We'd like to release with a vote of thanks...

For those of you who are avid Reynoldses followers, you may remember several blogs ago that I had a ward livestock story. Well, the time has come, the piglet said, to talk of other things...

Let me first begin by saying that we had a ward activity. As ward activity chairs (did you know that was our calling?) we of course attended. Luckily for us, this activity was mostly planned before we were called. But it was a typical Vermont service project. Our ward is right next to Camp Joseph, a church owned and operated camp site located a few hundred yards from the Joseph Smith Memorial. It is amazingly beautiful, like everything else surrounding us.

Here we are at the service project. It was windy and I had been working for about three hours. I thought the picture should reflect that. It looks a little more lusty than I originally intended, but I thought just go with it.

The service project we did involved wood. 

Lots and lots of wood. We stacked wood six lines long, as tall as me, in lines of about 30 yards. It was lots of wood. And because so many houses around here are heated all winter by only wood, the kids knew what they were doing, and did it well. One thing about Vermonters, they know how to work. We kept wishing Aysia could have been here to meet other kids that really have to work. It would be a good experience for her I think. It certainly was enlightening for me! Even after it started raining and getting quite chilly, the children just kept at it! A little girl named Hannah who looked about 5 was just hauling log after log after log for at least three hours without ever complaining once: all without gloves. I did one log without gloves, got a splinter, and was ready to quit (then I got gloves and shut up about it). Those kids were amazing.

Now to the livestock. 

Here is a story from deep Vermont:

Once upon a time, a little ward in a little town in Vermont pooled their money and bought a new baby piglet.

Everyone in the ward loved the piglet. They decided to induct him into the ward by calling him "Brother Pig".

Brother Pig was very popular. Whenever anyone had any leftover food, they would bring it to Brother Pig so he could munch on it and grow big and strong.

Brother Pig got so much food from his friends that he grew to be two hundred and fifty pounds!

Now, the little ward in the little town in Vermont was planning a big party for Brother Pig...

Okay I can't go on like that. It's just too sad.

We sliced him down the spine, roasted him on a spit for hours, and ate him.

We ate him all.

Even I ate him.

Jake was less hesitant.

And so, Brother Pig, we salute you. 

Had I known you, I would have loved you in an embarrassingly true way. 

forgive me

you were delicious

so warm

and so juicy

i think it's pronounced FOILage

The leaves here just don't stop! They are getting more beautiful every day. We are completely surrounded by rolling hills covered head to toe, or

 rather, bough to trunk, in hot reds, cool yellows, and fiery oranges. If I were a real photographer, I would capture every hue, but I am not even an 

amateur, so I fear I will have to rely mostly on my memories rather than photos.

Our ward building is getting major reconstructive surgery, and this was our last Sunday in the building. It was very emotional for many people who have lived here their whole lives, and it was very sweet to know how much the building means to them. For the next undisclosed amount of time, we will be meeting in Montpelier, which will be a little bit of a drive for us. We were very spoiled having the building so near our home, and now I suppose we must pay for taking it for granted. But a Sunday morning drive will be very nice, especially this time of year, and I'm sure it will all just be part of our Vermont adventure! A lot of the building is being salvaged, and we thought about claiming a pew and having it shipped to Arizona to await our arrival, but decided against it. The blue-green upholstery would only clash with our living room set.

Right now we are sitting on the back lawn of Debevoise Hall. I in a hammock and Jake in an Adirondack chair, soaking up this Vermont air. I sense some spontaneous back lawn poetry coming on...

He writes what he knows in his orange book

I steal glances sideways.

The grass is crunchy with dying life, slowly sinking back to the beginning

The tree is parted, smiling at me, knotted wrinkled old

Sun warms, cloud cools, blue remains.

I steal glances sideways.

And there you have it. Spontaneous back lawn poetry. I have a degree in that.

Saturday is a special day

We are beginning to fear that our time in Vermont may come to a close before we are ready to leave. While a change of scenery is almost always welcome to me, this life we have carved out of this crisp New England air is suiting us just fine. We had another delicious breakfast at Sticky Buns this morning. We both worked out nice and hard so that we could fully enjoy our bounty. Last weekend we journeyed up to Stowe, a very popular ski town that was really fun. We originally went to hunt down the makers of these awesome tortilla chips we had by chance in Hanover, but found the place was closed. Luckily, as it is a resort locale, there were plenty of other dining establishments to choose from. We also went for a nice hike and drove nearly to the top of the tallest mountain in Vermont. It was so colorful!

Jake, pensively studying a leaf, or perhaps, life.

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 We try to do something fun every Saturday. Today was kind of lax. We played Exquisite Corpse outside (taking turns adding to a drawing) and now have some great art for our wall. We also went to buy some orchard apples, and ended the day in Hanover seeing The Duchess at the old Nugget Theater, which has been around since 1916, I might add. Then, because the movie was kind of a downer, although beautiful in many ways, we returned home to watch a Seinfeld, and so Jake could eat his second dinner (he is fasting tomorrow, but he might have eaten a second dinner anyway). Now Jake is pre-sleeping, one of his favorite things to do.

He keeps saying that he is so happy here. He is having more great days than he has ever had before, and I am so glad that I get to share them! Look at him, doesn't he look happy? For those of you who knew Jake several years ago, it may shock you that he does in fact smile. His smile was actually one of the reasons I fell in love with him so hard so fast. That and those steely blue eyes...a girl can't help herself. But when I saw that genuine smile (I believe it was the first time we played Scrabble at Barnes & Noble oh those many years ago) I knew right then and there that I would have to see it again. 

And lucky for me, he, those eyes, and his smile, followed me all the way to Vermont.