Summer is here

The pool is now so warm in the afternoon, it is hardly refreshing. I guess that means that summer has arrived!!

I enjoyed a quiet Father's Day with my mom and dad, Chris' dad and his wife Sandra and their youngest son Arthur, and Chris' brother Jeff and his wife Terri. We had baby back ribs with baked beans, jello salad and chocolate cake and cherry pie!

Today we are going to Chris' mom's for lunch with my mom and dad. Tonight, Jason, our oldest son, has some VIP tickets for a baseball game that includes food and parking. We are going to a local semi-pro baseball stadium in Frisco, TX, about 15 miles from home. Apparently, the facility is quite impressive...not your father's AAA baseball stadium. I don't even know the name of the team, but I guess now is as good of time as any to learn it. Jason says our seats will put us closer to the batter than the pitcher will be.

Yesterday, Armando (my daughter Sarah's husband) and I went to protest his tax bill. They bought a foreclosure and we were successful in getting the taxes lowered by 25 percent. Last week Armando got accepted into a Nursing program at the local college. He hopes to become an RN in the next two years. He has already completed much of the course work.

Welcome home to the Browns, who just returned from their one year assignment in China...a great adventure I am sure. I hope they will be able to join us in Branson! We are excited to see so many seniors showing interest.

My mother goes to the doctor's on Thursday for a follow up visit with her doctor. We are hoping that a date can be set for the surgery. She has been feeling much better these past two weeks.

Getting Settled

Yesterday, we presented our fireside in our stake. We had a good turnout. It was fun. We took the full hour and a half that was given to us and a little bit more. With 15 minutes or so to go, we had only gotten through about half the slides we had prepared!

I bought an edger to use instead of a weedeater when doing the lawns. I am very satisfied that my lawn does not have weedeater scars any more and it takes about 1/3 the time. I am really enjoying working in the yard and the results have been very satisfying. Today we sprayed and fertilized our roses. The are getting ready for their next bloom.

The crape myrtles are just beginning to explode. I have three pink ones and two deep pink/red ones. I will take a picture in a couple of days when we get to full bloom.

I have been swimming nearly every day. I swim about 1/4 of a mile everyday.

The weather is getting hotter everyday. This week it should hover around 99 degrees every day.

We pick up our motorhome tomorrow. We needed to replace the black tank, due to some damage that I must have caused on one our trips. It was leaking and you don't want to be the one in camp with a leaky black water tank!!

My mother is feeling much better and has a lot more energy. She goes back to the doctor on 24th for a follow up visit. We hope they are impressed with strength and will be able to set a date for her surgery. Still no bites on their house in CA.

We made a return trip to the motor vehicle department to get their Texas license, but were still missing some paperwork, so we back to the county office to get a copy of their car registration. When we got back to the motor vehicle department, all the computers were down. So tomorrow we will go back for the fourth time!! Hopefully, we can get this last important detail completed.

We are enjoying our time at home and are enjoying having our little reunions with friends and family. And we are missing all of our senior buddies and office staff. We hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are.

It's Finally Summer in Texas

Our Roses in Full Bloom

Courtney and Ashley at Emily's pre-kindergarten graduation.

Day lilies in full bloom.

Yesterday, we finally hit 90, but just barely, which is greatly appreciated. The pool water temperature is about 82 which is quite pleasant. Yesterday we celebrated by father's birthday, he is 79. Of course, I reminded him that it was the first day day of his eightieth year. We ate bar-b-qued hamburgers and key lime pie for dessert, his favorite!

Yesterday, son-in-law took another load of tree and bush trimmings to the dumps for me. I am finished now with the big stuff, but it is just about time to trim everything again. We had a wet spring, so everything is growing like a weed.

I have just about given up on trying to edge with a weed eater. I keep scarring the edges of my lawn. I guess I will just have to breakdown and buy an edger. Plus, it takes me twice as long to edge as it does to mow. Something is just not quite right about that!

Chris is down to her fighting weight again, but I am still at my Moscow weight. I hope that exercise will help me lose some weight! Key lime pie won't!!

Chris was called into the RS as an instructor. I was called as a ward missionary. I was also called as the Stake Sunday School President. I will be sustained on Sunday. I still need to select councilors. We also will present our Russian Mission fireside on Sunday. We are still working on our preparations.

Last week we attended two pre-kindergarten graduations, one for Emily and one for Eden. These two are ready for kindergarten!

I am still struggling a bit with photos. These were taken with my iphone. I can't find the cable to transfer my photos on my other camera, so I think I will just get a card reader, that way I can transfer from both from the Casio and the Nikon.

We had a nice video conference with Sam and Narene a couple of days ago. They look great. We got reacquainted with some of their kids and a bunch of grandchildren. They recently had celebrated there 50th wedding anniversary, with over 40 kids and grandkids. We talked briefly about the Branson reunion. More details on that will coming out soon.

We also got a surprise call from Elder Packard from Tiblisi Georgia. Then we called him back on Skype and presto he was in our laptop in full living color! He gave us quite report. It is interesting to note that the missionaries are taught Georgian in the MTC and teach in Georgian, but only have a Russian or English Book of Mormon. They have very little materials translated into Georgian, mostly done on a local basis.

As you can imagine, in some of these smaller branches of the church HT and VT are a challenge. He told us about an approach that he will try, that was just approved by the mission president, President Dunn. He makes up a handout with a one paragraph clipping for the First Presidency's message from the Liahona. It's a three step process. They call their familes and ask them how they are doing and if there is anything they can do to help. Next, they read the message. Finally, they invite the member out to church. They use the HT and VT to cover the members. It the VT call, then the HT don't and vise versa. That way they can get more coverage. VT call were there is no priesthood present in the home.

He called to get some ideas on employment training. I served as his employment specialist in the church when he was our Stake President. I have sent him somethings already and will follow up this week on a few others.

Whirlwind

Last Monday, my dad and I flew to California to supervise the packing of their household goods. Two hard days, with an average of four packers each day, and the job was complete. On Thursday, the truck was loaded and on Friday, we headed for Texas.

We spent the last evening with my mom's dear friends Nancy and Tony. We had a delicious dinner and a short night's sleep and we were off.

The next morning we were due to leave at 6:00 a.m., but my father was too wound up and could not sleep. So he woke me up at 4:30 and we headed out at 5:00 in the morning. Then we had a senior moment. Out on the highway (hwy 20) we passed a CHP who was on the side of the road. Immediately, he turned on his lights and began to follow me. I looked down at my speedometer and I was doing 80 in a 55. I could not believe it. I hadn't been on the road 15 minutes and I was about to get a very expensive ticket. I geared down to 65, which was still too fast. It seemed so strange to me. The car appeared to be crawling. Then I took it down to 55. Strangely enough, still no red lights!! At the next highway exchange, I turned onto HWY 49, heading for Sacramento. To my delight the CHP kept going on HWY 20. As I started out on 49, I was doing about 60 and cars were just flying past me. I looked at my dad and told him his speedometer must be broken. It was then that he remembered that he has a one button toggle that goes between MPH and Kilometers!!! The fastest that I ever went was 60 MPH and the slowest, in a 55 MPH zone was about 38 or so. Wouldn't it have been ironic, if I had gotten a ticket for going too slow!!!

