K7 going, going, gone - on Church mission to Africa

K7 has been preparing throughout his entire life, all 18 years of it, to serve The Lord on a 24 month Mission...somewhere in the world. In September, he received his "Call" to serve in the Ghana Kumasie Mission! West Africa! Oh boy! Happy, excited, nervous, and lots of other emotional descriptives. So, how does one prepare for a mission in Africa?

Well, after becoming Spiritually solid, you need to be financially solid - earn lots of money. K7 had half of what he needed in the bank when his Call came, so he needed more - and I needed a lot of projects done on our Wanch.

Since he will be in a third world country for 2 years, have to ensure no potential dental problems - so yank those wisdom teeth out and make sure there are no cavities.

The bank account not quite full, so more Wanch work...

...and even more work.

But he had a few occasions to rest and relax.

He enjoys relaxing by shooting, he is a good shot, and hey, he is going to Africa...albeit, Ghana is probably the most peaceful and friendly country on that continent. Never hurts to know how to use a variety of tools.

Speaking of shots, got to get a few more of those babies - yea, that feels real good! He received this batch at Ft Leonard Wood Army base.

More work, even if it is baby sitting while the family gathers apples and pears at a neighbor's.

Finally! Enough money in the savings account to pay for 24 months. We stopped by our bank so he could open a checking account and carry a debit card while traveling to cover emergencies. One of his good buddies, Tia, in the blue shirt in back ground, just happened to be there at the same time, doing the very same thing. She is going on a Mission to Colorado.

Getting close to departure day, so better start saying his "good-byes" to all his family and friends, those large...

...and small.

His very last social event was attending a little brother's birthday party, which we held at a local pottery store. Kids had fun, cake, and good memories. Too bad the mug he painted in the cool colors of Ghana's national flag won't be fired and ready for use before he departs. He will get to see and use this mug for the first time around 29 October 2017.

His final full day in Missouri, USA. We drove to our Stake President's medical clinic an hour away in order for President Jones to set K7 apart as a full time Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But you ask, "Where is the dark suit?" Ghana is way too hot and humid for the traditional suit. He is wearing his official Mission "uniform" in this photo - slacks, short sleeved white shirt, tie, and sturdy walking shoes.

Final farewell to his best bud, brother K8. Then we headed to our nearby "big" city with an airport large enough to get him to Atlanta. Since his flight was at 6:10 A.M. the next morning, we decided to spend the night at a hotel near the airport.

His travel paperwork said he had to be at the airport 3 hours prior to his international flight. I told him this is a dinky little airport, so we don't need to be there at 3:10 A.M.! We arrived at 4:15 A.M. 

Where is everybody? The airline employees were't even here yet. Oh well.

The final hug and goodbye with his Mom, Mother, The Center of His Mortal Universe. People have been asking her how she feels about sending her son off to strange lands for two whole years? Her reply, "This is what he is supposed to do, and for which he has been preparing his entire life."

Walking tall, through the stupid TSA herding lanes of insanity. It irks me that we can not wait with him at the departure lounge for the next hour. Remember those days? Before the government started mis-trusting it's own citizens rather than profile the real suspects? But I digress. K7 is going to a country without many of our rules or benefits or conveniences. He will get to serve some wonderful people and experience many, many new things. He will return a different man - an even better man than the one he was when he left home.

K7 = Elder Whipple.
(And K8 inherits the new suits that Mom bought last spring!)

Texas Wedding - Part 2 - The Aftermath

After the wedding and reception, we moved from our hotel rooms over to Dan's house. He and Leslie are super kind and generous hosts! Here's K6 "chilling" out by the pool in the early morning hours...before the temperature reached 100 F, again.

K7 and K8 grew up with Dan's daughter Sarah and son Matt, two great young people.

Kids spent the rest of the weekend in the pool. Sarah gave swimming lessons to the little girls, and the boys did several versions of throwing and catching a football while airborne over the water.

It is only fitting that the "larger than life" Texas hero, General Sam Houston,  have a king-size statue. It's located in Huntsville, along I-45. Just a few minutes after this photo was taken by K8 from his side of the truck, we had a little problem that delayed our trip home...

...we had a flat tire. Not normally a big deal, but this is a Toyota truck - great in every respect except in the design of it's spare tire. It took both K8 and I a full 30 minutes of fighting it to finally get the cheesey 3-piece crank rod to lower the spare. Once we had it out, the cheesy little lug wrench would not loosen the lug nuts, so we could not get the flat tire off! I called USAA roadside. Usually they are great, but not this time. We waited a total of 3 hours on the side of the road, laden with slow moving bumper to bumper traffic right next to us, because they closed one lane for construction right after our flat! Great timing! During that 3 hours, the temperature went from 91 to 101 F. We had water bottles and a slight breeze. We survived. USAA did not send a truck from Huntsville which was only 2 miles behind us. No, they sent a truck from New Caney, which is over 45 miles south! And he was stuck in traffic the whole way. Incredible. The pleasant young guy in the tow truck arrived and gave us ice cold water. He weighed about 300 pounds and had the right tool to get lug nuts off. As he arrived, a lady pulled up behind us with a dying car, and she was in tears asking him for help getting a tow to Dallas! That just goes to show you that no matter how bad things may appear to be, someone else is really having a worse day than you.
I am buying the "right tool" to carry in my truck, and we no longer put the spare tire under the truck. It's in the bed where we can get it out in a minute. All in all, no complaints. It was worth it to make this trip. 

