Bye Bye Bishop

What an incredible, fun evening we shared with the people in our Ward! Max has been released as Bishop of our Ward for about 3 weeks now. The Relief Society Presidency planned, and had a very memorable Open House to honor Max for his service of over 6 years as Bishop. It was so very nice and much appreciated.

Max was overcome with emotion when they presented him with a book that a member of the Relief Society Presidency had put together for him. It has pictures of some of the youth activities, graduations, future missionaries, return missionaries and full of sweet letters of gratitude from members of our ward. It was overwhelming to read some of the letters written with thankfulness.


Max truly did an outstanding job as Bishop. We had 100 youth in our Ward and only one was inactive. He loved the Youth. He was fortunate to have a large group of young men to get ready for missions. During his time as Bishop he sent out 49 missionaries. A very sweet friend in our Ward made him a big map, pinpointing the destinations around the world of all the missionaries that he sent out. Four of her sons were among the 49. Anyway......time well spent and a time that he loved.


One of the sweet boys in our Ward, the son of Max's Counselor in the Bishopric, drew this picture of Max. How cute is that? Loving messages from his family surrounded it. It was a very teary night when we returned and read all the different letters and thoughts given to us from the people in our Ward. It will be such a keepsake and reminder of the wonderful experience Max had serving the people in our Ward as Bishop. What a treasure.

Change is hard but it always must happen. It is nice to have Max home.......with nothing to do. We are working on that! He is now a Sunday School teacher and in heaven! He will be teaching the 13-year-olds in our Ward and anticipating all of Kevin's wrestling matches this year at school.

Many thanks go out to all the wonderful, loving, caring people in our Ward who have expressed thanks and gratitude. We, in turn, wish much love (and luck) to the new Bishop and his Family. We love, love them!

Just A Little Quilt Talk

I am starting backwards (meaning from present to forgotten) in an attempt to cover all the things I have left out over the past few weeks. No complaints, but time is always short and my blogging efforts come in last, much to my dismay. Soooooo, I will play catch-up even though many of the following events have passed away with time! This last Monday was my "Quilt Group" get-to-gether. For some reason there is nothing better, more enjoyable, or satisfying than visiting with my "Quilty" friends. We laugh, eat and carry on for most the morning. Really though, we have some pretty talented ladies and it is always fun to see their quilts. It is quite therapeutic!
Michelle hosted this month......We take a break in the summer, so it was fun to get back into the schedule and see what has been happening over the summer. Michelle always has something to show us. She teaches classes in her Ward....this is one of her upcoming projects. Yep....Christmas is around the corner.

Elaine is kinda my Idol. She is a perfect applique, "quilty" person! I always love what she does and can only hope I can applique as perfectly as she does one day. She even attempted to give me a quick lesson on her skills......anyway, I like to stare at her quilts. They really are fabulous!

The Appliqe Queen

Marene is making this striking quilt that is so time consuming. There are a ton of tiny pieces, but she seems to get it together quickly. She turns out so many quilts quickly. I don't know where she finds time. She and her husband are in charge of the Humanitarian Center here for the Church....that alone takes tons of time. She is pretty amazing.

I finally finished little Livy's quilt, even though she is 4 months old! No complaining from the Receiver please! It took me FOREVER! But I am a slow, methodical quilty girl.....! And I like it like that!

Kim started this quilt on one of her summer get-a-ways. She is just fun to have around....talky and giggly. Her daughter just got married the first of August, so she is especially happy to have some down time don't ya think?
We start school here sooooo early. It is literally 113 degrees today! Hello....summer is not over. We are dying, but we love the school thing. So Michelle kept it real and fixed box lunches for us. They were delicious and so cute....all wrapped up with a bow. She always out does herself and we are the happy recipients! Thanks Michelle. We had such a fun time. We all wonder why getting together is so enjoyable???? It's relaxing, stress-free, yummy (the food is always FAB), we laugh, we have much in common, we all the love same thing, and we have the best time together!

Sad...but True!

Many tears were shed and our emotions are so close to the surface. Max was released today as Bishop of our ward after serving for over 6 years. I knew this day would be coming and it proved to be quite difficult.

Last week Max announced in Sacrament Meeting that the Stake Presidency would be conducting the meeting this week. Everyone put two and two together and realized that we would be getting a new Bishop. While we were in Montana a couple of weeks ago the Stake President e-mailed Max informing him that there would be a change. Those were hard words to read and emotions came immediately. We had been expecting it....but just didn't want it to happen!

It has been an incredible experience for 6 years. Difficult and challenging for Max, but always sweet and rewarding. Our Stake President is in our ward and very close to Max. He has taught him much and been an incredible example and support to him. There are very tender feelings that cannot be expressed in words, but will remain memorable and dear.

The time went much too quickly and it seems like yesterday that Max became Bishop. Our ward members and Stake Presidency expressed much love to him today, it was a teary scene. It is a strange feeling to have Max home today. It will take some getting use to......this change is difficult, but in time we will think differently. I am proud of his dedication and willingness to stay strong for so long. He did an incredible job and he is loved!

A Trip To The Pines

Our repeat vaca to Montana was heavenly! A trip into beauty and relaxation was much needed. After living in the desert and experiencing triple digit heat constantly in the summer, it is a relief to drive into the mountains wearing a sweatshirt and using the word "Chilly!"

The generosity of friends make this a wonderful trip. We have a fun cabin to stay in.....ripe cherries to eat, scenery, bike rides, lake activities, relaxation and great company. Kevin is invited every year to travel to Montana with his friends....we just happen to be there at the same time. He thinks he can escape "the thumb" for a week! Actually, he does!

On Saturday, Kevin and his friends played in the basketball "street tournament" in Polson. This is their 2nd year. Last year they were undefeated..... Unfortunately, they didn't "have it" this year. They went down in flames....we enjoyed the show!

The Spectators

This year it was a little chilly. Unusual temperatures for the end of July. That did not stop the fun activities on the lake. And, frankly, we welcomed a little coolness. This year we took advantage of the weather and drove on up to Glacier National Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! We put the top down on the car we had and we felt like we were right in the pines. Scenery was all around.....but first a trip to the quilt store on the way!



The kids were constantly on the Lake. Surfing and more surfing. Kevin has learned from the best and is pretty darn good.


It was hard to leave such a beautiful vacation spot....back home to 115 degrees and dead plants! The party's over.....!