Fathers & Sons Outing

You're never too old to poke a stick in the fire!!!

Bishop Walker and Brother Cameron

This weekend was Fathers and Sons outing. It has been raining almost every day for weeks. Some people were skeptical but the rest of us forged onward. Matt came down Friday after lunch and we packed up and headed for the UofI's research forest between Deary and Harvard. We got there about 3:00 pm. The first ones as usual. We visited for an hour or so and then people started arriving. We had a couple of little rain showers but by 11:00 pm the sky was clear and the stars shining. The next morning we had a great breakfast and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We still had about 45 people there. One of Bishop Walkers councilors, Jason Stucki, backed out and didn't go. When I saw him at church this morning I asked him to turn in his "Man Card". He was conducting priesthood so he apologized for not having faith and said he would work all year to get his "Man Card" back.
After church today Mom and I drove out past Viola to Mrs. Berg's new home where there was a retirement BBQ for Ms. Austin. There were lots of people, good food, no rain, and good conversation. I thanked Ms. Austin for all her work and for "putting up with" the Zirker clan. I think she will be missed at McDonald School.

A week from today Mom and I will drive to Salt Lake to get my new pickup. We will pick it up on Monday the 14th and drive home. We plan to stop in Boise and have lunch with "Elder" Higham, one of my companions 40 years ago. Another of our LTM group (Elder Bishop) who is serving as a temple worker in Hong Kong contacted me and asked if I knew how to get in touch with Elder Higham. One of his baptisms is also a temple worker and wanted to get in touch with him. I found Elder Higham on the BYU Alumni web site and contacted him. We had a good visit and made plans to meet next week. I think he is still inactive but I keep working on him whenever I get a chance (it's been about 15 years since I last talked to him).

Hope the rain stops one of these days. It will probably go from 60 degrees to 90 degrees overnight. Oh well, summer must come sometime.

Have a good week.

The Pint Sized Pirates

Aimee as Pearl Jam hosting a pirate game show.

Ty as Scummy and Aimee as a Mermaid.

The two Pirate Captains choosing their crews.

Yesterday, was our second annual backyard play. This year they did a play about pirates. The crews get captured by a sea monster and two "small" pirates must save the day. You saw Aimee and Ty's parts in the pictures. Katie was a pirate and a barnacle. Her best line was, "You're stuck with me, baby!" The kids had fun and were excited to perform. A big thanks to Kevin and Lisa who drug their family clear across town to attend.

We are gearing up for our trek this week. We leave Thursday morning and get back Monday. I think we have all our gear, clothing and devotionals lined up. We'll post some pictures IF we make it home alive. Once again thanks to Lisa (and Kevin) for watching our kids while we are gone.

Brant