Mormon Temple Tour

I went to Kansas City Yesterday to tour the new Mormon Temple. It will be dedicated soon and no longer open to the public. It was an interesting tour but unfortunately the young lady leading our tour group was so nervous that she could barely get the words out of her mouth. It was very uncomfortable and I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She seemed to have almost no knowledge of the temple and had a difficult time explaining what we were seeing. The temple was really fancy and we had to wear plastic covers on our shoes to keep from getting the white carpets dirty. Glad I was able to have the experience.
The Mormons played an important roll in Northwest Missouri history. Some of the local sites around Jamesport are directly linked to the Mormon passage through the state in the 1800's. We get many visitors at the Inn who are touring the historic Mormon sites.

Great Weekend at the Arbor House and Update on Construction

We made it!! We're sleeping in the new, almost completed "Garden room", and our inn and "cottage" (formerly our house) were completely full with guests all staying 2 nights this weekend! The Garden Room still needs decorating in general, but living in it allows us to determine what is working for guests, and what still needs to be done to make it a great comfortable and welcoming space for our guests.

When our first Cottage guests arrived the kitchen sink was torn out and the plumber had not yet replaced it with the new one. He was running behind, even after multiple reminders all week. He finally got the new sink in with the guests already in the house. They didn't mind and thought it was funny. We found out we will have to replace the entire countertop later as the current one was Amish "custom-made" and did't fit the stardard sized sink. It looks a little funky right now, but it works. The guests were very happy with the house, and have reserved it again for this time NEXT year. They had a blast. Hooray--success!

We have the kitchen in our new living quarters finished--well almost finished--and it's beautiful. It's messy right now as we are still moving in, but you can get the idea from the picture. The floors in the entire new home are laid too, but they need to be cleaned multiple times before they will look right--still too much construction dust.

The pest control people will come on Tuesday to spray the spiders, etc that took up residence while the building was empty. The new king-sized bed for the cottage arrives on Monday, so we will be able to move our bed and other furniture over to our new space on Wednesday. Then we will be officially in our new home!

It has been quite a journey and a heck of a lot of work. The construction mess is still outside in the back yard, and we have a lot of landscaping work to do, but we have achieved a huge milestone toward our goal at this point. We really do love it here in Jamesport. As one of our guests said, "I don't know what it is about this place--we live in a small town too--but it's just peaceful here. Still, there is a lot to do." This guest and his wife have been here five times over the years. We have many repeat guests, which we love. When we have all our work completed at the Arbor House, we will have an Open House for all who want to tour our rooms, cottage, and our new home.  . . . Gail B. Ledesma

Ted Rights Running for Congress

Dr.Ted Rights and wife Susan

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when my doctor at the Jamesport Outreach Clinic told me that my blood work came back and that my numbers were GREAT! My change over to Lipitor resulted in a dramatic improvement in my health.
As if that weren't surprise enough, my doctor (Ted Rights) told me he is running for Congress. I have been so upset with Congress that I was hoping to find a good candidate to vote for! Thank you Doctor Rights for giving me an opportunity to vote against the incumbent.
If you are interested in a new congressman in our district, check Ted out at www.tedrightsforcongress.com

Straw Hats are Back

My New Straw Hat

I am a hat person. So, naturally, I am always looking for my next hat purchase. I lost my favorite straw hat last year while vacationing on Lake Havasu. I have been patiently waiting for Spring to come so I could get a replacement. I tried looking for a new one over the Winter, but our local Amish country store only stocks hats in the Spring and Summer months. Finally the new selection of straw hats came in a few weeks back and I was able to buy the hat I have been seeking.
The reason straw hats are significant is that it is the most common type of hat found in the Amish community during the summer months. It is as much a part of the local culture as the cowboy hat in Texas. Just another benefit of living in a community of Amish ... great selection of straw hats!