Russian or Ukrainian

What language do you think we should become most familiar, Russian or Ukrainian? Mom has been to the MTC in Provo for four weeks getting introduced to Russian. I purchased a Ukrainian Phrase book. So far sleeping on it for several weeks has not introduced a single expression into my brain. Mom is getting a few Russian words down. Hopefully they will help us out when we get there.

It has warmed up and Spring is just around the corner. This picture almost looks like our year, except green color instead of brown and white splotches, the mole trails, nest and debris all over every foot, and the melting snow on the north side. With consdierable amount of effort, I doubt our yard will even come close to looking like this when we leave. James and Britt will have to put in their toil to make it happen.

I am still busy working and doing some travelling, but hopefully that will stop the first of April and I can start to get ready to depart for the 18 months.

Moscow in the Winter

This was my last trip to Moscow while working for SDL. This picture is of me, A.T. Stair and Dmitry during my quick trip late January to discuss future potential work with the Russians. The weather in Moscow was about the same as what we experience in Grays Lake, but sometimes warmer and slightly more mild.

I talked with a couple serving a mision in Kiev. They will come home in August, and have enjoyed their mission. Hard work and long hours, but well worth it. They said the Church has a mini Church Office Center in Kiev, which is the doorway to Russia as well as other Eastern European countries. Tha is most likely where we will work, which is in the City. We did find out that we will have to rely on public transportation all the time as no missionaries other than the President has a car. He has a driver so he does not drive much. The temple should be dedicated in the early Fall, we think. It is supposed to be finished in late June, but it takes a few months to get the approvals to occupy and use it. We look forward to some folks coming to visit us during our mission.

Tom H.

Russian or Ukrainian?

Well, the call came this morning. We are called to serve in Kiev, Ukraine in the Public Affairs Missionary Office as a Public Affairs Specialist(???) for 18 months. Provo MTC report date is 24 May, 2010. Exact duties are subject to change per the Mission President.

I hope our Cowboy English and miniscule Russian will get us by, but the official language is Ukrainian. It has a slight resemblance to Russian, at least to foreigners.

We are very excited and look forward to the upcoming challenges. The report time is perfect, as it will allow us to get the yard in some sort of order, time to decided what we will do with the house, and may enable me to help with some of the fencing in Grays Lake for the summer.

I think the Kiev temple will be dedicated this summer, so it will be a lot of fun and create a lot of opportunities. I am concerned about the language, but I think we will do fine unless we have to speak Ukrainian or even Russian. Getting around should not create a problem. I did visit Kiev about 13 years ago, and remember it was quite impressive. There are about 41 million people in Ukraine, but they are struggling with the global economic downturn and adjusting to post-Soviet times.

We are looking forward to it.

Dad and Mom

Although I do not have a neat picture, I want you to know that one of my New Year's resolution is to help keep our blog up. I bet we will do better than Jana and Clint.

Grandpa H.

Stuck in the snow at the end of MAY???!!!

We attempted to drive to Tony's Grove Lake to check it out for this summer. We ALMOST got there. We had to turn around (well the snow stopped us, literally, we got un-stuck, then stuck again, then un-stuck again) and head back home. The road was completely covered with snow. The funniest part of this was Becky trying to push the car in her shorts and flip flops! Needless to say, she did not plan on the snow. In order to get the whole picture I must tell you that it was 85 degrees in Logan and dad is sunburned from being out in the yard. It is not winter....in town at least!

Under extreme pressure, we are attempting to update our blog. Wish us luck!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Humpherys

We were fortunate to have the Pitts family from Mesa, AZ with us for Christmas. We remained inside all day except for shoveling the snow off of our driveway, a little sliding down the hill in our back yard, and building a snowman. We definitely had a white Christmas. Becky also came home from Pocatello and was the photographer. Pictured are Jackson, Jordan, Kennedy, Madison, and McKenna.

Kennedy turned 1 on 7 December and is walking everywhere. Her gate kind of reminds me of how Penguins walk, so my new nickname for her is "Happy Feet" NOte the shoes we brought back from Thailand. She will fit into them in another year or two! She is always very happy with a grin. It has been fun having them here. In a day or so, Clint, Jana and family from Houston, TX will join us. They spent Christmas with Jana's family in Blackfoot. Then we will see Jeff and Natalie and family in another 10 days in the Denver area. It will have been a great Christmas for us. Cheers!