March

March was not to eventful for us.  Heard from my favorite Elder each week.  Still killing it in Salone.  They went on a hike on pday.  Had a goal to find 1000, teach 1000, baptize a 1000 and have a 1000 new members at church last week for the mission.  Transfers will be this week.  Blake is thinking he will be transferred as he has been in the same area for 7.5 months, and if he is, it will probably be his last area since they usually stay in one place for 6 months.   But you never know. He does get a new MP in July. 

Little girl turned one this month.  Getting so big, yet still so small.  Ammon and Cora are so great about sending us lots of pictures and videos almost daily. 

Had a fun girl's day with my mom, Natalie, and Nicole.  I drove down early with Dave to work and then did my shopping.  They came and picked me up from Dave's work and we went to the mall and out for lunch.  Dad surprised us all and payed for our lunch.  I had a great time and enjoyed being with them.  To bad Kita couldn't just beam up and hang out too.  

We had stake conference and ward conference this month.  I travel with Dave and just wait in the car during his meetings.  It is a great time to write Blake a letter.  No distractions and we save on gas. 

Weather has been all over the place.  Snow, summer days, rain, crazy wind, snow again.  It's March in Canada. 

Dave got the Tahoe running.  He as saying one morning that we need to name it after having Morgan for so many years.  We landed on Rhoda.  And then decided that the Civic shouldn't be left out.  Dave always said that the Civic was a delicate car.  He was trying to talk nice to her and not call her wimpy so she would keep running for us. :)  So he picked Violet, which I thought was hilarious and perfect. 

Dave has been enjoying checking the cows when he gets home without leaving the house.  He can see if there is new calves, water working, calves in feeder, all the things.  It is great.

Last week we had a little more going on.  We took calves to auction, fingers crossed that they sold well.  Prices looked very promising. Dave has had some very long days at work.  I picked up a few extra day which is always fun. This month we had 2 last minute moves to help with. It is amazing how our little ward just comes to help even with just a few hours notice.  Small in numbers, mighty in heart. 

And just to document: I perfectly folded a fitted sheet this week;)

Happy March y'all!

February

Blake is still in Mount Aureol in Freetown.  He told Dave it was like hiking Crowsnest every day in dress shoes.  He said one day he was so tired they called every appt to see if they were still on so he wouldn't have to hike if appts were just going to bounce. :)  But he loves it.  He loves the country, his companions, the experiences.  Everything.  We managed to successfully get a package to him, which was fun.  We didn't tell him incase it didn't make it.  He was surprised and enjoyed it. 

One of the elders in his compound had a birthday.  They all bought him a Salone jersey and cake. 

Elder D Todd Christofferson visited Sierra Leone.  They bused everyone from the Bo mission to Freetown and brought all the Freetown missionaries in.  Blake said it was neat as Elder Christofferson shook every single missionary's hand and talked about the Book of Mormon.  Blake also got to see some of his old compions that had been transferred to Bo mission when it opened. 

Blake also met the only other Canadian serving in Sierra Leone.  An Elder Leavitt from Lethbridge.  He is in the Bo mission.  These two were pretty excited to find each other.  His mom sent me the picture. 

We took another trip up to visit Hatch's.  They had a lot of mail accumulated and so we made a quick trip.  Ammon gave us a tour of the church building, it is coming along great.  The ward up there is going to love it being finished.  Then a hike to an old train bridge. It was really neat.  It is part of Iron Horse Trail, which is 300 km long.  It is the old train tracks.  Really neat, we only did a tiny bit. 

We went into Cold Lake and saw the lake, went with them to get groceries and then had dinner.  We left after Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  Got home to feed and water cows in the light.

Dave and I went to a Pronghorns game, met Leah and Braydon there.  Dave and I just both happened to be wearing our Southland sweaters.  (I bought mine as a Christmas gift last year) So Leah took a picture of us under the Southland banner. 

