SO......

WEDNESDAY AT THE TEMPLE.....

I forgot to tell about an e-mail that came to the temple yesterday. From an American missionary serving in the Yekaterinburg Russia Mission. She had sprained her ankle pretty badly and was seen by an 'elderly' man who had been a doctor before coming to work in the Finland Temple. Couldn't remember his name, although she thought it started with an 'A'. She will be coming back to the temple next week (for visa renewal process again!....man those 3 months go by quickly!). IF that 'elderly' man is still here, could he take a look at the ankle again, just to check to make sure it is okay? Funny.....that she called Wayne 'elderly' TWICE!!! Now, does that make us feel old or what!!

This morning we have a light rain shower going on....at least it is NOT snow!

AND....we have started the process of getting our Finnish Drivers License!! Here is the first set of paperwork that has to be filled out!

'ASH CLOUD'

UPDATE.....

'ASH CLOUD' as in Iceland Volcano update! We woke up this morning to a gorgeous blue sky with NO clouds. Makes it hard to believe there is a problem with flying in this kind of weather.

It is just so pretty. Oh, and by the way, our days are getting longer. Light in the morning by about 6:00 a.m. and stays light until about 9:30 at night.

This morning we made a quick trip over to Sello for a couple of things. As we arrived back at the asuntola I commented to Wayne that I wanted a picture of an AIRPLANE!! As soon as I said that he looked up and said 'there is one now'. We both grabbed our cameras and took a picture. This was the first day in a week that planes have been able to fly. However, we heard that this afternoon they shut down the airports again!! :-(

This is TAMPERE STAKE WEEK at the temple. It has been quite busy. And they have a lot of temple workers with them and that is good.

PREPARATION DAY

AND

APPRECIATION DINNER FOR FHE

Today would have been the day Wayne and I would have taken the Michie's shopping at Sello....to introduce them on the 'ropes' of where to go and how to shop here in Finland. However, because we are still having NO AIRLINE FLIGHTS come in or go out of the Helsinki Airport due to the Iceland Volcano eruption, they have not arrived yet. Bummer.....they have missed so much already!! Hopefully by the end of the week they will be here.

So, our P-Day was a 'free' day to catch up on things. We decided to take a walk on the 'paths' around the asuntola. The snow has mostly melted and the trails on in great shape. We walked for about 1 1/2 hours.

It felt great to get some good exercise again.....

and we found some cute little flowers to prove that spring may be here!! Even if they are dandelions!! Better than NO flowers at all, right!

Tonight the temple presidency and their wives prepared a MEXICAN dinner for us. It was to show their appreciation for the hundreds of hours of shoveling snow this past winter (actually they told us it was calculated at 700 hours in all!!). It was also for the hard work us sistars do in the PESULA (laundry) at the temple......a total of 1400 hours!!!

WOW....we didn't know we had worked THAT hard. We knew it was a lot.

I am cutting the desert for us made by Sisar Roto. It was a strawberry pie.

Just a delightful evening of fun and fellowship.

And everyone enjoyed themselves very, very much. The presidency wanted to know when the next dinner was?? We are ready!!

All three of the presidency washed and dried the dishes! Bless their hearts.......the wives all cooked the food so that is the way it should have been.

And when all of the hard work was done.....one last group picture. KIITOS PALJON!

MARJANIEMI WARD TODAY......

The Piculius were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting today in the Marjaniemi Ward. They asked us to 'tag' along.....and we were very excited to do that. We wanted to support them.

This picture was taken in the chapel after the 3-hour block

of meetings. They did a great job with their talks. Sisar Peciuliene gave her talk in Russian. It was translated into Finnish by and American living in the ward. Veli Pecilius gave him talk in Finnish. He did an excellent job. They have both commented on how difficult learning Finnish is for them. They are from Lithuania. I totally understand that 'concept'!!

Last night we all attended a SPRING CONCERT at the Haaga Ward Chapel. It was absolutely wonderful. There are so many great musicians and singers in this area. Put them all together and you have yourself a real treat......and we definitely did. We had this little 'girl picture' taken outside the chapel as we were leaving......left to right: me, Sisar Zaretskja, Sisar Groberg, Sisar Peciuliene (back) and Sisar Johnson.

It has been a wonderful day!

STARTLING AWAKENING THIS MORNING

The alarm clock had gone off and it was time to get up....6:30 a.m. Hit the snooze button for just 5 more minutes! No harm in that.....right!

Then we heard a sound we had not heard here before.....not sure what it was. Wayne went to the apartment door, opened it up and we heard the smoke alarm going off!! It was NOT the harsh smoke alarm we were used to hearing at home.....the kind that sends a jolt up your body....but a 'polite' sounding alarm!!

So, Wayne thought he better investigate. I looked out the window and there was the FIRE TRUCK arriving (notice how light it is.....6:40 a.m.).....they were very quick to respond I might add. BLUE lights flashing but not alarm on that either.

The Fire Chief arrives to find out what is going on. As it turned out, one of the Russian guests had burned something in the microwave and it was pretty bad. It set the alarm off. All was well....but it made for an exciting few minutes here in the asuntola.

FRIDAY

RANDOMNESS!!

On Thursday we needed to do a quick little errand over at the IKEA store. It was only our 2nd time going here since we arrived some 10 months ago. It is just such a huge store. And they have everything you can imagine....and then some.

We got a picture from Kevin and Lauren after they got home and gave the boys the FINLAND hats we got for them. They are surely handsome in them don't you think. A mighty fine looking group. Ollie didn't get a hat this time so he is not in the picture. And Ele didn't get a hat either....didn't think she would like that!

On Wednesday as Kevin and Lauren were leaving to head home there was a VOLCANO that erupted in ICELAND. They were very, very lucky they were able to get back home to Utah before all airports in norther Europe were shut-down.....including Finland!

Tonight we noticed some 'very interesting' clouds headed our way.......

VOLCANO residue?? We think so......

But even so....it makes for pretty pictures.

SUNSET......

AND

FAREWELL FOR THE JÄKKÖ

A blog is never quite complete without a little sunset picture...this was taken about 9:00 p.m. You can see how light it is....that means our days are getting l-o-n-g-e-r!!

We had a FAREWELL dinner and desert and 'roast' for Veli ja Sisar Jäkkö. They will be leaving to go back to Lappenranta. They have been 'full-time' here in the asuntola for the past 6 months. They have been a wonderful addition to our full-time missionary couples here.

The dinner was actually quite good....can't remember the name of the restaurant though. It is close to Sello.

And after dinner it was back at the asuntola for some dessert.....a delicious cake that Ronda Groberg made.

And a little 'roasting' time for the Jäkkö's.

Veli Jäkkö and I have this thing about saluting each other. I have no idea where that came from ...... somehow it just started. He wanted a 'salute' picture

So, when we finished our little party we went past the kitchen area and the Russian's were having a party of their own......a genealogy party.....sorting their family file cards and figuring out what they needed to do at the temple tomorrow. They will head back home on Saturday and there is still a lot of work to be done. They are so faithful and diligent in their family work.

It is hard to believe that another week is almost gone!