The wise man built his house upon a rock

3 September 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

I must have sounded pathetic last week, and I really didn’t mean to, but thanks for all the emails that reassured me that you are reading our weekly adventures! I have the best family and friends on earth. Seriously, I am so blessed!

Happy Birthday this week to our son-in-law Kevin, the do-it-all, fix-it-all, the-energizer-bunny-has-nothing-on-him kind of man. We love and appreciate not only all you fix for us, but also the great addition to our family you and your girls are. We are grateful for you! Happy Birthday also to my dear friend Wendy Gibbs on Thursday. You make 40+ look so good! J And speaking of 40, happy 40th anniversary to my companion on Friday the 8th . That one I have a difficult time writing, because I find myself pausing. . . reflecting on where the time has gone and all we have been through and experienced. I can’t imagine anyone else by my side. If we were home we’d be throwing a party! But instead we will be celebrating in Frankfurt at our Europe Area National Council of Public Affairs annual training seminar. It will be our first trip to Germany, so I guess that is worth celebrating also.

Monday was a bank holiday, which we usually use as a catch-up day at work, but since there wasn’t much to catch up on we actually took the day off. Luke, one of our 9-year-old grandsons, was most anxious for us to go see the jawbone of a MEGALOSOURUS dinosaur, which he learned in a book, was on display at the Oxford Natural History Museum, so because we love him, that’s what we did. We had wanted to see Oxford anyway. We made him happy, so it was one of the best days.

This week was filled with accomplishing all those things we put off until we had time “after the Pageant.” Ron is very anal retentive about keeping his ‘Inbox’ cleaned out, and strongly encourages me to do the same. He just about died when he asked me one day how many emails were in my inbox. I shrank behind my computer when I told him 1,586. He buried his head in his hands and shook his head . . .but at least I didn’t get a lecture. J So this week . . . delete, delete, delete, save, save, delete . . . .every day, until Friday when I left the office I had 4! He’s a happy camper. When he’s happy, I’m happy.

Windsor Castle with Laura & Bob Kemper

My good friend, Laura Lewis (now Kemper) from North Carolina and her new husband, Bob Kemper, were coming to London for a few days on their way to a European cruise for their honeymoon and wanted to meet up. So we all met yesterday at Windsor Castle, toured the castle, ate lunch, caught up with each other, and got to know Bob. It’s a pretty good friend who will invite you to join her honeymoon! We had such a good time. In our PA missionary training we were told that it was up to us whether we wore our badges or not when we were out doing things on our own time. We rarely don’t because we have found that they attract people to us, particularly Mormons from Utah! Yesterday was no exception. We had two different groups stop us; one from West and South Jordan, and one group from Holladay. It’s fun to chat with them, find out why they are visiting, they want to know what a PA missionary does, and we can usually find a connection! We did today with the group from West Jordan. They know my good friend Karen Robinson! The common denominator was Festival of Trees. It is amazing how our experiences in life continue to bless us in so many ways . . . so many places.

Today we had the Elders over for dinner and said our good-byes to Elder Holbrook as he returns home to Park City this week. There will be big changes in our ward with transfers and new missionaries. . . I have to look on the bright side of it all . . .new missionaries to meet and love! If I don’t stay positive, I get very sad. L

With deepest gratitude may I say THANK YOU to all those who were concerned for our Alisha and her family in Houston. Many prayers were offered in their behalf, and we know those prayers were heard. Somehow, some way, both her family and her in-laws (the greatest people in the world) managed to only have the water at their doors, but not inside. After a harried week of their own, they are now sporting yellow “Helping Hands” t-shirts as they go out and help “muck” the homes of those who were flooded. (Mucking is a very technical term J for removing everything from the house, ripping up flooring, ripping out 2-4’ of drywall, and removing wet insulation.) And back in Utah, Amanda organized her home as a drop-off point for the donation of needed items to the Houston area, then took everything to a pod in Layton where it would be shipped for free. I am truly blessed to be my children’s mom. The roles have reversed. They teach me now far more than I teach them. Over and over in my mind I keep hearing words to the song “The wise man built his house upon a rock.” The rains came down, the floods certainly came up, and their house, built on faith in Jesus Christ, stood still.

So many things we do each week brings thoughts of our family and friends at home. Whether it is a social media post, something we are reading, a recipe I’m making, or any number of other things, you are in our hearts and mind. Thanks for you examples, love and support.

Love,
Ron and Marie