Wasco home with landscaping

Montana Ranchhouse Construction

Montana Mission

Montana Mission

Good morning from the “big sky” country!
We are sitting in the laundry mat. Today the sun is shining, so all’s right with the world. We left California on May 6th. It was 90 degrees and beautiful. With a few exceptions, we have been under heavy rains ever since. On May 24th we were evacuated from the ranch as the river overflowed. We had been watching for days as it got higher and faster. Then the call came to leave quickly. We all unhooked our rigs and our motor home wouldn’t start. Gordon and dad worked on it and finally got it going but it would cut out every few feet. They finally had to drive till it stopped, throw gasoline on the carb, or something, get it going again etc. When we got to the section of road that was washed out Dad was so blessed to be able to make it through the river and out onto the road before the RV stopped. I was driving the truck behind him and seriously considered staying at the old farm rather than cross that mess! We inched it into town by spraying gasoline till we got to the chapel. We spent the night there on the road. Then the next day we had a mechanic come and put in a new filter. It seems that the last time we gassed up Dad accidently put in Diesel fuel. So we have been running it everyday and letting it idle to burn off as much as we can. Added lots of additive stuff! From then on we moved to the RV Camp in town.

Gordon is parked in the house next to the church and Gary is parked at the shed on the road above. They have been using Sister Budges home for showers etc. Gordon & Carol went home to Utah the next week for a few weeks as Gordon had hurt his hand and is recuperating. The week before we got here he was using the cut saw and it kicked back and cut his wrist. It went down to the bone and severed a tendon so he had to have surgery. It was hard to keep him from doing things he shouldn’t with that hand so it has been good for him to take this time off. Also because of the weather things have been slow on the new home. We spent a lot of time helping people pump out their basements and tearing out old carpeting and padding that was flooded. Some folks had to live at the chapel for a while so we were feeding them.

Montana has had droughts for the last 9 years. Last year was a bit wetter than usual. This year all heck has broken loose. The towns are flooded in this valley. We have had terrible thunderstorms and hail at night. On Monday night they were so violent that it frightened a herd of cattle and they bolted and ran over a cliff. It killed 184 cows. Some of them fell onto ledges and are still there alive but there is no way to get to them. In Billings on Sunday night they had tornados touch down but didn’t damage, then on Wednesday a gas main broke from all the rain and a house blew up. Thankfully no one was home. It totally demolished the house and caused damage to the neighborhood homes. Weird weather all over the country.

Here in Harlowton everyone is so nice and helpful. The town is a lot like South Royalton, Vermont. Small and cowboy! The country here is so beautiful. Huge horizon with blue skies (when it‘s not raining) gently rolling hill, and surrounded by mountains. The mountains are full of snow right now so everyone is waiting for the runoff which will cause more flooding. The wildlife is abundant with lots of deer, turkeys, cranes, rabbits, lynx, antelope, buffalo, etc. We have cute little bunnies that are all around our lot. When we were able last week to get back to the old ranch house we painted rooms, and have been laying laminate flooring etc. Then on Tuesday the river overflowed again and we are cut off once more. We have been looking for sunny days so that we can finally pour the basement and garage floors.

The only good day we had was a holy day for the Hudderite colony. They are doing our cement. There are lots of colonies here. It looks like the rain might let up enough next week to pour on Wednesday. We are so far behind that we’ll have to put in long days once we are able to begin framing.

I am so sorry that we have been out of touch for so long. Our T-mobile service doesn’t work in Montana. Right now we are using Gordon’s phone while he is gone. The # is 406-366-9423. The # he told us was wrong and so no one has been able to get a hold of us. We are finally able to hook up at the little library here in town so am able to receive e-mail. We didn’t get any for a few weeks and last night I discovered that Qwest, which is my internet service and e-mail account had switched to a new program so everything that had come in since May 25 was being held in a new account that I didn’t know existed!! I need a month with all my grandchildren to straighten out all our electronic gear and teach us old folks!!

I’ve enclosed a few pictures:
3-our home in Wasco with the landscaping in
1-bunnies in our yard
1-road into the ranch the day we arrived
1-the old house we are renovating Part of as a commons area for us
3- the road washed out over which we crossed
1-flooding at the other ranch at Winnacook that the church has
1-Dad and Gordy pumping out water

We love you all so much and will do better at keeping in touch.
Despite the trials we love it here and love being able to use our talents to serve in the kingdom.
Our prayers are constantly with you that you will be watched over and have experiences that will grow your spirits and testimonies!

Love ya, Mom & Dad

Correction- Sam and Kenzie are going to the University of Pennsylvania, not Penn State. Apparently there is a difference. Silly me!

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sam and Kenzie have exciting news. This summer they will be heading off to Penn State for dental school. Sam has been accepted to three schools so far, but they feel good about Penn State. They both are busy, and we’re thrilled whenever we get to spend time with them. We love to have them for dinner and games.



Thomas is doing great at SUU. His co-ed volleyball team just took first place in their competition. Occasionally he calls for a recipe to feed his friends. It was so nice to have him home at Christmas. Can’t wait to see him again.





Jake is waiting on scholarships. He’s enjoying his web design classes at the DATC and finishing up his senior year at Bountiful High. This weekend he and his uncle Mike and cousin Dan are renting snowmobiles and driving in to the cabin. Should be fun!



