It's been exactly two months since my last post. We've been to, seen a lot, and did MANY amazing things the past two months. Iceland has had an exceptionally warm (hot for the Icelanders) summer. June and July were record breakers. It's been fun to listen to the locals talk about this 'hot' 60 degree (15 celsius) weather.
This blog is comprised of mostly pictures with captions underneath them.
Enjoy!
First the highlights for June . .
The National Archive of Iceland purchased a new scanner. It's quiet, fast, and friendly. Terry LOVES it. Benedikt, our supervisor, is happy for everyone involved.
I very rarely run the new scanner, however, Terry made me 'pretend' :)
The first 'hot' day in June, we received a knock on our office door and a cute voice said, "We're going to go get ice cream". The staff members at the Archives are all so kind to us, so helpful, and speak perfect English. We love working with all of them! The picnic table is just outside the door of the Archive; it's been the 'favorite' spot the past two months.
The second favorite spot is the new sun deck the Archive built just last year. This is the first summer the staff members have been able to use it, and they LOVE IT!
When someone gives you fresh rhubarb, what do you do? You make your sister's favorite rhubarb cookies, with cream cheese frosting. YUM YUM!!!! They were a big hit.
This is the beginning of many sunset pictures. WOWSER! We just can't get enough!
And then this happened! The past four years we have traveled to doTERRA's European Convention. This year it was in the Czech Republic. Our friends and business partners (from Austria), Mario & Sabine and baby Lia, were honored and recognized as being doTERRA's FIRST BLUE DIAMOND LEADERS. It broke our hearts to miss their recognition party. We're so proud of them and love them like our own. (If you don't know, doTERRA is the largest essential oil company in the world. They provide pure, potent, and AWESOME oils.)
The missionaries had all 50 of the youth running and having a great time.
And this is how you paddle a boat :)
See the young missionary on the far right? This is Elder Johansen from Denmark. He does not have the American love for root beer like the other missionaries. President and Sister O'Bryant brought all of the Elders a treat of 'just like' homemade root beer, to Zone Conference. Elder Rodriguez, like always, is giving 'someone' a hug and trying to make their day better . . . even if it involves drinking something they don't like :)
Meet Friðða and Þor on their wedding day. They are a darling couple in the Reyjkavik Branch, we love them very much.
The cute lady between the happy couple is Sister Poulsen from Utah. She and her husband served in Iceland as missionaries a few years ago and fell in love with these two. The Poulsen´s heard these two were getting married, so they just ´dropped in´ from Utah and surprised them at their wedding.
Friðða and Þor had never heard of the American tradition of giving each other a bite of the wedding cake. They had great fun with this, as you can see.
What you are looking at here is a beautiful flower called Lupine. It is the Alaskan lupine, which was brought into the country in 1885. Then in 1960, the Icelandic Forestry Service began actively spreading the plant, and by 1986, the Soil Conservation Service was using it for land reclamation and to stop soil erosion. It is absolutely beautiful, purple patches, hills, and mountains, completely covered for about 45 days. It all disappeared by the end of July.
This is my precious mother-in-law, Gerry Shepherd. She is 87 years old and had a complete knee replacement. She is deaf, and as you can see, she is signing to us, I LOVE YOU. Thank goodness for Terry´s siblings and our children who cared for Grandma, loved her, and eased the pain we felt by not being there to do our part. Note - she is ´running´ up and down the stairs now...WOWSER! She is one amazing and wonderful woman!
Just another beautiful sunset . . .
Just across the street from our apartment is a great walking trail with lots of Lupine.
Another sunset . . .
As you know, we are capturing images of old parish records. In June we spent a week capturing records from the Westman Islands . . or Vestmannaeyjar as they say in Iceland. This is where some of my great great grandparents came from. In the book above I found a treasure . . which is highlighted below.
More Lupine . . .
We have five young missionaries show up at the Archives to see just exactly it is we do all day long. They loved all of the machines, computers, etc....Elder Geslison is a Western Icelander like me and his family came from Vestmannaeyjar too. He was MOST interested in finding his relatives.
And find them he did . . . what a smile he had and a warm heart. Love Elder Gudmundson in the background giving two thumbs up!
So here it is, June 21, the longest day of the year. I did a screen shot of my phone so we can remember what it was like to have the some come up before 3 a.m. and not go down for 21 hours. WOWSER! We loved it, the only problem, we learned to set our alarm clock to GO TO BED, rather than when to get up. If the sun is shinning, your body just keeps going. However, no problem sleeping. Just close your eyes, and sleep comes.
