Service

The gospel is truly a wonderful thing to have in our lives. We get to share experiences with other families and make friends that last forever. We are blessed by knowing people here in Fort McMurray.


This is the family of Adam and Wendy, their children are: Gaetz, Kansaz, Zael, and Briggz. We have enjoyed having them in our Ward for just over one year. Wendy is councilor to Michelle.

Gaetz and Samuel go to school together.

We are going to miss them when they move to Okatoks this week.



Tonight at mutual, we helped them load the moving truck, U-Haul.

The boys loaded, and the girls cleaned the empty rooms and bathrooms. The whole job was done in about an hour.



Sam and Gaetz.

Two of the YM leaders showing off their acting skills. They are acting like adults acting like kids.

Barb helping clean the house too.

Kimball on beds.

Adam and Alan (hiding behind the Captain's Bed)

The YM, as usual, in the dark.

The YW, as usual, enlightened.

See how they lighten up when food is involved? Just kidding. They did a marvelous job tonight, and the ice cream sandwich is a small token of appreciation. I am glad to have the opportunity to do some real service with these boys. They all worked really well.

Jenny, Bailey, Wendy, Dayna, and Michelle. We missed the other YW tonight.

Ward Conference

Today we had our annual Ward Conference. Being so far away from the Stake, Edmonton is about 300 miles south from here, Ward Conference becomes a BIG deal. It is normal to enjoy the presence of the entire Stake Presidency, but this year we also had as visitors the entire Stake Young Men's Presidency, the entire Stake Young Women's Presidency, the entire Stake Relief Society Presidency, the entire Stake Primary Presidency, the entire Stake Sunday School Presidency, and the Stake Music Chairman. In short, the members of Stake leadership made us feel quite important. In the final session, the stake President mentioned a scene from just before Sacrament meeting that was very telling about my beautiful wife. This will not be a shock to anyone that knows her, but it was another in a long string of tender mercies in our lives.

Before Sacrament Meeting, we arrived at the chapel to make sure the Sacrament was prepared and ready for the meeting. Joseph and I went to the Sacrament Table and preparation area, and Samuel sat on the front pew to wait for the other Deacons and the start of the conference. Another Teacher and his father had prepared the Sacrament, except for the provisions for a family in our Ward recently diagnosed as celiac (the whole family). While Joseph cleaned the last tray and prepared the rice crackers, I made sure the Deacons knew to whom to pass first, then i stood in the back of the chapel to wait for another priest or prospective Elder to help bless.

From my vantage point I saw Michelle sitting in her "normal" place on the pew, and around her were 3 Young Women and a couple of Primary children. The girls were eagerly telling Michelle about their recent holidays, one in the States, in Walnut Creek as a matter of fact, at the home of the Barbers, and the other two YW, sisters, about their recent trip to Edmonton to participate in Temple Baptisms as a family.

From his vantage point the Stake President, President Purnell saw the same thing and said to his councilor, President Van Brugen (father of Elder Van Brugen who served in Concord Second Ward as a missionary in 2004 or 2005), "If that sister is not the YW President she ought to be Who is that?" President Van Brugen told President Purnell that Michelle was the YW Presidnet, and President Purnell replied, "That is as it should be. The YW are in good hands here."

Sure, it is a simple thing. And you may say it is not exactly world news, but it certainly was a beautiful and simple thing to behold, and tender that know that in the simple things there is peace, and a portion of the spirit, and a strengthening of testimony.

Later in the Adult Session of the Ward Conference, President Purnell asked where people were from and why they are in Fort McMurray. In reply to the second question, to told us all we are here because the Lord has for us a work to accomplish. In reply to the first question, in the congregation today there were members from all over Alberta, Ontario, Texas, California, North Carolina, El Salvador, Chile, New Zealand, Korea, and England. It is not hard to forget that the church is really a world wide organization, and it is comforting to know it is the same where ever you may be.

We believe in Christ, and are thankful for revelation, modern prophets, and testimonies.



Barb and Locky came over the other day to plant a few seeds. He really likes to see the seeds grow, and when one of his plants started to fail, he brought it back so Michelle could "fix it better."

