We're Not Dead Yet!

A few weeks ago I added the countdowns for Sid and Amanda to our sidebar. If only those were all we had going on right now. Here's the list:

1. Speak in Church-DONE
2. Dan Teach Priesthood-DONE
3. Prepare for Amanda & Jake's arrival-WORKING ON IT...
4. Amanda & Jake coming for Thanksgiving-THIS WEEK!
5. Make assignments for Thanksgiving dinner-STILL GOTTA SHOP FOR ALL THE INGREDIENTS
6. Thanksgiving with the Horrocks-THIS WEEK!
7. Christmas Preparations-MOST OF THE DECORATIONS ARE UP AND SHOPPING STARTED BUT STILL SO MUCH TO DO.
8. Ward Christmas Party-WE'RE THE CO-CHAIRS!
9. Stake Conference Choir-WANT GOOD SEATS FOR THE VISITING AUTHORITIES THERE TO CHANGE THE STAKE PRESIDENCY
10. Christmas
11. New Year's
12. Pocatello for Sid's return
13. Horrocks Couple Shower for Amanda-AND PREP IN HERE SOMEWHERE
14. Salt Lake for Amanda's Wedding
15. Morgan for Amanda's Reception
16. Pocatello for Amanda's Open House

And that takes us from today through the end of February without mentioning work, callings, and anything else that comes up or I've forgotten.

I promise I'm not trying to say we're busier than anyone else, just lots on our plate right now so the blog may remain as is for awhile longer. I'll try to sneak in a post or two but no guarantees...

Caution: Laughter Likely

We just received an email from Sid letting us know his 5th and final area for his mission--Rugby, ND to open a new area and train a new missionary! (Or for the next 6 weeks at least, I suppose he could have one more transfer but it's not likely as they usually train a new Elder for 2 transfers.) Here's a little from Sid's letter regarding this new transfer:

"I've been given a special assignment. Rugby, ND is a new branch and the area has never seen missionaries before. I will literally be going in and starting from scratch. And I'll be with a new missionary! Rugby is...almost literally in the middle of nowhere...This is missionary work at its rawest and purest form. President Layton told me that he spent a lot of time fasting and praying about who he was to trust with the assignment of opening this area and getting the work started there. I am honored to be trusted with this assignment."

I looked for Rugby on our map . At first I could only find Minot (next closest area in his mission) but thanks to Google Maps, I was able to figure out which direction to look to find his new area. It's an almost 11 hour drive from Casper (his current area) to his new area and just over an hour's drive to Minot. He thinks he's closer to Canada than Minot but again using Google Maps it looks like Minot is about 2 hours drive closer than the Canadian border.

He included a few pictures with his quick note. This one had me laughing out loud because there seems to be an appropriateness to it!

 

Maybe that seemed so appropriate after seeing pictures like these from his most recent 4-some companionship:

Sid's view from inside the bathroom...

(Can you find all three Elder's faces?)

The view from outside the bathroom...

(They are either super fast or Sid was in there for a VERY long time..)

I'm so excited for our goofball to come home! Only 89 days from today until Sid is home!

Bahaha & LOL

A few weeks ago, we bought these postcards on our return drive from visiting Amanda. They made us laugh out loud so I thought I'd share them for you to enjoy as well. (Late one night while I was contemplating what to write on the backs, I reread these and had to stifle my laughter so I didn't awaken Dan.)

One of our funnest and favorite date nights!

Dan has his third interview with them next week.

Earthly Moments Eternal Glimpses

This cute little girl:

Grew into this beautiful woman:

Who went here for the first time on Saturday:

Resulting in a glorious day!

Presidential Contemplations

Several weeks ago I drove past this billboard and thought of Sid:

I sent a copy to Sid and asked him to label each person for us so we'd know who was which companion. He just called dibs on Thomas Jefferson.

About the same time I took my picture, Sid took this one:

What a wing-nut.

On Second Thought

We've done well to rotate our mattress and a few weeks ago Dan suggested that we should rotate it more than every 6 months. Our mattress is made such that we can only rotate the head and foot, flipping it over doesn't work. By his saying we should do it more frequently he was saying right that very moment. I was somewhat supportive of this suggestion. Now if you have ever rotated a mattress you know it's not easy and takes some maneuvering. We have a king sized bed and have only a couple feet of space from the bed to the walls. To try to utilize our space, I suggested we use my dresser as our foot board. Needless to say, rotating our bed in this bedroom would be challenging. Part way through this task, Dan also realized just how difficult this might be...