A few pictures of the "drop-off". There were hundreds of missionaries being dropped off, it was a fantastic sight. Moms and Dads were crying every where you looked, and the missionaries too. We even got a little weepy ourselves. We had to drive in past the two missionaries in the yellow coats in the one picture, then we turned left and were directed by more missionaries in yellow coats to a spot by the curb. We actually went around the end of the building. Then after we stopped, a missionary with a HOST badge came over to our car to meet Elder Scott. The host asked Steve where he was from , where he was going, did he have a cell phone on him, or any other electronic devices, and any car keys. If he had any of those things he had to relinquish them to his parents. Steve had all ready done all that. Then we hugged Steve one more time and he and the host walked away with the luggage. Steve didn't even look back. Good for him. We then exited the parking lot by a different route and headed out of town and to Great Falls. We spent a wonderful two and a half days with Steve before we dropped him off, and really enjoyed our trip. Letting him go was way easier than Mom had expected. Steve was ready to go, and he looked ready when you looked into his face and eyes. I'm confident he is going to be a great missionary.

Hi everyone. This is Mom writing from our hotel room in Great Falls. We dropped Steve off two days ago and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We parked across the street first and walked over to take pictures by the MTC sign then headed back to the car for hugs & goodbyes. Then we put our parking pass in the window and pulled into the MTC parking lot. We were directed to a spot along the curb where a host missionary met us and helped get Steve's luggage out. He asked Steve if he had a cell phone or car keys, where he was from and where he was called to. We gave him one last hug, said goodbye and he was gone. It was that simple and took about two minutes. Then we drove off. I did really well and didn't even hardly cry. I think Mal didn't want to come because she would have cried more than me.

We've had a relaxing stay in Great Falls, spent too much money and will head home tomorrow. For any of you who may wish to get a letter off to Steve quick before he leaves the MTC here is his address: Elder Steven Robert Scott

MTC Mailbox #207

CAN-TORW 0217

2005 N 900E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

We will pass his email along as soon as we get it. Hope you are all well. Looking forward to seeing the Coopers next weekend. Love Mom

Our new furniture will not get here till February. Mom and I not impressed. The factory where they are being made said that they are experiencing a lag in fabric availability, oh well!! We've been in the Nursery three times now, and surprise, I quite like it!! Of course we only have six kids, so it's easy. But we're expecting four more this year. We took Grandma Scott out for dinner Friday night for her birthday. John and Jan and Dave were there also. We just went to a new restaurant in Cardston. It was pretty good. Saturday morning we took Grandma and Grandpa Wilde to Lethbridge to three craft stores. Grandpa wants to start a new hobby of some kind. He bought a balsa wood airplane kit and some glue. Saturday night we went with Mallory and Cody to Luigies for supper and to the Dairy Queen for desert. Mals birthday in case anyone forgot. We've had really nice weather for about a week. Quite warm during the day, although it still freezes a little at night. We've had some pretty good winds as well. I went with John and Dave to see Eli's Book the other day. Not bad, but language a little much, especially when not needed at all. Pretty interesting story line though. Steve gets set apart Sunday at 4:45 PM, all are invited. The dinner should be well over by then we hope. We've enjoyed Skyping with Jen and Dan and the kids, if anyone else has a Skype address let us know!!!

Our new pocket spring bed came yesterday, and last night was our first sleeping on it. It's about 2 or 3 inches or more higher than our old bed, and Mom said she felt like she was sleeping way up in the air. I thought it was pretty comfortable though, with the thick memory foam cushion on top. It seemed nice and soft next to the hard feeling of our old one. It'll take some getting used to I'm sure. This means that we now have two decent beds downstairs. We put Mals' box spring and mattress on Steve's bed and will toss the old 50 year old mattress and metal springs. We also got a new metal bed frame for Mal's room, and put our old queen box spring and mattress in there. The headboard now is the right size and looks great. The old bed frame wouldn't open up to queen size. So now I guess everyone will fight over who gets the bigger bed. Don't forget the Futon too.

It's finally warming up. Supposed to be above zero tomorrow with wind. Drifts and mud in the forecast. I forgot to take Tika's gift bag to the dump last week. Hope it doesn't thaw out to much overnight. Haven't seen any mice in a while either. I fixed what might have been entryways a while ago, so hopefully that problem is solved.

Glad you liked the humor Jen. My favorite was the Ghandi one.

A little humor.

Here are the 10 first place winners in the International Pun Contest:

1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."

2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says, "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."

5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?", they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."

7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh.
No pun in ten did

Back to the Ho Hum.

You cannot believe how many bags of garbage we hauled out of here today. I know it's been two weeks, because the dump was closed on boxing day, but nevertheless, WOW!! The diaper pail was full to overflowing too. As proud Grandparents, we don't complain about that though. We still have tons of food and treats left, but unfortunately I'll be back to the strict diet regime come Monday. I guess I'd better be eating tomorrow. After the fast of course.

Mom and I went to the Temple to wash dishes today. It was really quiet today and we were not anywhere near as rushed off our feet as some other times. They told us to go home at 2:10 because it was so slow, and Mom and I were all caught up. They've started a new thing now, and the dishwashers now get the half meal for free. (They sell full meals on regular plates and half meals on smaller plates). So we had chicken cordon bleu, baked potato and veggies for lunch. Actually they served us the full portions, but just on the smaller plate.

We visited Grandma Scott before we left Cardston. She was a little more confused than normal, but she could remember the family get togethers over Christmas, and said she had some really good times.

Mom and I went to see Up in the Air with George Clooney last night, spur of the moment like, quite unlike us. It was ok, but would probably be classed by us as worthy of movie rental status.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!! To one and all. The year has started out with huge chinook winds blowing the snow everywhere and into drifts. Hope the roads don't become un-drivable. We're all ready for the Wilde get together at 3:00 this afternoon.

Check it out Chad, the whole herd of antelope was huddled down right by our yard again this morning. There's about 30 or so of them. There were more to the right, but I couldn't get them all in the picture. Took it from the dining room window.

Bev and I went to the new Sherlock Holmes movie last night, it was pretty good. Went to the New Dynasty for Chinese food after. We got home by 10:45, but didn't bother to stay up to ring in the New Year.