We can hardly believe that a whole six months has passed since we started our little building adventure in the Finger Lakes of New York.  It was only a year ago Margaret and I stood in an empty, overgrown field and laid out stakes into the ground dreaming of where we wanted our little home to be.  Those stakes survived the winter and were the markers we used to plan everything else.  Little by little things all got done.  And now our "late life dream" is a reality.

Our finished home on the hill!!!!

My garden has arrived, and I love it!

A view from the bottom of our hill. We love our deck.

Tony built our walkway from stone on our property. He is truly a
lover of beauty.  He also planted all my plants. Yeah

Lonnie Drake our inspired landscaper and member of the branch.
He is Kelly Stayner's cousin. 

 In a few more weeks we will leave it all to return again to our home in Utah. But we leave with a great feeling of accomplishment.  Our little house may not be large or fancy, but the view is great and our neighbors are precious.  Those neighbors are the little creatures we share our home with.  For Margaret they are the many little songbirds that come to dine on our back patio then fly back into the forest . She has posted at least eight feeders to draw them in and stocks each with lots of sunflower seeds. We are just beginning to discern the goldfinches from the black-caped chickadees and the tufted titmouse from the blue jays. 

My fine feathered friends. We have gone through 40 lbs of bird seed in the last month.  They love us.  Sometimes
there are 20 or more birds out at the same time.  

 For me life can't get any better than pulling into the driveway late at night while the headlights rest quietly on eight white tale deer grazing peacefully behind the house.  They slowly look up and one by one slip quietly into the woods. A day without seeing a deer or a hawk or an eagle or geese  is a day wasted.

Canada Geese taking a rest stop on a pond we drove by.  We see these kinds of scenes daily.  

However, we have other neighbors who we love dearly.  They are the Amish and Mennonites.  Over the past few years they have moved into New York State.  They buy up old, run down farms for cash then go to work on them.  In just a year or two they turn them into neat and productive farms.  They become the envy of all other farms.  As we leave for church each Sunday we share the roads with mothers and fathers in their one horse drawn, black buggies.  Behind them are their children riding their bikes.  All gather together in a simple chapel for services.  I often wonder what we could accomplish if we had such discipline in our lives?

Mennonite Church on a weekday

On Sunday

Mennonite School. There are many of these. 

On horse power waiting for family outside store. 

A typical Mennonite farm. Simple and very orderly and beautiful

We have so enjoyed the seasons so far.  You notice we are leaving before the big snow hits!  Fall has be gorgeous and we want to share a few photo of some of our wanderings.

The beginning of fall from our deck.  Later there were reds and
golds and we love each minute we gets to watch out the window. 

George doing his favorite thing.  I loved taking pictures .  

Very old Oak tree at the golf course. 

                                                                                 

Lake nearby.  

   

Our last evening walk along the shore of Canandaigua Lake.  Are we lucky or what!!!!!

The Penn Yan Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Our little church branch has become home to us.  We have 50 wonderful members who attend each Sunday in our little stage one building. the chapel also serves as classrooms and cultural hall.  It is compact, but we are so grateful for it.  We love these saints and will love coming back to this area soon.

We have been criticized by several people saying, "Why are you doing this so late in life?"  My answer is simply, "Because we can!"   Others say we are crazy to come from Utah and build here in New York state.  "Why, you are going from one winter to another and one hot summer to another."  To that I say, "I have a good winter coat and air conditioning.  Bring it on.  We love it all."

Margaret and I have just had our third anniversary.  Each year has been wonderfully filled with every possible adventure, task and blessing.  We thank God for bringing us together.  Our plans now are to return again next year to this little home in New York for 18 months, not as vacationers but as full time missionaries. This is such a marvelous and sacred place to be, and couple missionaries are needed so badly. We want to make the most of it.  And a mission here will be hard to beat.  Especially if we already have a home and friends here already.

 Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote,  "Many people die with their music still in them.  Why is this so?  Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.  Before they know it time runs out."  Or as Tagore put it,  "I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, While the song I came to sing remains unsung."
I know Margaret and I still have a song to sing.


George wants to leave you with his newest jokes:
 
For the record:
What happens when you grow marijuana on stake farms?
You get "high priests"

Why do Mormon women stop having children at 35?
Because 36 is too many.

Spiritual thought:
Let us all be careful as to how we use our time.
  As President Kimball has written, "Waste is unjustified, and especially the waste of time---limited as that commodity is in our days of probation. One must live, not only exist; he must do, not merely be; he must grow, not just vegetate."

We are excited to head for home and see so many loved ones.  We will see many of you on the way and be home by mid December.

Love
George and Margaret.