Canoeing to Dead Man's Island

We are at it again,

 on Adventures with our Friends!

Big Blue has room for 9.

When we got to Dead Man's Island the tide was high.

The water was a bit brisk, but we were undaunted.

As the day wore on the tide went out,
 and more of the spit was traversable.

There's a nice tree swing on the Island.

All this fun in the Great Northwest!!

Milking Day

Goats are little Houdini's.

They will find there way out of where you put them and into any space you don't want them quicker than you can say, "Bob's your Uncle."

But if you treat them right, they are friendly, curious, affectionate and quite entertaining.

They also give you milk when you squeeze.

Our neighbors have 4 milk goats and the whole set-up for a family dairy.

The milking machine does most of the work, it's really nifty.

Then we finish by hand.

Is IronMan now the "goat whisperer" too?

Another Beautiful Day in Planalto

Yet Elder Farr still hasn't learned to stay off 

railroad tracks!! 

He now has a new companion: Elder Mesquita, and he is still learning and growing:

"This Sunday was great! It was testimony meeting! It was a really powerful meeting. I remember last time when I bore my testimony in Planalto, my Portuguese was not very good. But this Domingo I was cascading words and phrases, and translating scriptures from English in my head to Portuguese, exiting my lips totally on the fly, point blank, no prior thought included. I testified about covenants, and how we can´t grow without them. How if we aren´t using covenants to grow, we aren´t doing our part. I testified that the Book of Mormon is of greatest value to us because the covenants therein are for us, all people, regardless of whatever. I know that our success comes through obedience to our covenants, and the covenants that remain open and standing for everyone."


And now I'll share this analogy he came up with: 


"The other day I was thinking about the phrase "it´s not my fault". It used to be one of my favorites, I'm sorry to say. But my thoughts turned to one Han Solo, the suave and cool space pilot with a apeman companion who didn´t speak any semblance of the language, and threw temper tantrums a lot (no reflection on my companions). While Han was running from the Imperial Forces in his sleek supership, something happened with the hyperdrive, and he wasn´t able to escape. In desperation and with a crestfallen ego, he exclaimed, or rather moaned, "This is not my fault!" Well Han, it might not be your fault, but its certainly your PROBLEM, and until YOU get it fixed, your tail end is getting barbecued by incoming fire. So get at it!" 


 Love it!  Love the learning, love the growth, love the boy/man! And this is just the tip of the ice burg!

Photos from Planalto Brasil

The Adventures of Elder Farr

"There´re not a lot of monkeys here. Those were the first I saw. I immediately shouted "Manaus!" after the things we said in the CTM. When something is super different, slightly gross, or very Brazil, you say "Manaus", which is a city in Brazil. Random donkeys that belong to no one walking down the middle of the street next to cars? "Manaus." Eggs costing 25 cents a piece? "Manaus." Toilet paper is green? "Manaus." Purple gutter water that´s growing hair? "Ma-NAUS."  Seriously. 

His first area is Planalto, which is outside Natal, Brasil.

"Oh, funfacts:

When we get into the house, the white shirts come off because they need to dry out. 

I filled up one whole spiral boundnotebook in the CTM.

One of my pens ran out this week. Lots of writing...

I had a companionship exchange on tuesday. Elder Batista! We did some amazing work, and invited two to baptism, and taught with a member named Railson. We had 5 lessions with a member present that day. :D Amazing number for that. :) Our goal was one. :P

Sometimes the sun blinds me because it is so bright here!

I need recipies for how to make cornmeal oatmeal stuff, because there's lots of cornmeal aqui. 

I´m cooking a chicken right now... Hope the apartment isn´t burned down. 

I want to watch The Magnificent Seven, and draft a missionary version"

They walk everywhere they go and it rains on them often.

"Brasileios nao gosta da chuva. :)
 But I do!"
(Brazilians don't like the rain)

When it comes to killing mosquitoes,
he means business with his battery powered racket! But killing a few wasn't good enough...

"We got dengue up in here! That´s right! Your favorite missionary was drowning the toilet last night. It´s really a funny story. We were teaching a lesson with a super excited household who we had in church yesterday. We have one woman named Nathalie, and her uncle Junior, and they told their whole family that the church was wonderful, and that they all need to go next week. What a blessing. We´ve been working and working and working and we finally found the pocket of elated, excited and spiritually softened people who are excited about the gospel. Just wonderful. But anyways, we were teaching, and the whole time I was like, fighting puking, but trying to teach and focus, and trying to look happy at the same time. It was really funny, because Nathalie (being a mother) saw right through me. She was all like, "do you feel well? Are you okay?" She told me I needed to drink hot milk with cinnamon. I almost laughed my guts out, but caught my tongue in time. Milk is NOT what I needed at ALL! 
So, we walked back to the apé and I spent an hour or so spewing out both ends. It was really funny to be honest. I´m going to have an Elder Peirce attitude about dengue. I think he has one of the most optimistic attitudes in our mission. But admittedly I am feeling better, and the oils are helping a ton. Oregano! 
But thanks for telling me to take it easy. I was actually just going to tough it out, but I figure you´re a bit inspired in the matter, so I´ll listen to my momma."

Elder Farr's "zone"
He's second from the right, back row.

