July 4 We're thankful for this land of America!

Dearest Family

     Happy 18th Birthday, Ky!!!  Have a great one!  and Happy Birthday last week to the amazing land in which we live!  We celebrated by hearing fireworks around our neighborhood almost every night last week!  Also went to a community picnic on July 4th in Cowley!  Dave & Jenny Rael have a pulled pork & hotdogs for whoever!  Every brings a salad or desert & it is a wonderful evening, ending with fireworks!  This year he invited a special guest, Aaron Tippens, a patriotic, western singer! We surely enjoyed his music!

     We have fished, did Zoom trainings, even one with Chris, went to the mtn, both of us on Tuesday a.m. & Dad on Friday!   There is a beautiful quilt in the living room, & I find moments to quilt on it!  We have been busy, so have not had a time to invite anyone to help yet! 

     Last Saturday we traveled to Livingston again & in the evening met with two TFHConsultants for several hours. Was such a special opportunity to get to know them & share with them the great principle of helping someone have a "one on one" experience where they help some one find a name in 30-40 minutes! Now connected to the Family Tree App is a feature called "Are we Related" We did this with them & all four of us were related!

       We have found some very well organized wards, who have older genealogist in their ward find the names for all in the ward to take to the temple!  Well, it may work, but it just isn't what the Lord wants at this time! He has spoken thru his modern day Apostles, that we are each to find our family members, and go to the temple with them!  It is just the best choice which we are trying to teach! 

 

     The Three Forks Ward was so enjoyable & the members of the ward council were all so excited about it! It was also interesting that 3/4 of this group had been at our Saturday evening  presentation which we did at the Bozeman Stake conference in February,  That is the most which we have had in the wards we have visited so far.

      A thought from one of our many TFH consultants which is so true & applys to all of us in so many aspects of our lives.  "I knew it in my head, but now I know it in my heart"   It applys to any principle of the gospel in our lives!

Love Mom anf Dad

ZOOM training with 3 couples!

July 2, 2017

Dearest Family,

     Happy Birthday, Chris, on Monday!  Happy Birthday, Aunt Marlene on Thursday!   Happy Birthday, Amber, on Saturday!   We hope you each have a wonderful day!

        Each week goes by so quickly!  ZOOM training with 3 couples!  A trip to the lake with the boat - weather was great - lake was calm - started to pull away from the dock & the steering was all locked up - could not turn it any direction - came home!  Dad, the great repairman, went into action & soon had it fixed!  He did learn after doing some research that there are several parts of the steering mechanism which needs to be greased & cleaned every year!  So. . . now we will try on Monday!

     Thursday morning, after a month of them scheduling & canceling, we were finally able to have a conference call with the Development team of the FamilySearch Tree & Memories Apps! There were probably 6 people on the call & it was a choice opportunity to visit with them!  

       Thursday evening was another very spiritual & wonderful evening with the TFH Consultants of our stake.  We were sharing with them one of the "Gatherers of the Kingdom" presentations which is just for consultants!  Their comments were so inspired and they were able to see & understand the vision of this work! They were seeing that 1 on 1 is the way to teach. These new presentations are so inspired & we are excited to share them!

         Saturday we traveled to Livingston, Montana & in the evening did 1 on 1 presentations with the Bishop & his wife, then Mom & Dad did with their two children, who are old enough to attend the temple.  How amazing it is when this is done & each person is able to print out an ordinance card for a special family member. All four of them had a card in hand which for someone they had found!

          Sunday we attended this ward & were welcomed  by the member of the bishopric who was conducting. During SS time we taught the ward council the "Gatherers of the Kingdom" presentation just for them - also in attendance was a member of the Temple Presidency & his wife, Pres & Sis Melin, whom we invited to attend went we saw them in the ward. In these presentations we talk about the spiritual & doctrinal side of T&FH & the many blessing which we each receive when we each prepare and take our own name to the temple.

