The West Family
Sunday, July 19, 2009, Rexburg Idaho.
After 18 Months in the Big Apple,
we are happy to be Back in the West.
We will continue sharing our life with family and friends.
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Thank you!
When I say, "We loaded the car," it was Idaho or bust! We prayed for a safe trip home and we had an absolutely wonderful time crossing the country together. We took our time, traveling eight days between Astoria and Rexburg. Each morning we enjoyed a leisurely walk before we climbed in the car. What a beautiful country America is. One of the highlights of our trip was traveling to see my sister, Robyn, in Virginia. Her husband, Fred was in California caring for his 90 year old father, and her BYU age son was on a tour in France. We had her all to ourselves!
Robyn is just 20 months younger than me, a talented homemaker and mother of five. She and Fred built their lovely home just prior to our mission, so this was our first visit. It was so warm, welcoming, and comfortable. We wished we could have stayed longer than just one night!
Fred and Robyn have traveled the world and lived in Saudi Arabia. They have collected treasures that mean so much to them. They are beautifully displayed through out the house and I loved her robin's-egg blue colored kitchen with large, bright, windows all around their dining room that looks out on their deck and lush green backyard.
Robyn is a avid quilter and her good works are incorporated into every room along with
As we enjoyed a delicious, fresh, salad from her garden for dinner we watched majestic deer grazing out just past their backyard. Robyn sprays something that smells bad and helps to discourage their wanting to graze on her grass and nibble her garden. Later the three of us relaxed in the theater room and all fell asleep during a movie! In the morning we walked along a stream and explored her friendly neighborhood before we said our goodbyes. Thanks Rob for a real leisurely stay. After moving it was such a treat, the perfect antidote to lift our spirits.
Neither of us had been to Nauvoo since the temple was rebuilt. We first saw it from across the Mississippi River sitting so magnificently on the hill. We had the opportunity to attend an afternoon session. As we thought of many of our ancestors who received their endowment and were sealed in the original temple we felt very close to them. It was a most beautiful experience for us.
Elder West in front of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
Hyrum and Joseph Smith, martyred in Carthage, Illinois are remembered and honored with this
incredible bronze statue with the Mississippi River in the background. Joseph Smith was the prophet of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph translated The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. Hyrum was witness to the ancient plates of gold Joseph translated from. He was faithful, devoted to the gospel and Joseph even unto death. Hyrum was also an early leader in the Church.
Amazing flowers were blooming everywhere we looked. The temple grounds were inviting and there was a special reverence we felt as we visited with each other about our families.
The Nauvoo Pageant was beginning July 9th and so we knew we arrived too early. We were pleasantly surprised when we learned that we could attend a dress rehearsal being held the evening we were there. We were amazed at how many families and young people were apart of the cast. They were there donating a large part of their summer days to rehearsing and performing in the pageant. We thought of how much our children would have enjoyed that opportunity involving a lot of singing and dancing. Surely, it is a testimony building experience.
In the end the cast and temple shine, truly "a light on the hill." 
Each temple is so beautiful from every side. It was glowing at dusk. This is a day we'd looked forward to during our mission and we felt so rewarded and grateful to be in such a sacred place.
The next morning we hit country roads on our way to Independence, Missouri. Don't you just love these great roadsigns? We really wanted to share the road!
We enjoyed some quiet time at the beautiful Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Sunday we visited the Independence Visitors Center and the Independence First Ward. We met wonderful missionaries and members and enjoyed hearing their testimonies.
After crossing Kansas, we arrived in scenic Colorado with the beautiful Rocky Mountains. It started to feel like home. My youngest sister Kim and our brother-in-law, Sam, made us feel so welcome after getting their youngest son off to scout camp early that morning, delivering some of their married children and baby grandson to the airport and finishing some major business obligations. We always enjoy time with them and have been to their gracious home several times. They enjoy entertaining and have welcomed their four children and all of their friends often. 
Kim and Sam are the queen and king of 
We relaxed in their twinkle lit gazebo and dined on Sam's grilled salmon, sauteed fresh veggies, rice pilaf, green salad and then roasted marshmallows over the gas fire pit (Sam built) and laughed and talked while munching s'mores...a bit of heaven in the great outdoors!
As you rest in our nephew's fantasy cabin room and look up on the wall it says, "If You're Lucky Enough to Live in the Woods, You're Lucky Enough." Love, love, that thought.
