What a week!  I was going to go through it step-by-step for you but have decided that it isn't worth that much trouble.  Suffice it so say that we have been in the Emergency Dept. three times this week, each time at night.  We got to bed at 2:30 AM the first time, 4:00 AM the second time (that was in Wasilla, an hour drive each way) and then at 1:30 AM the last time.  In between all that we had three doctor's appointments, a clinic visit, an MRI and 5 visits to Elders/Sisters in their apartments.  Sleep?  What's that?

We did get a little lull on our p-day (Saturday) and managed to get our apartment cleaned, groceries bought and a quick bird-watching visit to Potter's Marsh at the south edge of Anchorage in between an apartment visit and the last ED visit.  We were able to go to church on Sunday, but Sister Taylor exchanged texts with a sick elder during part of Sacrament meeting and then we left to stay with the sick elder while his zone leaders took his companion to church.

We are a little down tonight.  The elder we spent the most time with last week is going home tonight, in spite of all the efforts to the contrary.  He is a great young man and a hard-working missionary and we are heart-broken that we were not able to help him enough that he could stay.  We really hope that he can get the medical treatment he needs when he gets home and find some relief from his pain.


We did manage to snap a couple of pictures at Potter's Marsh (a bird sanctuary) even though the wind was cold and blowing hard.  We only stayed about 15 minutes.  We'll try again when the conditions are better.  We didn't include any photos of the Mallard ducks and Canadian geese.  They are all over the place and we know what they are. So... for the bird watchers among us -- identify these for us, will you?

We're looking forward to a little down time this week. (Cross your fingers!)  Maybe we'll have some more to share next week.