Week 37

Kim and Doug are expecting their fourth baby in October.  They sent us flowers to deliver some very fun news about this 9th grandchild:

Kim and Doug are expecting a boy!

A little more family news--Kirk and Kathy will be moving from Germantown, MD to Columbus, OH later this month.  Kirk has accepted a job as a health economist for Abbott Labs--leaving his job as an economic analyst for the FDA. 

This was a fairly typical week--food bank, Marksville visits, prison, institute, addiction recovery--until Friday.  Last week was Stake Girl's Camp, and instead of actually camping, they stayed in the dorms at LSU in Baton Rouge and had a variety of activities there, at the institute building, and at the stake center (plus an urban hike--so it was kind of camping. . . ).  On Friday they had several learning sessions to choose from.  Elder Kerr taught a class on finance and I taught one on health and nutrition, which we repeated four times.  We really had a good time with the girls, and they seemed to enjoy our classes.

It was wonderful to see the progress on the Baton Rouge Temple next door to the stake center--the last picture we posted of it was January 20, and it was still covered in scaffolding.  Now they are working on the landscape.  It should be finished in mid-August, open house in October, and rededicated in mid-November.  It will be so nice to have a temple only 2 1/2 hours away instead of 4 1/2 hours away!



When we finished our classes, we drove over to LSU campus to see Mike the Tiger, the real live tiger that is LSU's mascot.  (In case you wonder if football is important around here, the stadium holds 102,321 people!)  We knew they had a live tiger near the stadium, and I'd sort of pictured a pathetic little cage with a pathetic tiger in it.  It turns out Mike is the most spoiled captive tiger in America!  His 'habitat' is huge, beautiful, and beautifully kept.  He is cared for by the veterinary school, and he looked like a very happy cat.  In fact, he really is magnificent. 

Facts about Mike and a mosaic outside the habitat

Mike's habitat and bronze likeness

Majestic Mike

I've mentioned before that the French influence is felt all over the state, and more so as you go south.  Notice the "kneaux" in the sign above.  That French 'eaux' (pronounced o as in no) is used a lot just for fun.  Signs and sweatshirts declare "Geaux Tigers" some restaurants say "bistreaux" and there are other examples that I can't remember right now.  A bit of silly fun.

On our way home we drove through acres of lush green farmland.  Since the cotton was open when we got here last September, we don't know what young cotton plants look like.  The picture below could be cotton, soybeans, or something else, but the three closely spaced rows separated by wider furrows look so pretty.  Will report later on what it is.  The bottom picture is sugar cane.  It will be well over six feet tall when harvested next fall.  It takes a full year from planting to harvest.

Mystery crop on top and sugar cane on bottom