Later on in the day, I got a nice follow-up call from my father's retirement association asking about my mother's health, and if the move and change of insurance had gone smoothly. This was the kind of attention to detail that we had come to expect from the association. (When I got home I wrote a letter to the President of their association to commend all of those who had been so helpful in facilitating the transition.)

By 4:00, we were pulling in to my aunt and uncle's (Norma and Gil) place in Lake Havasu, Arizona. We had a great visit with them and they saw us off at 6:15 a.m. the next day. Later in the day we had lunch with my niece in Albuquerque, New Mexico at Fuddrukkers. It was short, but sweet. Lindsay, had just won $400 for an academic accomplishment, awarded to only 15 people out of 25,000!! She is on her way to Edinburgh Scotland on a full scholarship. She is studying Carbon Management. She wants to be a consultant, to show businesses how to reduce their carbon footprint. I am sure she will do great.

Once we got to Tucumcari, New Mexico, our destination for the day, my father encouraged me to keep going until we got Amarillo. Then he suggested that we go a little further. We finally quit in Vernon. We rolled into a Walmart parking lot, got two hours of sleep and headed home for Dallas. We arrived a little after 8:00 a.m...31 hours of driving for the total journey!!

Monday and Tuesday were nonstop activity, setting up electricity, water, gas, phones, internet, car registrations, new licenses, etc. We accomplished everything but the car licenses. We needed a Social Security cards but they were packed somewhere on the Bekins Van Line truck.

Wednesday we closed on the house and Thursday (today) the movers arrived. Wednesday afternoon, we visited with my daughter-in-law, Abby and our granddaughter Lore. She was up from Alabama to attend a wedding. Savannah, another granddaughter, was also at the house (Chris was babysitting so Jessica could go on field trip with her oldest son, Cody.)

Also, on Wednesday evening, we took my mom back to the emergency room and she was readmitted to the hospital, because she was running a fever. They did a series of tests (e.g., chest x-ray, CT scan) and so far the results are favorable. While the movers were there, I took my father to the doctor, for his first visit, since arriving in Texas. Chris and Zack, my youngest son, took over from there. My dad has been having some issues as well,and tomorrow we will head back to the hospital so that he can have an Echo Cardiogram and an MRI. We will visit my mom in between!!

We were joined today by Sarah, in the afternoon, and Jason and Joy, in the evening, to help unload boxes. We made some pretty good progress and called it quits around 9:00.

While I am at the doctors tomorrow, Chris will be at the new house to receive a delivery from a furniture store and to let in the cable guy to set up their cable, internet and land phone.

On Saturday, we have to be a Lowe's by 6:30 a.m. to make a purchase on special deal Lowes is having on refridgerators. Hopefully, we bring my mother home from the hospital and we can continue with the boxes. Then, I think it is Sunday...the day of rest...which starts at 7:30 a.m. in the RS room for a missionary correlation meeting!!

Was that a whirlwind or a Texas sized tornado!!!

Best Regards

A Big Night in Allen and Anna: Two School Board Winners

Election day in Allen and resulted in big wins for the Shepard family. Jason and Billy both won their places on their respective School Boards. Congratulations to both!!

My mom was also released from the hospital just in time to celebrate Mother's Day. Now we wait for the blood thinners to do their magic...8 to 10 weeks until surgery.

Today my parent's new home was inspected and it passed with flying colors. Later today, they went to meet the sellers to look at a few items they wanted to sell rather than move. Then we discovered that they are moving just down the street, about 5 homes away. The sellers wanted a smaller place now that they purchased their new RV. I can relate to that!!!

Eight of the Shepard and Williams girls in Texas threw a surprise birthday party for Chris. They met at the Cheesecake Factory and showered her with little treasures. There would have been 10, but my mom hadn't been released from the hospital yet.

All Quiet in Dallas

Closing on the house is set for May 20. The movers pack on May 12. We fly to Ca. on May 11. We will return to Dallas on May 18 or 19.

My mother is still in the hospital. She is doing well. She has had several vistors over the past couple days. We hope to see the numbers on the coumadin move in the right direction today. Yesterday the number was 1.2 the same as it has been for the past couple of days. It generally takes a few days for it to do its magic. We need a reading between 2 and 3. Waiting for blood to thin, is like watching a pot boil. It is very boring, but the Dr. says boring is good!! When she is released, we hope to experience a gradual recovery over the next 8 weeks or so. If no more blood clots form in the lungs, we should see a gradual clearing of the clots and more lung function. Then a date will be set for the surgery.

We did find out that the clots are much smaller than the filter (they use the word filter instead of screen, which I had used in the last post). The blood then passes through the filter. The filter is not a plug, though under extreme conditions the filter can get plugged, but there are procedures for dealing with that too.

It has rained every day this week. Our lawn gets longer, but is too wet to cut. Maybe today.

It took two hours last night to get my printer to work correctly. I finally had to reinstall drivers. The night before, it took two hours to get the internet working properly. Today, I figured out how to transfer a Booksmart file from one computer to another. You must export then import the file. It's a pain, but it works. Today, I will be able to work on my book.

Emergency Procedure

Yesterday, the doctors confirmed that my mother has blood clots in her legs. These clots work themselves loose and travel to the lung, and if you are lucky, they stay there. For the past month, even though she has been on blood thinners, the clots in her legs have found their way to the lungs and my mother's condition has not improved. Yesterday, after seeing a pulmonary specialist, she was put immediately in a wheel chair (to keep her off her feet) and sent to radiology and had a special little screen implanted in her groin area to catch the blood clots and prevent them from getting to the lung. He was very concerned and said that he would breathe a lot easier, once the screen had been implanted. The screen should keep the lungs free, and hopefully, her lungs can now heal. What happens to the clots caught in the screen? I don't know, but we will find out today. Hopefully, the new blood thinners will do their magic on her legs. She is now on Fragmin and Coumadin. After the procedure, she was admitted to the hospital for observation. I think she will be there for a few days, while they get her blood thinners established at the right levels. The doctor said her surgery would be put off for 8 to 10 weeks while her lungs heal.

More later.

New Assignments

Chris and I both received new callings today. Chris will teach RS once a month and I will serve as a Ward Missionary. We have a great ward mission leader. We are very correlated. I have assignments to work with fulltime missionaries and with other ward missionaries, with each, once a week. We have a goal of 10 baptisms for the balance of the year.

Elsewhere we received a counter offer on my parents house. They will make their final decision tomorrow.

Also, tomorrow my mother and I are headed back to the doctor for a final decision on surgery and to check her Coumidan levels.

Tonight, we had dinner with my parents and Chris's parents. This is the first time they have seen each other in over 2 years. They get along wonderfully. I am sure they will have great times together in Texas. I am about through with all of these special meals though. I am ready for bread and water. On second thought, forget the bread...if you get my drift...

Where in the world are Sam and Narene? I am guessing somewhere in Nebraska? Any other guesses?

This morning I began working in earnest to complete the blog book. I came home with about 160 pages completed. I now have over 200. I have 200 more to go. Then it will be down to layout changes and final edits. I can't believe all of the typos on the blog. But I will make my best effort to clean them up and get the blog book print ready over the next few months. The good news is that I was able to switch my files over to the Mac and I am using iphoto to search for additional pictures, which makes the job a lot easier.

The Beat Goes On...

