Packers France Paris Mission Blog 41
Packers in Paris Blog 41 – December 17th – December
23rd, of 2018
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
& STORY FOR OUR POSTERITY TO KNOW
Having
December birthdays aren’t always so easy, but still they should be remembered
and unique on their own, but they also can become mundane and “why bother,” at
times when so close to Christmas. Steve and I have always shared our birthdays,
since they are a day apart. Our December birthdays are unique because we also
became engaged on our birthdays. Steve’s birthday is on December 17th,
and mine is the next day on the 18th. After dating for 1 month,
he asked me to marry him on his birthday and I accepted the next day on my 21st
birthday, just two weeks prior to my leaving for Paris BYU Study Abroad for 6
months.
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| Steve & Renée ready to go off for a great birthday day! |
This simple engagement love story is for our posterity
Only for
those who care to read, here is the short of a much longer love engagement
story.
Having only dated for 1 month and on weekends at that, Steve took me out to a very lovely restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, December 17th, 1977, Steve’s birthday. After a beautiful evening of dinner and dancing, we conversed back and forth, knowing we had grown very much in like with each other. He told me that he would love to continue our relationship after my return from Paris. I then did the brave thing, even though it felt so matter of fact, and told him that I needed to know if it was right between us before I left for Paris. Steve then told me that he would give me two weeks to receive my answer if I wanted to marry him (since he already knew he wanted to marry me, but I was not aware of this)! It was as simple as that! Earlier that day, two people told me that they were sure Steve would ask me to marry him that night (one of them being my mother and the other, Gretchen, a co-worker). I thought they were crazy! Steve would attest that he was much too shy to ever do such a courageous thing that quickly. Since the Lord knew that of him, He made it a little easier by my giving him a nudge that I had not planned on giving.
Having only dated for 1 month and on weekends at that, Steve took me out to a very lovely restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, December 17th, 1977, Steve’s birthday. After a beautiful evening of dinner and dancing, we conversed back and forth, knowing we had grown very much in like with each other. He told me that he would love to continue our relationship after my return from Paris. I then did the brave thing, even though it felt so matter of fact, and told him that I needed to know if it was right between us before I left for Paris. Steve then told me that he would give me two weeks to receive my answer if I wanted to marry him (since he already knew he wanted to marry me, but I was not aware of this)! It was as simple as that! Earlier that day, two people told me that they were sure Steve would ask me to marry him that night (one of them being my mother and the other, Gretchen, a co-worker). I thought they were crazy! Steve would attest that he was much too shy to ever do such a courageous thing that quickly. Since the Lord knew that of him, He made it a little easier by my giving him a nudge that I had not planned on giving.
Once I
retired for the evening, contemplating this gigantic decision, I felt great
peace that Steve was in fact to be my eternal companion. During the night, the
name of our first daughter came to my mind and I wrote it down on a piece of
paper and placed it in my journal. Our first daughter, Sara Camille, did in
fact get that name I had written down.
Our birthday celebration here in Paris
It felt so
fitting to be celebrating our birthdays here in Paris, right?! We took our
normal P-day last Tuesday and Steve so kindly allowed me to choose what we
would do. Even though I had previously been to the Musée D’Orsay, I wanted him
to experience this beautiful Museum again with me, which opened for the first
time on December 9th, 1986! It had originally been a historic train
station.
We were
enthralled by the familiar and inspiring art work, like Renoir and Monet and
other familiar names. Even though we weren’t fans of Picasso, or perhaps some
of the sculptures that are more than half naked, the artistic and variety of
art we saw was fascinating.
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| Musée D’Orsay |
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| Painting of The Seine and Notre Dame Cathedral by Jongkind - we loved this because our apartment is just on the left side of this painting |
While at the
museum, we were stopped by a couple, Jim and Lynda Speidel from Atlanta, GA.
They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who have
served two missions both in the Salt Lake City Family History Center. They were
so happy to hear what our mission is all about. We absolutely loved hearing
their conversion story of two young people with a child, who bravely stepped
into unknown territory and how it changed everything in their lives, the lives
of each of their children and their posterity. We so enjoyed our visit with
them.
