December 28, 2021

 The week before Christmas was filled with last minute grocery shopping, cooking and preparations. Last year we spent Christmas alone due to the pandemic and this year, though covid still haunts us and the variants are raging, we were able to have Cindy’s family over. We had everyone here for Thanksgiving but other than that we have not enjoyed family in our home for months. It seems like a new experience in some ways as we all kept our masks on except when we ate. The family is so worried about making us sick when Tom’s immune system is somewhat compromised but we just use Chris Miller’s nasal spray, do our best and pray - a lot!

We decided to have our dinner on Christmas Eve and Cindy made potatoes, broccoli casserole and salad while we made the turkey, stuffing, yams, rolls, cider and cookies. It was delicious! Ross and Sarah had other family commitments that evening but Jack brought Sianne. Because we didn’t have our usual nativity as they had just done the nativity with Sianne’s family, Tom read the Christmas story. Sam took over Max’s role of eating the drumstick and did a fine job. Tom and I watched some Christmas TV after they all left. 

Everyone returned Christmas morning for brunch. Ross and Sarah arrived first in their PJs and Cindy, Paul, Sam, Jack and Sianne came shortly after. They had opened their gifts and had their family time prior to coming. Cindy had cooked the soufflé and I contributed the orange rolls. We had a nice time before they all left for other family appointments. Trevor, Rissa and Liza all FaceTimed us during the day. Trevor and family and Rissa and family were home for Christmas but Liza and her family were up at Big White celebrating with Ted and Alisa’s family while skiing. Justin and JayLynn were in Enterprise with the Holts and Max and Jacqui in Australia with the Banks. We love them all and wish we could be together but most often our arms just have to reach further theses days.

Christmas brought cold weather and snow which was very appropriate for the season. We have not had to shovel though as neighbors and others have done that for us. Ross was out Christmas morning in his lumberjack red onesie shovelling and that must of entertained the neighbors. We were then awoken Sunday morning by the three Sister missionaries asking to use our shovels to do some snow shovelling. They cleared snow from our driveway and walk and then carried on to shovel about nine more homes. We had cider ready for them when they finally finished. Church was cancelled due to the weather and we zoomed our one meeting. We were disappointed because we had three special musical numbers ready for the meeting but we had been blessed to have the three Nephite Sisters moving through our neighborhood going about doing good.

Cindy gave Tom her massage appointment today and it was our first time out driving in the snow. It was the Tesla’s first experience with snow. The appointment was at 8:00 am and we returned home in time to change and go to our weekly Temple session. The Temple was quiet due to the severe weather but it is always great to be there. As Elder Clayton said at the Temple dedication, “It is always a clear day in the Temple.”

December 21, 2021

 Max left for Australia on Tuesday, December 14th, was in quarantine for a few days after arrival and then was married to Jacqui Banks Monday, December 20 in a ceremony performed by her Stake Stake President. It was around midnight Sunday the 19th here and we and other friends and family were watching via “zoom”. Remarkable and wonderful! They looked so happy. It has been a long wait for them amidst covid restrictions but they have maintained a faithful, daily FaceTime courtship. They will certainly have a story to tell their grandchildren. We are so proud of Max and the direction his life has taken and he seems to be happy and grateful too. Bevan McMullin told Tom that Max was the best Branch Clerk the YSA has had. Max has also been serving in the Temple as an ordinance worker, working hard at his schooling in accounting and at his full time  job with John Layton.

Tom’s Doctor kindly arranges for  both Tom and I to receive our covid test to return to Canada. We have to have the test within 72 hours prior to our reentrance into the country. They just put the covid testing onto our already hefty tab. 

Tom seemed to do well thru the week and the Doctor seems to be pleased with his progress. We stay in touch with each other and the children each day we are separated. Last time they let him out Wednesday afternoon after his 48 hours of isolation was complete but we were disappointed this time when the 48 hour mark came and went without his release from the nuclear medicine area. He still had his IV shunt in his arm and we are not certain if that is what made the difference or not. We individually watched the funeral of David Day our British friend from our mission who died suddenly following a brief cancer diagnosis and two strokes. He is younger than us and he and his wife Sue have five children and thirteen grandchildren. I was glad we were able to connect via zoom and participate in that way. They were a lovely couple and he was serving as bishop when this happened. Tom was released Thursday morning and after our meeting with the doctor, we took a limo, Tom had arranged for, back to Frankfurt. It is an experience to drive on the Auto Baum. I don’t believe the fast lane has a speed limit. The driver was very kind and walked us and our luggage into the airport/train area and right into the hotel. 

Charmaine had already arrived from Salzburg and checked into the hotel before we got there. We met her in the lobby around dinner time and took her out to eat. It was her 19th birthday. Tom went back to our room afterward and I went with her to customer service to arrange for a wheelchair for Tom tomorrow both here in Frankfurt and when we arrive in Vancouver.  Charmaine also asked why she couldn’t checkin on line and they said it was because she had transferred flights and now owed around $700. This was very similar to what happened to Tom and I with our flight having been accidentally cancelled by the airline and our then having to pay $1400 for cancellation and rebooking fees. The fellow couldn’t explain Charmaine’s concerns to our understanding and she finally had to pay the $700. We met her again the next morning in the lobby and she stayed with us as we were escorted thru the handicap routes of the airport to our gate. It was nice to have her along with us and hopefully nice for her too. Paul picked us all up at the Vancouver airport and got us home.

