What's your number?

So Iceland is a very organized country...it's awesome, once you understand what and how to go with the flow of Iceland living :) 

There is a 'number' machine at lots and lots of stores, restaurants, banks, service/business places i.e. dry cleaners, phone stores, wifi hook-ups, etc., etc., etc.

We (both Terry and I) were a little irritated at first about this, because 1) we didn't know to look for a number machine, 2) we couldn't read the prompts of what the machine was asking (we did figure out real quick there is an English choice), 3) when they call the numbers, they are spoken in Icelandic (of course) and we didn't know what they were saying. Ha, I got up more than once when it wasn't my turn, and 4) really, do adults need to get a number? 

The answer is YES, there is no 'butting' in the line, everyone and everything is orderly, you learn how to listen really well, and your learn the Icelandic numbers really fast. WE LOVE IT!

Can you guess what some of these say, I will tell you top left to right, and then bottom left to right. Nova (02) is our cell phone store, Arion Banki (575) is our bank, Easy Turn (34) is the dry cleaning store, Epli (561) is the Apple Mac computer store, and Vodafone (072) is our wi-fi store. We have received a LOT more tickets . . . these are just a few I saved to post about.

It's a great day when the young missionaries say "could you take a day off and go on an outing with us". It just so happened to be a holiday here on August 1st, so double bonus :)  The next several pictures are what we saw and did this day.

Look at the 'hot' mountain....steam coming from underground, everywhere. It's awesome. At first when I saw this, I thought the mountain was on fire, then I quickly remembered, oh it's steam coming from the ground. There are actually areas where the locals cook their food sometimes, bath in hot springs, and just enjoy the view.

We took a little hike, just .5 KM....so like 10 minutes and found the most beautiful and blue river and waterfall.

Do these young guys look happy or what?!?  They truly inspire me, every single day. They are so giving, kind, selfless, considerate, servant minded, and cute to boot. We love watching them and appreciate their example to us, as well as the world. One time when we were out somewhere, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said "I don't know where you got such a great group of young men, but they are exceptional!. She is exactly spot on.

 WOWSER, is this beautiful or what. The river is glacier fed, hence the blue. The water is also VERY cold...Mother Nature is VERY talented.

This young man is Elder Gudmundson, he served the first 20 months of his mission in Denmark. Then the need came for Iceland to get another Icelandic speaking missionary...uh, nope, not going to happen real fast. Ha, when Heavenly Father is in charge, and a young man is willing, miracles happen. He served the last four months in Iceland, doing his VERY BEST to speak Icelandic, and smiling the entire time. He left a week ago, his goodness will be here forever though.

Here is a close-up of the river as well as another smiling guy, Elder Rodriguez from Texas. I would like to talk to his mother and ask her if he was born smiling. He's also very talented, with Spanish being his native tongue, then English, now Icelandic, and running in to people here in Iceland who speak Portuguese . . . pile the languages on him...he can do it all. Only issue, he carries ALL of the different scriptures in those languages in his backpack...he's going to be buff by the time he goes home.

For you car/rig buffs. . . here is an awesome one for you. You can rent these and tour the country, doing all the off-roading you would like.

Or how about this one? It looks like I wasn't the only one taking a picture of this beauty.

Off from the blue waterfall on to another . . . the picture of this fall is posted a few pictures down.

We're home now, and again, yet another amazing sunset. I can't tell you how many times Terry says 'hon, you have to get out of bed and see this sunset . . . it's like 12 midnight or later, much later, and how can you turn that down....nope...gotta get up and look :)


So I started my post by talking about numbers. I've drawn a lot of numbers in my life, and when I drew the number to have Peggy and Dave Smith as our friends, I hit the jackpot. The Smith's are a beautiful, #1 couple, from Colorado.  They business partners too, but above all 'most treasured friends'. AND THEY CAME TO ICELAND TO SEE US....

Here are the doors I love the most . . . the airport doors. . . waiting for ARRIVALS!

Here they are . . . full of smiles, joy, and lots of doTERRA goodies :)

Awe....my buddy, Peggy! My heart is happy beyond measure.

 And who said guys don't like to chat....Peggy had to keep saying, 'come on boys...

Remember the post about the beautiful, tall, Lutheran Cathedral? Dave bought the four of us a ticket to go to top on an elevator... I took the picture above by my office a few days ago. 

 Here they are AT THE TOP....just where two awesome and wonderful people belong.

Once at the top, you can walk around all four sides and see beautiful sites. . . . especially if it's a clear day. Lucky us, it was a blue bird day :)

 Love everything about every picture . . . 

