Sunday, July 27, 2014

Our week this past week has not be quite as busy, travel-wise, as previous weeks.  We are okay with that.  Coming up here real soon we are going to be on the road almost non-stop for about 6 weeks.  We can enjoy these 'slower' weeks when we have them.  Having said that, however, we did attend 2 more Zone Conferences.....in the Georgia Macon Mission.  This completes ALL Zone Conferences for the Georgia Atlanta and Georgia Macon Missions for this go-round.  Two down and 7 more missions to go.

Our week in review....foto-wise:

On Monday we drove over to SENOIA to visit this quaint, friendly little town of about 3,500 people. It had been highly recommended to us by Sister Harding (mission president's wife of the Georgia Atlanta Mission).  She said we would just fall in love with it.  And we certainly did.  We walked around the town and enjoyed the down-home friendliness.  It has 'come alive' in recent years because of about 20 different films and several TV shows which have been filmed, at least in part, in this town.  We can see why.  

We don't just go visit these types of places without being able to 'buy' something.  I bought this Georgia State Necklace.  Kind of a fun little thing.

Oh my heavens.....we decided to have lunch here at the suggestion of several of the townsfolk's.  We will totally go back there again!!!  The BEST REDNECK BURGER ever!!!!  It was ginormous!!  Wayne and I purchase just one and split it.  Could not have eaten the whole thing myself.  It had crispy bacon as well as a fried green tomato on it.  ABSOLUTELY THE BEST BURGER we have ever had.  And we didn't just stop at that.....we walked across the street at the OH! CHOCOLATE shoppe and had some homemade PISTACHIO NUT GELATO for dessert!  Oh my heavens!!!

We drove around town looking at some of the FAMOUS HOMES which have had been filmed in and around them.

I received this foto of Ollie having received his afghan that I made him.  He got it and seems to really like it!!!  YEAH!

We were on the road to a Zone Conference in Columbus, GA.  It was not a good travel day....rainy.  But we made it safe and sound.

 Have we said how much we LOVE our Mission President's and their Wives!!!!  What great people they are.  President and Sister Cottle are so good with their flock of missionaries.  We want to be like them some day when we grow up!!!  They are the best.  They always get a group foto at each Zone Conference we have attended.  And if more than one zone is in attendance, they take fotos of EACH Zone individually.

In between things this week I was able to work on Matthew's afghan.  Wayne spends a LOT of time on the phone and on the computer when we are in our apartment.  That is when I keep my fingers busy, busy, busy with making crocheted things.  This is an example of some of the things that I can create.  When I am not crocheting I am usually busy making our travel plans....hotel reservations close to where each Zone Conference is held.  We have a LOT of travel coming up over the next couple of months.

 On Thursday evening we were invited to attend an 'outing' with the Senior Missionaries from the Georgia Atlanta North Mission.....they went to STONE MOUNTAIN to see the Laser Show in the evening.  We started the evening out by meeting everyone at the Mission Office.  From there we drove the quick 10 minutes over to the Stone Mountain Park and had a picnic dinner.  It was so fun to get to know everyone!

 Friday was back on the road.....the last Zone Conference for the Georgia Macon Mission.  Have I said before how much we LOVE going to Zone Conferences.  We have such wonderful young missionaries out in the field preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  At each of the Zone Conferences this go-round for this mission a list of 'things we could use for our apartment' was given to each missionary companionship.  They filled it out and items were collected for them and passed out at the Zone Conference.  Here are several boxes of items!  The missionaries felt like it was Christmas-time for them.  They were thrilled!!!

What would a Zone Conference be like without bikes around.  This Zone Conference was no exception!!  These bikes tell a WHOLE STORY about these young men and young women.

For dinner on Saturday I decided to make individual pones of cornbread.  It was so good!!!  And I love our new little Cast Iron Skillets!!

I LOVE working on projects when Wayne is busy with medical calls, etc.  I have found myself working on THREE DIFFERENT PROJECTS at the same time because I ran out of yarn on two of them and I need a big-eye needle to sew the granny squares together to make booties.  I am hopeful that I will be able to get the yarn in the mail this week so I can finish all three of them up!!!

And here we are at the end of yet another week!!!   Hard to believe we have been here for a month already.  The time is flying by so quickly.  We are LOVING our mission!!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

More Zone Conferences this week.  This time only ONE for the week....but it was in Augusta, GA  More travel.  More FUN!!!  I know I have said this before but I am not quite sure how it is that the weeks go by so quickly!!!  I thought the 'retirement years' were suppose to be S.L.O.W. ones!  Not so......Recap of the week.....

The Zone Conference we attended this week was in AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.  Because it was about a 4 - 5 hour drive we chose to drive up the day before, have a few hours to see 'something' in Augusta and spend the evening in a local Hampton Inn.  Good choice.....nice time.

We first went to the Visitor's Center in Augusta (right downtown).  That is always a good place to begin any 'tour'.  Nice folks.  Toni even agreed to have her foto taken with me in one of the displayed golf carts.  She was a very nice lady.  She made some recommendations to us that were helpful.