It was a good game.  Unfortunately in overtime they lost. 

We had a very cold few weeks.  The water was freezing fast for the bulls and they had started running over when Dave's car pulled up as they knew what he was there for.  One day it was a little warmer, Dave had an evening work event to attend.  I decided to be brave and go break the water.  I also got a calf out of the feeder and checked their water and cows feed, but none of that is scary.  I walked in and one bull started over.  I got ice broken and one big chunk out, then he was too close for my comfort.  I got out of there.  Then waited to see if he would leave after a drink so I could finish.  Sure enough, he took a while, but had his fill and I finished getting all the ice out and was very proud of myself. 

We bought oranges from Natalie and they were perfectly sweet and juicy.  I took the rinds and have them soaking in vinegar to make my own cleaner.  I now have an orange, grapefruit, and lime jar going. 

February was our usual Super Bowl Puzey's way.  We made lovely appetizers and watched a sports movie.  Just a little amount of each item as we didn't want tons of leftovers.

Dave and I have also been part of a group that is doing the emotional resilience class on Sunday evenings.  We have a good group and it has been interesting.  We are almost done.  I think it could be helpful for us to go through to help others if the need arises.

During the cold week we had beautiful hoar frost.  I have been going for walks on my lunch break.  One day in -32 it was pretty chilly.  I bundled up good and only my legs were cold.  My coworkers thought I was crazy.  They may be right. 

This little girl is getting so big.  We took an early birthday present up for her.  Cora and Ammon are great at sending us almost daily pictures and videos.  It's funny to think that Blake hasn't even met her yet.  

 

I know I say it all the time, but Dave and I often talk about how proud we are of our kids.  The things they are doing and making a difference in their wards and communities.  We love to watch and cheer them on.  Fun to see where life takes us. Sometimes scary as things happen, but mostly it's a joy. 

R.I.P. Morgan

Ten years ago when we moved out to the farm we decided to get a car that would be better on gas then our Tahoe.  We found this Saturn second hand, decently cheap and Cora promptly named her Morgan.  It stuck. She was a great little car.  A few years later when Cora graduated and went to Edmonton, we didn't expect it to last the year she was going to be there before her mission.  That was 7 years ago.

Last Thursday Dave texted me and asked if I wanted to go on a date.  He said Morgan had finally died and could I please come get him.  I was able to leave work a bit early and we had a lovely dinner at Burger King after rescuing Morgan from where she had given her last ride.

Dave made 3 separate day trips to Edmonton to fix Morgan on the side of the road.  Loading all his tools and any possible parts that could be needed after grilling girls about what was happening and the sounds it was making.  Pretty clever if you ask me.  He always deduced correctly.  Finally bringing her home a few years ago as she needed his constant care.  Again we were sure she wouldn't last the winter.  But she did and just kept going. 

Dave was pouring oil into her every day, he had to install a fan switch so she wouldn't over heat.  Morgan was often dying at stop lights, but she kept plugging along. Then a belt ripped out, Dave repaired it.  He know that soon there would be a repair that would not be worth the cost.  The girls asked that when Morgan died, Dave save them a bolt from her to keep.

Well Thursday the belt ripped an even a bigger hole and Dave said with sadness it was time.  Luckily his work had a trailer free to load her on and take to the wrecker.  He stripped down all we could use, including the hood for future hooding so her legacy will live on. 

All 3 kids passed their licenses with Morgan.  Lots of memories made in that car for them with friends.

To tell the kids that Morgan had died Dave wrote an obituary and put it on our family group chat with a few picture.