Because we were Blessed to see K5 and Jeremiah sealed for time and eternity in the Temple. 

And, in spite of the occasional bumps along the road of mortal life, everybody lived happily ever after!

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together to have...a Wedding!

Our large family gathered in south Texas the first week of August (107 degrees F!) for the wedding of our daughter - K5. On the day before the wedding, the families of the bride and groom (more about him later) held a fish fry lunch at the home of Danny's Grand Parents, who are mutual friends of both families, and super gracious hosts!

There were food choices for any tastes - Danny's selection of great fried fish on the left, or K3's supposedly healthier plate of grass and lettuce.

Danny's Grandpa is an avid hunter and outdoors man, as well as being a taxidermist.

K2 is wearing an arctic fox hat - super warm - while holding Wiley.

That evening we decorated for tomorrow night's reception. Take one big empty gym, and add...

....nice decorations, table & chair coverings, all done by the Bride, her Mom, the Groom's Mom, brothers and sisters, and their kids.

Finally! A picture of the Bride, K5, on the right, and her sister, K4, and Mom,  creating table center pieces. In the background is the sound man, Danny, who used his iPhone to provide music. 

And to eat? More healthy choices. Lots of them. As you can see, my wife has had a big influence on our daughters. Yea for the healthy team.

But, all is not lost! I must have had some positive influence on our children growing up, at least in the chocolate and dessert area, because K1 baked a million tiny cup cakes for those of us who needed real food.

K1, on the left, was in charge of the kitchen, ably assisted by sister, K4. Mom popped in occasionally when not busy decorating tables.

Friday, 7 August, the Big Day. We gathered at the Houston Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. All the little ones were parked in the waiting room to be watched by teenagers, while all the adults headed for the Sealing Room.

An hour later, here they are - Mr and Mrs! Jeremiah is an awesome young man of great character and integrity who grew up in the Church in south Texas and served his 2-year Mission in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. They are a perfect couple - kind of remind me of Miss Jane Bennet and Mr Bingley from Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice". 

Our beautiful daughters. K3 on far left is due with her 3rd child at Thanksgiving; and K4, next, just had her 6th child last week (her 3rd daughter, Heidi); the lovely Bride, K5, who graduated from Nursing School earlier this summer; and our oldest, K1 who travelled the farthest to be with us for this wonderfully special occassion.

K5 with her four brothers. K6 had to work late last night and had just flown into Houston from Denver and arrived minutes before the photo shoot. K8, the Bride, and K7. K2 was one of the few of us "old school" guys to keep his suit coat on during the 100 degree shoot.

Families are forever, so we have to keep working harder at being more like Christ every day.Thank goodness for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His Plan of Happiness. 

And as Latter Day Saints, we believe in Temple Marriages which last for eternity, and not just "until death do us part". We will be together forever as family in Heaven. If you want to learn more, just contact the LDS Church or Missionaries in your town, or contact me. Or, if you happen to be in Ghana, west Africa, during the next two years, get a hold of K7, the good looking guy second from the right, kneeling on the front row wearing a bow tie and vest - he'll be teaching the Gospel there until October 2017.

July & August Update

Early July, we celebrated K7's 18th birthday with a trip to one of the 3 Mexican restaurants in our little town. He is on Mom's left. Nothing fancy, but a tasty meal and fun evening. Brought along one of his good friends, Taylor. (in yellow) Soon after, both K7 and Taylor received their Calls to serve as Missionaries for The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints - K7 leaves late Oct and flies to Ghana in West Africa! It will be a while (24 months) before he eats Mexican, Italian, American, etc food...Taylor is headed to the Dominican Republic, speaking Spanish.

Turned these girls into a new paddock with lots of fresh grass - happy, happy ewes.

This is what the view has been out our windows since March, all the way through August - Rain! But I shouldn't complain because it's not a typical hot August - the temperatures have been in the 70's during day, and down to 50 at night! Wow, I'm loving it, especially after driving to south Texas for K5's wedding in 107 degree heat (more about wedding in next post).

No shortage of water or green vegetation this year.

My neighbor had to wait for the water to recede before he could cross our bridge.

After 5 years, we sold our registered bull, Red. He usually loads up in the trailer quickly when offered a bucket of sweet grain, but....

....took a little longer this time because there were a few cows in heat on the other side of fence, which kept distracting him. He was reluctant to leave his harem, but there is a new group of girl friends awaiting him in Kansas. We'll be buying a polled, red bull this winter or spring. Keeping our horned girls, but want to add the polled gene to our herd.

We have a small, but beautiful National Cemetery an hour away. It was started during the Civil War due to the many battles and skirmishes fought in southern Missouri. 

There are many head stones that say, "Unknown Soldier", both U.S. and Confederate,

And a few Indian Scouts as well.

K8 turned 16 last Tuesday, and after five fun years of being a Boy Scout and all the many hikes, camp-outs, merit badges, and service projects, he finally finished all requirements for (and filling out the tedious detailed paperwork) the Eagle rank. Congratulations K8! Stay tuned for announcement of his Court of Honor date which is still to be determined. He is the 12th Scout in our Troop to earn this rank in the past 5 years, but only the 2nd to get it so young - K7 got his at 15 1/2. The other 10 Eagles got it the week they turned 18. Quite an accomplishment for K8!