almost a year

Here it is Jan. of 2010 what a ride it has been. We have been here almost a year and we have had an interesting time. We have seen older students leave and new ones come, we have some getting married and some dating. Activities are interesting, from camping in a place so dark you can see tomorrow coming two hours before time.
Learning to cook here, or eat here has been fun and a challenge. I think we have gotten a good dutch oven potato dish down, the kids at the college seem to like them. The peppers and chili's are a different story, red or green chili, mexibell peppers, green, red, orange bell peppers, and a host of others I don't know how to spell. Bean's, rice and bean's, true corn bread, brisket of beef, and some make real pecan pie just like my grandma did.
Oh and the fresh home made salsa, hang on to your hat if your from the north with those bland taste buds, it is a real kick. Learning what to have served on the side and what you can take in full dose is a trick when I don't even know what the menu list on it.
Learning that rock squirrel's love tomato's, deer will leave your corn alone, and potato's don't grow well here, chili's do.
We have meet some of the most wonderful people here, people on the track where we walk, in the stores, streets, college suppers, at church, and on hikes in the mountains.
We would have missed it all if we wouldn't have walked out the door with a faith that it could be done.
We have truly been blessed. We have love all the letter's we have received, phone calls, and visit's by family.
We will be home in a minute.
Love Larry

Christmas

We thought that we would also like to share a little bit of Christmas with you so here is to the wonderful children we have and to the great extended family that we call ours.

Here it is 2010. We have been gone eleven months now and only seven more to go it hardly seems like it has been that long. Marsha and Brian came down for Christmas hopping to have some warmer weather, It snowed the Tuesday before and was not warm while they were here. Today it is going to the forty's and so far a lite wind.
Yesterday we went exploring and took a dirt road just out of town to the west and headed up the mountain. Wow you would not believe the houses that were up there. It is kind of like that in this area one only knows that there are house's over the hill by the mail box's that are out by the road.
We did have fun with Marsha and Brian taking them to the old down town area and a taste of the local ambiance, art stores, antique shops, door fronts, and the inhabitants of the down town area. We also got to show them the deer that have been around the yard all year. The deer came with in a few feet of the back door and browsed on some of the bushes that were there. I don't mind that as long as they leave the garden alone in the summer.
It was great to talk to so many of you over the Christmas holidays and to receive so many cards and letters. We missed each of you but know this is where we should be for the time being.
We talked to Josh and it was great to hear his voice he will be home soon, if we could just find out the date of his release.
We will seen you soon
Love Dad.

Well we just got the computer back thanks to Gavin taking the time to making it work again. Thanks Sara and Cordell for taking it home and to our student Kim for bringing it back.
Last Sat. Mom and I got the chance to see our niece Kim we haven't seen her for ten years or so.
We got to go to the white sands national monument, those sands are very white. Mom and I made sand angles they looked ok but not quite like snow angles.
We have also been to Los Cruces, El Paso, White Sands, and a few places around here over the last month.
We have had a drop of snow, cold, it did get down to twenty one night, most of the days have been very nice, just seems like a late fall day, we love it.
The branch has grown alittle with a RM. but we will be losing some as they are getting ready to go on a mission and others, will be going to other colleges next Jan. We take it as it comes and enjoy the kids when they are here.
I hardly know what to write as one day seems to melt into another any more. Here some pictures, otherwise.
This is a somewhat large Yacca plant we found.
Love dad

Well it is Oct. now we have some of the leaves changing the weather is turning football is being played, clouds have been red, life is great.
We harvested our garden this last week. One plastic bag of potato's, some peppers, squash, tomato's, onion, and carrots. Won't grow underground stuff it doesn't grow and what does has lots of bugs.
We have lots of cactus on the place so I decided to just cut it down and skin it. it's pretty dangerous and easy to stalk except when the wind is blowing the limps start to jump around and I have to be quick to keep from getting stuck, lot's of fun though.
I got to talk to a man yesterday that had at the age of sixteen joined the army to fight in WW II he had a lot of good stories to tell of how they had to melt out the enemy as they were in the great white north. He was from Kansas I think I had been through his town when we used to visit my grandparents in KC MO. He also fought in the Korean conflict said it was colder there than Alaska I don't know.
As I got ready to leave he looked at me and said he was Mormon too joined in 58 hadn't been active for along time. I asked him if he would like some one to stop by and talk about that and he said yes he would.
Ya never know who, or where you might meet someone so it is best to be good and not have to say your sorry for not being good.
Love Dad

Two more days and it will be Oct. It is hard to believe that this is going by so quick. The weather is feeling like fall and the temp has dropped some but it is not cold it is barely cool in the mornings when we walk.
Sis Lowery is running most of two miles how and I can walk again I am doing two to two and a quarter in thirty to thirty five min. so I think that is pretty good for someone as old as we are.
We went to a state park Sat. It is a place that would be good in the winter but a very hot one any other time. the formations are made from old lava flows the same that made the copper deposits and places like the cat walk that I pictured here before.
we also went to a town celebration it was small but alot of people were there.
We have been low on people at church though we have had many come just at different day's.
we went to the college's football game they lost to a team from Colorado it was kind of fun to see a game live maybe we can get to the high school game. More people attend them than any others I can see why.
Also this old fort had a celebration it would have been a great place to have a Dutch Oven contest maybe we can get one going for next year.

See ya'll in a minute
Dad

September the 20th 36 years and one

Can anyone remember what was going on a year ago today? I guess maybe not. Thirty six years ago it was a wild and windy day for Sis Lowery and I. It is hard to believe that we have been married for thirty six years. I can still remember being thirty six and all those young kids we had.
I wish I had some of the pictures from that time I would post them and then you would all make rude comments about how graceful we had aged.
It is great that we get to share this date with Lesa and Gavin and wish them happy anniversary and next year we can celebrate together along with the rest of the family.
The weather here is really crazy with the rains turning everthing green it seems just like spring with the cooler temps. The deer are still in the velvet and we have four bucks on the property some time each day. We had a deer roast that we cooked for the Elders last Friday along with potato's and corn bread and home made gravy it was pretty good even Sis Lowery liked it.
We are happy and things are going well.
Love Mom and Dad