January 15, 2014

I am still needing to concentrate on the 14 rather than the automatic 2013 as I write.  Only two weeks of it thus far and I am hoping I have been paying my recent bills with the correct date.

Bunches of deer, six or so in a group, are pawing through snow to graze in the fields. It is a traffic hazard as they roam over our terrain.  Hazard #2:  turkey flocks, small and not so small, pecking along sides of the roads.  Beware of the curve near the Smith/Gilbert fields near LeAnn and Clyde’s place.  There is a large number of birds coming and going in that area.  Turkeys seem to wander up and down the community.  Several were the chief greeters at the LDS Ward parking lot recently, with a gobble, gobbler here, and a gobble, gobble there.

Jacob and Ranette Free and their son Denim spent some time with his folks, Richard and Vickie Free.  They were able to go to the annual ski party while they were here.

Mike and Mary Ann Jepsen loved the visit of their daughter Annie and Steve Earl and their children from San Jose, CA.  A highlight for the kids was sleigh riding down the slope behind the Jepsen house, an activity not offered in California.

Mink Creek LDS Ward has twelve young people serving on missions around the globe.  East to west they are scattered from Novosibirsk, Russia, to Singapore and China; north to south, from frigid North Dakota to hot Uruguay and New Zealand.  Families have anticipated the fun of talking with their missionaries during the holidays.  Some were able to Skype on the internet, others loved to hear those familiar voices on the phone, both  methods very rewarding.

The Ward combined with Preston 4^th ward for an annual night skiing party at Beaver Ski Resort recently. A head count indicated around 80 participants from Mink Creek, all ages.  This is where many residents learn to ski through the past years. There were also a few snowboarders enjoying the slopes.  Everyone brought a potluck food to share.  A goodly number of people traveled to the resort just to stay in the lodge and visit, waiting for those on the mountainside to tire out, ready to go home.  We drove home in a blizzard, but all was well with only one injury, a twisted ankle for Tristan Greene.

            Doug Bruderer was home for the holidays.  He works in the frozen north, the oil boom in North Dakota.  His wife, Beverly, is here keeping their place up and doing in his absence.

            Since the last post we have had some snow, breaking the very cold temperatures.  With it has come some strong  winds.  The drifting snow has had some residents blocked in until a good neighbor goes to their rescues with a snowplow.  We have also had rain  that has frozen, hardening the tops of the fallen snow in some places, after some melting.   It hasn’t been a great season for ice skating just yet.  Soft, slushy surfaces do not make for good skating.

            Various family members of Eldon and Danita Wilcox’s family have been around lately. Brigham and Jennifer Wilcox and their children were down from Pocatello.  Brittany Durrant and her little one have enjoyed some time with the grandparents.