Well, my mom and dad arrived on Thursday and we spent all day Friday at the doctors. She did well on all her tests, except she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. This is causing a slight leakage in the first main valve in the heart. This is not such a big deal, and if the pressure from the lung eases, with recovery, this will further minimize the leakage. Unfortunately, it looks like the doctor would like to postpone the surgery to give her lungs more opportunity to heal. So we may be looking at 6 weeks now until surgery. On Friday afternoon, we were making plans for surgery on Monday. Additional healing will give the doctor the advantage of taking more of the lung and thus precluding the spread of the cancer, which at this moment, is contained. Otherwise, he would be inclined to take less lung and the chances of the cancer returning would be increased. We will meet with the doctor on Monday to have her blood checked and to review his final decision.

In the meantime, no moss grows under our feet. My mom and dad found a house they like and are putting in an offer tonight. If all goes well, we could close in 2 weeks and I could be heading to CA for the move in about 10 days. It's a beautiful home, in a gated community, with lots of room. My mom remarked, " I raised three children in less than 1,000 square feet. Do I really need 2300 square feet, with no children?" Well, with 6 grandchildren nearby and a dozen great-grandchildren, I think she will find use for the extra room.

A Family Home Evening with the Jones

Jay and Connie with Bob and Jana Miner (the Miners are on the outside).

Jay and Connie Jones invited us to dinner with a few other couples to see some of our pictures of Russia and hear a little bit about our mission.  The Miners, Crofts and Mannewitz families joined us.  We started dinner at 6:30 and came home around 11:00.  Not quite missionary hours!!  It was great fun.  The Mannewitz's have already been on two senior missions.  Jay is a counselor in the Stake Presidency.  Jay and Bob (Minor), and Bill (Mannewitz) are all former bishops of our ward.

We had some technical difficulties showing our slides. I needed a special adapter to run from my Mac to the Jones TV. We got close, with the ones I purchased, but didn't quite make it. So, it is back to Best Buy today to see if I can't get the right plug. This will be the third trip to get this connection right. The guy at Best Buy commented that he hadn't been too successful recommending cables and adapters (There had been other trips to exchange cables last week). Wait until he sees me tomorrow!!! Murmur, murmur!!

This morning when I woke up I dicovered we had a few visitors in our pool.  I guess when you try to build a park for a backyard, you have to expect a few drop ins from time to time.



Today will be busy. Hopefully, I will get all of my vehicles back. The Shed Man is supposed come out this afternoon to replace my doors. In a few minutes the Pool Man will come and inspect our crazy time clocks and see if he can offer a reasonable solution. The time clocks just go on and off whenever they want to presently!!!

Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment for an annual checkup. Then it is off to Alabama to see Nick and Abby. We are going to take the motorhome, just to give it a little run and to make sure everything is working, before we get on the road for a real trip!! It will take 10 hours by car to get there.

Greg Turn's 60

Yes, I am 60 years old. I can't believe it but it is true. Yesterday, day we had a big celebration. All of the kids except Nick and Abby and Lore. It was great time to get together with all of the family again. I got many wonderful gifts, including lots of books, clothes and a new high-tech driver, by Taylor-made called Bombs Away!!

Chris with her grandkids!!
Greg with his new club, being assisted by Savannah!!
Grandkids playing with balloons and having fun upstairs!!
Benj on his Mac.  I learned alot about my computers with a few tutorials from Benj!!

The weather cooperated and it didn't rain. We bar-b-qued hotdogs, had some wonderful salads and three cakes, Chocolate, Lemon and pineapple upside down cake.

Today, we finally reported to the high council. We did well until we began to speak about the people we came to know and love. We sure miss all of you in the office and all of the senior missionaries. After reporting to the high council we drove our son, Ben, to the airport. He leaves tomorrow from Salt Lake for a 10-day musical tour of Japan. Then it's back to school.

At church, we were invited to the Primary and they sang us a welcome back song, which they customize with the word for hello, in the language of your mission. I taught Sister Meldrum how to say Zdrasvouche last week. The kids said it just about perfectly. The song required them to say it about 25 times!! Each time they just pronounced it like it was an old friend!!

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday celebration complete.

Used Car Blues

Today, I took the Lexus in for an estimate...$2,000 for a power steering motor, to rebuild the rack and pinon steering, for new valve cover gaskets, front break disk brakes, and an air conditioner recharge...Then I took the RV in...new batteries (4), and the generator isn't getting gas. It works when the RV dealer gives it gas, but not from the system. So, my father-in-law is going to help me look at it tomorrow at the dealer...

On a brighter note, I finished painting the front door. With the new hardware and fresh paint job, it looks like new!! Chris is still cleaning...She has her own standard!!

Tonight, Benj will join us. He has been with Jessica's boys today and Joy's girls this afternoon and evening. He is probably looking forward to a quiet night with mom and dadd.

Good News

We finally got the word on my mothers PET Scan: All Clear. No other cancers!! That's the best we could have hoped for, so we are now full speed ahead to get the insurance changed over and get them to Dallas. Yesterday, they had a tour of realtors go through their home. Now maybe they will start to get a little action on their listing.

Yesterday, I was so proud of how my windows looked! Then the sun began to shine on them in the late afternoon. They looked horrible!! So I got out the glass cleaner and made a second attempt. Not much better. I told Chris, "Just don't schedule any parties for the late afternoon." They look great in the morning and evening!!

Last night I played my first game of racketball in 19 months. I hadn't been on the court but a few minutes, just warming up, when I had strained my knee! So I had to favor it most of the night. It still feels a little weak this morning, but it should be OK if I don't over do it. I did manage to humble two of my sons though, 4 games to 0!

Last week I played around of golf with Jason, but it was more like a game of hockey. We quit counting our score after about the the 6th hole and decided to count just pars and bogies as a point, highest score wins. I had parred the 2 hole and we never saw a par or bogie again!!

Today is the rest of the front door project. It is time to sand, caulk and paint. I am off to Home Depot to buy some sandpaper!!

Spring Cleaning and Pins and Needles

I have busied myself today washing all the windows in the backyard (inside and out). Chris is off on a leisurely lunch with her sister-in-law, Terri. Often I have commented on how a little fairy takes my dirty clothes from the hamper, cleans them, folds them and neatly restocks my dresser drawers. Well, while the fairy was on holiday today, a friendly troll stepped in...I hope she is happy with his work!!!

We have been waiting for over a day now for the results of my mother's PET scan. Hopefully will hear today from somebody, but these doctors are really busy, so who knows? The PET scan helps determine if the cancer has spread to any other parts of the body. We are praying for a clear report!!

It is a beautiful day in Dallas today; 72 degrees, no wind, clear until just a few minutes ago. Maybe we will get a little shower before the day is through. While I was washing the windows, I discovered a friend who had made herself at home on my outdoor patio speakers. I guess I will have to keep the sound down for a while.

Mission Blessings Keep Rolling In!!

Just had to drop a quick to note on some repairs we have had to do since just before and after arriving home. I think I already mentioned the microwave repair for $350 that we discovered was still under warranty. Then I had to replace the door hardware for our front door, about $150. I was talking to the customer service representative about the installation and discovered that the door assembly has a life time warranty, for the original owner. Guess who is an original owner. The check is in the mail!! Also, my doors on my shed have rotted out, everything else is just fine. I have owned the shed for about 41/2 years. The doors are under warranty and they will send out a repairman to install them next Tuesday.

Just in case you hadn't noticed...I am having a good day today!! Hope things are going well for you.