As you can see, the seeds have sprouted and are growing nicely, and my bread making pans are multitasking. (talented pans)


So, back to Ward Conference, between our meeting time and the the meeting time of the other Fort Mac ward, we provided a simple meal for our visitors. The Young Men and Women served, and at the end of the service and clean-up (you should have seen Joseph hand wash dishes) there were Tiger Stripe Brownies and Lemon Bars. Can you guess which one Samuel had?

We are planning a trip to the States in early July: 3 days in the Bay Area to see Amy and friends, 5 or 6 days in El Paso with Michelle's family, 4 or 5 days in Albuquerque with Alan's family, 2-3 days in Salt Lake to see Ashley's family (and new baby, Oliver) and hopefully Jacob too, then back home to Canada. More details later, as they become available.

Hugs and Kisses,

Alan and Michelle

Easter 2009

Happy Easter everyone. We hope your Easter was a good one, spent with family and friends. The weather is warming up, and Michelle bought some great plants the other day, including 2 grape vines. We hope to have a small harvest in the fall. We can see the tops of the garden boxes again, so we expect to see some spring flowers soon. We planted a ton of fall bulbs last October and early November.



Since most of the snow is melted now, we celebrated by firing up the cheap BBQ. Had to hunt down some charcoal first, then off to the store for a can of scout water.

There is nothing quite like a big juicy burger hot off the grill with all the trimmings: great cheese, crisp lettuce, fresh tomato, green chili. And what goes better with burgers than great chips? Nothing. Here is "Charlie's Chips"


Bend...

and Snap!

"Please let me go home now. I'm starving."

One of our favorite picture spots in town. This place over looks the river. At the bottom of this hill is one of the golf courses in town. With the warm weather forecast for this week, perhaps the river will break up by next weekend.

Of course, by Warm weather we mean above freezing. It was 45 yesterday, and seems like 100 motorcycles were roaring around town.

This is our version of the Beatles Abbey Road.

Well, Easter is the season for the Annual Simpson Family Midnight Easter Egg Hunt. This year Joseph and Samuel were very helpful. They chose what kind of candy to put in the plastic eggs to be hidden. They bought the candy and stuffed the eggs. They hid the eggs, and then they found most of them without help. Being rather large boys, they do get inventive with the hiding places.

The cars are always favorites hiding places.

But this year, this was the best. That egg is almost 8 feet off the ground. You have to jump off a big rock (landscape decoration) to get to it.

General Conference

We love General Conference weekend, especially the Saturday Priesthood Session. This years talks were inspiring, and after the conference session, we went to A&W Root Beer for a snack. The snack consisted of gigantic hamburgers, a small mountain of fries, and either chocolate shakes or root beer mugs measured in gallons. Don't let the facial expressions fool you though, we really do love General Conference.

The Sunday Sessions are also really good. We do not get it on TV, so we watch the streaming video on the computer. Of course that way we get to argue over who sits in the computer chair, and inevitably a game of musical chairs breaks out.

After the Sunday afternoon session, we have friends over for dinner. This time Locky brought his parents and we tried a new roll recipe. The "pillow soft" rolls were OK, but the general consensus was to keep the old recipe. The roast beef was good, but not as good a the rousing game of Go Fish after dinner.

Samuel with his game face, and Joseph trying to divine the cards of the other players. Locky lent us his deck of cards so we could play a game after FHE the next night.

We have been looking for a new car recently, and I thought this little gem might be an answer for us. It has excellent sight lines, with no blind spots. I comes in this really great color, so it is easy to spot in the snow, or a crowded parking lot. It does have a few drawbacks though. For example it only seats one, and the mileage is a bit low.

This is the Komatsu version of the Cat 979. These are the largest dump trucks in the world, each capable of carrying a 500,000 pound payload. These trucks are shipped to the oil sands plants on 12 semi truck loads and assembled on site. BTW, these trucks burn about 4000 gallons of fuel in a 10 hour shift.

