BIG SNOW

Looking out our front door.
Down our front walk.
I think this is the front of the house!
Where did the well house go?

Looking out our front window.

Bringing in the heavy equipment.

Me up to my butt in the snow on our roof.

This is our road going south.

This is our road going north.

Hi Everyone - Well I usually do not have much to report, but I thought you might all like to see some pictures from the last week of storms that we had. I won't complain though because we really need the snow, but you can fell a little sorry for me if you like. I feel like I am living in a snow cave. We are scheduled to receive more snow over the next couple of days. If you would like to see more pictures email me and I will give you access to my Kodak gallery. There are about 80 crazy pictures on there.

Mom and Dad are doing well in Storm Lake and their weather has been very cold - they are surviving. As far as I know the rest of the family is doing well also.

Well enjoy the pictures of my winter wonderland. Liz

A Touhcing Tribute to Our Beloved Prophet

I know that most of you probably watched with much love, gratitude and sadness the funeral services today for President Hinckley. I cried almost the entire time. I sent the following email to many of my friends and family, both in and out of the church, because I thought that it was such a touching tribute to a man of such profound worth. I hope that each of you will take a chance to watch this with your families and be grateful for the people in your life that inspire you to be better. Please pass it on.

Dear friends:

I am sending this to many of my friends, some who are members of my faith and some who are not. For those of you who do not know, the President of my church, Gordon B. Hinckley passed away last Sunday. His funeral services were today. I watched with immense sadness the services on KBYU- TV and cried almost the entire time, grateful for what this good man had accomplished in his 97 years here on earth. There is a television commentator of some fame. His name is Glenn Beck. He has a talk show on CNN Headline News. He is a convert to the LDS Church and the other night on his program he gave a short tribute to President Hinckley, acknowledging in his own life how one man had lifted and inspired him to be someone better. It is incredibly touching, not something you see often on TV. I am passing this on to all of you, hoping that you will take just a moment to watch it and remember the importance of those that lift us up and inspire us to do better, to be better and to lift those around us to be better too.

Much love to all those who have lifted and inspired me to do the same.

Lydia

Click on:

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

Dick and Hazel have EMAIL!!!

Yes - it is true. Dick and Hazel FINALLY have an email account. You can reach us at:

dickandhazel@att.net

Drop us a message when you have a chance!

Christmas in Japan

We're thinking of you and wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Love,
Elder and Sister Detton

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Christmas Greetings from Sapporo Japan - Elder and Sister Detton

December 23, 2007
Merry Christmas! We have had a great week. We went to four zone conferences, Atsubetsu, Kotoni, Mururan, (three hours away) and Saturday at Higashi. Each time I read "Christmas Day in the Morning" by Pearl S. Buck. We had morning talks, then wonderful lunches provided by the ward Relief Societies, then gift exchanges and games with the missionaries in the afternoon. Tomorrow we drive to Asakikawa, three hours away, north of Sapporo. We will go with the Packard's. Last Friday night we had our last English class until January at Toyhira. Dick had the students read the Christmas story in English and Japanese and we also sang carols. I made alot of food to eat, little sandwiches, fresh pineaple, madarin oranges, popcorn that Janelle had sent (hope it was good.) I made a sugar sauce and poured over it. We had cookies, candy, all sorts of stuff. We played Bingo and then ping pong. A good time was had by all. Dad and I were good and surprised everyone. Saturday we had the Shiroishi Ward Christmas party. Brother Nakaya did an absolutely beautiful power point presentation of the Christmas story, with music, narration, words to carols. It was wonderful. They had long tables laden with all kinds of delicious food. They also presented us with a big red wrapped box filled with presents from ward members. This morning Dick went to Toyohira Ward as an English student (non-member) attended all three meetings. His name is Akio Iizuko. Perhaps you recall I wrote previously about him. He is a IBM computer programer and had invited us to his home and taken us out to lunch. We met his wife at that time. After church today, they went to the hospital to visit his wife, Fusano. She had surgery last Thursday to remove a small tumor in her neck and is now waiting the results of the biopsy. We were happy he came to church. Also Mr. Yamada, a perennial English student, (non-member) attended Sacrament meeting. I stayed at Shiroishi Ward because I played a medley of Christmas songs for special music. At Shiroishi Ward meeting, I looked over and lo and behold there was Brother Aoyama an inactive member who we have visited him at least five times. We did so just last week and sang Christmas carols with the Nakaya's. He is the brother that was converted as a young man and was for several years a building missionary here in Japan. When we first visited him he took us upstairs to his computer and showed us many construction pictures of the chapels and Tokyo temple he help built. He has many pictures of the general authorities. He is now 63 and inactive. Today he looked like million dollars in his navy blue pin stripe suit, gold tie, fancy shoes and mod haircut. So we had a good day.
Tomorrow evening we are going to the Iwata's for Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day we have been invited to the Tuschida's.
These faithful saints are wonderful people. We do love them and they seem to love us.
We have had no snow for a week but it is still cold. Paul and Dale are coming to visit us again and will arrive December 27. We are looking forward to seeing them.
We love you and miss you and think of you. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas with your families.

