We bleed blue

Courtney gave Dave this really nice BYU jacket for Christmas. He loved it immediately and put it right on. There was some jacket envy going on almost instantly by other men in the room. It was obvious. The wheels started turning. A plan was hatched...

...less than three days later (only because of the weekend) these copy cat guys all went and got themselves a Christmas present! Fortunately they all live in different cities. Otherwise, it could be very embarrassing if they all wore them at the same time. Who knew that men had clothes envy?

This & that

Fondue is staging a comeback! Remember fondue from the 70s? Well, it's back and a younger generation is getting on board, enjoying the good taste and fun of a fondue party. For New Year's eve, we were invited to Jake's parents home for dinner. Barbara and John had prepared a wonderful fondue party with cheese sauce and various dipping items, and then dessert with chocolate sauce with lots of different things to dip in the hot sauces. I bought my own fondue pot after that party and we enjoyed fondue when the Smiths came to town a few weeks ago. It's a fun way to party, eat and enjoy visiting, just like in the good old days. I know I've mentioned it before, but we love the families our kids married into. They are such great people and we always enjoy spending time with them. That way we can both enjoy our kids at the same time. What a concept!





Dave and Courtney gave me these cool candles for Christmas. I don't know if you dear readers have seen them in stores yet. They are battery operated candles! Why didn't I think of that? They are wax on the outside with a battery operated wick and candle on the inside that looks exactly like a real burning candle. We first saw them in a friend's home out of state and I've wanted some ever since. Yes, I'm afraid I did covet them. No fire hazards with these babies, and they look so real and add a lot of ambiance to a room! I love them!



When we were on our cruise to Alaska during the summer, we saw these great Russian BYU stacking dolls in a shop. They had them for many of the major sports teams. We asked if they had them for college teams and they said they did, but since it was at the end of the summer, they were sold out of the BYU ones. They asked us if we would like to order some, so we gave them our email address and told them to contact us if they got some more BYU stacking dolls. Well, in November, a woman emailed to say that they had a set and asked if we wanted them. Of course we did! We ordered them and they came a few weeks later. Rick LOVES them and so do I. They add to our BYU memorabilia. They've even got the names, skin color and facial features correct. Wow, what a keepsake! They go along with our National Championship team signature football, our alumni registry book and the other fine items we've collected through the years.



When Jord and Jake were here for the Christmas holiday, we went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple on one clear, very cold day. Unfortunately, it was on New Year's eve and we got there a little late, just as they were closing early for the holiday. We went to Tai Pan instead. Does that still count???



I can't help but give one more shout out to our new DARLING little granddaughters Skippy and Ada. We miss them so much, but we loved having them visit. We can't wait until they come back again for Andy's welcome home in March! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait....

We've had a "this and that" kind of day since we were both off work for the MLK holiday. Got up late. Went walking at the Rec Center. Went to pick up Rick's cousin Brian Pingr** for lunch. We took him to In and Out to eat. He loved it. It was his first time. We enjoyed visiting with Bri. His autistic mind is a marvel and he does so well given his limitations. He's a good man. He just celebrated his 35 birthday. He lives in a group home and is going very well. We came home and took at nap. I think we are STILL dragging from those vaccinations. Read some. Made dinner. Talked to cousin Rebecca on the phone. Yes, she is the one who turned my name into the committee who organizes BYU women's conf, on the suggestion of my sister Mary Ann. Made a mental note to pay them back some day. Went walking with Dara. Had Rick's parents over for taco salad, rolls, and homemade ice cream. Went to SCERA to attend "A Night of Broadway" show with them. Very good program. Blogging now and then to bed. A good day.

Growth in the LDS church

Over a year ago, Claire sent me the link to this very interesting blog. I'm linked to it on my Blogger dashboard as a follower and I've been reading the interesting articles as they appear. Check it out. The right side bar gives a list of all the countries in the world where we have members and missionaries. You can look up the articles of interest for a particular country to see what growth is taking place in that country. There is also another blog that give similar statistical information for missions in the United States and Canada here. Some man named "Matt" is the author of the blog. I congratulate him became he is doing a very good job of gathering information and keeping it up to date. It is an interesting blog. I always watch for information from the countries of Argentina (my mission), Peru (Rick's mission), Portugal (Dave's mission), Venezuela (Jord & R's mission), Spain (Jake's mission), Zimbabwe (Dusty's mission) and of course Mongolia (Andy's mission) among others. Here are some recent reports from those countries. I found the one from Argentina particularly interesting since I've been to Obera and I've very sad to hear about the high inactivity rates reported in my mission in Resistencia, Argentina. This area near the boarder of Brazil is a very remote jungle and I'd imagine that transportation makes it difficult for members to assemble. We consistently pray for missionary efforts to succeed in those lands and hope that the challenges can be surmounted.
Good news comes from Mongolia according to the report! Andy is one of the zone leaders in the Darkhan Mongolia district. It's great to hear about the growth that is taking place in that land.

