Birds of a Feather...

Boyce Fitzgerald is one of the most interesting characters I've ever met and I feel privileged to have associated with him for the last few years.  He and I served in the Stake Young Men's organization in the Moscow Stake and I loved being around him because of his many talents and his sense of humor.  He was loved and admired my all of the youth in Russia.  Although much older than the I, he exuded a youthful exuberance for "goofing around" that drew the youth to him.  One of his latest talents that I've loved watching develop is his natural knack for photography.  He has blown me away with some of his photos of birds in Russia.  I decided to theme his envelope with some of my favorite birds.  I miss interacting with Boyce.  

Rock of Faith.....

Another mailing goes out to Russia this week to one of our family's best friends.  Our History with the Marchenko's goes back almost 25 years.  I admire the faith and strength of Dima and his family.  From the first day I met Dima, when I interviewed him for baptism 25 years ago, I felt a special connection to him.  When my wife and I had our first child, who spent the first 9 months of his life in Russia, we gave him a middle name of Dmitry to commemorate our deep and lasting friendship with Dima.  I decided to do a painting of the Kiev Ukraine Temple as a symbol of the solid faith I've always admired in Dima and his beautiful family.

Russia's in my Blood....

This week, I've been working on some envelopes for some friends in Russia.  Despite being glad to finish up our tour in Russia after three years, Russia has a way of pulling you back in.  I don't think I'll ever stop loving and longing for the people and places I've learned to love in the great land of Russia.  I miss these great friends and have had a great time remembering the people that will be lifelong friends for our family.

The Baltovsky Family has taught our family so much.  He is the Stake President of the Moscow Stake and has provided so much selfless service and leadership to the growing church in Russia.  We love and miss them so much.  When I asked him what he would like an an envelope, he told me his "weakness" was fighter jets.  I think he'll like this envelope.  

The Twitty Family was another Foreign Service family that lived near us and with whom we became close friends.  They appreciate the beautiful Russian architecture like we did.  I served my mission in Russian with Chad 25 years ago, so it was especially fun to be back in Russia with Chad.  

Masha Petyhkova is one of my favorite Russians.  She is a true example of faithfulness in the face of really difficult trials.  He last name means "Rooster" so I thought this would be a fun surprise for her to get this custom envelope.  

The Russian Adventurist

This envelope is for a great friend who taught me a new way to see Russia - from the seat of a custom titanium bike.  Sasha was my mentor and took me to places I never dreamed I'd be privileged enough to see.

As I worked on this envelope I remembered all the many places I visited with my friend Sasha and the amazing places we saw.  Sasha is an amazing athlete and is way out of my league, but this was just the way I preferred it because it stretched my limits.  The front of this envelope has items that will remind him of some of the places we saw together.  The volcanoes represent the Kamchatkan Peninsula were we hiked volcanoes and camped in the Russian Wilds together.  The purple flowers represent the Lupine flowers that we saw in the Psvovkaya Region were we went on repeated 3 and 4 day excursions.    

Sasha coached me on designing and ordering a custom titanium bike frame that was made especially to fit my long legs.  He really deserves most of the credit for the design and we joked about putting his name on my bike since he had so much to do with the design.  I actually had my name printed on it in the end.  I've never loved a bike like I love the one I had made.  It fits me so well and is perfect for long bike packing trips with removable front and back racks.  I had fun designing a small logo for Sasha if he ever decided to design bikes professionally.  The emblem on the head tube has a SCB for "Savchenko Custom Bikes"  My favorite thing about the bike he helped me design is the 3" tires or the "29+" design.  It was not easy to design a frame that would work with such big tires.  I hope he enjoys this symbol of our friendship.

The Adventuring Lights

The Light Brothers are among my favorite adventuring partners in the backcountry.  This week, I had fun working on some envelopes that remind me about some of our adventures together in the mountains.


Billy is a character.  One year, as we were skinning up White Pine Knob in the Bear River Range, Billy and I were debating on how fast you could get going on the downhill run.  I was amazed to see that he could clock 40 MPH with ease on his next run according to his GPS.  Billy is so much fun to be with in the mountains.  I tried to emulate his speed and graceful style with this image on his envelope.

Billy also has fulfilled one of my dreams.  He is part of a team that races baja trucks in long distance races.  He recently casually invited me to help with the Baja 1000 race to which I had to painfully decline due to family obligations.  In hopes that it won't be the last time he'll extend an invitation, I've attempted to depict his team's truck here.    

Billy has a brother that is just as much fun.  He's an incredible ultra runner that conquers peaks at a running pace that I dream of being able to walk up.  Although he usually makes most of us feel fat and old, he is a blast to have along.  He's an inspiring dad and husband and an all-around joy to be with in the mountains.  Ben has become known for running in his plaid shirts so I tried to make this image especially personalized for him.  

The great thing about having Ben along is that he usually breaks the trail for us!