           During the second hour, RS/Priesthood time we did hands on, like we usually do.  Pres. Melin offered inspired council about the Stake boxes which are at the Billings Temple & how they are actually a spirit prison for the names in them, some have been there as long as 9 years!  Comments were shared by all which continued to add to the spiritual atmosphere of the meeting. Bishop ended with an emotional testimony of his experience Saturday evening when he was looking at the draft registration cards for a great grandfather who had filled out cards for both WW1 & WW2. On one of them it told his occupation & that he was missing one of his hands! He testified of how important it was to get to know each of the individual that we do the ordinances for.

        As Dad was getting things picked up a young man with his wife & baby, came up to him & introduced himself as Ryan, a member of the Development team of the FamilySearch Tree & Memories Apps. (They were visiting friends in Livingston). He had been on the conference call with us on Thursday!!!!!!  We an amazing visit with him  & so enjoyed meeting him!  As we have looked back over the events of this day, we can see the Lord's hand in accomplishing this work!  

       We feel so blessed to be a part of this great work - his sacred Plan of Happiness!

We love you all   Have a great week! Mom & Dad

These past past two weeks have been great!

Dearest Family,

     Happy 3rd Birthday today to Emerson!!!     Then next Saturday, July 1, is Ryan's Birthday & on Tues, July 3 it is Chris's Birthday! Hope each one of you have a very special day!   Love you all!

      Well, it is time to get back in the grove.   I was just reviewing my past letters & am not sure when the last one was but I thought it saw 2 weeks ago!  

     These past past two weeks have been great!  Each Saturday we leave at abt 1 p.m. for Bozeman!  On Sunday Morning we have traveled to Belgrade & done training there for their Ward Councils. We love meeting the people!  Saturday nites have been spent at a kind Bishop's home. We so appreciate their hospitality! We have also met with his HPriest Group leader & several consultants. In these two wards there have been less connections to the BHBasin!  One brother was raised in Fromberg tho, left 39 years ago & moves to Bozeman.  They found the gospel there!  Today we also met a couple, she is from the Philipines & he from Sicily! Not to many records from those two countries are available for doing Family History.

    The weeks are flying by!  We have been doing lots of training  using a program called Zoom - it is amazing & works much better than Skype!  It has a lot more ability to share screens & show videos than others.Last week Dad was experimenting & had 4 people on, all taking an active part. Thanks to those of you who have helped   We really appreciate it!

      Dad's latest Chromebook arrived last Wednesday & it seems to be working correctly!  He is really impressed with the speed that it works at!  

     One afternoon we helped in our Lovell FHC - Reviewing with Temple & Family History Consultants how to climb around in someone's tree, using the App & then help them find a name in 30-40 minutes!  this can be an amazing spiritual experience for people but is most successful is done "one on one"

      We have enjoyed having some of you stop in,   Allen & family last Saturday a.m, (Amber was at an Auxriliary Training Mtg, we missed you)  Darece has been by with Athena & Lucy! And Rob has stopped by!

     Here is the latest from Vicki about Cozy & also a picture:   "Hello dear family. Cozy has been home for several days. She is doing well. Kirena managed to catch her smile Kirena tries not to think about the brain collapse too much, but it is worrisome for her.  It sounds awful, and it could be...but so far cozy seems fine. Her ventricles are like big water balloons in her head with brain matter on the outside. When they drained it allowed space for a part of the brain to fold over on itself. We are hopeful as her ventricles fill up to normal her brain will also go to it's correct spot. There is a chance the fluid will fill up around the fold, or hemorage, or brain bleed...but it's a 'wait and see how cozy acts' type of a thing. They won't do anything to prevent it. Just fix it if necessary."

     I am also attaching a picture taken today of Lexie! She was blessed today!

Love Dad and Mom

Hope all is going great for each of you!

June 4 & 11th, 2017

Dearest Family,

      Happy 83rd Birthday, Uncle Bruce on Friday, June 9th!  Happy 18th Birthday Kaitlyn on Tuesday, June 13, Happy Birthday Allen on June 15, Thursday!  Joy & Dak will be celebrating their 23rd Anniversary on Saturday, June 17th. Have a great day! 

     We have an announcement - Nathan &  Bri will be getting married in the Oakland Temple, Saturday, September 2 at 11:00 a.m.  He wanted all of you to know!

      Hope all is going great for each of you!  It has been a wonderful week here! Dad enjoyed visiting with all of you on his birthday! Thanks so much for the Chromebook computer!

