June 2013 Family photos

How amazing to get all of us together in one place for a picture!  We had a great week as well.

Sun., Aug. 3, 2013 Busy at Home

We arrived home on Mon., May 27th.  We spoke in church on Sun., Jun. 30th  The night before we had a picnic for our family and Ralph and Nancy's families and Mom.  The picture is part of the group at the picnic at our house.  Hadlee, Dave and Joyce's daughter was blessed in church that day.  In the afternoon Nelson was ordained an elder.  We drove to Sacramento in July to hear Nelson speak before leaving for his mission to Chile. The missionaries singing are elders who served in Armenia.  They sang at a picnic the Sun. that Pres. and Sister Carter spoke in church.

Bulgarian Sights May 2013

As we were driving between cities we were able to stop at these rock formations called The Rock Forest.  Many of the rocks looked like columns from ancient ruins.  The Madara Horseman was carved into a cliff.  The warrior is spearing a lion and is followed by a dog.  It was early 8th century.  We climbed the 373-step staircase to the top of the mountain to see the ancient fortress.

The Last Trip Apr. 20-May 13th, 2013

Our training trip was 3 weeks and included one week in the Bulgaria Sophia Mission (trained 5 branches) and two weeks in the Rostov Russia Mission (trained 11 branches).  The parade was in Krasnodor on May 9th for their Independence day.  The training group was in the Sochi Russia Branch, the city where the 2014 Winter Olympics will be held.  The Russian flag is white, blue, and red.  The warrior statue was in Stavropol.  The fisherman's family looking toward the sea was in Novorossyisk.

Mike's Visit April 2013

Mike arrived on Sat., April 6th and left on Thurs., April 11th.  It was so fun to show him around.  He was able to attend our branch on Sun.  Some places we visited were Khor Virap Monastery, Mother of Armenia, Echmizdzin Monastery, The Cascades (steps), Genocide Memorial, the monastery at Lake Sevan.

April 3, 2013 Rostov and Volgograd, Russia

The dinner with some of the missionaries at the Rostov mission home was after their zone training meeting.  The other pictures are in Volgograd at the Mother of Russia monument.  The changing of the guard takes place each hour.  They march with "goose steps" with the legs raised high each step.  The eternal flame is where the guards stand at attention.  The statue with the sword raised is bigger than the Statue of Liberty.  The city name during World War II was Stalingrad and the Russians fought the Germans near the city.  The city was destroyed and the name was changed to Volgograd when it was rebuilt.  We flew to Rostov on Thurs., Mar. 28th and had meetings and audits in the mission office on Thurs. and Thurs. evening.  Friday we traveled to Volgograd and had meetings and training with the branch presidents and clerks Sat. and Sun. after district conference.

March 2013 Spring in Armenia

The branch president and his parents invited us and the sister missionaries to dinner at his apartment.  Armenia is famous for their apricots.  The apricot trees were the first fruit trees to bloom in March.  Yerevan has a new and very modern airport.  The painting was a famous Armenian painting that was restored after being damaged in the 1989 earthquake.  It is hanging in the Yerevan Zvartnots Airport.