February Ice Storm

 Icicles hanging off the mirror

 The entire car was covered with ice when we drove back from Mammoth Spring, AR.

 Pictures of the shrubbery covered with ice.

 Ice on the shrubs.

 Trees covered with icicles in the front yard.

This tree was starting to bloom. Notice the red buds.

My bird feeder. No seeds, no birds, plenty of icicles!

 Frozen wonderland is intriguing.

 Looks like glass formations!

Elder Bednar's Visit

Sharing a photo of our Mission visit by The Apostle Elder David A Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Richard J Maynes, of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy, and Bishop Gary E Stevenson of the Presiding Bishopric. This is the entire mission in one place. This is not a common get-together, as we usually meet according to zones. I believe there are 156 people in this photo, plus the special guests I mentioned. This was a fantastic day for all of us! I love all these people! They are great, loving, dedicated people who work hard everyday for the Lord. They all give freely of their time and talents.

Sunrise

Driving to North Little Rock yesterday morning, and we had to stop and capture this beautiful sunrise! The sun was trying to rip through the clouds and made a real impression!

Arkansas Style WHITE Christmas!

Never in all my life have I had a white Christmas. This year I drove to my son Tom and his wife's home to celebrate Christmas. Little did we expect to be given a great white Christmas. We had a great time too. Food was just great, and the treats were fun to eat. Cheese balls, and crackers, cookies, fudge, and other fattening things I should not have been eating. Oh well, it was Christmas for Heaven Sakes!

 When it snows, it GOES! Actually, it snowed like this for at least 2 hours, maybe more.

 You couldn't make out my car hardly. At least 6 inches of snow on the hood. And everyone says it hardly ever snows here.

 Tom and Ashley's home. Very nice little neighborhood.

 Snow ball fight anyone?

 Here is my Arkansas family enjoying the snow. It was a lot of fun for all.

 This is the back yard of my home in Cherokee Village. Snowed pretty good here as well.

 Take my picture, fast! It is COLD out here.

 Looking to the north of the back yard.

 Looking to the south of the back yard.

 Snow, snow, snow.

 Not much traffic this after noon.

 All this white stuff was new to Aedan. But he had fun with it!

 Looking out the north side of the front porch.

South side of the front porch.

Random Photos

I want to add a few random pictures to add some color to our Mission here in Arkansas. We are located in the Ozarks. I don't remember visiting the Ozarks specifically with my family as a child, but I was aware of it by name. I had in fact traveled through Arkansas on several occasions (via I-40), but never taken time to visit there. Here are some random pictures I want to share.

Downtown Historic Hardy Arkansas.

 Kathy Bassham's Pudding. YUM.

 Hillbilly U-Pump Gas Station. I got a kick out of this, and it was the only one I have seen.

 Kathy has purchased several quilts while we have been here. This one is all hand sewn, and we found it in a antique shop in Hardy, Arkansas.

 This quilt was bought from the Quilt Palace in Glencoe, Arkansas. It is a newly machine sewn quilt.

Memphis Tennessee Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple.

 I am always being given hand made items like this bottle of salsa from the Buchanan's.

 We have several Amish families north of Salem, AR (Last count was 8), and Kathy wanted me to take a picture of her in one of their buggies. She was extremely interested in these people, and their customs. This is a vegetable stand where you can purchase lots of fresh veggies.

 This is a map of Lake Chanute, in Cherokee Village, AR. We live here. This community was created as a retirement planned community. The current population is 4600 people. If it would have been filled to it's entirety, the community could have had (in my personal estimation) more than 50000 people. It just never took off, and a large majority of the homes here are sitting unoccupied.

 Our lifetime friends Tom and Kelly Craig came to visit for a couple of days.

 I counted 8 deer in Bob Bassham's front yard as I drove up to the house. Somewhere in there was a Buck!

 I know, I know, Thanksgiving is past now. I sure wish I could have bagged one of these, and cooked it for that day. Fact is, I never got close enough to catch one with my bare hands!

 We visited Blanchard Springs Cavern's which are located near Mountain View, AR. It was really interesting, as I have never been in a cavern before. The stalactites, and stalagmites were colorful, and plentiful. Which one is which? 'Mites are the ones on the bottom.

 This formation looked like a city.

 

 More beautiful, colorful formations.

 Kathy behind the sign at the cavern site.

More formations.

 Downtown Mountain View, AR. This is Moo Moo's yogurt bar. YUM!

Elder Gregory, Elder Hernandez, and Elder Clement in front of the Arkansas Little Rock Mission Office, located in the North Little Rock Stake Center. Elder Gregory was our District Leader, and a very good one at that! I am impressed with the maturity of these men, and their devotion to the work here in Arkansas.

A day of preparation. Canning for Emergencies.

We as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in preparedness. We believe that we should have food on hand in case of catastrophe (of which we have seen in hurricanes, and other natural and man-made happenings). Here are some pictures of our "fun" day preparing!

 Three hard working ladies... OOOOPs, 2 and 1 =3 workers and the assembly line!

 The cabinet that holds the #10 canning machine the branch bought. It is quite a lot of work regardless, but also very rewarding. Bob Bassham built this cabinet, and it is a VERY NICE piece of furniture in it's own right!

 Some of the items used to can, and box the results of our hard labor.

 The assembly line.

 Spaghetti in a #10 can? Yep, it works! But you have to cut the spaghetti down to size.

After ALL that hard work, we have to clean up for the next day.