     It has been a beautiful summer week!  We have worked in the yard some, weeded some, & even planted garden & a few flowers!  The temps are beginning to feel like summer also with warmer nights also!

  

     The past two week was centered around getting ready for our Sundays in Bozeman Montana!  Left Saturday afternoon - it was a beautiful drive!  Stayed in the home of the Stake President, then visited 3 wards.  Presented "The Gatherers or the Kingdom during S School time to members of each ward council & Temple & Family History Consultants.  Enjoyed our time with each group! Then on the 10th we stayed with  Bishop Madsen of the Bozeman 3rd ward. Taught his mother & father-in-law who were visiting, the Bishop & his wife & 12 year old daughter.  It was so wonderful when each of them found names to take to the temple.  Today in the three Bozeman wards we did hands on training or tryed.  In the morning the FamilySearch programs work just great but come late afternoon the saints all over the church are being so diligent, They are keeping the Sabbath Day holy by doing Family History & the system just gets bogged down!  FS keeps expanding their Cloud data base each Sunday but still can't keep up with the use.... It has been an amazing two weeks - most are so excited with just a few who find the smaller devices hard to use!  There are such special people every where we go!  It is great to be out among the saints!

     We have had wonderful days during the week also!   I went to Billings with Darece, McKenzea & Athena on Tuesday. Nice day! Dad did a service project at HSBend then two FH trg in the afternoon. On Wednesday Dad went to Horseshoe Bend then again on Friday , we both went!  Found a spot by the dock, a trash pile on the water where the catfish were feeding. We casted to the edge of this and caught several fish both days! We kept two 24"er both days It has been ages since we have been able to go fishing!  We had fresh catfish the next day!  The sheep are doing extra duty this year eating all the 3 ft tall mustard . . . its amazing Thanks Barretts for these harvesters. One of these day they will start on the grass.

        Cozy has been at home the past two weeks, the whole family together!   She will be having surgery again this week because she is still retaining fluid in her head, we have no details as to when.  

Also Michelle is recovering from some surgery last week - as reported on facebook!   Love & prayers for all of them.

Love you all!

Mom & Dad

Another amazing week

May 28, 2017

Dearest Family, 

     Happy 74th Birthday to Bob on Tuesday,May 30.  Happy Birthday to Bo on Friday, June 2!  Have a great day!!!!  It was Kaitlyn's HS Graduation on  Tuesday evening!  Congrats!!!! Kaitlyn!

     Another amazing week with many special opportunities for training.  Started out the week Skype training a Ward Temple & Family History Consultant. She's is so excited.  We sent her screen clips then she called on Saturday evening. They were not opening correctly, so we helped her with that.  She wanted to use them to.  Abt 80, young at heart, & has amazing computer skills! 

  

     We have helped a new High councilor over T&FH, & were able to be in the home of a High Priest Group leader. Miracles happened & he was able to find a new family to add to Family Search!  I was able to help his wife recover her acct info & we found a sealing of a child to her parents, how special that is, Can't leave out any of those special little ones.

     On Thursday evening, we had the opportunity to do training here in Lovell with the TFH Consultants, it is always great to work at home.  It is fun to train them to climb around in someones tree, so they can have a successful experience helping people to find a family member to provide ordinances for!

     We were able to visit with Wendy, who is involved in "mobile app awareness: in SLC. That was a fun visit & we will be doing more with others in this department!      

     Feel very blessed also this week - there were several days that I had a very swollen knee & of course the first thing that comes to mind is blood clots, but it was only old "arthur-itis" rearing his ugly head!  Turn 70 & one starts falling apart!  Went to the Doctor & he gave me some exercises which strength the muscles above the knee & help! A special Priesthood blessing was the best part!

     Dad kept busy outside each day with all the weeds. He uses the mower and weed eater to keep areas open for daily use and will let the sheep do their thing once we get them. He did some irrigating this week too. Our water lilies in both ponds will be blooming this week, also our day lilies. One of the California quail pairs has some eggs in her nest! Dad also put a couple eggs under a pigeon to set on. Our plum trees got frosted a couple weeks ago so all the little plums have dropped off. We'll have to see what the apple tree fruit does?  He would like to let the pigeons out but still goshawks are still around to eat them. We hope it is soon time for them to head to the mountains!