We went to the dry cleaners to pick up a few things and everyone was mesmerized with the big game. Iceland became the Football (soccer) Champs in all of Europe. Even though they lost their last game, they were still voted the CHAMPS and won everyone´s heart because of their team spirit, conduct, and being heart to heart ball players. They brought home the 3rd place trophy.
This win is and was a big deal in Iceland. They were not even supposed to win one game. They don´t have professional players. They are just people . . . with jobs . . . families. . . etc. It goes to show you if the desire is there and you work hard for your goal, YOU CAN AND WILL WIN!
There comes a time when every good missionary hits their two year mark and it´s time for them to go home. These three amazing missionaries served Iceland and its people extremely well. Great job Elder Daw, Elder Robertson, and Elder McConkie. Well done thou good and faithful servants!
Guess what this is...if you could smell it you would know. LILACS! YUM!
Beautiful mountain and green valleys
Lots of farm land, dairy farms, and first crop of hay packaged for the winter
If you´re from Utah . . don´t you think this could pass for a mountain range and view right from there, we sure think so. Maybe that´s why the Icelanders felt right at home when they got to Utah in the late 1800´s.
We got to watch these two in action as they made a delivery to someone as promised. Great missionaries, Elder Stirk and Elder Johansen.
There is always a church in every little village or town. Love them!
Lots of Lupine along this route too!
Meanwhile at home in Spanish Fork, my sister, Vina and our cousin Lanae Ivie Baxter and her hubby Dennis Baxter, enjoy our annual Icelandic Association of Utah´s celebration. In the middle of our Akureyri trip, it was great knowing the Western Icelanders at home were honoring our ancestors 160 years later.
If you ever wanted to be a viking . . . Iceland is the place to do it!
Two young and happy missionaries, filled with goodness to the brim!
One senior missionary, as always, driving, while I´m gawking out the window at EVERYTHING!
Can´t leave this one out . . . a great display of the Icelandic football team during the game weeks at the grocery store. The weather was great and there were 15,000 Icelanders downtown on a patch of grass to watch on a big screen the game. The next game had 25,000 Icelanders on that same patch of grass. We did not go, and we don´t have a television. However, we just opened our patio door and could easily know Iceland was winning or when they scored a goal, because of the CHEERS coming from the other apartments. It was SWEET!
Have you ever seen so many purple and whit pansy´s...this is the City of Reykjavik´s crest. We pass this every morning on our drive to the Archives. The first time we came to Iceland in 1996 this hillside and crest looked exactly like this. I remember the Olson family going CRAZY about it. They owned a floral shop in Spanish Fork and LOVE flowers. I hope they get to see this picture.
So when one Elder goes home, another one take his place. Elder Rodreguez has a new companion, Elder Jensen. He has been in Denmark for 18 months and just popped over to Iceland to fill in a gap. He´s learning Iceland and doing an amazing job of it. When there´s a will there a way, especially with Heavenly Father´s help.
There´s nothing better than hugging your mother after being away from her for two years. Well deserved Elder Daw . . . that´s the BIGGEST SMILE I´ve ever seen on your face. Enjoy every minute being home!
More sunsets . . .
And one last June sunset taken from our apartment window. Keep in mind, the sun was not setting until 1, 2, or 3 a.m. . . . we were OBSESSED with the views!
And now for July!
I´m going to put a few captions and let you scroll through the pictures and just enjoy. Honestly, do get the real deal . . you HAVE TO VISIT ICELAND!
This is the view from our apartment window..awesome clouds!
This is Brother Anderson from Denmark. He comes to Iceland once a quarter and does a training for the Branch members. He is a wonderful and amazing teacher.
Gotta love the temps . . .
See the swan . . . she is protecting her babies. We see her every time we take a walk by our apartment.
Just beautiful and peaceful...right outside our door
I told Terry this was my award winning photo with the steam, lupine, rocks, foliage, and mountain in the background. Ha, he was not impressed . . . but that I could enter it if I wanted to. Ha Ha.
Found these Iceland poppies for my sister along our walk
Best walking buddy . . .
Again . . sunny, bright, and warm
This picture melted my heart. Our oldest daughter, Ashlie, sent this to me on the 4th of July. As you can see from the marker, the date is July 4, 1973. Our first son, Bryan Terry, lived just three short days and is buried in the Spanish Fork Cemetery. I love to visit his grave each year on his Birthday. This is NOT Ashlie´s favorite activity. However, she sent this picture and said she knew I was probably worried about not getting to Bryan´s grave so she put on her big girl pants and went to the cemetery for me. She then apologized that she had not taken any flowers or the such, so her and John, her hubby, gathered all of the pine cones they could find and created the heart around his headstone. This memory is planted in my heart and will be there forever and ever and ever.
