MAKING SCENTS of LIFE

December  2016

Just a few changes in the last two years and I will plan on making blog posts more regularly now! We moved up to Minnesota in August of 2014 into our delightful cabin, decided we could live there at least two years so in January of 2015, sold our sandusky home in Jacksonville and settled into the North Woods. We were able to pay off the cabin and declare ourselves debt free in Feb. of 2015. YAY!!

It was two years of service there in Aitkin, mn. How we came to love that area and all of those dear people in the church and the community! Gentz served as Branch president, I in the Relief Society and helping Mary McGee with her family history. We went to the St. Paul Temple regularly monthly taking members with us and the other times going alone. We traveled to see our kids quite a bit and with Scentsy. Gentz enjoyed long long walks in the woods.I stayed in doors probably more than I should have.  In May of 2016 we decided the time had come to serve a mission. We put our papers in and got the call to serve in the Berlin, Germany mission starting in February of 2017. Gentz was surprised and thrilled...i was thrilled but not at all surprised.

We had a wonderful family reunion in August with nephews and nieces coming from Utah and all of our children there. After they left Gentz, on one of his long walks in the woods and came back saying, "If family is our greatest joy...if we truly believe that, then we need to live near them." He didn't have to say that to me twice since I missed the kids and grandkids so much! Then after a few more days, we decided to put the cabin up for sale if indeed we were going to move near family after the mission..18 month mission by the way. So, we did and it had two offers in three days. 

Once we sold the house, we contacted the mission office to see if they would like us to come early. Yes, they answered quickly...how about january? We said sure. Then a couple of weeks later they called to see if we could come the first of December and we figured YOU BET! Let's get this show on the road!! So, we had Christmas with the kids the first week of December and headed out to the MTC December 9th. Our mission officially began December 12 with a few days at the mtc and then we landed in Berlin December 17 after one hour sleep on the international flight. We left for Rostock that next Sunday morning since we could hardly sleep anyway and made it in time to get our suitcases into our city apartment and go to church at the Branch where Gentz had been assigned to be Branch President. Oh, and did I mention we went ahead and bought a home in Jacksonville on Bellevue Drive? It's crazy I know but we fell in love with the house and the neighborhood and John and Lily are living in it while we are away.

So, now we are in Rostock, and the rest of these posts will have to do with life in Germany!