     Today we were able to setup who we will be staying with over the next two months in the Bozeman area on weekends. So many generous saints out there willing to serve us!  It's been a very blessed week!

     Below you will find a link to an interview done in Idaho with he & his wife.  There are some very special thoughts in it!   Enjoy!  

     Here is also the latest update from Vicki on Cozy:   Cosettes home again:) on her 2 months old -from her due date- anniversary. Kirena will keep close track of cozy's head for any swelling. We sure hope the ablation is successful!!

    Love you all Mom & Dad    

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865680798/East-Idaho-News-interview-with-Elder-and-Sister-Bednar-provides-a-unique-view-into-the-life-and-call.html

Happy Wedding Day! Cheyenne & Tchae!

Dearest Family,

     Happy Wedding Day!  Cheyenne & Tchae!   It was wonderful to be in the temple with them on Saturday, May 2Oth  What special day for them & all of use who were able to be there with them!

     The Fikes arrived on Thursday afternoon!  There had been lots of snow in the southern part of Wyoming so they left Laramie earlier than they had planned. We enjoyed having them here for a little extra time. Thursday evening some of the Grants came over & Rob was also here!   Had fun just sitting around viisiting!  Friday, we all helped the Fikes, they were hosting a Taco Dinner over in Burlington, prior to the reception.   It was for those arriving from out of town, & those who had been decorating, etc.  Anyway we were busy here cutting, chopping, frying, etc to get the dinner ready so they could leave by 4:00 p.m. The reception was so nice, with lots of people attending both from Powell & Burlington.

     One day took a drive out to the lake - water is very low - in preparation for a huge run off as the weather continues to warm.. Most of the water sheds have over 200% normal snow this year!

      Darece & I went to Billings on Tuesday - had a nice time working in the laundry - kept busy hemming slips & sewing labels on them. Did a little shopping before & after - had a wonderful time!  Dad attended the funeral for Jerry Wellman that morning.  

     On Wednesday I worked with two ladies, & Dad had company!  Rosie & Kenny are doing a video about Lovell so she came out to interview him. Darece, McKenzea & the three little girls were also here, swinging & just having fun!  Not fun for me because I missed it!

     Today was so nice, traveled to the Big Timber Montana Branch, 2 1/2 hour drive each way.  We did classes during SS time & last hour. Several shared experiences which they had had doing the ordinances for family members!

     

Thursday  update from Vicki:

Updates o)  not much Cozy news.  she is still hospitalized at least thru Monday. Neurology will look at some things Monday & decide the next step.  Cozy in general seems to be doing ok.  the infection should be almost gone. She is having some heart issues that are not explained yet.  She has been moved to a surgery unit just because it has the heart monitor that she needs.  Her head is beginning to swell so that will need to be addressed in the next few weeks- hopefully they won't let it get too bad.

Sunday update & a precious video:Cozy was cute yesterday:) her hair is pretty gunky because of the monitors, and they can't wash her hair yet with the incisions still so new- she is pretty sticky:)

Love to all of you Mom & Dad

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks

Dearest Family,

     Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks - We will wish Happy Belated 27th Anniversary to Rob & Michelle on May 12th.   Then this Wednesday, May 17, is Rob's Birthday,  Have a great day,son!   Then on May 20, Symphony celebrates her 15th birthday!   Happy Birthday!  What a way to celebrate!  Tchae & Cheyenne will be married that day, Saturday, May 20th in the Billings Montana Temple!  We are so excited for them!

     The past two weeks have been full ones, Skype trainings, visits,. trips to Cody, just to name a few. May 4th was our first, lunch with the 7 Sr Missionary couples who will be serving in the Historic Cody Murals for the summer. Then Mon - Thurs we were there also!  Each morning 9-10 a.m. we gave a lesson, then assignments to work on during the day.  We then had one on one time with each couple. 10-12 & 1:30-3:30.  It was an amazing week, the youngest couple is 58 & 61, and the rest range in age 73 to 84.  There were miracles each day as hearts were turned as many found their first name of a family member to do sacred ordinances for in the temple - families being gathered together!  There were other tears of joy shed as discoveries were made as to how modern technology could be used inspite of physical limitations. One brother only sees 3-4 letters at a time.  His wife's smartphone turned out to be his best tool! He was so excited, that night he went to Verizon & got him one!  Dad spent several more hours the last day helping he & his wife find success!

