Sunday, April 17, 2016

W.O.W. what a week this has been.  We can just never guess what might be happening in any given week.....most of the time we are surprised at what comes about!  

On Monday morning as we were preparing to head from Morehead, KY back over to the Lexington area for another Zone Conference on Tuesday, we decided to meet the Morehead Sister Missionaries and do a little 'hat-supply-shopping' since it was their P-Day.  (We do NOT get a P-Day so it really doesn't matter to us when we go shopping if we ever need anything).  They got the MEMO from Sister Brough, the mission presidents wife to bring a DERBY HAT (if they could borrow one or buy one for a $1 or less!!) for Zone Conference.  We would be wearing them at lunchtime!  They were excited to go on this adventure!  SO....off we went to Goodwill where we bought 'supplies' to put on the hat and then to Walmart to purchase the hats (and a glue gun and glue sticks to adhere the fun things we bought at Goodwill to the hat).  We had a very successful trip!!!

 You can see how cute the hats turned out!!!  Sister Bailey, office senior missionary on the right, and myself joined the sisters for a foto op!!

After Zone Conference on Tuesday, we headed up to Louisville where we would attend Zone Conferences there for the next two days.  We had the time to stop by the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and pick up some mini bats for gifts.  This has been a MUST STOP for the past 2 years.  A TRADITION!!!  They had a 'super-hero' kind of event going on....hence the super heros out front of the store....with the biggest Super Hero of all standing in the middle....Elder/Dr. Allgaier!!

Yep.....our purchase of mini bats!!!  Hopefully this will make someone's day!

We also had time to drive by the Louisville Temple.  They were not open at that time.....seems like they are never open when we come by.  The smaller temples have fewer hours than the larger temples.

 On the last day of Zone Conference ALL of the sister missionaries, plus a couple of extra sisters from the local ward who had come to help repair clothing for the missionaries, wore their DERBY HATS at lunch time!!!  How fun is this!!!  Love it!!

AND, on the last day of Zone Conference we got to see Elder Irwin again.  He and his family used to be in our ward in Maryland.  We didn't get to know them very well because they moved in while we were on our first mission to Finland.  His dad passed away before we got home.  Shortly after we got home he and his family moved to Washington State (I think).  I also think Elder Irwin was in Jonathan's seminary class.  Small world in the church.  We love our mission!!!

After the 'usual' Zone Conference foto I decided to stay seated for a minute and turn my iPhone camera on.....as son as I did the Elders behind me starting yelling....'Selfie, Selfie'....and there you have the caption for this foto!

Meet Elder and Sister Bailey.  They are senior missionaries in the office.  He is in charge of cars (hence, his attire for the meeting....he was out checking cars) and Sister Bailey.  She is in charge of the apartments.  We have enjoyed getting to know them.

After we finished the last zone conference we started our drive down to Goodlettsville, Tennessee where we would spend the night.  We decided to take the 'back roads' to see what fun things we could find.  And we found some.....like this sign for the church.  This is NOT typical to have a church sign telling where the chapel is located.  But it was in this really teeny, tiny town.  IF we had had more time, we would have gone in search of the church.

The hills and hollars were just gorgeous!  We love Kentucky.

We found a few more barns too.....and some of them down dirt/gravel roads!!  Typical of where we were.

And we made it back to Tennessee after 2 weeks....

Just across the Tennessee state line we also found a canola field on the back roads.  This time we were able to stop and get a foto of it.

Pulling into our hotel for the night and sitting at a stoplight we noticed this 'Hooter' sitting on the drivers lap and looking out the window.  It totally reminded me of Punkin-Hooter-Tooter!!!  I realized that it was April 14th....the next day, the 15th, would be both my mother's birthday and Punkin's birthday.  This was also like a little tender mercy letting me know they were both close by!  Love the tender mercies we feel and see and experience almost on a daily basis in very subtle ways.

 And, we are back in Georgia just like that.  Good to be back 'home'!!

ALL 3 of the cats were waiting for us.....and Lucy was the first one in the door and she found her 'spot' pretty quickly!!!  What on earth are we going to do in 6 weeks when we leave??!!!

On Saturday morning we were able to head up to the Atlanta Temple.  It was good to be back here again.  When we got out of the Temple, we had a missed call from Tyler.....

 We called him back, not sure what to expect.....and LOW AND BEHOLD.....just like that he and Hollie are ENGAGED!!!  SAY WHAT.......

And....she said Y.E.S.!!!!  WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR THEM and so excited to welcome Hollie into our Eternal Family!!!!  

 We have reserved the date of AUGUST 13th at 12:00 noon for a very important ALLGAIER WEDDING!!!  WE ARE SO  E-X-C-I-T-E-D!!!  Way to go Tyler and Hollie!!  Have I said how excited we are.....EXCITED!!!  (B.T.W.....Tyler and Hollie gave us permission to share these fotos with the family!  Thanks guys!!)

