Feb 29, 2012

The family of Jimmie and Anna Beth Olson held a wonderful reunion over the long weekend.  With Jimmie and Anna Beth soon leaving for the MTC in Provo, prior to serving a mission in the England, Leeds, Mission all their children and grandchildren were able to gather together.  Dana and Charles Petersen and their four youngsters live in Meridian, Peggy and Jon Flinders and their two little ones are located in Salmon, the family of Jason and Lydia Stucki, with two children, are found in Moscow .  Both Olson sons live in Utah.  Jerry and Christin Olson and their five children are down south in Santa Clara, Mike and Anna Olson and their four children live in Brigham City.  Jimmie and Anna Beth spoke in the LDS Ward with friends and relatives, siblings and cousins, near and far, there showing support. 

            The home of Sam and Katie Hatch received a new metal roof, sandstone in color.  Fourteen friends and neighbors were up on top, causing a dreadful racket, but much appreciated.  Stuart Ostler and Kerry Christensen organized this effort and Stuart is improving the Hatch porch as weather permits.  Bishop Kent Egley kept the guys supplied with Subway sandwiches, Gatorade and water.

Two young men in the LDS Mink Creek Ward received mission calls recently.  Jake Longhurst, son of Sheldon and Candy Longhurst, will be headed to the Mission Training Center  in June and then serving in the Mexico, Guadalajara, Mission.  Christopher Wilde, son of David and Judy Wilde, leaves in May to serve in the Arizona, Tempe, Mission.

            The warmer days we have had lately have brought out an insect that looks much like our friendly ladybugs. They look a bit anemic, a lighter color, maybe struggling for food during the winter.

Lana and Ivan McCracken’s home was full this weekend.  Tamara Taylor and her children came up from the Salt Lake City area, along with Maria Baird.  Lana’s granddaughter, Morgan Batchelor, was here visiting from BYU in Provo.  Her home is in Albuquerque, NM.

Cody McKay, son of Paul and Terrie McKay, was invited to run in the Simplot Games last week.  This is a track event held in Pocatello at the Holt Arena each year.  Cody is a senior at PHS.  He said it was a good experience and felt it was an honor to be invited.

Another event was held recently at the Holt Arena, that of the Idaho State Wrestling Tournament.  Mink Creek has had four young men involved in the wrestling program at Preston High.  They are Tyson Hall, Josh and Heston Greene, and Justin Longhurst.   Tyson placed first in his weight division at the District Tournament.   Both Tyson and Heston qualified to wrestle at the state tournament.  We are very proud of these four young grapplers and their individual accomplishments.

Elder Aaron Wilde is on a mission with a little different perspective.  He is serving in the Salt Lake City Family and Church History Mission and loving it.  This is all about computers and genealogy.  Aaron helps with worldwide patron support, does access services, and works in the Family History library.  He has had only one transfer thus far while he has been serving the past ten months. Each Sunday the missionaries go to the broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on Temple Square.  He is the oldest son of Judy and David Wilde.

Feb 22, 2012

A Valentine’s Dance was celebrated at the beginning of February.  Held in the LDS Recreational Hall the decorations provided by Joe and Kathy Jarvis and Nate and Dana Olson transformed the room to a place of beauty.  Danceable tunes were gathered and played by Kim and Wally Christensen.  A local women’s vocal group, Mountain Aire, set the mood for the event with their renditions of romantic songs.  Johnny and Jeannine Iverson, our Scout leaders, enlisted the service of their young men to provide and serve refreshments to those attending.  This night to remember was under the direction of George and Judy Rasmussen.

The Mink Creek community participated in a Deseret Industries  Drive last week.  The lady-in-charge, Camille Knudson, passed out flyers to residents letting them know items that were needed and would be acceptable, plus a pick-up date for those who could contribute.

Mink Creek has eighteen boys in the Cub Scout Pack this year and all were recognized in some way at the Blue and Gold Banquet.  Four of them are new with three young men that have just moved into our community and one who has just had a birthday, Brackin Christensen.  The theme for this annual event was “Circle the Wagons” and the leaders did their best to provide fun for the boys and their families.  Decorations were tin can lanterns and covered wagons made by the Webelos, led by Melinda and Kerry Jepsen.  The menu was just right for this age:  jello (under the direction of the Bear Den) and sloppy joes, potato chips, cake and ice cream put together by leaders Marie Keller, Pedro and Avery Gomez, Ivan and Lana McCracken and Cubmaster Dawnell Greene.  Western activities matched the theme with steer roping, cow pie toss, pancake toss, and shoe the horse.