We went down to the RIVER WALK along the Savannah River.  It was not as commercial as the River Walk in Savannah but it was still very nice.

Augusta sits right on the Georgia - South Carolina state line.  Across where the homes are below shows South Carolina.  

They were some very, VERY nice homes.....with some nice boats docked along their 'driveways'!

There has definitely been some flooding in years past!  As witnessed by the FLOOD MARKS on the walls along the River Walk.

We were not quite sure where to have dinner that evening so we asked one of the workers at the Hampton Inn where we stayed.  He wholeheartedly suggested we eat at the T-Bones Restaurant!  Great choice!!!

 Totally cool story about our evening at the restaurant.  We arrived what we thought was on the early side of having dinner ...... around 5:30ish.  A bus had pulled in just in front of us!  We thought "OH NO"...we better get in front of those people or we may be all night before we get seated and served.  We hurriedly parked and rushed inside.  Once inside we were seated right away!  We beat the rush....we thought.  We asked our waitress where the group was from.  The responded by telling us that all of the young people in the group (about 30) were cancer patients!!!  Oh my heavens...we were totally touched.  For the past 18 years this restaurant has sponsored a FREE DINNER to this group of youth.  We were so impressed.  In our rush to get inside the restaurant I realized I left my cell phone in the car.  Wayne went to retrieve it for me.  He took F.O.R.E.V.E.R to get back.  Later in the evening I would find out why.  At the end of our dinner we were walking out of the restaurant when I reached the front doors only to discover Wayne had stopped at the receptionist desk to ask a question.  I went ahead and walked outside where I would wait for him.  This nice black gentleman came over and started talking to me.  He said "I recognize your black tag, I talked to your husband earlier in the evening"!  AAHHH I now know what took Wayne so long to come back with my phone.  Turns out this very nice guy told us he was the personal chauffeur driver for the singer JAMES BROWN!!!  Apparently James Brown grew up right there in Augusta.  This guys also told us he has written a book about his time with James Brown and it is coming out in September.  He autographed a PL Card I had in my purse!!!  The black limo he was driving was also THE limo he drove James Brown around in!!!  He was giving FREE limo rides to these same group of cancer teenagers after their dinner.  Wayne gave him an autographed copy of the Book of Mormon, which he graciously accepted.  We hope he will truly read it.  This was a book that LAUREN had signed and put her testimony in.  What a fantastic evening!!!

Enough of the 'playing around' on arrival day.  We came to go to a Zone Conference in the Georgia Macon Mission.  We LOVE being able to meet so many missionaries.  They are great young people!  At lunch time we had the 'usual' zone fotos taken....and here were a couple of elders who used MY iPhone camera and took  foto for us.  They are such 'goofballs'!

The foto turned out great though!!  Kiitos Paljon Vanhin!

We did a little driving into Atlanta on Wednesday.  We have been wanting to see the Cyclorama in Atlanta.  Today was THE day.....and look at how many roads there are.  This one really isn't so bad but it was the only one I got a foto of today.

The CYCLORAMA is located beside the Zoo in Atlanta.

There is a very large original oil painting that was done in about 1885-1886 depicting the Civil War.  It was so neat.....great painting.  NO FOTOS allowed inside though.

We also drove past the Atlanta Braves Ball Stadium.  That was also really neat to see up close and personal.

 Meantime....back at the apartment.  I was able to finish crocheting the afghan for OLLIE!!!  And got it mailed.  Hopefully he will like it.  I think 'his' colors turned out great!!!

Wayne somehow left his TALLINN hat at Andy and Geralyn's home before we entered the MTC.  Bless their hearts.....they found it and mailed it to us.  Glad to have that back!!!

We have two kitties in our little development.....one black and one orange.  Caught the black one 'napping' in the water drain thingie on this particular day.  So cute......

I also made time to make some SOFT SUGAR COOKIES this week.  I 'found' this recipe on the bag of sugar.  It is a KEEPER.  They are delicious and SOFT...just like the directions say they will be.

And here is the recipe!

Now, get this.....the Posti is INSIDE a Card Shop in the Braelinn Village shop.  For real.  When we finished mailing packages today and were walking past the regular cash register we noticed these really cool stickers.  SO.....we had to have one to put on our car.  Totally describes our little 'bubble' we get to live in here in PTC!!

Bless Tim-A-Do's heart.  He texted this foto to us.....letting us know that he misses us at home and that our missionary plaque looks great hanging up!  Kiitos Paljon Tim......

While shopping for a few things in the local Kroger Grocery Store I noticed some country ham.  Got some....tried it.....LOVE IT.  Went back and bought more!!

Coming along nicely this week on Matthew's afghan.  Give me another week or two and I will have that one done as well!!!

After attending a baptism this afternoon we drove out to MCINTOSH LAKE located about 5 miles from our apartment here in Peachtree City.  It was suggested to us by Sister Harding, wife of the Georgia Atlanta Mission. 

And one more shot of that beautiful lake.  This lake reminds us of our beloved Finland!!!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Yup....here we are with another week gone by.  It has been a very busy week for us....especially travel-wise and attending Zone Conferences in two Missions (Georgia Atlanta Mission and the Georgia Macon Mission).  I will let the fotos talk for our week.....just as I typically do.  Fotos are worth a thousand words....and cheaper when it comes to printing this book out!