The HAPPY COUPLE!!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!

AND.....we gave our neighbor, Rodney, a hand-signed (by Henry) copy of the Book of Mormon!!!  Like I said in the beginning........W. O. W.....WHAT A GREAT WEEK!!!  We feel so blessed.  Stay tuned for this coming week......we just never know.  Love y'all  Be safe and watch for reindeer!!  :-)

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Another super fast week!  Still don't know how that happens.  Well, we started PACKING this past week!!!  WHAT??  You may say.....but, we realized this week that of our 7 weeks left before completing our 3rd mission we will only be in our apartment at the most 5 of those days!  YIKES!  We have a lot to do to get ready to leave....hence.  The packing has begun.

Lucy was not happy with us doing this packing.  She decided to just plop down on top of the box that I needed to pack our 'travel tree' in.  What are we going to do when we leave.....what will happen to Lucy!!!  :-(  Makes me sad to think about it.

We were off this week to the GREAT Kentucky Louisville Mission for 2 weeks.  We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee on the way....that seemed like a good 'stop and stretch' point for us.  We LOVE that skyline.

While there we parked our car across the Tennessee River Bridge to downtown.  What a great little walk that is....we love it.  We decided to have lunch at the GooGoo Restaurant/Candy Store.  You can see from the foto that it is just really close to the AT & T 'Batman Building', as we call it.  What a nice little restaurant.  As we were standing in line to check out I noticed someone behind us in line speaking what sounded like Finnish.  I called Dad over to whispered to him what I had heard.  He walked a little closer to the two ladies and before I knew it he was talking Finnish to them.  When I finished making my purchase I walked over and we had a 4-way Finnish conversation going....right there in the middle of this store in downtown Nashville.  Go Figure!!  What fun to find some Finns right there in Nashville.

We are not the only ones taking fotos of State Signs.....this guy had the right idea....just get out of your car and get a good foto!

We drove right on through Kentucky and in to Indiana where the first Zone Conference would be held the next day.

 We love seeing the cute (and edible) table decorations.

Because May 1st is Kentucky Derby time, Sister Brough, the mission president's wife, told us Sisters to bring our Derby Hats....we would wear them at lunch time.  This senior sister missionary joined Sister Brough and I for the foto op.

Sister Brough and I modeling our hats.....she has 2 hats, I only have the one.

It was a FUN Derby Hat day on Friday because some of the young sister missionaries had made hats and wore them.  They are so creative!

President Brough was a good sport.  Elder/Dr. Allgaier needed him to 'model' a foto for a slide presentation Dad had been asked to do......i.e., what NOT to do when riding a bicycle!  To prevent injuries to oneself and companion.  The missionaries LOVED seeing him on the bike and were very quick to point out the things he was NOT doing right!!

When we left Zone Conference on Thursday and headed toward Lexington, KY for the last Zone Conference of this week, we drove past the Evansville, Indiana Visitor Center.  It was a really neat building right on the Ohio River.  We got to see the River and the building very quickly.  As we drove into the parking lot a siren was blaring.  We were informed that that siren was a 'weather warning' let residences know of the impending storm.  We didn't dilly-dally but rather got on the road and headed to our hotel.

When we finished Zone Conference on Friday we drove over to Morehead Kentucky.  It was only about an hour and a bit from Lexington Kentucky.  We typically don't drive back to PTC for the weekend because it is too far to drive and we don't need to spend that much more time on the roads.  We hunker down fairly close but out in the remote areas so we can just relax....as much as possible with the phones still ringing and missionaries still needing medical help.  Plus, we remember that Uncle BP's mother was from Morehead, KY so we thought it would be fun to see where his family came from.

Morehead is in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  What a GREAT place to visit and roam around.  Beautiful countryside!!

Yes, we even got a little ice cream at the local drug store across the street from the Morehead State University Campus.  We couldn't believe we were getting this because it was snow-flurrying outside.

There is a huge man-made lake (largest one east of the Mississippi River) Cave Run Lake that is absolutely gorgeous.  We drove to the dam and dad got a few fotos.

We call these the 'bump-bump' mountains.  Because that is what they look like.....lots of bumps!

We rarely wear P-Day clothes but we did on this day.  That felt strange to do that but also made it easier to drive around the lake and see things.

We found a whole bunch more barns with quilts on the side.  LOVE these barns.....and lots of them to.

Sit back and relax....here is a FUN and interesting story to add to our weekend!!  You all know Uncle BP.  Of course you do.  You know the home he grew up in 2 houses up from Grandma and Grandpa Allgaier's home in Arlington.  Well, we have known for decades that his mother grew up in Morehead and she loved the house she lived in there.  We knew that she agreed to marry Uncle BP's father IF he would build her a home exactly like the new home that she had just built (her brothers built it for her) here in Morehead.  He agreed and they were married.  Uncle BP remembered the address and we were on a hunt to find the original house.  We FOUND it.  Meet Fred and Marieta Pissarro (great-grandson of artist Pablo Pissarro).  They live in the home.  They were very warm and friendly to us and invited us into the home so we could see the inside.  Amazing how it really is a mirror image of Uncle BP's home in Arlington.