Anna’s drill team ended the season with a perfect record. They won all their competitions, including the State Finals where they took first place in every category. I still can't believe they did their kick routine in ballet pointe shoes. They were amazing! I’ve tried to upload videos and haven’t been successful yet. As soon as I get it figured out I’ll post them. Anna will be playing Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet next month. She turns 16 on February 26th. I’m not sure we’re ready for that. She already has boys wanting to take her to dances. Yesterday she gave a beautiful talk in sacrament meeting.







Ben is doing well at school. He was able to perform a solo/duet at the Christmas performance. He has a great voice and did fantastic. His deacon’s basketball team just took third in their tournament. This weekend he leaves for a snow cave campout. Brrr! Ben is our head chef. He likes to watch cooking shows and asks me to give him a list of four ingredients that he proceeds to make into a meal. I'm loving it. For one of his classes at school, they're doing a unit on parenting. All week he’s supposed to carry an egg around with him. He’s supposed to pretend it’s a baby. I’m sorry to report that his had a crack on day one. He took it skiing with him.




Matt is busy with work. Last weekend he was there so much that they rented a room at the hotel for him. On one of the nights he wasn’t there, Ben and I stayed. We ordered out, played games and watched a movie. We keep hoping things will slow down just a little. He was supposed to go to England, but that’s been postponed.

I’ve been busy with Young Women’s, Take Shape For Life, my writing groups, and keeping up with everyone else. I’m excited for our trip to Lake Tahoe in July where we’ll get to see Mom and Dad. It will have been a whole year by then. I can’t wait!

I love you all and think about you often.
Love,
Kendra

January 26, 2011

Good morning—If you could film a movie here it would be an episode of “Twilight”. Cold, Dense Fog and rain! They said that it gets foggy here at this time of year but we had no idea it was like this. It lasts all day and night, lifting periodically and then sinking in again. Sometimes you can hardly see the lines on the highway. It is worse out here by the orchards as they keep the fog locked in. The mists are so heavy that it looks and feels like it had been raining heavily and the cold is penetrating! The piles of shells and hulls from the hulling processer gets wet and stinky and attracts massive herds of fruit flies. All in all a new adventure!!

We have finished our home but it is sitting vacant waiting for the State of California to release the water rights on the plant. They met a few weeks ago and we thought it would happen then but they said they would take it under advisement on February 28. Our site manager thinks that the state is flexing its muscle because of some words he had with them on getting the permits last year. I guess that he told them what he thought of their stonewalling everything and this is their way of getting back. California regulates itself to death. The latest is the new legislation that requires all new homes to have complete sprinkler systems in the home like in commercial buildings.

Dad & Elder Browning have been working on the duplex and it looks like they might have that building completed before we get the final inspection on ours. They are also working on 2 other homes that are vacant. One is in horrible shape, mold, roaches as well as broken everything. The family that lived there were terribly dirty. The one next to it just needed new paint, tile, carpet and updating of lights etc. They have been working on that one for a couple of weeks and it is looking very nice. Yesterday they put bug bombs in the other one to start killing all the vermin before they get in there to start renovating.

I sure hope that all the bugs are killed off before I start working full time with Dad in a few weeks. The Brownings finish their Mission on February 19 and will be heading home to Layton, Utah. We are sure going to miss them. Great friends and it will be nice to have them close by when we go home.

We had a wonderful Christmas in San Diego. Fun trips, lots of good food and games. It was so nice to be with all of you. The kids Christmas Eve nativity play was so clever and lots of creativity and work went into it. Thanks to Corey and Sarah, Sydney, Megan, Madison & Adam for being such great hosts and making us all feel so very welcome. We missed the Fowlers, and the Jason Shaw’s and are glad that Kendra is recovering from her surgery.
















How our hearts are saddened by the loss of Rosa’s mother. We had such a wonderful time visiting with her parents a few years ago in Missouri. Great people! I can hardly wait to get to know them better when we are all reunited again and there will be no language barriers. I want you all to know that I have a very strong testimony that there is life after this earthly journey as there was before we came here. As long and hard as this may seem here now it really is just a small moment in the grand design of our eternal existence. I believe that people we know and love here will forever be part of our life and are aware of what we are going through. Heavenly Father wants all of His children to come home and provides help from the heavens to prompt and guide as we make decisions and choices.

On New Years Day we went with the Brownings to Moro Bay over on the coast. It too was a cold rainy day but we had a good time walking along the beach and shopping at all the little boutiques along the bay. The first store we went into we all bought fleece jackets and hats and gloves to wear over our jackets we had brought with us. Then we drove up to elephant seal lookout. Thousands of elephant seals come there at the end of December until February to give birth and mate and then migrate North. The beach was covered in seals. The big males are huge and loud. A lot of fights and babies being born in the sand. Amazing. The seals come back each year to the very beach they were born on.





This month has been filled with the usual, feeding missionaries twice a week, weekly Family Home Evening with the Brownings, projects at the farm, dinners, scouts, quilting and teaching Gospel Doctrine. Dad also teaches the High Priest class twice a month. I have completed my December afghan and almost finished a new one this week.



This month we have been able to go to the LA temple and are going again this Friday as it is our stake temple night. It is so good to be able to stay at the temple overnight especially now with all the fog.

I have been reading James E. Talmages book, Jesus the Christ. Powerful yet simple and clear reading. I would highly recommend that you all add it to your reading list if you haven’t already read it or perhaps reread it. Testimonies have to be fed and that is a feast!

We love you all and are so proud of the things you are doing and the people you are.

Honor Bright!!
Mom & Dad