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| Jim and Lynda Speidel - our new friends from GA |
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| Renée & Steve at the Musée D’Orsay |
Dinner
and game night!
By evening we
went to one of our favorite restaurants and then played our favorite games!
DISTRICT COUNCIL
Last
Wednesday was another great District Council. Elder Cheng, our District leader
will be returning home very soon and spoke on the importance of remembrance.
Remembering what we’ve learned from our experiences on our mission and what we
will take home with us and continue doing that is good.
He asked each
of us to share one thing we’ve learned on our mission that we want to continue
to do when we return home. It was exhilarating to hear from each of them. If we
can follow through with these goals and desires, we will get through the hard
times that will inevitably be!
OFII
Steve took a
group this week and last week to OFII. Meanwhile, Maryn Tann and I watched the
center and probably talked more than worked! Here are pictures from the last
two weeks! I’m so proud of Steve for remembering to take pictures!
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| Elder Packer with the OFII group |
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| Elder Packer with the OFII group |
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Renée with Maryn Tann - helping out while Steve is at OFII
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DRUM ROLL! FAMILY HISTORY CENTER EXPERIMENT! Thursday-Saturday
This last
week we finally had our experiment three days in a row! We were unsure how it would
go, but felt that it could do nothing but help and bless the activity of our
center.
We had put
together a tour type outline, giving the missionaries information to help them
invite those off the street, to bring them into the center and to help new
people learn more about Family History and what we provide here at no cost!
We had 4
“Light the World” films going on one after another, and then a large sign with a
question that stated, “What makes your family happy_______?” The missionaries
stood outside and caught the attention of our hundreds/thousands of passer
buyers and invited people to answer the question. It was amazing to see the
responses of those who stopped and answered and those who also wished to come
inside our center. We were thrilled by the numbers and the interests from
merely having someone outside to invite them in our doors.
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| Elder Cheng made this sign for us! |
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| Elders Cheng and Patrick doing street contracting near the center doors |
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| This older gentleman needed some real help in finding lost ancestors! We're still trying to help him! |
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| Elder Patrick helping a new friend sign up for FamilySearch |
Friday went
similarly, but it was Saturday’s experiment that was quite extraordinaire. The
sisters were the ones helping us this time, but they came late and honestly had
only about an hour after we gave them a brief training. They were naturals at
contacting people with their bright smiles and genuine questions with those
they met. People were stopping all the time, and then they would bring people
inside and tell them what this center can bless them with. They stated that if
there would have been another set of missionaries, they could’ve kept bringing
more in.
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| Elders Anderson and Kiene - learning the ropes of how to introduce FamilySearch to the Paris World! |
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| The big screen always seems to capture their interest of the potentials of Family History and signing up for FamilySearch |
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| Elders Kiene and Anderson helping a new friend in the center |
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| Elder Packer helping Sister Jensen navigate the big screen |
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| Sisters Jensen and Bell holding the sign to initiate conversation! |
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| Sisters Bell and Jensen with one of our visitors |
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| Homemade cookies for our guests who come to visit the center during our experiment! |
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| Assistants to the President - Elders Durant and Wallace - taking their PDays, these elders like to come to Paris and visit us in the Center! |
Our numbers
certainly improved, and each day brought new conversations meeting people who
were genuinely interested in knowing what we do. We had many more people sign
up for FamilySearch and see the blessings of putting their names in their
family tree and watching it grow, as they consciously think about their
ancestors and remember them. Gathering is such a big part of the magic of
FamilySearch and to see your family grow with love!
PHONE VISIT
WITH BROTHER ROLAND LÉPORÉ
We have been
grateful for our continued communications with Brother Roland Léporé, who now
works with FamilySearch in Salt Lake City. His love and absolute devotion to
our center, this having been one of his great desires while they lived in Lyon,
France, is a tremendous blessing as we continue to work with him via Salt Lake
City at church headquarters. The joint committee he’s on with the Missionary
Department and the FamilySearch Department working together, is a tremendous
boost for us. He is anxious to report our progress and influence for good to
his team in a place such as downtown Paris, France! We have learned you can’t
just let it sit, you have to work it, and work it hard to see the great
potential it has! We know that this is the Lord’s work!