"It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Morgan at the age of 27 years on Feb 27, 2025 after a lengthy illness.  Morgan dies doing what she loved and worked diligently right to the end.  Born in 1998 little is know of her early life as she never spoke of it, but she joined our family in June of 2015 and quickly became an important part of the family.  She loved adventure and could often be found at the ski hill or out on outings.  She was there when all three kids took their drivers license and spent some time with the girls in Edmonton.  This was a particularly joyful yet stressful time for her I am sure.  She was involved in a near fatal shooting and barely pulled through.  She carried her scars of this close call until her death but it never slowed her down.  Towards the end she spent most of her time with dad and was nursed along by him.  Despite her ill health she kept going, finally putting on over 505 000 km, truly noble for a humble Saturn.  She is survived by her current owners David and Charmaine, drivers Cora (Ammon, Jane), Leah (Braydon), and Blake. We are truly grateful for her unselfish and tireless years of service.  She will be missed."

Thank you Morgan for all the memories.   You truly will be missed.

January 2025

Good start to the year so far.  Blake has been doing service projects on his pdays.  This family is clearing land to build a house in his ward.  I would be very interested to see what this house looks like when it is done, but I don't think Blake will be in the area that long.  You know you have a picture pop in your head when you say building a house, especially if you have built one.  A Salone house would be very different. He keeps saying his hands are getting ripped up with all the cutlass (like a machete) clearing they are doing and the roots they are pulling out.  No machinery, all by hand.  One call I was like did we not send you gloves.  He laughed and said they do not wear gloves in Sierra Leone. 

Work is going well.  He enjoys his companion and he really loves the country.  He will be very sad when he leaves.  He was telling us last week that all his sock have holes, as do his pants.  He has completely worn out 5 pairs of shoes and is having a hard time finding new ones.  He has cut pieces of cardboard to put in his shoes so he can wear them for now.  The area he is in now he said is like going for a big hike every day. As Cora said he has just taken everything in stride.  No water, no wahala, no electricity, no wahala, thread bare shoes, socks, and pants, no wahala. He really might be coming home in his socks. Holey socks. I love his attitude.

January was a good month for us.  Dave's birthday came and went.  I made him some homemade Joe Louis, which turned out amazing. And he decided to go ahead at get the drone that I had wanted to get him for Christmas, but he thought maybe he wouldn't use much. This summer when Cannon asked if Dave wanted to fly his drone he was a little hesitant. But ended up having a lot of fun.  Not at all like the cheap one we got Blake a few years ago.  I was glad he got it and he has been loving it. We can check cows from our kitchen. 

January was warmer than usual, so we went for walks in the evening and hung out.  Caught a few high school basketball games.  Celebrated 26 years of marriage. I made a special dinner and we watched a movie.  Had Leah and Braydon come for dinner to celebrate my birthday and their anniversary. 

Barn picture cause why not. 

Went out and spent a day with my parents and sisters (minus Kita :( ) Mom made a lovely lunch and Natalie did a demo at the villa. Just hung out and chatted for a bit before and after.  Nice day. 

Myrna took Dave and I out to eat to celebrate all our January events. It was so good.  Best steak ever. 

Besides that, not much.  We work, we hang out.  I enjoy meeting Leah for lunch when I grocery shop and she is free.  Most often if Blake calls Cora and I will stay on after everyone else hangs us and chat.  I love it.  The girls and I have started sending voice messages instead of text because it is easier as Cora is taking care of Jane or Leah is driving (safely, hands free)  Cora named it the So Boring Podcast.  Which I love.  We will get episode 1 of Leah's Banff trip and episode 3 of Cora's thrifting for example. Or recipe ideas.  Nothing the guys care about, although I tell Dave all about them even if he doesn't want to know.  But he does. ;) We didn't have much snow this month. Did some cleaning and rearranging.  Just doing our thing. That's it.  We are a pretty boring old couple without our kids to run around. 

Merry Christmas 2024 and Happy New Year!