One more sunset . . .
Missionaries and an awesome Branch member missed their bus...so we got to take them home
This is the OUT this way sign in Icelandic at the mall...however, every time I see it, I think UTAH is that way. Boo, some times I hate that sign....other times it makes me smile.
More sunset and clouds
By far the BIGGEST book Terry has scanned. There were 10 just like it.
How about and Iceland store in Iceland....it´s a little convenience store. Love it!
Sunset and clouds . .
One of my favorite . . taken around 3 a.m. Can you see the heart in the middle....
Last Christmas our friends Jill and LaMar Carroll from Delta, Utah gave us these darling aprons. Jill made them....she is one talented gal! We brought them with us and when we have kitchen duty for Zone Conference we wear them . . . and LOVE IT!
The world is a small place . . . kind of. This young man is from Germany, his name is Guenter Borcherding. He spoke at our Iceland Conference, afterwards I went to thank him for his message, and long story short .... if you are a member of doTERRA, you will find it interesting to know he is Mark Wolfert´s (one of the owners and legal counsel) first cousin. I have to say, I´ve heard a lot of talks in my day and the message he gave, hands down, was among the TOP FIVE! Also, he grew up with Juergen Suckrow....an awesome staff member of doTERRA living in Austria right now. WOWSER....love it!
YES WE ARE OBSESSED WITH THE VIEW OUT OF OUR WINDOW!
Our family had a great time and carried on the traditions of going to the carnival together...
And the rodeo . . . their children are really there with them . . .
And the parade . . . From great great grandma to great great granddaughter, they are ALL there! (Some not in sight)
While we are at our apartment, taking MORE pictures of MORE SUNSETS. The best part, or maybe the worst part, is just as I get in to bed and ready to call it a day, Terry says HONEY, COME AND LOOK AT THIS SUNSET. Most of the sunset pictures are from him.
So the next set of pictures are from a two-day trip we took to the West Fjords. You can see on the map below the area marked in RED is where we traveled to. We only got to half of the fjords...so another trip is in the works....
I am not going to make a notation on every picture, just enjoy the sites.
Second crop of hay
What the life...
Small farming village and of course a church
Lucky sheep
Clouds . . sky . . . ocean . . .
I LOVE this picture...can you see the rows of fjords...there are four of them. If you were to drive in and out of those fjords, it would take more than all day and all night. It is a long way in and out and in and out, and usually skinny roads that may be paved but also dirt. There is one guarantee though, the views and sites will be completely spectacular!
Farmer is getting ready for the rough winter ahead
Beautiful valley and waterfall and green, green, green.
Long road or bridge . . . I bet a lot of people were happy when this was built
Fishing village along one of the fjords
So beautiful
Breathtaking . . .
Old U.S. Navy airplane...what!
Is Terry really taking a nap . . . on a cliff....NO, he is taking pictures of Puffins!
Like these little guys
Or him or her . . . not sure which
Are they not the cutest things ever
It was a great two days...
The weather was just perfect!
Yummy lunch in a beautiful place
See the reflection
The church in the fishing village
Fish farming Iceland cod . . .
Absolutely beautiful
I could not even tell you how many waterfalls we saw in two days. Some big and some little, all beautiful.
Another fishing village
More waterfalls. . .
Which way do we go . . .
THIS IS THE JEWEL OF WATERFALLS OF THE WEST FJORDS....
Cute sisters along the trail entertaining themselves while their parents took pictures. They were from Angola....WOWSER! Their English was perfect.
Whoops . . . the captain of this fishing boat didn´t notice the tide was going out.
Have you ever seen a concrete electric pole...now that´s built to be sturdy
Back home and more sunsets
Received this picture from home - there´s a new Eagle Scout in the family.
Great job Evan, and mom and dad, Tyler and Kellie
Another perfect Saturday to end July
And our little Cowboy, Brit, won the All Around Cowboy at a Rodeo last night. He took home a saddle, two belt buckles, and two saddle blankets.....Nice job Cowboy!
If you made it to the end of all these pictures, I´m amazed. We are loving our time in Iceland, what we´re doing at the Archives, meeting new people, and learning or experiencing something new every single day. Last night just as we were going to bed, Terry said, ´Hon, did I tell you I´m really having a great time here´. Aw, it just doesn´t get better than that.
We´re six months finished, six months to go....
Thank you for your continued prayers, faith, and love in our behalf.
Terry and Lil
