March 24, 2015

         Tammy Beardall has returned from a lengthy vacation. She has been cruisin'. Tammy, along with her sisters, Diane and Sherry, have been soaking up the sun and relaxation of the Caribbean. The Hibbert sisters took in Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, St. Croix, St Maarten, and others. They have been hiking, exploring waterfalls, beaches and the ocean. This three week float gives new meaning to the words, 'family reunion.' This party was a celebration of Sherry's retirement. Tammy's family met her in California for the return trip to Idaho and did a little sightseeing on their own. They took in a tour of the infamous prison, Alcatraz, and did some tasting of jelly beans at the Jelly Belly factory.

         The family of Sam and Katie Hatch gathered for the day  that their teenage twins, Chance Hatch and Dakota Hatch, were ordained to the office of priests in the LDS Ward. Katie's parents, Burnell and Darlene Hall came up from Fairview, ID.

         An occasion warranting dressing up in beautiful formal attire has just happened for the youth at Preston High School. This was the spring prom known as the Unity Ball. It is always a treat to see the lovely gowns and the striking tuxedos displayed.

         The sandhill cranes are back in town. They appear to be crazy, gangly birds, performing a long-legged dance to the music of their own weird calls. The turkeys that inhabit our area have been seen pillaging a freshly planted field in Riverdale. There was much scratching and digging in progress. One wonders what they were seeking. It could have been the new seeds, or insects freshly exposed to the surface, or, one might hope, the many voles that inhabit the ground, wreaking havoc to anything planted.I must check with our local biology teacher, Robert Crosland to see if they target rodents.

          The last two days have been soggy and gloomy. There have been three types of moisture falling, not all at the same time of course. Snow, both fine bits and fluffy flakes, rain, and then there was what appeared to be slush falling. Usually that stuff waits until the snow and water mix on the earth. The lawns will take a growth spurt when things warm back up. What a strange winter this has been!

St. Patricks, 2015

           There is a single lonely crocus blooming in a nearby plot. The golden cup is beautiful, but where are the others? To my mind, crocus is a flower of groups, some purple and white, some gold..

This doesn't seem a sign of true spring, even with the warm days. One robin has been sighted, a bit on the straggly side. So far these are not signs of real spring in Mink Creek. We shall wait and see.

           Steve and Terry Mainini have returned from some fun days in Las Vegas at the NASCAR 2015. Their daughter Angelina joined the family group. Steve's mother and his sister Kris and Rick Rodarte met them, coming over from Ventura, CA.

          The Relief Society held their birthday party at the recreation hall of the LDS Meetinghouse. Women from across the whole community came and celebrated the 173^th year of the forming of the organization with a taco salad dinner and birthday cake and ice cream. Those responsible for decorations and food were Judy Wilde, Terry Stromberg, Corinne Larsen, Tammy Coleman and Dana Olson. The room glowed with pearly pastel colored balloons and streamers on both walls and tables. Considering the recent fire that destroyed the Crosland's family home the women brought recipes to share with Phee Crosland. Imagine not having any recipes, and a family to feed!  A surprise for Phee was a miscellaneous shower of gifts, given anonymously, to help with some of the small details of making the future house “home.”

            Doug and Beverly Bruderer have become great grandparents, Avery and Pedro Gomez are happy to be grandma and grandpa. All because a little boy was born in February to Nicole and Matt Van Buren of Grace, ID.

           Mike and Mary Ann Jepsen are grandparents again,due to the arrival of another little boy at the home of Joe and Kate Jepsen. He has been named Prescott. The family lives in the Salt Lake area.

           In the five days that have passed wince I wrote those first paragraphs three more crocus blossoms have appeared. Robins are challenging my backyard magpies for space in the pine trees. I heard and saw a V formation of Canadian geese in this morning's sky. We still have snow in the mountains, but the green is spreading even there. Happy St. Patarick's! Everyone is ready for the official arrival and hoping it is more than just official. Still, the days are much warmer than “normal” and that is of concern for the coming months.

