"Lets do Lunch"

Derek has been taking Foods 1 class at Bend High. Mrs. Markland the teacher has been so great to have him in her class. The students have been so helpful and kind and supportive as well. The end of the semester is this week, so they had a luncheon to put together a dinner using the skills they've learned. I was a guest (pretty much I insisted)at their table. We had a great meal; a beautiful, colorful salad, yummy rolls and a very tasty soup. The dessert was a chocolate frozen cheesecake which was delicious! I enjoyed the conversation we had at our table. Mika'Rae, Kyle and Ethan were so polite and fun to talk to. I enjoyed watching them include Derek in the clean up. Thank you Table 2 for inviting me and being so good with Derek. Best wishes to you in your next Semester classes!

Amber & Matavia

Our missionaries just had 2 wonderful baptisms.
Elder Schmieg & Petersen taught and baptized Amber & her nephew Matavia.
They are so happy each Sunday being new members. They are fitting in nicely with our ward. Thanks Elders for your fine service to the High Desert Ward. Now about this picture of Elder Schmieg.. He asked me to take it.. I said, "So what are you doing?" He said, "It's so funny, it's like I'm talking to nobody." Hey Elder Schmieg's family, you should have warned us about his imaginary friend. Just kidding, we love having him in our ward!

Elder Petersen is making a "slam dunk" in Bend, Oregon

You'll notice in past Blogs that Elder Schmieg has gotten attention, his birthday and all, but I haven't said much about Elder Petersen. Since Elder Petersen's birthday isn't until the end of March, he needs some recognition (Surely he won't be here in two months, although we would love it if we could keep him).
We had a great dinner (Thanks Bob) with both of the missionaries. And then Bob showed them our sportscourt (barn). After quite a while I thought Wow, they sure have been out there a long time. I thought all our basketballs were flat. I guess when there is a will there is a way. No, Elder Petersen was not jumping off a trampoline either. Elder Petersen also put some of the pictures he has taken onto my camera so I could blog them for his family. How he did that, I have no clue. What a smart Elder he is. So to Elder Petersen's family and Elder Schmieg's family, here are a few more pictures. One is Elder Petersen writing me your e-mail address,another is our son in between them, the corvette was a member's car in another ward, the missionaries in the car were joined by LaPine missionaries, and one is just of them tracking. Enjoy!

Elder Schmieg gets "Hugged"

Now we know where Elder Schmieg gets his nice, pleasant attitude... his mom.
Elder Schmieg's mom enjoyed the blogs and asked (through e-mail) if I could give him one more thing from her. "Sure, anything for a missionary," was my reply. She asked if I could give him a hug from her, unless it was against the mission rules.
So on Sunday I went up to Elder Schmieg and told him his mom wanted me to give him a hug. Quickly he said, "Oh Sister Sauter that is against the rules." I told him I knew I couldn't, but Derek could. So Derek gave him a nice big hug. Then I said that I really wanted to give him a hug, and then I handed him a bag of Hershey Hugs. I had "the other Jill" (Jill Grow) take my picture giving him the hugs. It was fun and I enjoyed seeing Elder Schmieg's face light up. Thank you Sister Draper (Elder Schmieg's mom) for having such a nice missionary for your son.

Kayla Turns 18!!!

You've heard me talking about my good friend Shelli from Portland (This is Shelli and her family). Well, her adorable daughter Kayla (In the pink) just turned 18 this week. We are still waiting to hear all about the celebration, but wanted to tell Kayla how much we think of her! Derek & Kayla each play Top Soccer, and have gone to the Nike "games" in Portland. Kayla is very competitive, while Derek just is happy to get a treat after the event.
Kayla loves to give me a hard time about my double chins.. "not turtlenecks" and other things I won't add at this time (no, I'm not the biggest loser).(And I'll remind you of always wanting to wear Derek's Barney pajamas when you were 3 and Derek one year old)
All the things that Kayla does amaze us... mostly due to the loving support and advocate she has in her mom! Shelli is one of my smartest friends (she reminds me of that often). Kayla and her older sister Alyssa are very lucky to have Shelli as their mom. But enough about her... "Here's to you Kayla for turning the big 18!"
We hope your day was GREAT!!! Just like you!

Yet, Another Birthday in Bend, Oregon

Monday was Elder Schmiegs birthday and today (Friday) was Brother Black's big day. Today Brother Black turned 90 years old. You would never know he was that old. We love Brother Black. He is a faithful home teacher, he is always ready to give us a hug, and he has the most adorable wife!

