip to Cancun 1988

In 1987 I was working at the Delta Pharmacy and someone came in talking about their trip to Cancun and I decided I wanted to go. I talked to Sid and he said noway, but he might go if I could find the money. So guess what, I found the money and we went. This picture is just at the exit to the Salt Lake Airport. I liked the big X.

I still couldn't believe we were going so I had to take this picture of the inside of the airplane. It was full of people when we left the ground.

This is the inside of the hotel that we stayed at. They greeted everyone with a drink that we handed back asking for 7-up. The hotel wasn't quite finished and I guess that is why we got it for just a cheap rate.

This is a view to the ocean. A lot of the time there was a red flag out so we couldn't swim just sun bathe.

This is the inside court.

Can you believe Dad relaxing and reading a book. By the end of the week he could hardly wait to get back to the farm.

The first night we were there we went to a Mexican program that told their history in dance.

You can see in this picture drinks. Everywhere we went the first thing they did was hand us a drink. We would tell the waiters that we didn't drink and they would either bring us a 7-up or a coke. This night the couple sitting next to us asked me if we were LDS and I said yes. They had seen our young missionaries in their town and after visiting with Dad and me they decided they would let them in the next time they knocked on their door.

The next afternoon we went to the bull fights. They were quite interesting and we got caught up in the booing of the matador when he was killing the bull. I think I would rather see a bull fight in Portugal where they don't kill the bull.

We took a boat ride out to an island. That was to get you to buy time shares but it was fun anyway. We went snorkeling there. I didn't see much because my glasses were off.

This is just one of the narrow streets on the island.

I think the funist of all was when we went to Chtzen-Itza on the bus. We stopped at lunch time at a place and these two young dancers entertained us.

These pictures are out of order but oh well. This is a picture Dad took coming down the the pyramid at Chtzen-Itza. I got to dizzy so I stayed on the ground.

This is the back of the pyramid that dad climbed.

The front.

This is the ball court. A person could stand at one end and whisper and you could understand everything he said. This is where they would play ball and the winning person, the one who could put the ball through the hoop, got the honor of having his head cut off.

This was taken in the temple of the Gods. There were 12 of these statues holding this stone up.

This is the conservatory. Dad had to run to get this picture and he did go inside. There were people inside praying. He had to hurry so we wouldn't get left. I think again if we were to go we were rent a car so we could spend more time here and see other sites.

The week ended to fast for me. I had gotten a bad sun burn the day before and had used Vicks to help the burn feel good. We woke up to it raining and no electricity, so no shower, then went and sat in a hot airport until boarding our plane. But given the chance I would do it again.

Stevie at the piano

I started Stevie on the piano last year. I guess you know I teach Noah and Zane also. Stevie could hardly wait to take lessons and looks forward every week to her lessons. I have never had a student look forward to lessons before. Every morning Stevie comes into our house and practices before she gets on the bus. She is doing very well. She went through the primer books faster than any other student I have had here in Maryland and now is in book 1.(Technique, Performance and Lesson.) You can see when I took this picture she was playing Ode to Joy. To see a almost 7 year old sitting at the piano playing Ode to Joy is a treat. She is one student that said the names of the notes on every piece until just a few months ago and she also counts out loud.
If you teach piano you know having a student count out loud is like pulling teeth and some still don't even silently and wonder why they are taking the piece over and over again. Course some of it is because they don't practice. Even though this isn't Tuesday, I want you to know I look forward to Tuesday because I start my day by giving Stevie her piano lessons before the bus comes and end up giving Noah and Zane their lessons Tuesday after school.

This is so cute.

I don't know what Trudy was doing at school today but she sent me these and I loved them. I know that the first one is dark but there is something there.

Validation

Posted by Grandpa Sid (click to enlarge)
(ctrl + p) to print (set orientation to landscape)

Five Star Pine Trees

I don't think the pine trees that we have on the southwest of our place hold up very well to heavy snow storms. In my snow pictures I showed how much the trees were bowed over, here are some pictures of them broken off. These were tall trees.

This picture is toward the road. The next picture is the same tree only looking toward the house.

These next few pictures are from the roadway looking down into the barrow pit.

Spring

When I see robins I know that spring is almost here. I love to see the robins hopping around and last spring I even watched one pull out a worm from the grass and eat it.
Of course there are lots a birds around singing and making the world sound bright.

