MEXICAN INTERLUDE

Dear Family,

It started out pretty innocent: we were going to take Suz and her kids down to the Church History Museum to show the the exhibits on Pioneer Day. We walked through it and viewed all the pioneer exhibits and then went upstairs to the children s section where we found Mexican costumes that the kids could pu on and dance to Mariachi music . They donned the dresses and danced in front of mirrors with projected life sized Mariachi dancers on a screen demonstrating the steps. Well that went on for two hours and I patiently sat there not understanding a word anyone was saying but watching the kids have a ball.

Suz and her family lived in Mexico City for a year and she was back in time just enjoying the dancing and the music.

Then Suz said, "let's get a Taco!" so we drove down to 8th South and Main where there were about six Mexican Taco stands. Here is Suz,with pure delight, ordering a bunch of $1.oo Tacos and Mexican soft drinks. Apparently the missionaries down there are told to eat this and wash it down with a coke! It was yummy for a while. We fed 7 people till they were full for $14.00.

Here is the one I had which is a pork rind beef taco which was tasty going down but had a certain deleterious effect on the old GI tract.

We looked for tamales but each stand said, "Sorry, we have no Tamales today!" I think those words are in a song somewhere. Then Suz announced she could make Tamales. A mother of one of her Mexican cooks showed her how to do it.

I got on the smart phone and barked, "Find Mexican Market Salt Lake City, Utah"and sure enough one was found and the smart phone directed us there step by step. It was the Rancho Market on 33rd South.

That was a cultural experience. We were in Mexico for all intents and purposes. Suz with her fluent Mexican Spanish found all the ingredients, tamale dough (masa), the meat, the corn husks, the spices, the salsa and sauces, Mexican whole beans, spices and Mexican treats for the kids.

Here is Suz making a tamale which involves seasoning the dough, making a pocket on a moist corn husk and filling it with a meat that I prepared and further seasoned. We made a bunch of these and of course trashed the kitchen. We steamed the tamales for two hours and when we tried them, they were the best ones I ever had!

So Suz went out whole hog as they say and made, from scratch, re fried beans, Mexican rice, we had my beef tamales, special hot sauce and salsa. Here is a shot of the Mexican dinner Suz prepared from raw ingredients.

We had Mark and Mary over and also Doug and his boys devoured the Tamales. They have a taste for hot stuff. I guess when they were little, punishment for being really bad was a drop of tobasco sauce on the tongue and instead of any disciplining, they developed a real liking for hot foods. Well anyway, this was a lot of fun but the tamales were so much work and preparation, I do not think I will do that again for a while or at least until Suz gets here again.

It was a little Mexican experience here in Salt Lake,

Love, Mom and Dad

MORE BEAR LAKE, 24TH JULY

Dear Family,

I can't remember a busier July for all the families. There is girl's camp, scout camp, high adventure trips for the Explorer scouts and of course the Pioneer Trek re-enactment all over the church everywhere. Lot's of trek adventures here and also in Michigan.

So Mom and I went up to Bear lake alone on the 24th of July celebration as everyone else was tied up with teen age activities.

We had a nice time and it was so pretty. Here is a photo of the house from the field behind the garage. The field has not been cut yet and the hay is high.

We did a lot of work getting the place ready for the family visits this summer. Mom has a hard time just resting but in the evening it was very quiet; no TV, no noise and Mom and I watched Sound of Music for the first time in a very long time. We were delighted to recognize all the places in Salzburg and Tirol. It was even a bit romantic.

Emily has been up there since, now Suz and Becca with Mary and Mark coming up this week. Roy and his gang will be there the following week. The water is very high in the lake and it is just perfect there. I love it there with its peacefull rural atmosphere.

I love the front room with its rural Idaho ambiance. We talk about building a bigger place yet I feel we should preserve this bit of Idaho farm charm.

Mom and I are back to our schedule in the Temple on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. It has been very busy as the Ogden and Bountiful temples are closed and the sessions have been large. The session I was in the other day had 207 which is almost max.

We have also been busy speaking in the Young Single Adult wards in our new Stake. Those new wards are doing very well, well attended and the activity is high. Love my calling.

Love to all, Mom and Dad

FOURTH OF JULY ST. CHARLES, ID

We drove up on Saturday and found the grass was about 2 - 3 feet high. There is plenty of moisture around because of the heavy snows of winter and there has also been much rain.

The lake is very high and I have not seen it so high ever. It is unusually green.

We went to church in the St. Charles ward and half of Salt Lake must have been there also. There were two full sets of meetings with at least 1000 in each service. There was wall to wall patriotism here as all celebrated the Fourth of July. We sang the Star Spangled Banner in Sacrament meeting and America the Beautiful in Priesthood, there were talks about the unusual nature of our country and it felt so good. It was an America that I grew up in. We saw many friends there up from Salt Lake.

Sunday evening, Doug and his boys and Roy and some of his boys along with Scotty who flew out from Michigan They gathered here before going off on a backpack trip in Wyoming.

On Monday, the fourth, we cut the grass; Roy and Doug did a great job and the place looked great.

we erected a flagpole. Roy, Doug and the gang dug the hole and made sure it was perpendicular. We added a solar lighting so when lit, the flag may stay up. There were flags everywhere in this valley. Christina drove up for a day and you can see little Izzie checking out the flag.

We had a great 4th breakfast with pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, pork chops and juice much like the breakfast that is served in the Paris community on the 4th. We took the little kids on rides around the field. They explored all the old buildings and had a great time

One of the afternoon activities of course was a shooting gallery off the deck at targets, water filled pop cans, reactive targets that bounce around when hit. There were contests and it went on for seven hours and was a blast. I did not have my little cannon but we managed to make a lot of noise particularly with the Tannerite.

Here you see the range complete with spotters. That is Roy in the prone position taking out clementines at 185 yards. We had fireworks in the evening and the little kids up the road layed on their lawns and watched the show.

After a great barbecue, the boys settled down to watch Mr. Bean videos. We had such a good time. Mom, Emily, Rayanne and the girls did crafts. We had a little Family Home evening as well.

We felt good about our country and its history and pray for the future. One nice thing about our little farm house in St. Charles is that there is no active TV and we did not have to listen to the news. It is very peaceful here and I love it.

More Later, Love Dad and Mom