PS: I even installed the door hardware properly!! This may not seem like a lot to you, but for one who is mechanically challenged, this was a big victory!!

Happy Easter

We had a great day yesterday with our family. It started early with a visit to the Stake Center for our report to the High Council. Unfortunately, they cancelled their meetings due to Easter Sunday, so I guess we will report next week!! But it did give us an early start and I was able to get one session of conference in that we had missed the previous week due to our visit to my mother's in California. We had a wonderful block of meetings at church and ended the day at my son Jason's home for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt with the grandchildren. Benj will join us from Salt Lake, later this week for my 60th birthday celebration. We will head for Alabama the following week for a short visit with Nick and Abby. That will complete the immediate family circuit!

Last week was a bit stressful, as we tried to navigate through the world of insurance, retirement associations, and the transfer of healthcare from one state to another. The week came to a wonderful conclusion though, when we received word that the insurance from my father's retirement association can be switched to a another company that will provide coverage in Texas, with no pre-existing conditions. Also, the move to Texas constitutes a qualifying event that allows my parents to switch their insurance immediately, instead of having to wait until November, the normal time for enrollment. We also found a doctor in Texas, who specializes in my mother's condition. We are grateful to Britt Barrett, our friend and CEO of Medical City in Dallas, with helping us find the doctor and guiding us through the process.

As of now, my parents will fly to Dallas on the April 30, meet with the new doctor the fist week of May and, if all goes well, have the necessary surgery the same week. They will stay with us during the recovery period, while we look for a home for them to buy in Heritage Ranch, a retirement community just a couple of miles away from where we live. Once the house has been purchased, we will send for their household goods and I will probably drive their car back to Texas.

My mother's spirits are good. She is still a little out of breath. She had a PET scan this weekend to determine if the cancer is completely contained in the lung, which is what we are hoping for. We'll get the results today or tomorrow. I am also hoping that we will be able to tell if the Coumidan is working its miracle on the clots she has on her lungs.

Between phone calls, I have managed to do quite of bit of yardwork. I have been trimming bushes and trees mostly. I have quite a pile of trimmings alongside of the house to take to the dumps this week. We have quite a to-do list on our new Mac's to keep us busy for quite some time!

Chris and I also went to the doctors and had a Tine Test to check for tuberculosis. We get re-examined today. I think we both are OK. She is completely clear and I have what I think is only a slight bruise and not a reaction to the test. We will know for sure this morning.

I apologize for not getting back to some people earlier this week. I will try to do better in future.

I know the Ireland's must have begun the countdown by now. We sure miss you guys (and all of the rest of the seniors), and will be glad to see your safe return to the states. We hope you have a great last couple of weeks. Try to get in one more Big and Tasty, with a chocolad cocktail, before you go. Chris is taking our granddaughter Eden to McDonalds today...I wonder what she will have!!??

As for the other of you senior missionaries wherever you are, begin thinking about November in earnest...Branson, Missouri, our first Russian Senior Missionary Reunion. (Browns, will you be back from China?) We'll get a email out on this event soon.

Acia, I haven't been successful yet skyping you, so try to skype us, as we are all set up to go at this point. Tell everyone in the office hello. PS: Congratulations EEA on your new Area Seventy, Dimitry Marchenko. Keep up the good work.

We have been invited by many of our friends for a report on our mission, so I have been putting together a little slide presentation (about 100 slides from nearly 5000 photos) and prepared a movie (about 10-minutes in length) from over 150 video clips that I had taken. Anyone that knows me, will know what a challenge it was for me to pare it down to this amount. As I began to review the photos and the videos, I realized just how little I had actually shared on the blog, if that is even remotely possible!! As soon as we get my parents settled, I will begin working on finalizing the blog book. That will be the conclusion to the most documented period of my life.

In California!

We arrived in California about 1 hour late due to equipment problems with our plane. We were very thankful that the Crofts were able to take us to the airport. Steve had offered on Sunday, but we had already arranged for one our kids to take us, thinking we had a morning flight. But then we discovered that we an evening flight that would have required our kids to take time off from work, so Steve's offer was gratefully recieved.



My sister Cindy and my dad picked us up. Our luggage was right on time, so we were off to Penn Valley. Mom was waiting for us, though asleep on the couch. Here Prince Charming (me!) gave here a kiss on the forehead and she awoke from her slumber. We were all pretty tired so we went right to bed, anxious to catch up in the morning.

The next morning was a beautiful clear day. We ate breakfast, then Chris and I went on a walk to conquer the hills of Wildwood. We succeeded. I guess all of that walking in Moscow paid off.

Later that afternoon, we took my sister back to the airport, but not until she had cooked a spaghetti dinner and backed an apple pie. With my sister safely at the airport, we returned home for our traditional game of Pedro. Mom and I won the first two games handily. Dadd and Chris pulled out all of the stops and won the third game. Nobody knows who will win the overall until we are packed up and ready to head for the airport. This duel will continue throughout the week!

Yesterday we took a little day trip to the Napa Valley. We look around some shops. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We breakfast at Ihop in the morning, on our way, and then at a place called the Rutherford Grill, later in the afternoon. Dad and I had a full rack of babyback ribs. It was a feast!

Later on the streets of Calistoga, we had an ice cream. Then before we returned home, we bought a stick of italian dry salame and some Casper hotdogs to take back to Dallas!

My mom and dadd looked good. We take my mom to the doctors today to see the doctor and tomorrowwe go back to the hospital to do the bloodwork up. 120 miles round trip each day!



Today, we need to do some investigating about transferring their insurance to Texas. We have many questions that still need answers. Hopefully, there will be no unpleasant surprises.

Wow! It has been a crazy couple of days in Dallas. We arrived on Monday night around 9:30. By the time we got home, it was 11:00. Our son Jason was the only one able to meet us. Everyone else has small children and it was a school night. So, they all showed up the next day for a pizza party. It was a great reunion. It was fun hugging and kissing our grandchildren. Only Lore in Alabama was missed, but we will get a chance to see her in a couple of weeks.

On Tuesday, we renewed our driver's licenses, re-registered our cars, got both cars inspected and an oil change. That was by around 10:30. Then I went on into Plano to buy some clothes and Chris headed for home to begin her magic with the house. With no suits and shoes, if I didn't get lucky, I could look awfully funny at church on Sunday! I did get lucky and will be able to pick up my suits on Saturday night.

The next stop was to the cell phone companies; Verizon and AT&T (located about 200 yards from one another. We ended up with one regular cell and one iphone. Then I went over to Best Buy (all of this shopping was done in the new shopping center next to the house) to purchase a computer. I was looking to buy a beefy laptop but it was quite pricey (an Apple, not a PC). Then I received a little inspiration and ended up buying a pretty robust desktop model (the same as the beefy laptop) and a smaller laptop (two for less than the price of one!). I have been working for the past two days to get my mind wrapped around the Apple world. It will take some time, until I am going to be really comfortable again. But just the time I save booting up will be enough to learn what I need to know. It is a pleasure to work on the Mac. I wish everyone could.

It took some time to get Chris' Land Rover to pass inspection. It seems that there are computer systems on the car, that don't kick in until the car is driven for some time, if it has not been used lately. So the computer kept telling us that two systems were not ready. If only one system failed the test we would get a pass, but not with two. So on the day we were to travel to my mother's in California, I had to drive around the neighborhood and put on another 35 miles on the car before I could try the test again. After putting over 100 miles on the car from the initial test, it finally passed. That was good, because if we hadn't been able to pass, my time would have expired and I would have had to pay for the inspection again!

