Week #53, 11 -17 December 2017

Monday began with us finishing up packing, tossing things out, and making sure the apartment was ready for us to leave.  We got it all in the car and drove off at 7:30 a.m.  We stopped at the security office and turned in the keys, inventory sheet, and binders.  Next was the Irion’s as they had one last good-bye for us with a nice note and loaf of dessert bread.  We will miss our time in the temple and in Nauvoo.  We then headed out, The City Beautiful behind.

 We stopped at McDonald’s in Keokuk, for breakfast and enjoyed a school group who came in to perform and sing to the customers.  What a fun time it was and a reminder to us of our grandchildren as they prepare and present school Christmas programs.

 We continued on our trip, entering Missouri and heading to Rolla, where we had lunch with Bill & Joyce Bolerjack.  It was fun to be with them and will miss our frequent visits with them.  Unfortunately we did not think to take a picture.

 We later arrived in Clinton at Uncle Harold and Aunt Naomi’s.  We have not seen them since they came to our house in the early 90’s when Grandma lived with us.  We had a great time visiting, catching up, and learning about their lives and how they are doing.  They sure are spry and sharp.  We enjoyed going to dinner and taking a tour of the town square.  The Christmas lights strung on the buildings and various nativity scenes were special for the season.

Evening had come upon us, we said our good-byes, gave warm hugs, and left out heading on to Nevada, MO.

Tuesday was spent with a long day of travel.  We left out of our comfortable stay in Holiday Inn Express and breakfast.

We first went to the State Hospital Cemetery in Nevada, where Alvis Jackson Cook, my great great grandfather is buried.  He had died in the State Hospital in 1905.  As you can see, there are no visible markers.  The description states that all grave markers are flat, and as such, many have sunk into the ground.  There is only entry to the cemetery by appointment.

We headed on west passing into Kansas.  

We stopped at the courthouse in Fort Scott.  My great grandfather, William Harvey Caulkins and Viola Alice Clark were married in 1881, by probate judge Chenney.  The marriage was filed here.  There was not a courthouse when they married, but one was built in 1887 and burned down.  The current one was built in 1929.

It is interesting to note that the Cook’s (The Farar line.) and the Caulkin’s (The Croslin line) were only miles apart in Missouri and Kansas.  They both moved to Oklahoma, not knowing the other, and then on to Arizona where families met.

On we went, heading to Oklahoma.  We entered the state and right on to the turnpike, stopping in Tulsa for gas and lunch.  The wide open freeway with 75 mph speed was wonderful after so many country roads and slower limits.

The day continued on as we went through Texas, stopping in Amarillo for supper.  We thought of Tyler as he had served part of his mission here and really liked the town.

Back in the car, we crossed into New Mexico.  We traveled on to Santa Rosa, where we stayed the night.

Wednesday morning we left our comfortable room the next morning and continued our journey to Arizona.

It seemed as though we drove all day through New Mexico.  It was pretty much wide open spaces and a sky full of sunshine. We drove through Alamogordo and Las Cruces, and then into Arizona by mid afternoon.  We were excited to be in our home state.  We met Tom in Benson and had a meal with him.  It was good to see him and unfortunately we didn't think to take a picture.

We made it to Nelson's new home by 6 p.m. where they were waiting dinner for us.  It was good to see everyone along with Valerie and Jason, Halie, and Clark.  We took the tour of their home and enjoyed visiting with one another.

Nelson and Julie took Thursday off from work and spent the day with us.  We first attended a session in the Tucson temple and then went out to lunch.  The temple is beautiful and it was special to be in it.

Gridley Middle School had their Fall Band Concert Thursday night.  Jack played in the 6th Grade Cadet Band and we went to dinner beforehand.  He played the bass drum very well and kept the rhythm going.

Clark is not sure what he wants to eat.

 Clark's family.

We left out Friday morning when everyone went to school and work and made it to Yuma by noon.  We didn't even need google maps to get us there!  We met the family at Chile Pepper for lunch and wonderful greetings.

Collins was especially excited to see his "Papa."  Dakotah wasn't too sure about me.  Dan & Cheryl came as well as Juliann and son Bob.  Dallin, Heather, Porter, Cambren, and baby were there too.

 Now Dakotah knows how to eat at Chile Pepper!

Trevor and Juliann followed us home to help unload the car.  Their help was wonderful.  We were surprised with Christmas lights on the carport and a decorated Christmas tree set up inside!  The girls were so helpful in taking care of us.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on settling in.  We ran errands, made a trip to Wal-Mart, and unpacked some things.  We went to President Workman's office at 8:30 p.m. and were released from our mission.  We had a great visit as we answered questions and talked about our experiences.

We slept in our bed Friday night and Saturday morning dawned with being happy for that.  We went to Katie's where I made biscuits, gravy, eggs, and bacon for everyone.  Juliann and her children came and what a fun time we had.  After I got things cleaned up we were back at the house for more unpacking and such.  Bob made it to the Tamale Festival in Somerton, AZ and had a great time eating different ones.  He also went to a gun show.  He has missed going to them the last three years.

We went to tithing settlement Saturday evening and then gathered at son Bob's for snacks, hot chocolate, and visiting.  Adellae and Brynlyn ventured into the cold swimming pool but didn't stay in very long.

Charly, Dakotah, Trevor, Brynlyn, Porter, Dallin.

Becky, Cheryl, and Heather.