Christmas was wonderful, fun, and busy as it should be.  Too much food, late nights, lots of laughing and chatting.  More memories made.  The first part of December was the Smith get together.  We had a great meal and white elephant exchange. Good times. Dave and I again served at his work party. We came, we saw, we served, we ate, and we left.  Home by 9.  Perfect. We had our ward party.  The EQ was asked to do one of the numbers on the program.  They got a cooler and some mugs like they were sitting around a campfire and told dad jokes.  It was well done with little prep. Food was good as always. The next day Hatch's came in.   We got to spend a lot of time with them. 

Cora made us all some neat advent calendars this year.  She got Dave a puzzle, put it all together, then separated it into bags with a date on it and a Lindor inside.  He really enjoyed doing the puzzle.  I had socks and drawings for my cookbook that I had wanted for years.  Cora drew them and I love them.  Leah and Braydon got flavored hot chocolate and little trinkets that Cora knew they would like.  It was thoughtful and very Cora. 

Once Hatch's got here we were pretty chill.  Took some 4-wheeler rides and Cora made us some great pumpkin red curry soup. We played a lot of games this weekend.  I had wanted to get through all our games and see what we wanted to keep or not.  Cora decided she was going to help with my goal.  So every day we would play a few round of a couple games.  We got through a lot.  There were some that we didn't even get through reading the instructions and we were like nope. 

We had our Christmas dinner and Christmas Eve appetizers on the 26th and 27th.  Barrett's were up at the in-laws before Christmas, then had spent Christmas day at their house just the two of them.  So Christmas eve was not much.  Had dinner, more games.  The next morning slept in and then we opened presents.  Cora said it was probably the last Christmas she would be able to sleep in for a long time. :)  Easy lunch and chicken dinner.  Barrett's got there that evening.  We opened stockings after they ate. They always get great games from the in-laws, they brought those with so we could all play.  We stayed up way to late just hanging out and chatting.  Boxing Day morning we got ready to do cows.  The steers needed to be banded and the cows needed Ivermectin.  When we had preg tested the Ivermectin was frozen and slushy and we were not able to spray it on them. Cora bundled Jane up and over we went.  We had lots of help this year.  Emry had a friend over and then all our kids.  Made for fast work and the kids were happy they got to be home for it.  They have missed working with the cows.  It was great that it worked for both families on a day that they were all there.  

That night was our appetizers.  So much food was prepared the whole week.  We were running out of room for leftover storage.  Had a cooler in the garage and stored some things outside. We had a lot of appetizers and they were all amazing. Cora had wanted specific pictures of Jane's first Christmas and had asked for Leah to help.  After dinner I told the girls to go work on the picture as I did dishes so we could watch a movie after.  Dave, Ammon, and Braydon helped me and it went fast.  Leah got some cute pictures. 

One the 27th we had our Christmas dinner.  I invited my parents up so they could see the girls.  It was a good meal and we had fun again chatting and hanging out.  I really love hanging out with my kids and their spouses.  They are so fun and they married great people. That night we did a quick nativity program.  Guess who played baby Jesus this year??

Saturday afternoon was spent at Myrna's for the Puzey Christmas do.  Great food, fun games, nice time.  Barrett's had to leave the next morning to teach their primary class and back to work on Monday.  Cora had some friends over and we pulled out all the left overs. Monday they had a work Christmas party and were checking out some of the projects down this way.  Then they left early this morning to return home. 

We got the Christmas decorations all put away and everything cleaned back up and laundered.  I was supposed to go to work today, but they texted and said there was only 2 drs in and did I want the day off.  Tonight we are going to decide what we feel like for dinner, watch a movie, ring in the new year early and finally get to bed at at decent hour. 

We got to talk to Blake on pday and Christmas day this week.  He has been in a trio the last 2 weeks after his comp went home.  He has loved this companionship and was hoping to stay for a while.  It has meant a lot of extra travel as they are covering two zones and multiple areas.  Two weeks left in this transfer and Pres Jarvis called him Monday morning asking him to switch companions the next day.  He is a little sad, but said he would do whatever president needed him to do.  Sounds like it might be a tough one.  Send a few extra prayers his way. 