Monday found us in the car on a ROAD TRIP.....to SAVANNAH, GA for our first Zone Conference this week.  It was a L.O.N.G. drive but a very pretty drive.  Next time we go down, over there for Zone Conferences we definitely plan to make a side trip to BRUNSWICK, GA!!!  

 We took the advice of our file leaders in SLC and toured around the Old Town of Savannah (along the River Front) for a couple of hours after we arrived at our hotel.  We are so glad we took their advice.

These OLD STEPS were just as the signed posted they were.....HISTORIC STEPS......

Steep and tricky for old folks like us.

We had a GREAT DINNER at the Water House Restaurant along the waterway.  Oh my heavens....their CRAB CAKES were the absolute best.  Right up there with Dutch's Daughters in Frederick.  We will definitely come back here the next time we come down for Zone Conference!

Love this statue of the WAVING GIRL which is along the shore of the Savannah River.  We remember this this when we were in Savannah a number of years ago.

When we finished walking around Savannah we decided to drive out to TYBEE ISLAND, GA.  It was a short 30 minute drive.  This Island is on the Atlantic Ocean....and you guessed it!  Wayne was working as we walked out on the sandy seashore.  

I tried to walk along the outside edge of the sandy trail out to the sandy beach....trying not to get sand in my shoes!!!  What was I thinking!

We were able to catch a perfect shot of the SUNSET as we were driving off of the Island and headed back to our hotel in Savannah.  Gorgeous day there.

 On Tuesday we attended the Zone Conference in Savannah!  I handed my cell phone to one of the Elders and asked him if he would take a foto of the 1st half of the Zone Group (there were actually 2 Zones meeting in this group today).  Well.....it was so cute to realized that the Elders were taking a 'SELFIE' that I told them not to delete it!!!  They are the BEST!!!

But....this is the 1st half of the Zone Conference foto that they took of us!

On Tuesday evening after Zone Conference we headed home.  On Wednesday morning we drove up to Cartersville, GA in the 'mountains' for a Zone Conference for the Georgia Atlanta Mission.  Such a beautiful setting!

Stockon, youngest son of President and Sister Harding of the Georgia Atlanta Mission, just LOVES the missionaries.  And the missionaries just LOVES Stockton!  They are often goofing around with each other.  He is such a cutie!

When we go to Zone Conferences, Elder/Dr. Allgaier sets up a little 'mini clinic' at the Mission Presidents request.  Elders and Sisters who have questions for the Dr. and want to be seen just sign their name of the list that gets passed around.  It works great.  He loves it and THEY love it!!  We feel this is a good thing for the missionaries.

We returned home for a brief stay over on Wednesday night and had LOTS of mail waiting for us to pick up at the apartment complex office.  I LOVE PACKAGES!!!  This was a BIG score day.

Thursday was yet another Zone Conference in the Georgia Atlanta Mission.....this one in Powder Springs.

Back at our apartment....I 'found' a couple of kitties!!!  You may have to look really hard to see the BLACK KITTY in the bushes to the middle left.

Back down to Douglas, GA for a Zone Conference in the Georgia Macon Mission.  I LOVE meeting all of the wonderful missionaries for the church.  I took this foto of Sister McNeely with me because she has a twin sister serving in the South Carolina Columbia Mission.  I wanted to make sure I could remember who I needed to look for when we go over there.  They are identical twins so I hope I can find her.  What a sweetheart!!

To make our long trips between meetings a little more 'enjoyable' we often stop when we see the roadside fruit stands.  Well.....this one was intriguing because they advertised T.O.E. JAM and F.R.O.G. Jam and TRAFFIC Jam!  We couldn't resist!

See....they really were advertising it!!  And this sweet man is the owner and told us all about them!

We have to tell you that those jams are DELICIOUS.  We will be looking for more fruit stands to buy more of that delicious stuff!!

We surely encountered some NASTY looking storms along our travels this week.  We kept an eye to the sky looking for any funnel clouds.  Didn't see any but sure had some thundering and lightening and rain.

DON'T let the 'face' throw you off......Wayne was only joking about the T.O.E. Jam because we both really, really like it!!

We got home really LATE on Friday night.....really FULL WEEK of travel and meetings.  We slept in a bit on Saturday but we did make it up to the Temple by early afternoon.  We FOUND out traffic in downtown Atlanta however.  I don't really like driving in downtown!!  I prefer my country back-roads driving best.

We bought a few GEORGIA PEACHES!  They are delicious....very sweet.  We will be looking for more of those this week in our travels.

And here we are ....... another week gone and gearing up for more Zone Conferences this coming week!  Relaxed a bit on Sunday afternoon.  Wayne even put on his 'relaxing t-shirt' over his Sunday white shirt.  He IS a superpower man speaking his Finnish!!!

We continue to be so grateful for the opportunity of being able to serve this mission to the North American SouthEast North Area!  We are sooooo lucky!  We love what we are doing.  We feel the time is going to go by very quickly so we hope to enjoy every single minute while we have this time!