Around the world in 80 days anyone?

 Last Monday we were at a house returning some equipment when I looked around and spotted this hot air balloon. First of all, I LOVE hot air balloons. They have always fascinated me and I just love seeing them. One of the things on my bucket list is to go for a ride in one. You can imagine how excited I was. Look at those beautiful trees too!

 It seemed to be coming in for a landing what I estimated was the next country road over from where we were. I told Bill, "Quick, lets go over to Yellow Mills road and see if it landed there". It was probably about 2 miles to get over there so I told him to "hit it". This was pretty early in the morning. About 8am or a little after.

 We zoomed over there and low and behold a picture of my dreams. The balloon landed in a large grass yard of a big county house. I wondered what the land owners thought if they even saw it.

 We watched them take the balloon down. It only took about 10 minutes or less to go from the top picture to the bottom one. Isn't it pretty?  What a perfect way to start the week. A good omen for sure!

 They packed it up in a small uhaul type trailer. So fun to see.

 Got some spooky mail this week from Amy, Will and Tyler. I was so happy as my refrigerator was bare (both inside and out). Just love all my pictures. Made me happy!

 This past weekend we were invited to attend a Senior Missionary retreat out at the Seneca Lake Girls Camp. We began Friday at 1pm and it lasted until Saturday 3pm. What a beautiful setting this is. The camp is beautifully set on Seneca Lake. I guess the church owns about 200 acres here. Some is wooded and some fields that a farmer rents. There were a bunch of golf carts (you know how I love those) and we took them all over the camp. This picture was taken from the one I was riding in looking back at the other carts.

 The dock on Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful 2 days albeit very windy a bit chilly.

 We got to stay in our own bunk house all by ourselves. WE had the pick of bunks 16 in all.

 A personalized bunk house.

 They even gave us a goody basket consisting of some root beer and chocolates.

 This is for you Gary Futral, I tried the biscuits and gravy....not a fan....but not too bad either. Thought of you! We had a wonderful time getting to know all the other MLS, FM and Office missionaries. They are scattered all over western NY and it was a fun get together. We had several speakers, some get to know you activities and games and great food. I guess they do this twice a year so we will look forward to the next one for sure. The only down side was that at 4am I had to go to the bathroom and that required a trip to the restroom ranch a little ways away. No boogie men got me so I guess it was ok.

 Just another beautiful tree I couldn't resist taking a picture of.

 While we were at the camp our Mission President pulled us aside and told us we were being transferred. We were attending the Rochester 4th ward on Sundays but he has changed us to the Hornell Branch. It is in outer Mongolia. Took us 1 1/2 hours to get there. It was a beautiful drive along Canandaigua lake, through Naples, Past a little town called Atlanta (of all things) and we drove forever on and managed to find it. This is the building.

 This is the view in front of the building. Just forests and fields forever. It was a wonderful little branch and the people were very sweet and welcoming. We will love being there on Sundays and some Saturdays. The winter drive should be hair raising so I will probably return bald. We decided we better carry an emergency kit with us as all the roads are very rural and endless.

 Some of the scenes along the way were amazing. The fall color is nearly gone but enough is holding on to still make you love the trip.

 Tons of vineyards along the way. The leaves are turning so the rows were pretty colors and the grapes looked like they would burst on the vine.

 This is Canandaigua Lake along the road we were on.

 More color.

 More lake and color.

 More grapes.

 The rows of grape vines. It was all so awe inspiring to see.

 Another beautiful sun RISE. Yep it's 7am in the morning and we are seeing way too many of these. Just kidding, never gets old to start your day off like this.

 Not far from here we passed a farm with these llamas....

 And two Yaks! This one posed for the camera. What the heck do people do with Yaks is what I want to know!

 Then a little further was a field of sunflowers. Now this has got to make you happy!

Sunny side up!  It was sure pretty!  Hope you all like the photos. We love you all and hope you have a great week. I'll keep my camera in my pocket, you just never know what you'll find around here.