We made a visit to wish him a happy day. Derek favored him with a

"Happy Birthday" on the piano.

We wish you many more birthdays Brother Black!!!

The missionaries at the Christmas Party

A picture for Elder Schmieg's family.
This was taken at our Christmas Dinner 12/12/08.
I thought it was great of Tylee. I printed it off for her. When she saw it she ran to the missionaries to show them how good it was. She adores the missionaries, and we all do too!
More pictures in the blog below!

Thanks Rebecca & Justin

Rebecca & Justin gave us a great
gift for

Christmas this year. It is a metal name plate for our house.

We'd would have liked to have put it at the end of the road, but you never know if it would last.

So we have it on the side of the barn/shop/playroom.

It's in a great spot, everyone who drives into the driveway will see it. We love it!

It's something Bob has always wanted. I guess every "farm" needs a name plate.

Now, you that haven't been to our home will know that

"This is the Place"

Happy Birthday Day Elder Schmieg

We have 2 GREAT missionaries serving in our ward, Elder Peterson & Elder Schmieg.
Monday was Elder Schmieg's birthday.
We also have a GREAT couple in our ward, The Goodrich's. Brother Goodrich was our bishop, and is now in our Stake Presidency. Sister Goodrich is my right hand councilor in Relief Society.
The Goodrich's found out that it was Elder Schmiegs birthday and invited he and Elder Peterson over for dinner. Derek and I were also invited for the birthday celebration.
Sister Goodrich is a great good and made a yummy dinner (Bob only knows that I love mushrooms & guacamole on my hamburgers) and made her very first German Chocolate Cake (Lee contacted Elder Schmieg's mom and found out it was his favorite).
The best part of the night was seeing Elder Schmieg get to go in another room and talk to his mom. On Christmas his time was cut short before he had a chance to talk to his mom (he has 8 siblings). Elder Peterson and Sister Virgin (Who thought it was horrible that he didn't get to talk to his mom on Christmas) contacted the Mission President and they got permission. Lee contacted his mom and told her that the phone call was going to happen. When Elder Schmieg came out of the room he asked me if he was "glowing". How sweet is that. What an awesome missionary he is. His mom and family should be very proud of the young man he is. Sunday he and Brother Kohler sang for Ward Conference. It was beautiful! Who would have guessed that Elder Schmieg would be spending his birthday in Bend, Oregon? (Not him since he hadn't heard of Bend before his mission) This blog is for Elder Schmieg's family!
We love having him here in ZION!!! The Goodrich's are so thoughtful, they pulled out a puzzle so Derek could be involved (I think Elder Peterson had more fun though) and Derek also played Happy Birthday on the piano for him. Here are some pictures of the night!






Thanks Lee & Bishop for a Fun Night!

Happy New YEAR

Not wanting to have a repeat of New Years 2000 (Bob was working and the kids were all out, Derek was asleep). I decided to have some friends over (Bob wasn't coming home until New Years Day.. safer on the roads that way). I had my party earlier than the usual "party starting time" (I planned to watch the Time Square ball drop in my bed), I had my guests come at 3:00. We had soup, rolls, salad and dessert. We even did a little lighting of poppers. (When I bought the "Fun Pack" at Target the cashier asked me for my ID. Wow... make me feel young... then Carol reminded me that they have to punch in the birth year on any "explosives" that are bought.. oh, I thought she may have thought I was under age!!! Whatever.. Just kidding!). Thanks Carol & Carol for coming with your yummy food, and my guests Lola & Virginia. We had a nice dinner and played a fun game! (Thanks Robert for taking the pictures and the video. I had no idea he was shooting the "fireworks")

Look how I spent my morning

It has been so nice... Taylor and Derek have been putting together puzzles. One night last week they started a 300 piece puzzle. Derek usually does up to 65 piece puzzles.. It was a mistake to start that one at 7:30. Derek wouldn't stop and finish it the next morning.. No, we had to finish it until it was done! We did make him stop for pajama's and to brush his teeth (That was for you Amy... HSM#3) We finished it at 12:30 a.m. (Remind me never to start a puzzle unless I plan to have him finish it right then and there). Anyway, the other morning Derek brought out this Babe puzzle. I can't remember the last time we did that one. It was 100 piece, but with Taylor's help, they soon got it done.. except one piece. You know that feeling.. (Why didn't we count the pieces before we started) Now you know what I spent my morning doing... never to be found, sort of like the lost sock, but this piece was way more important! So, if you have this particular puzzle, spare us the piece please!