Kim is not a quilter, but our mom is. This is her version of the same quilt my sister Robyn had in her home. They made them together and it's so perfect in Kim's cozy guestroom. I liked the headboards she made. She's finishing up a couple more things and it will be perfection!
Lots of blue sky was looking really good to us and we were so excited. For the first time ever we stopped and took a picture of the, "Welcome to Idaho," sign!
The soft rolling mountains and farm lands were so peaceful and we were so thrilled to be back in Idaho...a great state!
This is our exit. Coming up the freeway we saw the temple facing East on the hill below our home. It was emotional for both of us.
We left just before the Open House for the Rexburg Idaho Temple began. The night before we left we had the opportunity to clean the temple and see it. It is indeed a beacon in this town and this is how it looks as you drive up the hill to our home.
Our sweet neighbor, Deby and her grandchildren made a sign, hung balloons, and she planted flowers to welcome us home. We were so surprised. She knew our children would not be here to do it for us so she did. Thanks Deby, you are so thoughtful and we so appreciated it.
Maria, our favorite "Mama," was proud to be a strong Italian, Catholic, mother of three, and a full-time grandmother. She loved to yell at everyone in Italian, and kept an eye on all of us! She smiled for me after a torrential downpour flooded our backyards. Soaking wet, she swept her water down a drain and didn't want help from anyone. She was quite a character!
There are just a few more things about NY we never want to forget. Our apartment was spacious we were told and amazingly clean, although the carpet was awful. If we forgot to close the door to our bathroom, our toilet greeted our guests, all for $2,000.00 a month! (This was my final photo on Steinway Street!)
At 4:00 AM on a Sunday morning a drunk ran into a car parked in front of our house. He was not hurt, but he passed out and had to be hauled to jail in this ambulance. A woman was also hit in front of our house. There was always something going on out there! We got used to a continual scream of sirens, firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars on Steinway, a major street in Astoria. No question, it is "the city that never sleeps!"
Non-stop double parking goes on everywhere in the city. These two guys were doing business in the street for about 30 minutes...typical and picture worthy, but don't ever turn right on a red light or block a box. You'll get zapped...oh no, not a little, a lot! Just ask Elder Hess from Malad.
U-turns in the middle of the street, all in a days work! We would often see a driver pull out from a parking place and block all lanes of traffic, backing up two or three times U-turning. My companion was heroic as he got around the city each day. I can't count the number of accidents he avoided keeping us alive and our Malibu dent free. The Lord blesses His missionaries who serve through out the world, but we experienced it and heard about it over and over from NYNYS missionaries. On our last day while the mission van was parked in our driveway for one last load, someone did a u-turn, (always to nab a parking place) and dented our door. We were almost unscathed...and paid $200.00 a month to park our car off the street.
We taught Kat for the last time, Sunday, June 28th. We congratulate her on her graduation from Temple Preparation. The last lesson is a follow up after one attends the temple for the first time. She went to The Manhattan Temple with her step-mother and Amelia the day we taught a dance activity in Westchester. We are so happy for her and know she will return to the Lord's house often as she has a testimony of this most Christ-like service. We have three other students who are preparing for this blessing in their lives soon. We so enjoyed this part of our assignment during our mission. 
We said sad goodbyes and shed some tears as we hugged our "NY kids." We loved having the Astoria Young Single Adults in our home for Family Home Evenings, Sunday dinners, and on special occasions. We will always consider them our NY family during our mission and will miss them a lot. Their strength and examples of faithfulness through challenging times in their lives strengthened our testimonies. We thank them for their generosity and love. They presented us with a large framed picture so we could always remember our good times together and a card we'll treasure always from "our kids." We love each of you (and are missing several in this picture, although they are pictured through out our entire blog). You will be in our hearts forever.
This photo represents a few of the Queens Stake Young Single Adults and our Institute classes. We will miss all of the CES dinners and firesides together and our weekly classes. Also many Sunday FHEs, and weekend activities that were apart of our work with this group. They have started a wonderful group and are meeting regularly for FHE and YSA activities...way to go. Thanks for making our calling so rewarding for us.
When we arrived home from our church meetings, this marvelous couple was waiting for us. They look so relaxed and kick-back. The truth is that they were so exhausted and it was their last Sunday in the mission as well. We got a few things ready to send home together and they hurried off to attend several baptisms and President Bennion had to set 3 new missionaries apart. We will miss seeing President and Sister Bennion often and so appreciated all that they did to serve the saints of NYC, all of the missionaries, and for teaching us so many good things. We will always cherish the opportunity we had to serve together with them again.
