Congratulations!

Time to catch up. I had to wait a little while, just to make sure we weren't spilling the beans for anyone. Last week was a big week for weddings and announcements. While Mark and I were in Snowflake visiting missionaries on Friday, we had two exciting phone calls/texts announcing engagements. First our nephew Josh finally proposed to his Brazilian 'goddess'....and she said yes. Way to go Josh! They'll be getting married sometime next summer. We're very excited for both of them-but Josh is going to have to figure out how to get her down here so we can meet her! The second announcement came in a series of texts and even a pic of an engagement ring from Steven (Hermann). So, technically, he's sent us a picture of Ceci, but I'm still waiting for a picture of them together. Actually, I just need to sit down with Jessica so she can show me some on facebook. (She did check his account to confirm our news, and indeed, his 'relationship status' has moved to engaged-and this time it's not a social experiment.) They'll be getting married in February and hopefully (fingers crossed) they'll be able to come down and see us, too.

The theme continued on Saturday at the Snowflake temple. President Tenney, one of Mark's counselors, was released and called as the new Snowflake Temple President. Saturday he performed his first sealing which happened to be one of his granddaughters and one of our missionaries-Nicholas Mallory. It was a beautiful experience. Nicholas was a fantastic missionary and his new bride belongs to one of the best families in Arizona. We love the Tenney's so much. We were so happy we could attend their sealing. We don't have that opportunity often. We didn't stay long, because we had an open house back in Phoenix that night for another returned missionary, Andrew Crozier. He and his new wife, Deonne, were married last week in the Idaho temple. Congratulations everyone! We wish you all the best.

OK, and since it IS fall, I took a walk around the city to try and capture some fall color. It was rough going, but I did find a little.

But Snowflake does boast about 46 of these beautiful historic homes. The one below is the inn that we stay in.

All this while Mark stayed busy working/reading all the missionaries letters.

Below is one of the little windows from our room.

And here is the view from that room....

and another view (this is the top of the first historic home pictured above)....

and another...

and another...

And I couldn't resist a few more pictures of chickens. These ones hang out in a pen between the museum and the inn. Fresh eggs for breakfast!