Monday November 23
Dear Family,
We are home from the Jovo Conference ( I asked more than once " do we need to be here?") But we were able to see more of Holland even tho it was just a half hour drive. We definitely had the shortest drive of the senior couples. They are fun to be around and laugh with. The inn was a nice place to go to each nite away from the all nigh t activities at the camp. We had a large hall with kitchen facility and the kids stayed in an adjoining building with. Rooms.  I did not go check out their facilities. The theme was D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." The mission pres did a good job with his wife ; we each had to take 5 minutes.  The Stake pres came Sunday and closed the day with his comments. We had relief society priesthood mtg combined, sacrament meeting with a testimony meeting which equaled a lot of sitting.
Talking with Chris and Kara last night he challenged me to try something new each week and tell about it.. I had not thought we had been too adventuresome but in fact we have done okay for ourselves. We tried the pourable plain yogurt on our granola cereal which Elder Kleyn loved and left. It is sour and requires getting used too. We decided we did not have to buy that for us! They have pre packaged cut up vegetables that are fun to work with and cook with. I have become a fan of peanut butter on bread with sprinkles on it. It is like what they have for breakfast or lunch with toast or bread. They have a name for the sprinkles , hogenslaw, is what it sounds like, but that is extremely Dutch.sliced cucumbers and chopped tomatoes are a breakfast fare too.  They serve a lot of brothy soups with a few vegetables and few noodles of any shape. It makes me think of my trip to Brasil and the soups Myriam's dad liked before the evening meals. He liked almost straight broth with a very few vegetables somewhere in your bowl!  The family used to tease him about his soup.
 The missionaries moved Thanksgiving dinner from Thurs to Saturday which was fine. We have had winter weather this weekend being cold and rainy ( freezing rain on wind shields).
We have not been outside yet today ,but the sun is out. We need to go to the grocery store . We cleaned house, did our classical stretch tape, and read the scriptures which is a good start. I have made a stew for supper tonight too.  We have FHE tonight and we opted not to travel to see the Elders turkey bowl game! All is well here as  I hope this finds y ou there as well. We love you all! Mom