 Reykjavik city and harbor

 More . . . 

 And more . . . 

The next day we took a drive out to the south coast of Iceland. If you read my blog back in March, you would have seen these same pictures, only there was snow and no green or waterfalls. Many of the Western Icelanders who live in Spanish Fork have roots to this area....just breathtaking.

Yup, another waterfall, Skogafoss . . . and Peggy said, 'NO, I'm not cold, I just like to snuggle my Dave.'

And yet another waterfall....this one is a little bit hidden . . Terry took a little walk in to get a better look. The name of it is below

And more and more and more waterfalls . . . 

We love each and every waterfall . . . just can't get enough of them . . 

Who knew Dave was such a fun and happy guy to be with? US!!!  He was pretending the salt shaker was a kaleidoscope and was telling us EVERYTHING he could see. Ha, so fun!!!

Another beautiful day in a beautiful place with beautiful people. 

Yup, I got the LUCKY NUMBER! 

The Icelandic flag proudly flying at Thingvellir National Park

True love, still holding hands when they think nobody is watching :) 

Gullfoss Waterfall.....powerful and beautiful, just like the Smiths! 

Just not sure if life could get any better.

Drove past this sheep corral . . . this is what is used in the fall when all of the sheep are gathered before winter comes.

Drove past a beautiful church out in the country, which I found out by our amazing tour guide, Gugga, that this area use to be the 'happening place' many years ago. There's a big story that goes with it, one day I'll share it with you . . . it's a great one.

 Inside the Church is a beautiful picture of Christ created with mosaic tiles and rocks from Iceland

After a long day of touring, we stopped in Hveragerdi at the water gardens and got a hot foot soak from fresh water bubbling from under the ground. The silly guys stayed in the tour van to chat some more.

Now take a look at this, we have COMPANY FROM HOME! How much more happy can a girls heart be....and look at Terry and Dave, they are STILL talking :)

Terry and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary in July, we waited to go out for our special dinner with our precious friends. We had dinner at the top (see the picture below) of the Perlan. The restaurant does a complete 360 rotation every two hours . . . we saw every sight there was to see. The food was delicious and our company was just fabulous.

Good-bye sweet friends, thank you for coming to see us! We love you both for a zillion reasons :) 

Awesome young men

So one of these guys are different . . . oh it's the cute one in the middle. Well they are all cute, but the one in the middle is pretty special. He keeps these young missionaries laughing, thinking, and their tummy's full if he gets a chance. We busted in to their District Meeting a few days ago and I couldn't resist taking their picture.  

Our buddy from work

Meet Gunnar . . . Terry loves this guy. He works at the National Archives of Iceland and is like a walking encyclopedia or Google now days I guess. He's a hunter and a fisher, a family guy, and knows great places to eat near the office. We had lunch with him last Friday at Hamborgarafabrikkan. Ha, say that . . . without stumbling. After we ate, Gunnar insisted we take a walk to burn a few calories off. It was a beautiful day, the guys talked, I listened a little, and took lots of pictures. At one point, I had to pinch myself and ask...AM I REALLY LIVING IN ICELAND?!? Feelings and emotions of gratitude are way beyond words to be found.

Have you ever wondered how many people live in Iceland . . . there you go, now you know :)

 Another beautiful Lutheran church in Reykjavik

 This building is a school for those in Iceland who want to be a sea captain of a fishing boat and beyond. Sorry, I don't remember the name of it . . . it's a very beautiful building. I'll try and get a better picture sometime.

 Just summer in Iceland; green grass, moss, and an old, very old, stone fence. LOVE IT!

It was the 40th Birthday of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints being established in Iceland this year. Members and friends of the Church from around Iceland gathered for a picnic. 

Try this: cut watermelon, then mix 2 tabs olive oil, 2 tabs sugar, 1 tesp salt, 1/3 cup peppermint leaves TORN, and 5 drops of Lime essential oil (doTERRA brand of course), and gently stir. WOWSER, this is YUMMY. . .

 Loading up the cars with people and stuff . . . 

 Lots of talking and lots of cute people

 More wonderful people and some vollyball happening...soon there were LOTS of people playing, some said too many at once, others said, 'I LOVE IT!.

Terry is always the favorite . . . 

 So many people came we had to have four grills cooking food

 Now there's a real cute Icelander . . . beautiful Icelandic sweater and hat and heart!

FINAL PICTURE....LOVE IS YOU!!! Always remember you are a child of God. You were born with love in your heart, share it with others, and your love will grow beyond measure.

  
God bless until next time,
Lil