     The weather has been beautiful - sunny days - a few rainy ones also!  Dad has the yard looking beautiful, green & nicely manicured. The lilacs are blooming, there is aspargus to pick.  Just here in our yard there is enough for us to have creamed aspargus on toast - sure tastes yummy!

     It has been a great Mother's Day!   I so appreciate all the wonderful Mothers in our family!  Appreciate each one of you!   First there is Michelle, Vicki, Darece, Joy & Amber. Then there are all our married Granddaughters & Granddaughters-in-laws!  And those unmarried, mothers in embryo: Mica, Whitney, Kaitlyn, Symphony, Kenya, Daeja, Leanne & Camille!  Love you all, you are the greatest!

     We had a special evening with Ken & Darece, their family, Bob Derocher, Susan, Jason & Trista Croft.   Jason was the chef for a yummy dinner!  So.o.o very delic.....

Here's the latest on Cozy, many ups & downs!   The ups!!!!   She weighs over 11 lbs.

from Kirena,  May 13th..

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates  You all know-it's been crazy!!!

I wish I had answers, but what we know now is very little.  Cozy was discharged from the NICU on Monday.  We had a beautiful three days, but something changed on Thursday. Cozy was awake for 13 + hours straight. She was erratic, irritable, and more hungry than usual. As the day progressed, her heart rate increased significantly, as did her fussiness. There were no other symptoms (no fevers, etc), and she finally fell asleep around 1 am. We assumed she had just gotten over tired and over stimulated.

The next morning though, Cozy woke up around 7:30 a.m. She was still irritable, and her resting heart rate was in the 200.s. We also noticed a significant increase in the fulness of her fontanel and called our pediatrician. He had us come into the office where they conducted a urine test. Results showed positive for infection, but for Cozy, things are not as simple as a UTI.

We were admitted into the ER where they conducted a panel of tests, closely working with Primary's. She soon spiked a fever. We then were released into an ambulance and transferred to Primary Children's ER  More tests.  Eventually, Cosette was admitted into the Infant Care Unit.  It was a loooooong day.  over 14 hours sitting in various rooms, hoping for answers.

Even now, we don't  have many:/  All of our blood and CSF tests were negative. There were worrisome indicators that showed there definitely is infection, but the source or reason for it is unknown.  All samples are being cultured, but nothing has grown so far. In some ways this is good, but in many others, we really wish we just ha a concrete problem we could tackle.  For now, Cozy is on a slew of antibiotics that seem to be helping.  Her fevers come and go, but she is usually calmed with Tylenol.  Her demeanor is mostly unchanged-just more tired.

That's about it sadly.  We could be there for a week. It could be a month.  We may have to take out her shunt. We may be released with a prescription for antibiotics

    

Then May 14th,  a.m.

 And Yesterday brought on a few more answers, but I can't exactly say I'm happy about them all :/

Some of Cozy's cultures have started growing organisms. There are signs of staph infection and possible mrsa. There are also indications of meningitis. Nothing is concrete though, so we will have to wait for Infectious Disease to classify everything. 

One thing is certain- her blood work definitely showed infection, soooo the shunt has to come completely out. Surgery is scheduled for this morning. *all the sighs

We hope it's only for a few days for the infection to clear, and then the shunt can be inserted again, but it could be weeks. It's going to be a day-by-day process to see what is next. 

Love you all.

And Monday Afternoon: May 15th, from Grandma Vicki

Cozy had surgery today removed all the shunt. Now we wait for her body and the antibiotics to fight the infection. In days, or weeks they will put the shunt back in. We are still praying for her little head to figure out how to move the fluid in it's own. That would really be so great...

We send our love to all, sorry we are so late with this letter but wanted to wait until we heard about Cozy - & then the afternoon & evening got busy!

Love you all & CTR Mom & Dad