Collins wanted his picture taken. . . . . . . .

. . .and Brynlyn jumped in.

Sunday was the ending of a wonderful week of coming home.  We spoke in our ward with the family coming.  It was good to see friends of years past and feel the love of the bishop and others.  In Relief Society they asked if I would play the piano and I did.  Made me feel like I was in Washington Branch, other than I was in Relief Society instead of Primary.

We ended the day with a meal and plenty of time together at Katie's.  Everyone brought a different soup and bread, crackers, and chips to go with them.  There were plenty of desserts with ice cream cones and sundaes.  Some were later in coming and some left early but the games and visiting continued.

We have for sure come to the end of our mission.  It was a wonderful experience in many many ways.  A new chapter in our lives has begun as we settle into being home and developing a new routine for a spell and then see what may be on the horizon.  Our love for the Savior and His Gospel remain strong and we will continue to serve where needed.

Week #52, 4 -10 December 2017

This was a week of "lasts," as we have finished up the mission.  I think we did it in style though, with celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on Friday, the 8th, by being in the temple all day.  We did have a three hour break in the middle for lunch, etc.  We had asked the two shift coordinators if we could both be scheduled together in  a sealing session and they did!  We were so excited to spend time in the sacred sealing room, at the alter, being proxies for numerous ancestors of ours in uniting them as families.  We also reflected on our own sealing  those many years ago and the feelings we had in knowing we will be together forever.  The promises and blessings in those sealings are eternal.  We could not have had a more perfect anniversary!

We enjoyed lunch at Gator's in Burlington.  The sweet hostess (Her grandparents, the Duncan's are serving a mission in the temple with us!) was kind enough to take our photo.

We had a bottle of sparkling cider for celebration.  After the p.m. shift, Sister Elizabeth Edwards, a district worker, came over to celebrate with us.  We had a fun time visiting and saying our good-byes.

In all of our packing and cleaning in the apartment, we came up with Oreos, golden Oreos, mini Snicker bars, fruit snacks, and a bunch of granola bars.  We took them to the break room at the temple and posted the following sign:

Join in celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Bob and Barbara Brown

Everyone enjoyed the treats and wished us a very happy day.

Thursday was our last day to scan at Brother Shirts.  I finished up the binder I was working on and Bob made good headway on his.

We will miss serving and being able to read and see all the documents and such of days and events in the past around Nauvoo.

 Sunday was another last as we made the trip to and from Washington Branch with Boyce and Diane McBride.  We gave the prayers in Sacrament Meeting as our farewell and then the primary children gave me a thank you note and a Symphony Bar.  What a great gift it was.

Bob wanted to get a picture of the four of us at the church but we forgot and we were about ten miles out of town when I remembered.  Bob decided we could take our picture at the Budwiser plant we pass to and from church each Sunday!

Doing the selfie trick, it was tricky and not so good with getting the building in the picture with us.

It was super windy!  Boyce & Diane and Bob & Barbara.

Week #51, 27 November - 3 December 2017

We were to Burlington on Monday, and stopped at Old Fort Madison on our way home to take a tour.  We were a little late as it is closed for the season.  It was built in 1830 and was a part of the Saints lives when they lived in Nauvoo in 1839-1846.

We were in charge of family night along with the Hardy's.  We decided on the temple missionaries going to Rendezvous In Old Nauvoo together one last time.  The musical was discontinued on Thursday, November 30.  It will be interesting to see what comes next.

We enjoyed our shifts in the temple with the opportunity to go as patrons on a couple of sessions.  That helped us finish up our family file cards from when we came here.  It has been quite a journey and indeed a blessing.

Thursday evening we enjoyed dinner at the Irion's along with Sister Udall.  Sister Udall left yesterday for her home in Snowflake, AZ.

They gave us this picture and encouraged us to mark all the places in the world our family has or are serving missions.  It will be fun to do that.

When we left the Irion's, Bob took this picture of the temple and the moon.  We actually went out to the temple Sunday evening in hopes of getting a picture with the super moon but there was a cloud cover, thus no moon.

We were to the Community Christmas Tree Lighting program on Friday.

It was a festive event with the Warsaw High School 1A Jazz Combo providing the reshow and Post Show.  They did a great job and were augmented with the Warsaw High School Choir singing three Christmas songs throughout the program.

 Our friend, Amy met up with us to enjoy the evening.  After the program we took the wagon ride to Main Street.  From there we went to various sites to hear stories of Christmas carols and then join in singing them.

Barbara, Megan, Amy, and Elisia.

We ended up at the Family Living Center where we enjoyed refreshments along with hot chocolate.

Bob kept Elisia supplied with gingerbread cookies.

Sunday we had Break the Fast at our apartment with the Duncan's and the Hansen's.  I planned the menu around what I have left in the kitchen and that ended up being haystacks.  It made for easy assignments to the others and an easy meal to serve and enjoy, which we all seemed to very nicely.  Sister Duncan brought ice cream, berries, whipped cream, and nuts for dessert.  It was perfect and went well with after dinner conversation.

We also enjoyed the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and were reminded of love, service, and forgiveness - ways to strengthen our testimonies and to Light the World at this Christmas season.  What a fun time of year this is and all because of the Savior's birth.  As the brother speaking in the devotional said:  "It is His birthday, yet we are the ones who get the gifts."

We can all give the gifts of love to others, service to those in need, and forgiving all who cross our paths who may be offensive.