"You know what happens when you pray for your heart to be swollen with Love for all of our God's children? It happens! ...I'm growing so much. I asked the Lord to put a hand at my back in my work, and he's giving me a good push or two... Time is not my friend. I hate sleeping. Sleeping is such a waste of time. I have scriptures to be studying. Its hard to measure up with my goals! But I'm also that kid who decided he wanted to be president when he was 11. So big goals aren't too strange. I just have to work. ... I love this work! I love you all. You have no idea how I'm changing. I'll still be Josh, ever will. You'll definitely recognize me, and know me. But oh the ways the Lord builds us up, strengthens us, teaches us, and gives us higher perspective. You´ve gotta seek for that! Gotta! 
You know what my goal in life is now? Its not to be president anymore. That might happen, sure, but its diminishing in importance right now. My goal is to qualify myself for every order the Lord can send for me. My goal now, is to qualify myself to be worthy, should the Lord be looking for volunteers..."

                                                                  The Adventures continue....

Math Chicks

Mixed Fractions 

and

Rhode Island Reds

Homeschool Rocks!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

I  used a standard recipe but

I wasn't real thrilled with baking a pie at 400 degrees for an hour and a half.

So I didn't.

I made up my own technique and it turned out great 

so I want to share it.

I took a few photos along the way, just 'cuz it's fun and I guess I get it 

from my Mom - she takes photos of stuff she makes too!

Crust isn't my favorite thing to make, but I use butter
so at least it's delish!  Pre-bake the crust.

Fresh Rhubarb bought at my next door neighbors Farm Stand.
Chop in 1/3 inch pieces.

Saute rhubarb in butter!
Add the salt and cornstarch as well when almost soft but not mushy.
It doesn't take long at all.

 But first I followed the recipe for making "Red Red Strawberry Jam" from the
Joy of Cooking cookbook.  As it cooled, I did the rhubarb part.
Then add strawberries to the rhubarb...

...and this is what you get.  As it cools it will thicken nicely.

By this time the crust is done, but it should cool before adding pie filling.

I forgot to take a picture of the pies -- duh!  But I did get one of the
mini-pie I made with the left over crust dough.
I made enough filling to put it in jars and put in the fridge.  I didn't want to
can it but I suppose I could freeze some.  But I'm pretty sure it'll be gone tomorrow.
We've been enjoying it on bagels, crackers, waffles, and spoons!

Let me know if you try this method and how you like it.

Hike to Lena Lake

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, exploring the wonders of the Northwest's mountain forests.  We hiked 2 hours to Lena lake and enjoyed unseasonably nice weather and the company of some of our favorite friends. 

We each carried our own backpacks with the necessities: 
water, sweatshirt, hotdogs, s'mores...

and this Little Sister had 5 BOOKS packed into her pack before I checked it and
convinced her to only pack her bird identification book!

"...the Pacific Northwest, as you can see, they’re gonna have some very, very tall trees.”
If you can identify the movie that quote comes from I'll send you some blood sausage!

Part of our group made the hike in only an hour and a half,
so I have lots of pictures of the "slow group".
 We stopped to explore and rest.

Little sister was thrilled with the waterfalls, can you tell?

It's great to get away and hang out with Dad.
(Notice he is now carrying Little Sister's pack!)

Our first view of Lena Lake.
We lightened our backpacks of all chips at this stop!

We found a secluded campground by this fast-flowing stream.

Group shot!
Iron Man works the timer on the camera with skill.

Bear and Anne with an 'E' enjoying the campfire with friends.

Finally, even the s'mores were perfect.

This has started out as an adventurous summer.

To be continued...

Our Spring Vacation - Part 1

I have been so busy the last 3 weeks living life-- 

I haven't had time to blog about it!

I'm certainly not complaining. 

We have had a wonderful time thanks to our generous friends in Challis Idaho,

 our beautiful grandchildren, helpful children,

 terrific weather and the blessing of safety as we travelled the long distances.

I did take oodles of photographs as we lived these adventures,

it was difficult to choose only a few to post, 

so I didn't.

First of all we met our newest Grandbaby!

We played pat-a cake,

...and hugged her,

and kissed her...

...and declared she was wonderful,

And then we took a nap!

 We also played with the 2 older Grandchildren,

and they declared we were wonderful.

Now that we had that established, we set out for adventure.
We went hiking at Bayhorse Mine.

Our friends took us 4- wheeling! --Three times!

The views were awe inspiring. 

We rode for hours and never saw anyone. 

But we did see fascinating rock formations...

Pronghorn antelope,

cacti,

and an abandoned dwelling.

We only tipped over a couple times...

But that is easily remedied
with a little help from a friend and Dad.

The younger kids went on a bit of a shorter ride.

We also enjoyed three trips to the Challis natural hot springs pool, 

At 100-102 degrees, I was in heaven!

The kids, however,
preferred to hang out around the cold water pipe.

All three times we had to pool to ourselves!

 I would like to thank Uncle Paul and Aunt Dottie for a wonderful week

of reminiscing and ruminating as well!

So now I conclude part 1 of my vacation with the

 "Best Photo of the Week".

(Disclaimer:  No Grandpas were hurt during the making of this photo.)

Over zealous attempt at skipping rocks?
He is sure never to be outdone!