Hugs and Kisses,

Alan and Michelle

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

Last Tuesday we had the last snow storm we had. It will not be the last one of the season as we expect 2 more before all the snow melts and the ice on the river breaks up. Last year the last storm of the year was a real doozie, bringing enough snow that they closed the schools for the first time in almost a decade. We continue to hope the weather this year continues as it has so far, milder than last year.

So every Tuesday we shovel the walks at the chapel so the task is easier on Sunday morning. This picture, taken on March 24 shows the mound of snow removed. The mound is about 5 feet high. This morning at church, the side walks are clear (due to the warm temps of 35 to 36 F all week) and now new snow. The mound is now only 4 feet high.

The groundhog (remember Feb second?) was wrong. He saw his shadow and we get 12 more weeks of winter.

The YW had an activity last week on photography. They all brought cameras and took portraits of each other, and photographed the activity the YM were involved in that night.

There is a great local photographer here in town, and she came to YW that night to show the girls about her profession. Check out the blog listing on her blog - Beautiful Young Ladies, posted on March 25, 2009. The link is below.

http://mackenziegphotography.blogspot.com/

Sheila, Diane, and Shauna at a brunch for sisters in our Ward.

I just cannot remember what I was supposed to do here at the top this really steep hill while strapped on to a plank.

Oh, now I know - Have fun sliding down the hill. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.

Samuel and Gaetz. Gaetz' family has only been here for just over a year, and his mother is in YW with Michelle, but his father has been transferred to Calgary, so we must say good bye.

We will miss them.

The missionaries had an activity the other day for the boys to try. See how long they could hold out the scriptures at arms-length.

Two minutes? No problem!

What? Only 1:50? Let me do it again.

Remember that snow referenced above? Here is the California response to a little snow. Shorts.

Me: Joseph, please get dressed and shovel the walk for your mother to get to the car.

Him: I don't need to change, Come on Sam, Let's clear the walk way.

Me: (chuckling quietly) Darlin', get the camera for me, please.

This week end we had Gaetz stay with us for a YM trip to the Temple to do baptisms while his folks went to look for a house in Okatoks, just south of Calgary. The three boys had a great time. This is a double piggy-back ride. The other views are not suitable for publication because of a Page 602. (if you remember that, you are really old)

Hooray for Day Light Savings Time!

With all the snow yesterday, and the change in time to Day Light Savings Time, getting to church was difficult today. There is one good thing and one bad thing about the spring snows here. The good thing is that the snow is real fine flakes, very light, so shoveling is not difficult at all. The bad thing is that the snow is real fine flakes, very light, so it blows everywhere. When you shovel, even the slightest breeze tends to blow the snow back into your face. I like the good thing about it.

So do these guys. The YM here are in charge of shoveling walkways before church. We did the back doors first, where most of the members arrive, and the front walks later, mostly for emergency egress. The drifts today were about 4 feet high, but... (see the good thing above).
The YW and the YM are learning to lead music. The Ward Chorister comes in every week to teach a little, and people get a chance to practice.

Even these two clowns get to show off their abilities. Layton and Dustin were clowning around, and got caught by the Chorister. She invited them up because Layton was leading with 2 hands, and it turned into, "you control volume, and I'll control which side of the room sings." It really was a fun time for all the youth and the leaders too.

Jenny, on the right, and her cousin, Magdalena, who recently moved to a First Nations settlement close to here called Janvier (pronounced Jan-vee-AYE). Her mother teaches school there.

The YW and leaders today.

After church, we tried out a new place to take photos, and the sun came out in a big way. It was not a good day to have left shades at home in the early morning.

Alan making rolls for an upcoming Reliefs Society Dinner and Social function. It was to be a birthday dinner, but it has turned into a despedida for the old RS pres, who is moving with her husband to British Columbia to help care for his father who recently suffered a stroke.

This is a test. Can you find any differences between the garden last November (see pic below) and today?

I can see one, there is a small tip of a plant showing in this picture that has not been completely inundated by snow yet.

And another one, If you were to walk into the garden today, your boots would not get muddy.


El Guapo del jardin, y sus hijos chistosos.