March 10, 2015

        Sheldon and Candy Longhurst's family had reasons for celebrating this past week. Their daughter, Tiffany Longhurst, returned from her missionary service in the California, Anaheim, Mission. The cherry on top of that treat was witnessing their son, Justin, taking fourth place in his weight division at the Idaho State Wrestling Tournament.

          Mink Creek had another family of wrestling fans doing some celebrating. Samuel Seamons, son of Jennifer and Jeff Seamons, placed second in his weight division at the state tournament. A younger son, Ben, also qualified to wrestle in the tournament. These two probably had some parental tutoring along with that of the PHS coaches since Jeff was a wrestling champion when he attended PHS, a few years past.

         The Relief Society and Young Women participated in a Preston North Stake humanitarian project, preparing hygiene kits for women and girls of the world. Dixie Rasmussen headed up the efforts from our community. It was truly rewarding to view the results of the time and supplies given by those taking part.

          Tamara Taylor of Woods Cross, UT, daughter of Lana Baird McCracken, drove up for a rest and a weekend visit. Her two little girls, Tabitha and Autumn, came with to enjoy some grandparent time.

          The Young Women group enjoyed their New Beginnings evening with parents and guests. The girls commented on the importance of the Young Women Values in their personal lives and sang a musical number. Tiffany Longhurst spoke of how those same values will help them prepare for adulthood. Refreshments were served.

          The new son of Lacey and Kerry Christensen was named and given a blessing in the LDS Ward. He is Timber Blake Christensen. His grandparents are Forrest and Patti Christensen and Doug and Beverly Bruderer, all of Mink Creek, LaRae Graham of Cody, WY, and Howard Larkins of Layton, UT. Out of town relatives attending  this event were Andy and ReNae Cates from Fort Hall, ID.

          There is the sound of tractors filling the air as our local farmers are getting a jump start on spring planting. There are multiple activities going on, repairs on equipment, attending farm auctions to see if there is something for an upgrade, checking out the price of seed, and on and on. All of this anticipation might be delayed if the weather decides to revert to the winter we have missed. Farming is a risky business.

March Lion, 2015

           How about a headline other than Mink Creek for this column announcing that we had some snow! Yes, real SNOW! But it came in the last of February! We woke one morning about a week ago to a white world, trees, roads, yards, the works. It wasn't very deep and only lasted throughout that one day before things warmed up again. Since then we have had a few more days that sent snow flurries our way. There was nothing that stuck, but it felt good to see the white stuff falling. Perhaps we will have a wintery spring.

          Our Bonnie Hansen has been spending some time at the McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden, UT. The viral infection was one of those sudden things, but she is now on the mend and under the care of her son, Wes Hansen, who is the administrator of a rehabilitation facility in Layton, UT..

           Two sons of Jeff and Jennifer Seamons were chosen to perform in select high school orchestras. They auditioned several months ago. Sam Seamons, who plays a string bass, was selected to go to Spokane, WA, performing with the All Northwest Orchestra. Ben Seamons, qualified for All State Orchestra with his viola, performing in Coeur d' Alene, ID. These events happened to take place on the same weekend, a bonus for Jeff and Jennifer. The guys traveled to the northwest on a bus with other students from this area, but there wasn't room for Sam's bass. So the Seamons parents were able to haul Sam's bass to the needed spots, plus get a bit of vacation time for themselves while they enjoyed the performances.

           Karen and Mark Arnout enjoyed a visit from Travis and Amber Arnout and their children: Brayden, Maci, Krissy and Willis. These Arnouts live in Logan, UT.

          
           The night of March 1st we started getting  a nice wet snowfall. It brought enough to whiten the landscape, more came during the 2nd, ending up with 2-4 inches here in our valley, more in the mountains. We are glad for whatever moisture we get. Already we have some daffodils pushing their green fingers up through the dirt and some tulips shells up near the LDS Church. Hope these colder days might slow things down a little, hopefully avoiding frozen fruit blossoms.  However, increasing warmth is the forecast.
           I am changing the background of the blog to the old barn look.  Walking about our community in the spring  the barns warm my heart, hope the taste of it appeals to you.