Our New Home!

We have finally received official notice of our transfer to Kirtland. Our move will be on May 21. We will be living in the Joel Hills Johnson home right by the Visitor's Center. No more "commuting" for an hour to the site! We are excited to make the move but at the same time a little nostalgic realizing the calm, peaceful and beautiful surroundings that we will be leaving behind. Our stay the the Johnson farm has been a wonderful experience! Serving out here with Elder and Sister Leavitt and the sister missionaries, testifying of our Savior Jesus Christ, has been the best! We have met so many guests from all over the world while we have been out here.

I am sure our stay at Kirtland will be a growing experience for us also for the last half of our mission so we are looking forward to new horizons. The home where we will be living is very intersting. It is from the early 1800s and has settled a bit........(a noticeable "bit") =o)

When our daughter Kristen and her family visited with us last month, we showed them our new "quarters" and when she got home she wrote back and said that all she could think of was the poem.....

There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked style
He bought a crooked cat who caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together in a little crooked house!

We are enclosing some pictures to show what she was talking about. But nevertheless, it is very nice inside and big! We are excited!

Dr. Seuss's Magical Orchard

The orchards by the Johnson Farm are really unusual. They have been pruned to look like they could be right out of a Dr. Seuss story. These are apple trees that have been purposely pruned somewhat like a Christmas tree in shape. The central leader goes straight up and is narrow on top so that every apple on the tree has equal exposure to the sun. Every apple from the tree is pristine quality.

When we first saw these trees I thought they looked a little like a hob goblin (whatever that is!) They are so unusual looking that many visitors ask us about them and just what kind of trees they are. We finally stopped at the home of Roger Monroe and had him explain the whole system to us. They have 140 acres of apples and pears. There are 22 different varieties of apples on the farm and each row is a different variety so that cross polination can take place with every variety. Whatever they do and however they accomplish their goal, we had the opportunity to enjoy many of these varieties last Fall. They have a little store in back of their home on Pioneer Trail that is right by the Johnson Home so we pass it every day.