CLOSING UP BEAR LAKE

Dear Family,

Can't believe the spring and summer have gone by. Fall is in the air and it seemed like we just got finished getting the place in St. Charles, Idaho ready for the summer family use. We got up there on the Fourth of July but could not get back again. It was time to go up there but time constraints were tight so Doug, Nate, Spence, Rebecca, friend Autumn and I drove up in the Ford 250 Diesel to get the place ready for the winter freeze.


We drove up on Saturday evening after all the football games to try and do as much as possible before Sunday. These kids sports really seem to define life.

We did not stop till we got to Garden City on Bear Lake and stopped at the Famous Rasberry Shake place on the East side of Hwy 89. It is owned and run by one of our former missionaries
Taggert Hunsaker. It was good to see him again; he is married, had a child, finishing college and getting ready to apply to medical school. There is a thriving business at his shake shoppe and they are good.

We got to the place; started on the machines, backed the boat in and finally tired, the kids sacked out on the couches after watching a DVD. The photo above shows Becca and Nate with Doug in the Easy Chair. We got up and had cereal and went to the St. Charles ward up the street. I love going to church there. The person who gave our Quorum lesson was a rancher, tall, very lean, slightly bowlegged, western style suit, dress cowboy boots and large hands that have seen a lot of work. He gave one of the best lessons on Faith. I saw Idea Mae Schram there who was born in the front bedroom or our house when it belonged to the Pugmires.

She told me about the old house that stands in the middle of our hayfield. It was built there by a family in the 1920's who were destitute. It has no electricity or running water' water was carried by the pail from the hand pump in our front lawn. I am told that it is the exsact demensions of the Peter Whitmer farn house in new York.

It is in disrepair but people stop by and phtograph it. We have seen it on Xmas cards. An artist stopped and asked a neighbor if he could do an oil painting so it must have inherent charm.

Ida Mae's grandaughter stopped by the house after church. She used the old home in the field as a backdrop for her senior high school class pictures. She gave me one and her she is inside the old house photographed against the backdrop of old newspaper wall paper and she is pretty cute. I do love these people up here; no pretense and so happy.

We finally got the pick up packed and back home. I got there in time to go with Mom to another missionary fireside group which was held at the combined Bishop's Storehouse on 3rd South and 5600 West. This is the main storehouse and supplies other storehouse in the Northwest, California and South East in Florida. It is a vast operation. The curent storehouse is 450,000 square feet and they are building anothe which will give the Church 1,000,000 square feet of storage for food clothing and other potential disaster needs. The Church has 150 large semis with drivers who have Temple recomends, satelite phones, cells phones and a truck load of prepacked emergency supplies. When there is a potential disaster many trucks are sent to the area and encirlce it but wait in the back ground until needed and then they motor into a flood or hurricane area with supplies. They said it has given new meaning to the term FEMA which is short for a government agency. To the people of a disaster struck area it means, Find Every Mormon Available.


We go to Maine this week.. Oh got invited to do a fireside in the Cotbus Gemeinde while we are in Germany.. hope I can crank it out in German

Alles Gute und alles Liebe,

Mom and Dad