ECLAIREZ LE
MONDE & ARC DE TRIOMPHE & CHAMPS ELYSÉE
Saturday evening we were invited to a charity/dinner event, near the Arc
de Triomphe. We were a bit skeptical to attend because of the constant rioting
in that area for the past several weeks, but we were relieved when we heard
things should be ok and we should not worry! We were asked to bring 100 cookies,
so how could we not attend! It was a beautiful evening of festive music by
remarkable performers and then a beautiful dinner following. There were about
90 + people who attended. By this point, it was already getting very late and
we knew that our walk/metro ride back would take time, so we slipped out. Our
dear friend, Georgette Lalaus is the one who put this all together. She amazes
us, seeing how she lives by such great faith and diligent action to get things
done!
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| Eclairez le Monde - benefit concert/dinner |
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| Georgette Lalaus with her husband on her right! She is the one who organized this immense benefit concert/dinner |
After we left, we were right around the corner from the Arc De Triomphe
and decided to take a look at the lights! It was beautiful, iconic and great to
know we could be there without riots going on! What a blessing to be here in Paris!
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Champs-Élysées - facing Arc de Triomphe
|
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| Arc de Triomphe |
SUNDAY “VENEZ
ETE VOYEZ” AND CONNECTIONS
We were grateful for the beautiful meeting we had last Sunday at our “Come
and See” Sacrament Meeting program. It was all music, except the final talk by
our bishop. Everyone loved the meeting and felt a love of the Savior at this
Christmas time! I was grateful for being
able to direct the ward choir, with about 20 + singers (it was mostly an impromptu
choir), but the whole meeting was inspiring.
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| Renée directing the ward insta choir - O Little Town of Bethlehem in French |
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| A small portion of the ward choir! |
We had few guests we were grateful to make connections with. We will
share who they are in the photo descriptions.
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| Elder & Sister Thornock - serving in Frankfurt, Germany as extraction specialists working for FamilySearch |
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| Renée & Barbara Mecham Higgs |
ANTONIOS FAMILY
HISTORY TEMPLE BLESSING
Antonio came in last Sunday to start his path to prepare the name of his
father to take to the temple. He has been a member for 5 years but is now just
getting this work done. As we helped him prepare and print the name of his
father for all the ordinances of the temple, you could feel the joy and the
peace that came over Antonio. This is a sacred and beautiful thing for him to
give these gifts to his father. You could see and feel the joy he felt as we
helped him!
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| Antonio ready to do the work of his deceased father's work at the temple |
SUNDAY’S
NEIGHBORLY MIRACLE
After church
and before we left at 3:30 from the Center, the Elders stayed in the center
while Steve and I finally took the time to take a treat with our pass along
cards to the store owners on the same small street of our center (about 12).
Each store owner was exceptionally kind, yet surprised (this is not typical for
French people), and very gracious, all while we introduced ourselves to them,
letting them know who and where we are, and that our center is free and all are
welcome!
One store
owner whose store is right across from the opening of the courtyard to the
church right next to our center, was exceptionally sweet and began to tell us
that she has a dear friend who is a member of our faith that lives in Salt Lake
City, who brought her to the Family History Center in Salt Lake, and who she is
still in contact with. She then proceeded to tell us that she absolutely loves
the missionaries that pass by her store each day as she feels a sense of
comfort and protection with them in her midst. We would have never known this
about our neighbors if we had not taken a few minutes to meet them.
DINNER IN AN APARTMENT BY THE EIFFEL TOWER
The holidays
are always a special time when members will invite missionaries over for
dinner. There are two adorable older women (Sister Rosario and Consuelo
Papasin), who are from the Philippines, and had invited us and the 6
missionaries for dinner last Saturday night. Sister Rosario’s apartment is just
a little short half-block walk from the Eiffel Tower.