The weather in Dallas has been very windy and a little cool, but much warmer than Moscow, so we are not complaining. I suspect that by the time we return from California, the cold weather will be a distant memory.

We have had many wonderful dinner invitations, so the reunion parties continue. By next week we will be yesterday's news, but for now we feel quite special. We enjoyed a day of church on Sunday. I have got to study the ward list for the names of all of the new people in our ward and to remember many of those, who I have forgotten! The good news is that I was able to download the names of ward members on to my iphone and I can study them on my way to California.

Our Last Day in Moscow

The house is just beginning to come alive. We leave in about an hour. The Gibbons leave about an hour after that. It is a perfectly clear day in Moscow. We can only hope that the sun is shining as brightly in Dallas.

This past week has been very busy and I just didn't get the chance to report on a couple of other special occassions. Earlier in the week we were invited to the home of our mission president, President Cranney. Sister Cranney out did herself again. The food was great with a chocolate dessert to die for. The best way to describe it is to liken it to chocolate being taken interveiniously!!

At the end of the week, we were invited to the Pages. Rick Page is the General Counsel for the Church in Russia. He has a beautiful family. We met four daughters and the newest of the grandbabies. That is until this week. I think they may already have a new one!

The expressions of kindness and appreciation for our service have been overwhelming. The EEA really appreciates the sacrifices made by senior couples to come and serve in their area.

To that point, I will finally say it, "We need more senior couples throughout the world." It really is not such a sacrifice. We have had a wonderful experience and have received far more than we have given. We have met and grown to love so many people, which would not have occurred if we had remained couch potatoes in Dallas!! Don't worry too much about leaving things behind. Just turn in your papers. The Lord will provide.

We tried to do our best. We hope the Lord is pleased with our efforts.

Our Farewell: The Search for the Russian Soul Completed

"It is a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma..." Sir Winston Churchill

I am going to write a little bit more on this subject later, but suffice it to say for now, that I have solved the riddle, unwrapped the mystery, and de-sphinxed, to my satisfaction, the enigma called Russia. I have discovered the soul of Russia, and in doing so, may have discovered a little about my own, as well.

Yesterday was our farewell luncheon. What a special occassion. I am always amazed at how the Russians we know, give such attention to detail. There is always an extra effort to make everything special. Every element (and there were many) of our farewell luncheon will be treasured throughout the eternities.

Our Farewell began with a skit. See the video above. The cast of characters (and I do mean characters!) were Alexander, from our legal department, as the Turnip; Vladimir, also from our legal department, as the grandfather; Sister Linda Rees, senior missionary and patrriarch blessing coordinator extraordinaire, as the Babushka; Marina, our Liahona Local Pages Editor and Farewell Coordinator!, as the granddaughter; Lidia, our area office secretary, as the dog, Elena, our Public Affairs Director, as the cat, and Acia, our other office secretary and receptionist, as the mouse.

The skit was based on a children's fairytale. Then they gave us the book, to read to our children (in Russian). Even today, Elder Pieper dropped by to give us a set of matrushka dolls that depicted the story of the Turnip!

The Skit came to a resounding conclusion with the Smolnaya Singers presentation of the chorus from "Follow the Process" our theme song for the area office staff. (The lyrics to the song are found elsewhere on this blog.) You would have to be a regular follower of the blog to understand the significance of the song and the deeper meaning behind the skit!!

Then we ate lunch.

What a feast! Chicken from the Renik (my last official duty was to carve the chicken!!), a marvelous Russian salad with tomatoes, peppers, cheese and herbs, bread, a fresh fruit platter, wonderful Russian fruit juices, more yummy blinis, with Marina's homemade cherries in their own juice, and three marvelous desserts. The 3-layer chocoate cake was made by Sister Rees (I have already described this gastronomic pleasure in a previous post). Elena made her 12 layer (we lost count around twelve) Russian crumb cake (also mentioned earlier on another post), and Acia made her wonderful fruit and chocolate mountain cake (which we enjoyed earlier on our mission when we celebrated her birthday).

Here are a few pictures of the luncheon:

Two of our favorites: Marina and Elena!! (Of course, we have many favorites!!)

Elder Paul with Lidia, Acia and Marina. Great friends; extraordinary examples of faith and charity.

Sister Paul, Denis, Alexander and Elder Paul. Sister Shepard and Sister Paul were truly kindred spirits.

After lunch they sang a song of Russian farewell. It is called Moscow Nights.



Here are the words from the first verse of the song:

Not even a whisper is to be heard in the garden,
Everything has calmed down until dawn.
If you only knew how dear they are to me,
The evenings near Moscow!

Somewhere along the line, they presented us a gift with a laser picture in crystal of Chris and I standing in front of St. Basil's Cathedral located in Red Square, which was taken this last Christmas. And we got another beautifully handmade farewell card. The card has lots of images of us in and around Moscow, with farewell remarks. I have just finished reading the card, for the first time. Oh my, but what friendships we have established in this distant land.

Then they sang a closing song which needs no introduction:

Bolshoi Spaceba (Big thank you) doesn't seem to say enough. Our sentiments may be best summed up in the lyrics of the song, Nature Boy, published in 1947:

"the greatest thing... was just to love and be loved in return."

Thank you for your kindness and your friendship. We testify that it will endure beyond this life and into the eternities. You will not be forgotten.

We'll Be Home for Easter

Continuing health problems are plaguing my mother. She has been diagnosed with blood clots in her lungs, as well as, a mass on one lung, about 1 cm square. She is beginning a regime of blood thinners and will need to be taken to the hospital every other day for next few weeks to monitor her progress. Cindy (my sister) arrives tomorrow. She will assist in the driving. We will leave our mission 5 days early, so that we can continue on to California and help with the driving thereafter.

The prognosis is good that the bloodclots can be dissolved and that she can regain her lung capacity. Once the bloodclot issues are resolved, a biopsey can be performed on her lung and surgery can be scheduled, if needed.

Of course, it is with mixed emotions that we consider leaving early. We are grateful that we will only be losing 5 days, but we are making great progress with our replacements, the Halls. They are very capable. We are working overtime each day to complete their orientation and training. We are available to work this Saturday, if needed. So in reality, we will only be losing about three days of planned training time.

On Monday night we went with the Elena and Vlad Nechiporov to a Russian Folk dance performance at the Tchaichovksy Concert Hall. It was absolutely wonderful. I was really impressed with the men, whose dancing is a phenomenal display of strength and endurance. The women were great, but the men's dancing took my breath away. We also, went out to dinner before the performance. I managed to get the bill for dinner, but I couldn't persuade the Nechiporov's to let us pay for the theater tickets. (They had already treated us to a concert and dinner a month or so earlier.) The seniors got wind of the dance performance and went the following night.

Tomorrow is our farewell luncheon. It will be hard to say goodbye to all of our good friends here in Moscow. We have invited everybody to come and see us in Texas on their next trip to America. We hope they take us up on our offer.

Dos Vandanya!!

Another Mission Miracle

We had just arrived and unloaded our bags at the Gibbon's home, on Friday the 13th, when President Gibbons got a phone call from Rodney Smith. Then he handed me the phone and Sarah was on the other line. Before she could deliver the message, she burst into tears, "Grandma Shepard has had a heart attack." I gave her a moment to compose herself, and then she gave me the details. They weren't promising. Sarah wasn't sure if she was going to make it, based on what she had been told.