Just Another Week in Paradise

 Our continued variety of work here at the wood shop. Elders Nagel and Frost made this counter for the new office wall (finished photo below). It turned out really pretty and our Admin Assist loved it.

 Our Boss, John collects hockey pucks which were originally just taped above his door waiting to clobber someone. So we made a nice maple board, drilled puck sized holes and set the pucks in them. There is now room for 10 pucks. This is not the finished item but you get the gist. It turned out really nice too.

 Ran into this sign at one of the site missionaries apartments and couldn't resist taking the picture.

 I have no idea why I took this picture. Maybe the clouds?... oh well what can I say?

 We had to teach the 15 year old young men at Seneca Camp for their Duty to God qualifications last Saturday. It is about an hour from here and a beautiful drive. This is the gathering hall and I did have a picture of the boys but it was all blurry. They were a bunch of real nice fella's though and we enjoyed teaching them a lesson on service.

 After the class last Saturday their was a car show in Penn Yan. There were probably a couple hundred cars there but this was one of my favorites. It is a Nash.

 My other favorite was this 1950 vintage Good Humor truck. It was in pristine condition and I just loved it. My dad always loved good humor bars so I thought of him this day.

 On the way back through wine country we spotted this huge pumpkin patch that just had to put a smile on your face.

 Here is a picture of the Hill Cumorah. The fall colors have been amazing.

 The finished wall. On a previous post I had the before picture. You will have to look back to see it.

 This tree was so beautiful I just had to take a picture. Of course pictures never do it justice but it's close.

 There was a big meeting of all the North East mission presidents on Thursday with Elder Holland attending so early in the week we were all busy spiffing things up. Our boss gave us the assignment to power wash the wall at the temple as it was pretty dirty. In my mind it looked this big (above)...

 ....in reality it was like power washing the great wall of China.  We had only originally brought the small power washer but soon realized we needed the mac-daddy one. (That's for you Connie). It took us over 2 hours with 2 machines.  I think our boss is trying to do us in in our first 2 months.

 I was soaking wet and it's a good thing I had my boots or I would still be stuck in the flower bed.

 The GREAT WALL. It really needed cleaning though.

 People always ask us how they manage to mow the grass up on the Hill. Well, this is how they do it. Just a guy walking beside a mower. It looked like a walk in the park for him.

 I had another job in the Sacred Grove and this was a picture of the pretty colors I found.

 My job was to clean off all the benches and I decided to rake it out a bit. This is the gathering place that the Mission Presidents and Elder Holland were going to be at. I did it first thing in the morning and a bus of tourists came as I was walking down the lane with my rake. They all looked at me so I told them I was raking the grove. No one laughed (I thought that was funny). Anyway when I veered off to the gathering place I could hear them all singing a ways away. They were singing Joseph Smith's First Prayer. It had been foggy and misty when I first got there but the sun started to peak through the leaves so I sat down and just listened. It was so pretty and peaceful. Definitely a good morning.

 I took this picture from the temple grounds. The lower section in the back ground is the Sacred Grove.

 On Thursday morning we had two service elders (Elders Grove and Spencer) assigned to us so they helped us get all the grass out from between the pavers and tidy up the walkways.

 This picture I took from the top of the Hill. I just love the fall. It will be sad when all the leaves are gone.

And lastly, this is one of the missionary gardens. Sister Frost and I pulled out the old wilted flowers and planted mums and pansies in time for all our important visitors who were going to take a picture of the whole group up here. We are so glad we did it as it made such a difference. I also was given the assignment to dead head all the yellow mums up top by the statue of Moroni. I hope Moroni likes mums because I had about 50 to do. They were getting pretty ragged and since that was where the picture was to be made we wanted it to look good. It took me about 2 hours to do it. A bit back breaking. This mission is not for wimps. It's no wonder when we get home at 4pm sometimes we crash for a nap before supper time. You'd think I would be as skinny as a tree for all the stuff we have been up to but unfortunately I am over compensating. Not good!
I'll try to keep my camera with me. Hope you are all doing well. Until next time!