Montana and back

After dropping Drew and Joaquin off at the airport at about 10:30 pm Sat night the 18th, I went to visit Jerry Mosley. I only visited for about an hour and then hit the road for Montana. I left for Pocatello at midnight about the same time Drew's plane took off for New Yourk. I had planned to stay with Jerry but I had a bad cold and didn't want to expose him too much. He was disappointed I could't visit longer but I wanted to get on the road. I thought maybe I caught the cold from Joaquin but Gail said it takes a week after being exposed to start showing symptoms. I decided I must have got it from Dan Nakai my home teaching partner. I was not feeling all that well but I felt that I needed to make the trip anyway. Gail was not too excited about me driving so far when I was sick and she didn't feel we could aford for me to go. (Gas price in Montana were only $2.80 per gallon.) I had been planning the trip for some time and even finished carving a cane for VW Bob's mom to drop off on the way. Gail's dad knew that I was thinking about coming but didn't know for sure. When I make plans for something I always leave lots of room for various options. It drives Gail crazy because she likes to know ahead of time where we will be staying etc. I just hit the road and figure out where to stay when I get as far as I can go. Well I drove a couple hours to south of Pocatello and then slept in the vehicle for a couple of hours. I drove to Idaho Falls and ate breakfast just before sun up. I found VW Bob's (a.k.a. Snorkle Bob's) shop the north end of Idaho Falls but since it was 7:oo am Sunday I didn't expect to find him there. I left him a voice message that I would be coming back through on Monday to drop off the cane. I then called Grandpa Asay and he was so pleased to hear that I was on my way. I could feel his grin over the phone and it confirmed that I had made the right decision to go to Montana. I drove toward West Yellowstone and decided to take the alternate route to Ennis and past Bob's cabin. I noticed some vehicles parked by his place so I stopped and as luck would have it he was there with his wife and his brother and a friend. He said his mother was over at her cabin. They were all curious as to what diamond willows were so I showed them the bushes around their cabin and helped them to know how to spot the sticks with diamonds. Bob took me over to his mother's place and introduced me. Her name is Roberta and as you can tell from the pictures, she is a lovely lady. She is a young 85 year old. We had a delightful visit on her new deck that her sons and their friend were building. She loved the cane and it was just the right size and fit. She is an artist and showed me some of her paintings. I wish that I could have visited longer. Bob showed me the remodel they are doing on the old cabin as well. They have a lovely place with a stream running by and geese enjoying themselves close by. Bob's brother Jim had already cut a diamond willow staff and was beginning to carve on it before I left for Billings. I made it to Billings at about 4:15 pm and loaded the sewing machines and fabric that Grandpa wanted us to have. Then I carved the great grandkids names in his cane. I tried to convince him to let me fix up the other names on the leaves on his cane but he likes it just like it is. He shared some KFC with me and I was able to visit briefly with David and Leslie and then I hit the road again. Laura was working so I didn't get to see her. Leslie told me that Teal is expecting so I'll need to add another great grand next summer. I had thought about going back to Utah through South Dakota but Tomie Lynn and Eddie had already gone to Southern AZ. I drove to Butte and slept in the car by a truck stop. I hit the road again at 5:00 am and made it back to Blanding by 9:00 pm. I stopped at COSTCO in SLC and I stopped briefly to see Chris in Spanish Fork. I was glad to be able to sleep in my own bed. Another nice part of my trip was that I was able to listen to 15 CDs of Lectures of the Presidents of the Church by Truman G. Madsen. That was my Sunday worship and it was very insightful and interesting. I truely testify that Christ's church was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and that the church has continued to be led by men of God. We are truely blessed to have living prophets on the earth today. I'm grateful for my knowldge that Thomas S. Monson is truely another great prophet to lead us in these last days. On Tues. I went to the doctor to make sure I didn't have pneumonia and I didn't. I am over my cold now and getting ready to take Gail up to Spanish Fork for another Dr visit. It's been a little over 3 weeks since her surgury and she is still hurting but she slowly getting better. We went to 6th ward Sacrament meeting because they don't have stairs into their chapel and Eva and Thomas were performing in their Primary Program. They did great. Eva and Kd also sang a duet together and did a wonderful job. I'm glad to be over my cold and hope Gail will continue to mend. She has started doing her physical therapy as well.

Love you all. Sorry we live so far away. Next visit I'll bring Gail and we'll plan to stay a little longer. Take care.