At this point this news is a bit over the limit, 300 words. (for more news go to www.minkcreeknews.blogspot.com)

 After an hour’s delay at the airport in Salt Lake City, Bob and Claudia Erickson flew to Tempe, AZ, for a six day stay with the family of their son, Drew.  A special occasion was planned, the baptism of their grandson Spencer, Drew and Hilary Erickson’s second son.   Another highlight of the trip was attending a jazz concert performed by the Salt River Brass in Mesa.   The warmth of the Phoenix area was thoroughly enjoyed, but it was still good to return to home and Idaho.

Our weather is still very undecided and it is a strange “winter.”  Should this even be called winter?  Bits of snow storms, with limited amounts of snow falling.   Opportunities for sledding very slim. Temperatures in the 40’s, thawing enough to cancel out ice skating.  And rain, miserable rain, brown water running everywhere taking dirt away from where it should be.

Just letting you know that this season, whatever it is, is not at all according to our general expectations and needs.

             I realize we just had the Presidents Day holiday, but I am old-fashioned enough to think of Washington on his real birthday.  This is it!  Happy Birthday, George Washington, so glad you were at the right place at the right time, for all our sakes.

Feb 8, 2012

Some of our summer residents must be wondering why they headed south for this winter.  It may be a little drier in that direction, but not by too much.  To think that the month of February has arrived and there is no snow coverage, only snow patches.  However, it isn’t good weather for the outdoor walking enthusiasts because there is still ice.  Water may drip from the roofs during the day, but it only forms sheets of ice on doorsteps and sidewalks during the night, waiting to catch the unsuspecting soul who puts a foot down without caution.

The Mink Creek LDS Ward held their annual conference this past Sunday.  The stake presidency and other officers from the Preston North Stake attended meetings during the morning block.  Speakers at the general session were Bishop Kent Egley, President Richard Swainston and  Stake President Dax Keller.   A special musical number was a piano solo by Anna Beth Olson.

Dr Kerry Jepsen and his wife, Melinda, attended a medical conference recently in Las Vegas.  They enjoyed the warm weather and a highlight for Melinda was the opportunity to see Donny and Marie Osmond’s show.

Clifford and LaDawn Jensen have been gone for a few days.  LaDawn’s father, Kaa Cook,  passed away a week ago and they have been attending to family duties and gathering with family for the funeral in Cokeville, WY.  Two of the Jensens children, Kristine Gore from back east, and Jeremy Jensen from McCammon, ID, were able to travel from their homes to be with their parents.

Keep in mind that with the absence of snow the remnants of last fall’s fields are more available to our local deer population.  They are grazing wherever they make a good find.  The turkeys are enjoying nature’s unexpected bounty as well.  Grain that has fallen from a combine is a treat this time of year.

 Mink Creek teenagers are always involved in the various programs at Preston High School.  They may be mentioned in the Citizen during the time of participation, but that doesn’t let you  readers know that they are residents of Mink Creek.  Our community is very pleased with the efforts that they put forth during the school year and I am endeavoring to connect them for those of you who live some distance from Franklin County but still like local news.  This will be done a bit at a time.  Last week the girls’ basketball teams were on report.

This week we are flipping back to fall weather.  During the football season four young men participated  ( and were often black and blue since that is part of this sport).  Tyson Hall, a senior, was a linebacker and backup quarterback.  He is the son of Brett and Kristi Hall.  A junior, Cole Jepsen, son of Kerry and Melinda Jepsen was a defensive linebacker and offense right guard.  Johnny Iverson is a tall sophomore, the son of Kurt and Margret Iverson.  Johnny was a tight end for offense and played defensive end too.   Our fourth young man, and youngest of the group as a freshman is James Baird, in positions of running back and linebacker.  His parents are LaRon and Liesa Baird.  They all love the sport and were pleased to see action on both offensive and defensive teams.

            One Mink Creek young lady has been involved on the cheerleading squad this year.  She is McKenna Jepsen, belongs to Kerry and Melinda, and will be graduating this spring.

            Missionary Kyle Beardall has just been transferred to Bournemouth, on the southern coast of England.  He is now with his third companion, serving in the England, London South Mission.  His parents, Kent and Tammy Beardall tell us that in spite of the weather---fog, much moisture, and cold, he loves his life there.  Just because it is an English-speaking mission doesn’t mean Kyle has no foreign-type experiences.  Recently Elder Beardall and his companion were invited to the home of some African refugees for dinner and he found the meal to his liking, though different from Idaho steak and potatoes.  Elder Beardall has found his training in music to be very useful.  It is hard to believe that he soon will be meeting his half-way mark in mission months.