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| Eiffel Tower just outside of the apartment we were at! |
We had such a
wonderful time in their petite apartment, where you could hardly turn around,
but somehow they fit 8 guests (meaning they didn’t sit and eat until after we
were gone). They are such faithful and gracious women with such big
hearts!
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| Steve & Renée at Sister Rosario's home |
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| Sisters Rosario & Popasin |
After our
delicious Filipino dinner, we walked out and saw the Eiffel Tower peaking over
the apartment on the other side of the street and I stated that we needed to at
least walk to the end of the block to see the full tower. They all agreed, and
not only did we go to see the Eiffel Tower at night, we walked all around it,
and over the river to Trocadero and to another metro stop. It was so magical to
see the tower all lit up at night so close. One of my favorite sites to see!
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| Sisters Jensen, Bell and Elders Cheng, Kiene, Patrick and Ludwig |
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| Eiffel Tower from Trocadero Place |
LAST DISTRICT COUNCIL
In short,
this was one of our finest district councils, where each person went around
sharing their testimonies. It was powerful, peaceful, and filled with so much
love for the Savior, for His Atonement and for the lessons learned from serving
Him. Elder Cheng, we will miss you as our leader, and as you leave to go home
this Thursday. Bless you, and to each of our district members who may be transferred
elsewhere next week, we love you and are proud of each of you!
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| Paris District! |
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Elder Cheng has concluded an amazing mission! He spent his first 9 months of his mission in Paris and finished the last 3 months of his mission here! We will miss him as our District Leader and friend!
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| Elder Patrick and Elder Cheng - they have been the Mandarin Elders teaching the Chinese speaking people throughout Paris |
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| Our awesome district! |
THE BOOK OF MORMON CHALLENGE COMPLETE
On Christmas
Eve morning we finished the Book of Mormon challenge from our dear prophet,
President Russell M. Nelson, from last Conference in the Women’s Session. Steve
joined me, and we read the same pages each day. It averaged about 3 chapters a
day from when we started. If I may, I would like to briefly share my gratitude
for having finished this challenge and briefly how it has blessed my life.
His request was
to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, also requesting us to mark
each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. He promised that blessings
and even miracles will begin to happen. We were asked to be intentional in
talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ and preaching of Christ. As we do, we
will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process.
I testify
that as we participated in this personal challenge, increasing our devotions in
our daily study of the Book of Mormon, I personally began to truly see the
promised blessings come to pass. The most prominent would be my love of the
Savior, His life, His ministry, His love for all of us, His mercy, His charity,
His loving admonition, His forgiveness, His deepest desire to lift and help all
of us. As I began to write this I realized the lessons learned were so lengthy
that I retracted to keep it short, and allow the reader to find their own promised
blessings. It was the greatest opportunity and having to read it in a short
time, making it an intense study, as I had to search more in-depth for not just
words, but for the meaning, who was speaking and what was being said. WE LOVED
this challenge/blessing/opportunity!
CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER AT JOHN AND RENEE HALLS
What would
the holidays be without a dinner at the Halls. They must feed the world, the
way they put on festivities around the clock. How we love them and honor them
for their open arms. We made some very sweet connections with people from Layton,
and also Burley, Idaho. Too much to share, but no doubt we felt blessed to have
rubbed shoulders with these and other great friends.
We were
grateful for our dear friend, Charlotte, for making the trek at 7 ½ months
pregnant and braving it through the metros and more walking. She’s such a
trooper and loved being among new friends! We’ve kind of adopted her as our new
daughter!
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| Steve & Renée - Photo at the Halls |
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| Sister Jensen and Sister Bell - they are going to stay here forever, we decided! |
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| Renée - Alissa and Austen George - Alissa is from Burley, Idaho and Austen is from Layton, UT - we knew the Georges |
CHRISTMAS EVE TALKING WITH FAMILY
After
attending dinner at the Halls, we came home to prepare to visit with Jordan and
Austin’s family (# 6 & 7). We just couldn’t get enough
of the smiles and laughter of their kids
and the parents who were ready for Christmas Eve to come much sooner than the clock
said!