One bright sunny morning last week, Sid was on his stationary bike when a robin flew in and was looking for worms on the lawn. All of a sudden a falcon swooped down and grabbed that robin from behind taking it to the ground. The robin didn't move at all. The falcon then looked behind, in Sid's direction then flew right out of the lawn, robin tightly in his talons, into the neighboring woods. Now I have seen that on programs on TV but Sid got to see it first hand. To say the least Sid was amazed. (Moral to the story: "Watch Your Back")

A Chapel flooded

I don't think a lot of snow and then really cold temperatures do well on pipes when the heat is turned off. Thursday night at 10 pm, we received a call that we ignored because of the time. We don't answer the phone after a certain time and if we are in bed. When we got up the next morning dad listened to the message and heard that our chapel had flooded and they were calling for help.

This is picture of our Bishop and the other ward's bishop looking over the damage.

Here is a picture of the chapel and they said there was 2 inches of water.

They decided to take up the pews.

This is the foyer. The water break was in the chapel in the sacrament room.

Here the foyer is cleaned up.

We got a call last night saying church wasn't being held today because of the damage. Hopefully we will go next week.

A friend in the ward took these pictures and gave me permission to use them. Just thought you might be interested.

Speaking Freely

If you have netflicks you ought to send for or watch instantly

Speaking Freely: Vol. 1: John Perkins

John Perkins

Author and former economic consultant John Perkins takes aim at himself, confessing his shameful role in helping organizations such as World Bank and the IMF drive poor nations into crippling debt while enriching U.S corporations.

It is quite the eye opener. Sorta makes you wonder if we are headed in the same direction.

FlashBack Friday Grandpa Alva Young

I was Googling Earth the other day, looking over my old stomping grounds and had a flashback of an incident that should be of interest.

My dad Alva Young used to keep a "winter herd" of dry cows at his ranch in Tooele county Utah, well into the winter almost every year. To help them stay in good condition he used to take cotton seed meal out and mix it with salt in a couple of feeders in the Dry Farm pasture where the "dry cows" were. As I recall, about 1 ton of cotton seed meal each trip.

On this particular trip, the "posi track" differential in his truck broke stranding him very near Erickson Pass shown on the map. It was sundown and there was nothing to do but walk for help. The only living people in the area were at Ecker's Ranch, so he made the walk there in the cold and snow arriving there well after dark. It was 9.6 miles according to Google Earth.

He stayed with the Ecker's overnight and they gave him a ride to Abraham, his home, the next day.

That day, he and I went back out and took the broken differential out of the truck and returned home to have it repaired.

The following day he and I went back out using my brother Joe's old 49 Ford 2 door sedan. We replaced the differential and drove home again. I can attest to how bitter cold it was. He drove the truck and I drove the old Ford.

Tune in next week for the "rest of the story"

One Pair of Hands

TEED OFF

I'm writing this while I'm still ticked. A month ago when I was at my family doctor's office I told my doctor of a growth in my nose. My doctor looked in my nose and said definitely something was going on. She referred me to an ear, nose, throat specialist, which is okay. It cost $100.00 just to walk into the office. In walks this very unprofessional looking woman, not dressed like a doctor at all. I tell her my problem and she acts like she doesn't want to touch me or my nose. She does look in my nose and can't seem to see the bump that is causing me grief. I tell her where it is and she say oh ya. Dad and I have been looking at this bump for awhile it is very noticeable. Well the good news, it is staff, I think, the doctor said at first it was a hair particle and then it was nose staff.

I wouldn't send my best friend there let alone a dog or cat, which I have had and loved dearly. Then I asked her to look at my ears to see if everything was okay there and dad said she put her light in but didn't even look in the ear. Well I came away with a $60.00 prescription and a bad taste in my mouth.

I've been to ear, nose and throat doctors before and this is the worst doctor I have ever been to!!!!!!!! Hopefully she knows enough that this ointment will do the trick.

I feel a lot better now.

Baxter coming to the rescue

Steve and Baxter went to the store to buy some snow shovels because we didn't have any. The one the Bainters had broke a couple of years ago. Here is Baxter shoveling a path from their house to our house. He even laid down so his mother and I could take a picture of the height of the snow.

This morning, Wednesday, I took Noah and Zane down to the elementary school so they could catch their bus to school and when I was coming up the stairs to our house I could hear a bird singing. Here was a lonely cardinal sitting in a tree. I couldn't resist I grabbed my camera and took his picture.

Still the snow

I think dad was the only one up at 5:30 am. I know I was still in bed.

.

Here is a comparison of yesterday compared to today at 8:00 am

There was 11 inches on the deck between the Bainters and us.

There was only 9 inches of snow on the railing right outside our door.

Can you see our car and our two old crows? HEHE