GINORMOUS Mushrooms, Wet shoes, and Humidity

Before I start, I just wanted to thank those of you who take a moment to comment and encourage us!  We so appreciate those sweet notes of love! They lift us us when we are tired.

Above is what my sunrises and sunsets look like.  Though similar, I stand in awe of God's beauty each time!

Below is Sister De Los Reyes and Johnson helping me find graves (people request photos on-line) to upload to Find A Grave.  My feet got soaked (walking through the grass) and smelled like vinegar all day. No one said a word but me.  Its not like I could rush  right home to change shoes, as home is 45 minutes away.  Afterwards we went to Bartlesville and donated quilts at Youth Protection and BirthRight.  They (and we) were received with so much gratitude!  

Pictures below of a sister lunch and a beautiful sunset.

Today  (July 8th) I was in charge of giving the morning devotional.  Afterward we drove into town and worked at Christ's Cupboard (loading food for the hungry with women of other faiths).  Our church also contributes to the food pantry.  It was warm and wonderful and the time went fast!

Ok!  Let's talk about large mushrooms!  The mushroom below (which I found these in the cemetery) were larger than dinner plates!!

The three children below are part of the local branch (church).  There is a ghost story about "Green Eyes" that is talked about in the area, so after church I saw the kids in the parking lot I asked them if they knew about "Green Eyes".  In the cutest southern accents on the planet, I heard, "Oh, yes Mam!"  I asked them to tell me about it and they did.  They delighted me as they related the story in their beautiful accents.  Here is the story if you are interested.  Sister De los Reyes says that driving across that bridge at night scares the 'you know what’ out of her but claims it is beautiful in the day.  She says it reminds her of "Sleepy Hollow".  Even missions can use a good ghost story!  So here is the story.

Pawhuska - Green Eyes The story behind green eyes is unclear nobody really knows what happened but it is rumored that a man went crazy and drove his car that had his 2 children and his wife over the bridge and they drowned. Also, Ive heard an Osage Woman who was a witch was killed in this area of the creek for being evil. If you go over green eyes bridge at midnight and turn off your lights you will see two green eyes and when you turn on your lights to see what it is there is nothing there. Regardless, this is right near the Bird Creek School and the whole area in itself gives off a creepy feeling-daylight OR dark!  

LINK

In the middle of the picture above, Wes stands inside of an airplane hanger which is very close to our home.  It use to house the plane of Frank Phillips (Phillips 66) back in the day.  

Lots of rabbits and turtles... did I say that again.  Well, let me say it one more time... lots of them.

Even though we live in the middle of no where, tonight the neighbors girls brought us over two large slices of the best chocolate cake I think I have ever eaten!  My mouth is still watering!

73% humidity... My skin and nose love it.  My hair-- Let's just say that I could audition as a witch!

What is Elder Himle (Wes) doing?  Hmmmmm.  I have been asking for pictures and I finally got some.  He told me he has been skinning the pig pen and barn.  skinning? I asked.  That means putting the siding on. In the first picture (below) you can see the before and after.

Row two is in Ponca, Oklahoma where we went for groceries.  It's a huge statue called Pioneer woman.  The house is a picture I took.  It was listed for $199,000.  Wow.  Next is Wes in his happy place (eating Braun ice-cream).  Bottom left is what looks like a potato bug levitating.

Family of skunks in the field next to us.  The Reindeer tree we see on the way to town.  After Church we did a pot luck at the ranch office in Pawhuska.  To its right was a huge spider that was on the brick outside our door.  The other sister was in the process of taking her shoe off, when I said "Hold on!"  I got a stick and removed it and through it into the grass.  Bottom left is the Arkansas River which look more like a lake than a river!

Below is a larger picture of the people at the pot luck.  We had homemade tamales, Italian chicken over rice, Flam, eclair dish, rice, etc.   The couple on the left was included as they live way out here like we do.  The one on the right is the ranch manager whose wife is out of town.  She is traveling from place to place barrel racing and I believe has just beat the world record.  He name is Wenda Johnson.  She is also the branch Relief Society President.

Tomorrow morning around 4:30am, eleven semi trucks should be rolling in her to pickup cattle.  It's going to get noisy!

I heard coyotes the other night!  Down pours aren't uncommon and we LOVE the rain!!

Today we looked at the window and argued about where that was a cow pie or a turtle in the road in front of our house.  Elder Himle went out... it was a turtle! A snapping turtle.