The full view of the front of the home in Morehead, KY with me standing in front.

And the Arlington VA home....where Uncle BP lives.  So weird to walk in the KY home and feel like it should be in reverse!

 We attended church in the Owingsville KY Ward today.  Such a warm and friendly ward.  How fun to be there.  This is also where Uncle BP's mother and her family attended church.  Only back then they met in homes because they were small in numbers.  

It has been another great week and weekend.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our travels.  This was no exception.  We look forward to another week here in the GKLM!!  And more presentations and Elder/Dr. meeting with missionaries and we LOVE OUR MISSION!!!  We appreciate the support from our family....and love each of you.  KIITOS PALJON!!  See ya next week......

Sunday, April 3, 2016

As we headed back to the PTC from Mt. Airy, N.C. on Monday, we stopped by 'Jean's' one more time.....to get some sausage-biscuits for breakfast on the road.  Man, we LOVE this place and their fantastic food.  So nice to have it right here in our mission!!

We LOVE finding the cool signs here in the Bible Belt....even on the trucks.  I really like this one!

The flowers were in full bloom as we drove through the south too.  Love, LOVE them!

We also LOVE driving through the mountains.  We purposely decided to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains back to PTC today.....about an hour longer but we love this route!!!  Dad is really good about getting some great shots while I drive.

We LOVE the Atlanta skyline as well.  We are going to miss our mission.  We will enjoy our travels for the next 7 weeks....that will go by quickly we know.  We have 5 mission 'tours' in that 7 weeks!

 When we are in our apartment and the missionaries go by, they notice that our car is out front and they love to stop by.  We love it when they stop by for a visit too!!!  Sisters Kelly and Hunter are so sweet.  They are half bike/half car.  Today was a bike day.  Both of their bikes are in for repairs so they borrowed bikes from the mission office.  This was all they had to choose from...bless their hearts.  They are real troopers!

Dad got a package this week....from one of his nurses, Sister Romano!  She is a die-hard Precious Moments collector and knows Sam Butcher (creator of Precious Moments) personally.  We sent this 'Doctor Is IN' Precious Moments to him as a reminder of his 'doctoring mission'!!  So sweet of her.  We have some pretty remarkable nurses and we love them all.

I finished 2 more gifts afghans this week.  'Lucy' is protecting them to make sure nobody is going to bother them.  What are we going to do when we go home and have to leave Lucy behind!!!  That will be a sad day for us.....but we will be happy to see Madi again (IF she makes it until we get home).  Bless Madi's heart.  She has been a trooper with us leaving her once again!  And thanks to Steven and Elinn for taking such great care of her while we have been gone.

Sometimes we just need to make a 'house call' because that is what is needed.  Friday was one of those days.  Dad had some concerns with a Elder in one of the Georgia Missions.  He was assigned to a little corner of Alabama.  In talking with the Mission President, it was apparent to us that a house call was in order.  The mission president was most grateful for our doing that.  IF the elder needs to be sent home for treatment, the family will know that everything was done infield that could be done.

We received an invitation to attend the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference at the mission home with President and Sister Foote (center).  We were grateful we were in town so we could do that.  The AP's (Elder Diamache and Elder Leavitt) and the 2 office couples (Elder & Sister Benisch and Elder & Sister Jeffrey) along with the Mission Nurse (Sister Mason) were also there.  It was great to be with them.  After the session we also had a potluck dinner.  Then us sisters went to our homes while the brethren watch General Priesthood Session at the Mission Home.  We LOVE our mission.

How fun that we were all together watching at the Mission Home when up on the T.V. screen we all saw with delight Elder Tanner Robinson (bottom row, 3rd from right)!!!  We love Elder Robinson!!  And there he was singing in the BYU-Idaho Choir for the afternoon session of conference.

The Entire General Conference was SO good!!!  It was especially great to hear from our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson!  He looked better than he did in October 2015.  He even sounded stronger.  What a blessing to have a Prophet to lead and guide us in these latter-days!

Between sessions of Conference I made a batch of chocolate chip/pecan cookies.  I had promised Don Linton, our accountant, that he would get his annual batch of cookies.  They will be mailed in the morning and be delivered on Wednesday!  Really??  I would do this kind of thing?  Apparently I do.

 We hope y'all all have a GREAT week.  We are off to the GREAT KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE MISSION for the next 2 weeks!!!  You will hear from us while we are there....no doubt!!  Love y'all!!!  We LOVE our mission!!