We are getting closer to getting our bedroom decorated. Lucinda made curtains for one window. We used our old curtains on the other window.

As Owen and I were wandering around the basement, he spotted a dump truck. He was so excited. Unfortunately, the ground is wet and frozen outside. But there is lots of sawdust downstairs. I hope his mom appreciates how clean sawdust is compared to dirt.



This last weekend we visited Emily and her family. She is the den mother in the school's cub scout pack and it was the blue and gold banquet. She made some really fun table decorations. The theme was outer space. How did she do with her aliens? We had a good time.



Take me to your leader . . .

I hope that everyone has heard by now the Craig and Heidi had a baby boy last Monday. Heidi and baby Kent are doing just fine. Heidi's mom is here helping with the baby and just loving it. Her mother will be here for about a week.

I had a life changing moment this last week. When we started the new Sunday school year, I opened my Book of Mormon and Nephi fell to the floor. The binding is shot after so many years of use. Now you may say that getting a new set of scriptures is no big deal. Well, how about all the happy faces, holes punched and random scriptures that were underlined with a child's hand writing? It just won't be the same. I hate to admit it, but I bought a large type version. See - a life changing moment. (By the way, Bev's book mark, that she gave us so many years ago from South Africa, is still hanging in there.)




Did I tell you that mom and I are memorizing a seminary scripture each week? I should have been more sympathetic to all of you that had mom for a seminary teacher - she is tough. No 'whereas' for 'wherefore', no 'but' for 'that', no 'will' for 'shall' and no 'then' for 'it came to pass'

Hope everything is going well for all of you.

Love,
Dad

Last weekend we had a big snow storm. We cleaned the snow off the driveway and sidewalks and the next morning we saw a rabbit had dug a little cave in the snow and was sitting in it next to the sidewalk. He was right next to the driveway. We would drive in and out and he just sat there. Finally after three days he left - or was eaten by a wolf.

I am working on a headboard for your mother. This week I glued the slats to the headboard. First, I had to cut the slats to the correct length and width. Then cut the tendons. They had to be glued all at once. I'd put one in and one would fall out. Glue was all over the place. Finally they were all in and clamped. They seemed a little squiwampus (i.e., not square). You'll note the square in the picture and the sledge hammer. I got everything aligned;)

Love, Dad

We received our first major snowstorm of the year - about 9 inches and then the temperature dropped to -10. Lucinda, Hannah, Craig and I still had to go to work. We don't have anyone who gets snow days anymore. Anyway, it wasn't that bad - the wind was calm. Craig made a pile of snow in the back yard for an igloo but hasn't hollowed it out yet. Maybe he needs some older nephews to help. Owen is a bit too young.




I started my next project. I am making a bed for our room. The plans come from a book. Craig and I picked up the lumber this week from Wintrop. I am a little concerned as it calls for boards that I can barely lift and has all kinds of mortises and other Fancy joints. If we ever have a tornado, we'll have a place to hide.

We are having Dave Mixdorf over for dinner tonight. His wife is in India on a business trip. I'm sure that we will have stories to swap.

We love and miss all of you.

Love,
Dad

I haven't written in the blog for a long time. It's not that we weren't doing anything. We had a great Christmas. Brice and Breann, Hannah and Andrew came for Christmas. Emily and her family came after Christmas and filled the house with excitment.

I finished two projects recently. We brought back some granite table tops from India. I thought that I would put them in the living room, but Lucinda asked for night stands in the bed room. So, after 32 years, she finally has night stands.
 
We put up a wall in the basement to try and keep the saw dust under control. This week I wired the room. The electricity comes straight from the fuse box, so the lights wouldn't dim each time I turn on the saw anymore. It wasn't too tough to run the wires. There were some objections in the house, however, when I started early Saturday morning. Nothing like waking up to the sound of hammers. . .

This Sunday morning I was giving Craig grief because he was sewing on a button on his church suit. I told him that he would have to pick all the stiches out in the millenium that he put in on Sunday. Then as I was preparing a primary lesson on the brass plates, I remembered that we had a sword on Leban that we made for seminary. Wouldn't that be a fun prop for the lesson! It took some digging, but I finally found it. Low and behold it was missing its handle. Should I or should I not make a new handle for it on Sunday? By this time I just had to have it, so I fixed it. So, I guess I'll be sitting next to Craig in the millenium - he'll be pulling out stiches and I'll be gluing wood chips back on my handle.

Love, Dad

Our vacation is over and we'll be on our way home in another 12 hours. By the way, Misawa is home of the 35th fighter wing. I caught this picture of one of the fighters flying low over the trees;)

Saturday, December 17, 2011 -- They had a fun Christmas party at the elementary school for all the younger children on base. We took Helen, Jane, and Alice (in the pouch on Amber's front) and made ornaments, candy cane reindeer, colored, waited patiently in line for a balloon animal, threw snowballs in Santa's mouth, ate pizza and treats, and generally had a good time. The base has all kinds of fun activities for everyone of every age.

Sunday, December 18, 2011 -- We went to church again and though the floor was cold again, the spirit there was very warm. Amber got to play the piano for Relief Society. Jane wasn't feeling very well and we kept her with us the whole meeting.

We also went to a Buddahist temple. They were just ready to close for the evening when we got there. They did let us in, and we promptly took off our shoes and walked around and took some interesting pictures. The smell of incense hung in the air -- lots of prayers went up to heaven that day!



Monday, December 19, 2011 -- The 9th day market -- An outdoor market that is held on the days of the month with a 9 -- 9th, 19th, and 29th. We were told we could find a shop with used kimonos. We found some obi fabric (12 inches wide and yards and yards long) that we can use for some various craft projects -- possibly curtain toppers or Christmas tree skirts? The rest of the market was fruit/vegetable stands, fish stands, flower/garden stands. It was snowing so hard when we were there we couldn't even see across the walkway! This would be a really fun market in the summer with more venders and better weather!

Monday evening we went to a Japanese restaurant - Aburi an. We went in, took our shoes off, put them in lockers, then sat down at our table which was on the floor level, because we are wimpy Americans, we put our feet in a pit where the grill was sitting. It looked like we were eating real Japanese style, but we were just faking it. There were heating coils down on the floor that kept our feet nice and toasty. We ordered lots of different meats, vegetables, rice, salads, onion rings, cheese sticks, and just gobbled it up because it was so good! We cooked our own meats and vegetables on our own little grill.

Yesterday there was much more snow that we've had the whole time we've been here. Michelle says she feels like she lives in a snow globe with it snowing nearly all the time. The kids in the neighborhood all came out to play and sled yesterday afternoon (I suspect that their mothers kicked them out of the house to have a good time). Michelle and Ryan have a great sledding hill in their backyard, so they don't have to go far. Unfortunately, they don't have a sled yet! Helen had fun on the neighbor girl's sled.

We only have a couple of days left on this wild adventure and we're beginning to feel bad about leaving, but excited to come home and party with a new group of party animals.