The suitcase is almost packed — just need to put in the ditty bag and breathing machine tomorrow morning. We’ll leave the house about noon tomorrow to drive to Salt Lake and catch a very little jet for a four-hour flight to Cleveland, Ohio. We’re on a Regional Jet which seats two on the left and two on the right. The seats are tight and there’s almost no shoulder space. Ugh. But, it’s frequent flier miles and a direct flight. All of that is goodness. Jared is flying in from Seattle and arrives a bit before we do. His good friend Arlene is flying in from Syracuse, NY and arrives about the same time. Then all four of us will drive to New Wilmington. James and family will be coming up from Kentucky. Daryl is flying in from Philadelphia. Kirks parents will be there from Spokane. I think this is going to be one full, noisey, and fun house for the weekend. I’m looking forward to the trip and the few days there. When we get back, we’ll be home for the next three months and that’s also a Very Good Thing!

We’ve had cold winter weather with no snow of any significance. The weather in Pennsylvania, however, looks to have all the elements of winter while we’re there. For instance…. Wednesday: 50 % chance of snow with accumulation possible. Thanksgiving: Cloudy with 40% chance of snow. Low in the low 20’s, high in the upper 20’s. Friday: 50% chance of snow. I think we’ll see some snow!!

The past several days have been fairly nondescript. I’ve spent most of the evenings selecting pictures and getting them posted on the website. Saturday afternoon we drove over to Soda Springs to take dinner for mom and dad. We had a delightful visit with them. Dad has been up on the ladder and scaffolding putting heat tape up on the roof and in the gutters to hopefully keep the load of ice and compacted snow from accumulating on the roof. Sunday was a busy day, particularly for Nina. I spent the morning at home while she was up at the prison for her meetings. I had been asked to substitute on the organ, but had been given the wrong song numbers (we had sung them the week before), so some time was spent chasing down the right music and getting that ready. I had choir practice after church and got home about 4:45 p.m. We went to the Stake Center for a fireside on Joseph Smith at 6:00 p.m. After that we made a Home Teaching visit and got back home about 9 that evening. It was a good day.

The fireside was very interesting. The presenter was, interestingly enough, not associated with the Church Education System, but rather a local anesthesiologist. For the past several years he has been researching the authenticity of a purported photograph of Joseph Smith. This photograph was copyrighted by Joseph Smith III in 1879, the year that Emma Smith died, and a copy of the photograph is in the Library of Congress. The question being researched was whether or not this photograph was a picture of a painting or a photograph of the prophet himself. The evidence pulled together so far indicate that the photograph is most likely an authentic picture of Joseph Smith. His evidence and the discussion of the remaining open questions was very interesting and well worth our time to be there. But, now we’re wrapping things up to leave for Pennsylvania! Perhaps I’ll be able to post something from there.