He told us of this golden family they are teaching right now.  Blake said he was feeling like he needed to go to the top of this mountain and doing some finding, but his comp didn't want to and they had so many other areas to cover.  A couple days later they got a call from another set of missionaries and said they had a referral for them.  They had invited a man to a baptism and he showed.  So Blake gets his info and low and behold he lives at the top of that mountain.  When they first met with him the man said he thought he was going to his baptism, he was all in from the beginning with out even knowing what he was jumping in to.  The missionaries explained that he needed to have a few lessons first and he has been very eager.  One day they gave the family some things to memorize and the kids told their dad they needed him to help them as the elders would be coming by that night.  They had memorized everything and read all the scriptures.  This man, Joseph Bambosa, has brought 5 other families to church with him the last few weeks.  The are set on date for mid January.  If the water shows up.  It was been a problem getting water during the dry season.  Blake is hoping he gets to stay in the area to see this family baptized. 

2024 was Elder Puzey's black out year.  He is loving every minute, says he is not homesick and said he is working his butt off to get done as much as he can.  Loves the people and the work.

We have had a great year.  Had some changes and we love it all.  We enjoy being empty nesters and love when the kids come to visit.  We fill blessed beyond measure and are thankful for the kids we have and the decisions they make, the contributing members of society they are, the jobs they have and the love they have for each other.

Happy New Year!

November and more

I may have mentioned that I really do not like the new way that blogger is set up.  They put all pictures backwards, but here we go.  The girls and families came to visit the last week in November.  It was fun to see, as Cora says, 'all Jane's new tricks',  We had fun hooding, hanging out, decorating for Christmas and as usual it went tooast.  We carried on the tradition of lifting someone up to put the star on.  This year we did Jane, with a bit of help from Cora :) 

Leah had wanted to go see Wicked and we heard Earl's was closing.  She was going to make a girls night of it but Cora couldn't make it down and boys wanted to come so we all went. Always enjoy being with my kids.  Adult kids are so fun.  I truly love every stage I get to go through.  I always think I'm in my favorite, then life will change and I love that one just as much.  The Giving Machine was in the mall.  We went there as well.  I had Dave chose what we were giving this year, but I still picked fresh water.  With Blake in Africa I have become very aware of water and how blessed we are.  Movie was good, Earl's was delicious, and company was the best. 

Got of picture of Blake teaching at zone conference.  He loves being a zone leader and going to MLC.  Whenever he does get released as ZL, he will be sad as he has done that almost his whole mission and has had some really neat experiences. Blake is training again, which was his hope.  He loves training.  With his old companion he had Elder Ojediran come and do comp study with them.  Elder Ojediran is in the West Africa area presidency.  He is from Nigeria as was Blake's companion.  They got a call the night before and said since he was there for a mission tour he was going to join them in the morning.  It was kinda neat.

It snowed so much a few weeks ago.  As I was gearing up to go shovel our little walk, I asked Dave when were were on to shovel the church.  I didn't want to be surprised last minute and wanted all our turns on the calendar.  It was a good thing I asked cause we were on that day.  It was thick and heavy.  We went 3 times to the church.  Many hours.  This year the snow blower was fixed which made it easier, thank goodness, but still so much work.  And it hasn't snowed since. :/

 Dave has been worried that the barn was going to blow over for a few years now.  So a couple weeks ago he did some bracing on it and got the important stuff out in case it did go.  One of the things we pulled out was this old tractor.  He wants to get it running so it is useable on the farm.  It is in pretty good condition considering it has sat for like 40 years. 

We got the cows moved back to the home quarter.  It was a lot more fun this year as we finally had our own quads.  We could zoom around and be helpful instead of on foot. I did miss the exercise, but it was much better.

I guess those are some of the highlights since I waited to long to post and I can't remember everything that happened over the last 2 months.  My poor posterity, I am slacking.