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| Lydia and Lincoln - favorite buds! Quite excited for Christmas Day the next day! |
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| Jordan, Lydia, and Larissa Packer (Lincoln not pictured) |
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| Emma, Austin and Bowen Packer |
CHRISTMAS MORNING & DINNER WITH DON AND TINA HALE
This morning
as we woke, following the tradition of reading our Family scripture study and
personal study, we gathered to open our two presents each (clothing) and then
had our traditional Christmas breakfast, for the most part! “The Works!” It was
such a relaxing morning and then we readied to leave for the Hales!
We took off
for the Hales with our food. This was a much smaller group, the Hale family of
4 children, us and another friend, Toma, Charlotte and the dog. I never did take a
group photo myself, so I'm borrowing some from Tina, but it was nice to visit with everyone over a festive dinner and great
company.
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| Dinner table at Hales! |
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| Charlotte & Tina |
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| Hales Family - credit by Hales |
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| Don and Tina Hale Family & Toma - Photo by Hales |
CHRISTMAS DAY TALKING WITH FAMILY – OUR FAVORITE PART
After we left
the Hales, we skedaddled home to be able to talk with our children and other
family members. We started at 6 p.m. our time, and it took us till 11:30 p.m.
From our Christmas Eve phone calls, and the rest being on Christmas day, we
were able to speak to ALL of our children, their families, our parents, and
some of our siblings (Steve spoke with all of his).
Never have our
hearts felt more joyful than after this amazing time with our family. The
longer we’ve been away, the more we long to hear their voices, see their
darling faces and never want to hang up. They are all the most choice people
in the world! I wasn't able to get pictures of all of them during our visits.
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| Jaron Packer |
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| Jaron and Vanesa Packer's 4 boys (Aaliyah was asleep) The 4 musketeers! |
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| Becca Packer with Taylor (her boyfriend) |
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| Camille and Brandon Duckworth Family |
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| Brent and Shal Packer and Family |
Speaking to parents is so tender as they age and knowing we still
have them with us, but never know for how long. Our hearts wept inside and we long
to see them again. If truth be told, we didn’t want each phone call
to end, but certainly they might’ve been ready to be done, but for us, it was heaven on earth with each family.
~~~~~~~~~~
As we finish this
lengthy blog, we pray that as we’ve shared so extensively our happenings of these
past 9 days that you will know how grateful we are for your goodness, your
love, your examples, your blessings in our lives and all you do in your corner
of your ample lives. We pray for the Lord’s richest and most abundant
blessings come upon you! We have much to rejoice in, even in hard and difficult
times. We know we can find joy, peace, gratitude and love in the midst of
difficulties. I have seen it in my parents, in the lives of so many we know,
and in our own experiences and from the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ! We pray
that as you come upon a New Year that your hearts will be directed to the love
of Jesus Christ. His love changes hearts, changes our direction and fills our
hearts with hope! We love you all!
MORE RANDOM PHOTOS TO FOLLOW AFTER THE ADDRESS BELOW
Avec nos cœurs pleins d’amour (With
our hearts full of love),
Elder et Soeur Packer
Grandpère et
Mémé Packer (Please be sure and use the last name on any mail, or it
will get returned)
Our Address:
4 quai du Marché Neuf
75004 PARIS
FRANCE
Email address: Renée: srpacker10@gmail.com
Steve: wf-packer@hotmail.com
You may still text or
FaceTime Renée at 801-564-1332
We are 8 hours ahead of
Mountain Standard Time
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| Flower shop - walking to Hales on Christmas Day! |
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| Notre Dame - as we walked home from the center last Thursday, the bells began to toll for 150-200 times non stop. It did become a little slower near the end of this video! but it was a great sound! |
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| Walking conditions were rather awesome one morning last week! |
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| Lego Notre Dame - this is for all our grandkids who love Notre Dame |
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| Dustin Hemsath balloon artist, side business to help him unwind! ;) |
Loved the pictures and to see You were so taken care of at Christmas time!
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