I began to make some calls and soon I was connected to the nurse who was taking care of my mother. I got a pretty good summary of her condition from the nurse and then he asked if I wanted to speak to my mom. When she picked up the phone, I could tell that she was very weak and she related to me pretty much what I had already learned from Sarah. She had had a heart attack. The doctor was pretty sure that there would be some damage to the heart, based on the results of the EKG. My mother had gone in the day before to have a stress test on a treadmill but they decided not to do the stress test, but gave her an EKG showed that she had suffered a heart attack.

The next step was to do an angiogram. Unfortunately, she has already had two bypass surgeries in the past to help restore circulation in her legs. The doctor thought that the scar tissue from these previous procedures might prevent them from going through the groin area, which was the preferrable course. If the procedure could be done through the groin, they would have the option of improving the blood flow with a stent. If the scar tissue was too great, they would have to go with the second option, which was to go through the arm, which could only produce the diagnostics, but not a stent. If that was the case, then open heart surgery would be the only other available option.

To complicate matters, tests revealed some loss of function to the kidneys. There was talk of dialysis. The condition was thought to be degenerative and noncureable. There was no mention as to how long it would take for the kidneys to fail.

As weak as she was, it was great to hear her voice. What I didn't know is whether this would be the last time, in this life, that I would hear her voice. She was scheduled for the procedure in about thirty minutes. I offered my encouragement and said my goodbyes and then called mys sister Cindy, to give her the number so that she could call and talk to our mother. I had talked to her just moments before. She had gotten a brief summary from our dad, but she didn't know how to connect with our mom. She told me that she had called our sister, Julie, but that she was not able to make contact. So she hung up and called my mom. She got to talk for about 10 minutes.

Just as the procedure began, I called a few of the senior couples and explain our situation and asked them to pray for my mother. I then sent out an email to our Area Presidency, the Area Seventy and the Mission Presidents to ask them if they would pray with us. Then Chris and I knelt in prayer. Sarah was organizing a family fast and organizing prayers in Dallas and Alabama with family and friends.

Two hours later, the procedure was complete. I called the nurse back and she asked if I wanted to speak to my mother. That was promising already. As weak as she sounded, we were not sure if she would even make it through the procedure. We weren't sure if the dye that is used in the angiogram would shut down her kidneys.

When my mother answered, she was a new woman. She was bursting with energy, "We did it," she explained. It was such a good feeling to hear her feisty voice again!! She got the stent and blood was coursing through her veins. We are still a little unclear about the kidneys, but the nurse said, it appeared that tests on her kidneys were more near the normal range. Through 11 time zones in Russia, from Dallas to Utah, prayers were given and heard and blessings flowed.

The Halls (our replacements) arrived the next morning (Saturday). When Chris mentioned our experience from the day before, Sister Hall exclaimed, "You're not going home eary, are you?" "No." we said, "We will be going home right on time!!"

The Halls are a very wonderful couple who have already served their first fulltime mission as a couple in Mexico. They have also served, locally two to three days a week at their cannery. Sister Hall also served in Brazil, when she was younger. At that time there were just two missions in Brazil...today there are 28!!

David Nearon got the Halls to church on time, so they have had their first encounter with the bus system and the metro. They came back with us to the Gibbon's for dinner and we got a chance to become more acquainted. Elder and Sister Hall appear to be one another's best friend, just like Sister Shepard and I!!

Tomorrow will come early. We start the early regime, 5:30 to rise; at the office at 7:00 a.m.; day one of orientation.

Now its times for fun and games with the Gibbons! We will post again soon!

Happy Birthday Narene or The Name Game!

Last night we went to the Ireland's for family home evening. It was a hoot. First of all, we had Narene's year wrong. I think she would have been happy to play along with her newly assumed age, since we missed it by a year, in her favor!! Being the gentleman that I am, it will remain for someone else to reveal it to you.

Narene made a wonderful dinner; chicken and rice, macaroni salad, jello salad with colored marshmellows, and a fun carrot salad with white raisans seasoned with cumin, nutmeg, and cinnamon. All of it was very tasty!

Since it was a birthday party, Sam decided that we should just play a game so we dispensed with the lesson. It was a game made for seniors. Here is how it is played. I am writing this down, because if I don't I won't remember it!!

You will need 12 to 14 people to make it interesting. Place everyone seated in a circle with one empty chair. Place everyone's name in bowl and draw a name. If you draw your own name, draw again. Do not reveal whose name you have.

Designate three or four chairs as your target chairs. (We chose three, but more advanced players may want to try four!). Make one of the target chairs the empty chair and place a man and a women in the other two chairs. The object of the game is to get three women or three men all seated in the target chairs.

The game begins with one person seated to left of the blank chair calling out any name in the group. That person, whose name is called (not the real person but the person with that person's name), takes the empty chair and the person to the left of the new empty chair calls out another name. You can't call out the name you are holding and a name can't be called two times in a row.

After the game has been played for some time, and if you have been concentrating (which is hard to do if you are a senior), you can begin to call the names of people to move them the way you want to until you fill the three target seats with members of your sex. The challenge of course is memory, which is in very limited supply among our senior group. I cannot begin to tell you how hard we were laughing as individuals, who could win the game, if they called the right name, could not remember which name to call. This went on over and over. However, when the dust settled, the men had won both of the games that we played.

A Woman's Day Holiday Celebration--The Moscow Circus

Yesterday was actually Woman's Day, but they set aside today as the holiday. Sam had purchased tickets earlier to take Anna and Nastia, his and Narene's translators for a little thanksgiving treat. They invited us to go along.

The definition of circus is really different in a way and not so different in other ways. There were lions and tigers, but no bears. There were trained horses and trapeze artists. There were tumbling acrobats and little chineese girls that could bend like pretzels. There were clowns and a jester, who served as the MC. There was magic and illusions, women disappeared and tigers and leopards appeared. There was no sawdust, but the center ring (the only ring) was converted into a fountain and a pond. Lots of lazers, smoke, blacklights and dramatic music. It was very entertaining.

Before we went to the circus, we had lunch with the Irelands and the Masons. We went to the American Grill, on Tverskaya. Everybody loved their lunch and several of us had a real American chocolate milkshake!!

It snowed pretty good last night. Everything was white and clean and quiet. The temperature got about 32 degrees and the streets were full of puddles and the sidewalks were quite slushy.

We were going to go home with the Irelands to eat and play Rummycube, but by the time we got to Cokol, it was already almost 7:00. So Chris asked if we could beg off and come back tomorrow (the Irelands are hosting our FHE this week). So Narene is just going to invite all of the seniors who want to come early to join for a light dinner before FHE. Chris says we need to bring the dessert, because tomorrow is Narene's birthday!! We should be fixing dinner for her! Here a couple of videos from todays circus performance:

Lions and Tigers and no Bears...Oh my!!

This one just takes your breath away!

Was that a triple?!!

