Sunday, September 2, 2012

Life is good. . . .

      This was our last week to serve in the Calvert ward.. gee I hate to move on just when we get to know people.. this truly was a wonderful place to be for the last two months and I will miss not only the fantastic friends we have made, but I will also miss the Chesapeake Bay on a daily basis.. Yes we can come back and visit, but we won't see the beautiful view each day.. but as they say; with change come great things.. so I know that we will find new treasures in the Bowie Ward. 

 The Chesapeake Bay
 
 


         We had our usual Monday morning phone marathon, calling to set up appointments. We called over 28 sisters and made 5 appointments and had hopes for many call backs and more bookings..  We headed out in the afternoon to visit with two of our favorite people.  Both Lynn and Victoria live at Tate's Place.  Lynn and her husband have lived there for about a year and Victoria has lived with the Tate's for over 30 years.  Lynn suffers from major headaches and Sister Brown had gotten a book for her that her doctor recommended because of her headaches. She and her husband live in a cute little bungalow on the Tate's property.  Her husband is the caretaker of the property and Lynn helps out both her husband and Sister Tate.  It was great to sit down with her and get to know her a little better.  Victoria joined us over at Lynn's.. and she is such a darling.  She is originally from Liberia and still after being in the US for many years has very broken English.. She told us how she came to the states when she was a young woman.  A family was leaving Liberia and wanted to bring Victoria with them and they asked her mother.. Her mother said Victoria was hard worker, loved children and very honest, so the rest is history and she has lived her every since.  After the children in that family grew up, she joined the Tate's and have been with them ever since. 
 
Lynn, Me & Victoria
 
 I was down and out for a couple days with a bladder infection and really hate to miss going out..but I felt awful. So I stayed in and recuperated..

        We had visited Peg before, but felt inspired to visit again while we were still serving in Calvert.  She is really fun to visit.. we learned some great new things about her on this visit.. She is a baseball fanatic.. She loves the Baltimore Orioles.. She played slow pitch soft ball for 30 years and has been a season ticket holder for the Orioles for years.  She also creates the most beautiful baskets, is a member of the Red Hat Society.. and has a great time in everything she does.  She had a beautiful big flowering bush just outside her front door that she said was a butterfly bush and it was a flutter with butterflies.. They are all over the area right now..
 
 The butterfly bush at Peg's house.  Full of beautiful butterflies
 
 
 Some of the beautiful baskets made by Peg
 

        We were wondering where we should have lunch and it is always a good idea to ask the locals their favorites and Peg had a couple of great ideas.  We decided to go to the "Lunch Box".. restaurant and we were so happy we did.. It is in an old house that has been refurbished and the food was fantastic.. She also shared some of her other favorites and we will try them later.. one is very close to our apartment..
 Beautiful old house restored into the "Lunch Box" restaurant
 
        We were excited to be visiting with Amy, since she and her family had been gone all summer to her home town of Tremonton, Utah.  She has had 2 brain surgeries..one 5 years ago and another in March of this year.. She said she had to learn a lot of things over and I said that you would never know.. She is the mom of 4 and her youngest Isaac who is 3, looked out the window when we arrived and said "hey mom, they look just like they do in church".. He stayed with him mom while we visited with her.  Her husband is a high school Spanish teacher. He has a wonderful singing voice and has sung with the National Choir and would love to have it for a full time job..

       We visited with our Amish friend Magadelina Stoltzfus, who owns the quilt shop and I had decided to purchase one of her beautiful quilts.  I fell in love with it the first time we visited her shop.. When we arrived there were about 12 of her darling grandchildren playing in the yard.  The girls all had their hair styled into a very classic bun in the back and the boys all sported cute dutch bobs, with the exception of one adorable little towhead that had a head full of curls.. they were so cute and came into the shop when we went in and loved to play hide n' seek and I would find them and they would all giggle and all dash to a new hiding place.. until their Grama had had enough and had them all go outside to play.  Magadelina has 14 children and "107" grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.. She is such a sweet lady that we have grown so fond of.. I am thankful she will let me pay a little each month on my quilt...
         Saturday was our monthly event for the senior missionaries.. We were all invited to President and Sister Matsumories home for a bar-b-cue.  It is about 2 hours north of us.  It was a special day for a lot of reasons.. It was the last time we would be able to see some of the friends we have made that will be going home in a week or so.. and we got to meet several of the new missionary couples who have just arrived.  There were about 45 of us there and we had each helped with the lunch, by bringing different things to add.  I brought veggies and dip and Sister Brown brought watermelon.  The table was laid out with anything and everything you could ever want to eat..  Each of the missionary couples who were going home shared a moment with us and what their mission meant to them.  We also heard that the missionary department in SLC has decided to continue the "Women's Auxiliary Specialist" mission in the Washington DC North Mission, they will be sending replacements here for Sister Brown and I when we leave to go home.. We are so excited for this wonderful news.. and so happy we could be a part of this amazing new program.






 
        It is deer mating season back here and so the deer are out everywhere.. I makes driving a little precarious..they just jump out in front of cars and they are everywhere, not just in the country, but also in the city as well.. Today when we were driving we saw a couple.. just standing by the road.. So now when we head out we are so very careful to keep a sharp eye out as we drive. 
 

 
We are excited that on Monday Calvert Ward is having their annual Labor Day Picnic.. So it will one more opportunity to spend some time with all our friends from there..

 Have a wonderful holiday and stay cool back there in Arizona..

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