Kristi and Karl returned Saturday evening from their trip to Hawaii. So Sunday afternoon we had a family dinner with all the family in Austin - which is a big number - total of 13 adults and 19 children. Lisa and David provided their house and yard which provided lots of room for all. We were so grateful is was an absolutely beautiful day with no humidity. All the cousins had a great time being together and the adults all got to catch up and enjoy great food and too much chocolate - as if there can ever be too much chocolate.

Creativity

I receive so many creative items from my talented family including sons and daughters in-laws that I need to start sharing them with others. The most recent is a box of candy with each piece of candy wrapped with a special picture or saying which Kristi made. The other is a unique card Heather made for Randy to insert a special message which he did. It is fun being a father and a grandfather.

Cousins Having Fun!

Kristi and Karl are on their way to Hawaii but first they came to leave Kylie, Elle and Cordi with us for the week. We are going to enjoy them this week. Before Kristi and Karl left the family all gathered Saturday afternoon at Steven and Micah's for dinner and fun. We had Lisa and David, Kristi and Karl, Steven and Micah, Eric and Vanessa, Paige, Amanda, Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time. All the cousins especially had a great time on the slip&slide.

Flooded again!

Lightening and thunder started about 8 PM and by 9 PM the rain was coming down hard and never stopped until this morning around 4 AM. We listened to the rain pounding throughout the night. This morning Lisa dropped off JT, Cenny and Zeke so she, Gunnar and Qatar could help a family that had their basement flooded. Then the calls came for help sandbaging through out the city. Since I have been sick for more than a week and getting very little sleep I stayed with the kids and Eileen and Paige went to help sandbag. We even got water in our basement but just enough to soak the bottom of the boxes holding my stained glass. Not much work to clean up just the hassel of finding new boxes and handling the glass. The picture is Turtle Creek which normally flows quietly between the trees in the center of the picture approximately no wider than 10 to 15 feet. Click on the headline above for local news.

Icelandic?

Today was the beginning of our Icelandic language lessons. Our tutor is very complimentary telling us we were doing great. Sad thing was we got the wrong books but he was able to discover the right ones are available. We got them ordered today even though the lady at the bookstore wasn't sure what I was talking about until she finally found them.

We also got a call from President Olauson our Mission President. He said we will fly to Copenhagen to meet with him for two days before going to Iceland. We will also go to the Temple in Copenhagen. We had a great visit with him and look forward to meeting and working with him.

Minnesota Provides Great Contrasts

After spending several hours under tornado warnings we went to Steven's for Connett's birthday. Then at the end of the day we witnessed some of the most extraordinary cloud formations. Sadly I was a little slow getting the camera so this is the best you get.

The New Tornado Alley?

We were out walking this afternoon to get some errands done when it started raining just as we got to the bank. It quit when we were ready to leave. We went to Lisa's to pick up Cenneidigh to spend time with us. It started raining again and we visited for a little while until it quit. Just as we got home it started raining again but we might as well been in the rain as we were soaked from the humidity. We turned on the air-conditioning and I sat down to read the paper. Just then the sirens started wailing and I turned on the local channel and we were under a tornado warning as a tornado had been spotted just south and east. We spent the next 1/2 hour in the basement until they cleared the warning. In about 15 minuted they put us under a warning because the storm is continuing across us again. The image to the left shows the progress of the storms as they move northeast over us - one storm after another. 30 minutes have passed since the last warning was canceled and the sirens are wailing again.

Nigeria Enugu Mission President

We met Elder and Sora Boggess in Romania (soon to be President and Sister Boggess). They were fantastic missionaries and taught us much about being effective missionaries. We were very grateful for their training and example. They returned home from Romania and within six months they were serving in the Africa West Area as Area Welfare Specialists. After a little over a year in Africa, Elder Boggess was called to be President of the Nigeria Enugu Mission. The have been home less than 4 months and in two weeks enter the MTC for mission presidency training to begin serving in Nigeria July 1. They submitted our names to serve in their mission but as we saw with others request for us the Lord wants us in Iceland where we are excited to serve.