Inside the Kremilin

The one place on this planet I thought I would never see in my lifetime was inside the Kremlin. But never say never, because this past Saturday we took our first tour. Historically, here is quick summary I found on the internet:

The Kremlin is Russia's mythic refuge, a self contained city with a multitude of palaces, armories, and churches, a medieval fortress that links the modern nation to its legendary past in the ancient state of Kievan Rus'. As the dominance of Kiev faded and its empire fragmented under the weight of foreign invasion and internecine strife in the 11th and 12th centuries, regional princes gained power. In 1147, as Kievan Rus was experiencing its final death throes, a chronicler recorded that a feast was held at the hunting lodge of Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy, ruling prince of Rostov and Suzdal. The lodge was perfectly situated atop a hill overlooking the Moskva and Neglina rivers, prompting its development (in such troubled times) as a fortified town, or Kremlin.

Within a century, the town had risen to become an independent principality within the Mongol empire. By the middle of the 14th century, its princes had gained such pre-eminence that Moscow was made the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ivan the Great (1462-1505) at its helm, Muscovite rule extended over all of Russia, and the Kremlin became more magnificent, befitting its role as the seat of Russian power. By 1480 the once modest hunting lodge had become an imposing fortress city. Its stone walls were graced by the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption, where Ivan defiantly tore up the charter binding Moscow to Mongol rule. Over the next two centuries, until Peter the Great transferred the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin served as the central stage for the magnificent and occasionally horrific history of the Tsars.

We went with the Masons, Reeses and Irelands. Unfortunately, Clark and Renee were given tickets of lesser value (even though they paid for the same tickets that we did!) and they were not able to get into all the attractions. A few babuska's showed some mercy and got them into a few the exhibitions, but the men would not budge!!

For all that one reads about the Kremlin, a first time visitor is taken aback at the number of churchs within the walls. This tour is mostly of the grounds and churches. There were no tours of the government buildings. We did get to see a special display of rubies and emerald jewlery from India. I was impressed that the art was so intricately detailed; it was not just about how big the precious stones were(though there were a few of those too).

Here are a few pictures that we took along our tour:

Narene, Chris, Clark, Renee, Greg and Linda (Stephen and Sam are taking the pictures! This picture is taken on the main bridge leading to one of the many towers that surround the Kremlin.
First view after passing through the tower.
Looking back at the tower. On the left you can just see the edge of the Kremilin Theater. It looked rather grand from the outside, but we never had the opportunity to attend one of its productions.

The impressive bronze Tsar Cannon is one of the largest canons ever made and was cast in 1586 by the foundry man Andrei Chokhov. The canon is 5.34 meters long, weighs an impressive 40 tons and has an incredible caliber of 890 mm. It was originally created with the purpose of defending the Kremlin's Savior Gate, which leads to Red Square, but the canon was never actually fired and has remained on display in the Kremlin as a fine example of Russian workmanship ever since. Its bronze barrel bears a relief of Ivan the Terrible's son, Fyodor, and its enormous gun carriage, which was cast over 250 years later in 1835, is decorated with a lion and snake fighting on either side and a lion's head behind the barrel. The cannon balls lying in front of the canon were cast at the same time as the gun carriage, but are merely decorative as the canon was always intended to fire stone case-shot.


The enormous Tsar Bell is an impressive 6.14 meters in height, 6.6 meters in diameter and weighs some 200 tons, making it the largest bell in the world. The bell's bronze surface is decorated with relief depictions of Tsar Alexei and Empress Anna, who decreed the casting of the first Tsar Bell as well as the one on display today. The first version weighed 130 tons and was cast in 1655, but not hoisted into the belfry of the Assumption Cathedral for another 19 years, where it fell to the ground and immediately shattered in the fire of 1701. Almost three decades later, Anna ordered that the broken fragments be used to cast a second larger bell, which was executed between 1734 and 1735 by local foundry man Ivan Motorin, his son Mikhail and nearly 200 craftsmen.

While the bell was cooling off in its casting pit, a great fire began in the Kremlin in May 1737 and water thrown on the bell in attempt to douse the flames caused a chunk weighing over 11 tons to crack and break off. The bell lay in the great pit on Ivanovskaya Square for almost a hundred years until 1836, when the French architect Auguste Montferrand raised it and place it on a granite pedestal, next to its broken section.

On our way to the Kremlin from Ismayalova (we were searching for a few last minute gifts) we stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then stopped to take this picture of the latest fashions in Russian men's headgear.
Sam sporting his new mink Shaptka, Stephen with a sporty snap-brim hat, Greg with his classic rabbit hat from Hungary, Clark with his Cabella's sportsman cap and Dave with toughing it out without a hat!

Notice Sam's new gloves. On his way to the Kremilin he left his nice leather gloves on the metro (he was too busy chatting with Sister Shepard!). It was only now that appreciated the little angel selling homemade socks at Ismalova. He didn't really want any socks, but the little babuska could bearly speak and he felt compelled to be generous. Unfortunately, after arriving at a negotiated price, when he dug into his pockets he came up short, so the little babuska had mercy on him and she just settled for what he had. Little did he know that in a few minutes his new found treasure would be used as gloves--not socks!!

Earlier in the week week we were invited to dinner at the home of Lidia and Alexsey Samaykin. Lidia is one of our area office secretaries and her husband is the Materials Manager. Alexsey reports to David Stapley our DTA. They have a wonderful, but small apartment. They gave us a presentation of their makeover on the computer. It was quite an amazing transformation. Alexsey did some great finish work and Lidia pitched in too. They proved that a husband and a wife can hang wallpaper and still have a strong marriage!!
Sitting down for dinner in their kitchen. We had Borscht (beet soup), chicken, rice, salad, other meat slices, great Russian bread and we brought eclaire like pastries for dessert. It was all wonderful.
Their living room and bedroom.

Later in the week we celebrated Acia's birthday. Here she is holding her handmade card. Marina and Elena are the ones in our office that make these fantastic custom cards. Just another victory over Hallmark!!

Maslenitsa, also called Shrovetide

Today, the Russians celebrate their first day of spring. In that way a Russian is a little like an Oklahoma Sooner. They just can't wait to get past winter and begin their springtime celebrations.

Maslenitsa (Pancake week) is the only purely Russian Holiday that dates back to the pagan times. For seven days (February 23 to March 1) Moscow jingles with bells, sings with garmoshkas and glares with gaily-painted dresses. The people are letting the long-annoying winter out and the long-awaited spring in.

The counters in the Maslenitsa town are groaning with various dainties. There are the paunchy samovars with mellow tea, bunches of sweet-scented barankas, nuts and honey pies with different signs: "Whom I love - to those I give", "A present of the sweet-hart is the dearest". Salted foods, various fish, caviar - choose and eat anything however much you like!

But the essential elements, of course, are pancakes (blini). Pankacke is a symbol of sun. It is as round, gold and warm as the sun. Pancakes are served hot with either butter, or sour cream, or caviar, or mushrooms, or sturgeon - to any exquisite taste.

Where else can you take a horse-drawn sledge ride that will take your breath away? Or take a jaunty slip down an enormous ice slope? Or go round on a giant carousel? The Great Maslenitsa will reel you round in a dancing fairy-circle and your feet won't be able to keep still to the sprightly chastooshkas (gaily songs) and byword. Clowns and skomorokhs (histrions) will make you laugh to tears. The show goes on and on in the balagans (Punch-and-Judy shows) and theatres. And those who will not want to be simply a spectator can take part in the masquerade: to dress up beyond recognition or to muffle in a long fur coat and to drink a glass of vodka with a bear.