hi from storm lake, iowa

Liz has finally steered me on to the blog. We,ll see how it goes next time i want on. Things are slow here. No one wants to see us before Christmas, I guess we'll just put on our faces and go store hopping and street walking with big smiles on our faces. It is surprising how many people smile back and talk to us. We love you all and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. Karen

Update on Uncle Dick

Here's the latest on my dad. He was released from the hospital yesterday at 4 PM. They took the catheter out in the morning at 6 AM. All the bleeding had stopped as a result of the surgery, so they let him go home at 4 PM. I called over to the house at 6 PM to just see how dad was doing and my dad said "I can't talk, we are leaving right now to come to KC's choir concert, we'll see you in a little while!" So there yo have it. An entire new lease on life. Dad has had a catheter for at least the last 3 months, so he was thrilled beyond belief to have that gone. When the concert was over, dad said, we are going home right now, it's been a long day. After the concert, Ken and I took KC and a friend to In-N-Out. We were there for about 5 minutes and were sitting in a booth waiting for food. All of the sudden we look right behind us and there is Grandma Doering - in the next booth. We all burst out laughing. My mom and dad didn't even see us !!! How come we are not surprised that dad's first meal out of the hospital was In-N-Out!!!

Steven comes home from Wisconsin tonight and Mallory and Jim's daughter Kristin comes in this afternoon from Texas with her husband Cip and grandson C.J. We are looking forward to the Christmas holiday and send our love to all of you !!

Faulkner Family Newsletter

We just posted excerpts from our holiday newsletter on our Faulkner Family Blog. You should be getting your copy in the mail soon. If we don't have your updated address, send it to us and we will get you a copy.

Merry Christmas!

Uncle Dick Back in Surgery

I just wanted all of you to know that my dad had to go back into emergency surgery this morning at 5 AM. He was bleeding and they had to stop it. He is at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek and he will be there for at least a few days. This had been a very rough couple of months and I hope that you will all keep him in your prayers. And give my mom a call if you get a chance. I know she would really appreciate the support.

Lydia

Update on Uncle Dick and Family

I wanted to let everyone know that my dad got out of the hospital late yesterday afternoon. He is home, still has a catheter and hopefully he will get that taken out in about another week. Yesterday was hard for mom, dad and Lottie because their little dog Lacey had to be put to sleep in the morning. Lacey had cancer and had been suffering for a long time. It was clear that she was in a lot of pain. Everyone is very sad, especially Lottie because she has lost her daytime companion. We went to visit last night to see how everyone was doing. Grandma was alone because mom and dad were getting prescriptions filled at the pharmacy. I asked grandma about turning on the TV for her and about some books on tape for Christmas. She told me that none of that is the same as talking to a live person. So, during December, if any of you have a free moment and can give Lottie a call, I know that she would really appreciate the contact. You might have to remind her who you are, but I know that it would mean a lot to her. I sure would like to hear how everyone is doing this Christmas. Keep the family up to date by posting to the web site. If you don't know how, well email me and I'll walk you through the process !!! Much love to you all.

Lydia