This report from the blog:

9,000 members of the Church in Mongolia and a new branch

In a recent speech about religious freedom becoming more threatened in the United States, Elder Oaks recounted the history of the Church in Mongolia. He reported that membership now stands at 9,000, which is an increase of nearly 600 since the beginning of the year. Membership growth in Mongolia was very rapid in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and then slowed until the beginning of 2008. Considering there are two more months left in the year, we may see membership climb to 9,200 for the end of 2009. Membership grew in Mongolia by 9.36% last year and if membership totals 9,200 for 2009 the growth rate will drop a fraction to 8.95%. Also, a new branch was organized in Mongolia in Erdenet. The Erdenet Branch was divided and the Erdenet 2nd Branch was created. Erdenet is part of the Darkhan Mongolia District.

District Discontinued in Argentina

A district was discontinued in northern Argentina by the border with Brazil. The Obera Argentina District was discontinued and the two branches part of the former district now report to the Argentina Resistencia Mission. The Obera Argentina District was originally created in 1993. Another district was discontinued in Argentina early 2009 in Gualeguaychu near the border with Uruguay. No other districts in Argentina appear likely to be discontinued in the near future.

Argentina experienced an increase in congregations each year throughout the 2000s until 2008 while most Latin American countries saw a decline in congregations followed by a weak rebound. Growth appears strongest in Buenos Aires and larger cities were there is an ample supply of members and leaders. Areas covered by the Argentina Resistencia Mission have especially high inactivity according to missionaries.

STOMP & some Smiths

Last Tuesday night we went to the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo to attend a production of STOMP. If you ever have a chance to see it, don't miss it! This is the second time I've seen it and the third time Rick has seen it, although it's never the same show twice. We saw it a couple of years ago in SLC at the Capital Theater and Rick saw it for the first time in Houston when we was there for training. It is an amazing show and it is so unique and ingenious. The dances use garbage type things to beat out different rhythms and they dance and jump around in an amazing fashion. It's a percussion/dance/comedy show and it very entertaining. The performers really must burn about 10,000 calories by the end of the performance, yet they don't say a word. They used brooms, dustpans, kitchen sinks, wash boards, pipes, wood dowels, Styrofoam tubes, plastic tubs, garbage cans, garbage cans lids, cigarette lighters, match boxes, etc. You name it, if is makes a sound, they used it to beat a rhythm while they danced. Wow, it is really a wonderful show. Their traveling company was in Provo for three nights and we got to see them on Tuesday. For Christmas this year, Syd and Adam gave tickets to STOMP to Janet and Dave, so they came down to see the show on Monday night. They had a great time and really enjoyed it. Here is what the paper had to say about the performance:

Join us for the international percussion sensation, STOMP, that has performed in over 350 cities in 36 countries! The young performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” said co-creator/director Luke Cresswell. Stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra; Zippo lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. Audiences everywhere are captivated and mesmerized by the lively thythms of STOMP. . . and critics rave!

We all had dinner last Sunday night and it was great to be together. We enjoyed a good meal and then we visited and laughed our heads off when a 30 year old secret came out, much to the embarrassment of certain people in the room. We loved having Janet and Dave, Syd and Adam visit, along with Dave and Courtney. A good time was had by all.

Immunizations

Ouch! I had two shots yesterday and my arms are still sore. Since we're going to Mongolia in a couple of months, we thought we'd better get up to date on the shots that are recommended for travel in that country.

Here's what we ended up with:
Recommendations or Requirements for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Routine
Recommended if you are not up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, poliovirus vaccine, etc.
Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG)
Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in countries with an intermediate or high level of hepatitis A virus infection (see map) where exposure might occur through food or water. Cases of travel-related hepatitis A can also occur in travelers to developing countries with "standard" tourist itineraries, accommodations, and food consumption behaviors.
Hepatitis B
Recommended for all unvaccinated persons traveling to or working in countries with intermediate to high levels of endemic HBV transmission (see map), especially those who might be exposed to blood or body fluids, have sexual contact with the local population, or be exposed through medical treatment (e.g., for an accident).
Typhoid
Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in East Asia, especially if visiting smaller cities, villages, or rural areas and staying with friends or relatives where exposure might occur through food or water.
Rabies
Recommended for travelers spending a lot of time outdoors, especially in rural areas, involved in activities such as bicycling, camping, or hiking. Also recommended for travelers with significant occupational risks (such as veterinarians), for long-term travelers and expatriates living in areas with a significant risk of exposure, and for travelers involved in any activities that might bring them into direct contact with bats, carnivores, and other mammals. Children are considered at higher risk because they tend to play with animals, may receive more severe bites, or may not report bites.

We ended up getting the DPT booster, the Typhoid oral dosage and the Hepatitis A&B shot series. We opted out of getting the rabies shot, even though we're sure to see some stray (possibly rabid) dogs. Hopefully they won't chase us or bite us. Who knows which crazy places we'll go to with E. Andy. I know we'll be drinking only bottled water and we'll even take some food, but who knows what other crazy food we'll eat? Who knows what air we'll breath while traveling over and back on the airplane? We thought it was better to be safe than sorry. We've already had the H1N1 vaccine.

Total cost $143 each with two more Hepatitis shots still to come.I've had a headache and tiredness today big time. It's like I have each of those six illnesses in a mini version I guess. I think I'll go lie down.