On the last day of the Great Maslenitsa the feasting and drinking ends up by burning down the scarecrow symbolizing winter thus saying goodbye to winter till the next year.

For the Russians Maslenitsa is like a carnival for the Italians, especially because the initial sense of festivals is the same: the Italian word "carnival" (carne-vale) means "farewell the beef!", and Maslenitsa that precedes the Great Lent, in old time was called "Myasopust" because it was forbidden to eat meat during this week.

The last day of Maslenitsa is called the Forgiveness Day. Everybody ask one another for forgiveness in order to redeem themselves from their sins before the Great Lent. They bow to one another and say, "God will forgive you". Maslenitsa is over and so is the winter giving way to the spring.

Everybody knows what the Russian Soul is! This is prowess, dare-devilry, and, of course, the famous Russian hospitality. Everybody is welcome to Moscow to see the Russian winter off!

Here is another take on the subject:

Shrovtide is an ancient Russian holiday which dates back to the 9th century. It begins a week before Shrove Monday, which is the last Monday before the 40-day fast period of Lent. Shrovetide is the most cheerful of all Russian holidays. Not to participate in this holiday means to live in poverty for the rest of the year.

Each day of Shrovetde has its own rituals. They are:

Monday: People set up stalls selling pancakes, toys and crafts. A Shrovetide dummy is dressed in a sarafan and seated on a sledge. The sledge goes along the treets, inviting people to join in and celebrate the festival.

Tuesday: People dress up in their best clothes and go out for toboganning and pancakes. Young men look for their future wives and people kiss, dance and flirt with each other.

Wednesday: Mother's-in-law invite their sons-in-laws to try delicious pancakes. The sons-in-law bring gifts and weet honey cakes.

Thursday: On this day there are more toboganning along with plenty of fun. People play at fistfighting and capturing snow fortresses. They go theater perofmrances, eat pancakes, drink and dance.

Friday: Sons-in-law invite their mothers-in-law to their homes for pancakes.

Saturday: Sisters-in-law recieve guests.

Sunday: The Shrovetide staw dummy is solemnly burnt as a symbol of life's victory over death. Ashes are scattered over the fields in order to have an excellent harvest in the autumn. In the evening, people forgive all offences so that everyone can meet the spring with a clear conscience.

Marina brought some wonderful pancakes to the office so that we could participate in their joyful celebration.

Acia, Marina and Lidia with the pancakes and home canned cherries from Marina's dacha.
The beautiful set table!
A culinary delight!!

On Saturday, we went to the Polytechnical Musuem of Science, just down the street from the old KGB headquarters, about 1/2 mile east of the Red Square. We had read that the displays were not too impressive, so our expectations were rather low. One article indicated that it would probably be closed by the summer. However, we thought it was one of the best museums that we have been too. It was certainly modest, but the displays of old cars, radios, tv's, satellites, chemistry, steam engines, etc. were quite interesting. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there!! Later, we stopped by a McDonalds for lunch, before heading for the Christ the Redeemer Church, which is on the other side of Red Square. On our way we saw the festivities associated with Maslenitsa, just on the southern end of Red Square, below St. Basils. There were many shops and bilinis for all. We didn't go in, because we were on our way to the cathedral and there was a very long line to get inside.

The cathedral was quite impressive, but kind of sad, since it really used more for show than for worship. The original Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built over 44 years to celebrate the 1812 victory over Napoleon. It was completed in 1883. Stalin had the church destroyed in 1931, but it was rebuilt using mostly private funds in 1999. The new church is a replica of the original. Note that it took 44 years the first time and only 4 years the second to complete the church! Isn't modern technology impressive.

One interesting tidbit is that it took three attempts to blow up the church in 1931. Stalin planned to build a huge Palace of the Soviets on the cleared land, but engineers determined that the land was too boggy. In the 60 years intervening, the space was used for a variety of things, including a year-round swimming pool!

Rendering of the Palace of the Soviets. This rendering is in basement museum of the Cathedral. I didn't take my camera today, but I will get some photos from the Irelands to post later.

It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over

The Mission Presidents' Seminar was smooth sailing, except for a few moments of technical failure (the radio microphones were interferring with the radio transmitters we use to broadcast from the translator's station). But it was infrequent and didn't last but an instant.

Everyone seemed to like the hotel and, of course, there was a very good spirit in our meetings.

The cultural activities were well received. At the Bolshoi New Stage Theater, we saw A Legend of Love. This was not a classical ballet performance. The music was much more modern and there were no tutus. The story was about a sister who sacrifices her beauty to save the life of her sister. Later in life, the two sisters fall in love with the same person. She, of course, is no competition for her beautiful sister. The ballet was just across the street from the hotel. With the exception of about 50 yards of solid ice, it was an easy walk.

The next day, we marched to the Kremlin to see the museum at the Armory. It was great fun and our guides were wonderful. Ours had quite a sense of humor and was very informative. Over 55 people attended both events. On Saturday, we were joined by our office staff (Acia, Lidia and Marina) and their families.

We ended up with an extra ticket to the ballet, so we were able to invite one of our patriarchs to go (Brother Gary Browning), who happened to be giving patriarchal blessings in the Moscow West Mission.

Immediately following the Mission Presidents' Seminar, we held an Area Council in the Tolstoy room of the hotel. The Tolstoy Room is on the second floor (our seminar had been on the first floor, in the Red Room.) We had no sooner gotten started than a rock and roll band started tuning up in the Metorpol Restaurant, for what we had heard was going to be birthday celebration. The Metropol Restaurant, the Mirror Room and the Red Room are all side-by-side. We were just above the Mirror Room (the room we used for our lunches and breaks), closest to the Metropol Restaurant.

I immediately exited the meeting to see what could be done to reduce the noise level. Across the hall, the door to a room had been left open, as well as a window that overlooked the restaurant. They were setting up lights and other equipment for the big extravaganza that was supposed to start at 5:00. (We were scheduled to go until 6:00). I closed the window and the door and that helped a great deal, but the thunderous sounds of the base were vibrating through the floor.

Every so often the sound levels would increase considerably and I would exit to find that someone had opened the door or the window again. I did find some of the workers who seemed to understand our problem and they did there best to minimize the sound, but it was not all that effective.

I then went looking for a room that we could move to, but no matter where I went in the hotel, the sound followed me. Occassionally, we would get about 10 or 15 minutes of silence and then it would start again. Given the circumstances, the Area Presidency shortened our meeting, and the ordeal ended at 5:00.

As I was leaving, Denise Smogluck, who was our translator for the meeting, noticed signs on all of the other suites on our floor. He indicated that they were rooms reserved for some of the most popular rock stars in Russia. It reminded me of time when I was directing a video shoot,for one of my clients, in Dallas and ZZ Top showed up to jam in the room next to ours. Fortunately, they only practiced for an hour, so we were able to complete our shoot.

Here are a few pictures of some our activities:

Marina, Linda, Chris and Acia making up fruit baskets with Russian Chocolates for the guests at the hotel.
A picture of our hotel room sitting area. A nice bowl of fruit was placed in the room of each member of the Area Presidency by the hotel. I was nice of them to give us one, as well.
The fountain in the middle of the Metropol Restaurant, where we ate breakfast.
The harpist, at breakfast in the Restuarant.
Our group walking under the street on our way to the ballet.
Inside the the theater.
The ballet, the Legend of Love.
On the way to the Armory Museum.