We were weary but glad to be home. We received some snow the night we got home and our dear neighbor across the street shovelled for us. We attended our weekly Temple session and Tom served as the sealer Wednesday evening and I always attend with him. We have made two grocery runs to get ready for Christmas and been in touch with our children. Trevor is in search of a new job. With covid restrictions increasing again due to the spread of the new variant, we will just be able to have Cindy’s family for dinner on Christmas Eve. I was hoping we could have Jean and the girls too. We are all feeling the need to be face to face with others again and pray for relief from this pandemic.

December 14, 2021

 We are in Bad Berka, Germany again for Tom to receive his second Theranostic treatment. We were busy last week with visits with and to our Tom’s local doctors and for his zometa treatment on Wednesday. We attended the Temple on Tuesday and Tom worked the Wednesday evening shift as sealer and I went with him. I made more spiced almonds, did some needed shopping and we prepared and packed to go. On Thursday evening Cindy, Paul, Max and Jack came over to give us both blessings and for us to say goodbye to Max as he will leave for Australia while we are gone and we are uncertain when we will see him again. Tom had a board meeting with Chip Parson and others before we left regarding their medical mission plans for Mongolia.

Paul was to pick us up to drive us to the airport on Friday but called that Cindy and Jack had taken both cars. We quickly called our dear friend and neighbor Jean who was out shopping and she rushed home and kindly drove us out for our flight. We made it with some time to spare and with assistance for Tom at the airport. We were helped again in Frankfurt to and onto the train headed for Weimar. I rushed to pick up a few groceries at the airport train station so we could be better supplied with food on this trip. We also took extra food in our luggage. At Weimar we caught a cab to the Bad Berka ZentralKlinik. When we arrived we were informed that, due to covid, I could only be in the hospital for one hour a day and with no internet and that we could only stay in the hospital for a half hour that night. We quickly messaged our children and had a quick zoom meeting with the Erfurt Elders who had promised to meet with us that evening. They were two cute young men from Utah and Boise. We then retired to our guest room for a small meal and for the night. I felt much better prepared with food this time but was distressed about the direction she had given us concerning my time in the hospital and WiFi use.

We had our sacrament at the guest room Sunday morning and then went up to the hospital to register Tom, where upon receptionist invited me to go upstairs with him. We were shocked. We had expected that I would be rushed out of the hospital but instead we went upstairs together and Tom had his admission testing done and his hospital lunch. We were then able to spend time together in the nearby visitors’ room. The only way he and I can communicate, while he is there and in isolation following his treatments, is by FaceTime and the only way I can connect with the children is but texting or FaceTime and all of that occurs when I have access to WiFi which I can only have in the hospital as the guest room has none. The sever restrictions mentioned the night before didn’t seem to be in effect now and so I carried on with the most recent indicators given us and assumed that the evening receptionist from the night before was being a little too stringent.

Tom had his treatment and Monday afternoon. I arrived at the hospital in the morning and started communicating with him and messaging the children, sitting out of view of the multiple receptionists. I really think it is okay for international patients’ family members to be here. While keeping myself busy, Tom suddenly appeared in his pyjamas in front of me. He had been allowed to come downstairs before he became radioactive and meet with the pharmacist, so we did that together and then took him back upstairs. They gave him his treatment in the early afternoon and he was then on his drinking water excessively regime and a saline IV to flush the radioactivity out of him. I went back to the room to eat lunch and returned in the afternoon. I will continue this routine thru the week to breakup my time in the hospital up a little. I read my scriptures, listen to podcasts, message and FaceTime in the hospital and then listen to downloaded ebooks in the room and watch downloaded movies. It is lonely and Tom and I have a hard time being separated. Each time I walk back to the room, I turn at a certain lamppost and wave at him as he stands in his room window on the third floor and he watches me until I disappear near the forest on the far side of the parking lot.

On Tuesday Max left for Australia to be with Jacqui. They will be married next Monday civilly and hope to return soon for Tom to seal them and the family here to celebrate with them. Cindy arranged for a Christmas celebration for him on this past weekend and they went to the Temple together with Max and Jack early Tuesday before heading to the airport. He is off now on his long journey and new adventure.

Tom is now in isolation and as far as we know things are going well.

December 7, 2021

 This week has been filled with Christmas preparations, medical appointments, Temple service and visits. We leave for Germany on the 10th of December and we have been preparing for that as well.

 Tom’s blood tests were good this time with his PSA dropping to 1.4. His appointment with Dr. Jenicki was not as good as he was not too positive about possible treatment for Tom’s herniated disc. He says Tom’s two spinal nerves at disc point are in the same sheath and that situation would make surgery difficult. He told him to go ahead with massage therapy though. We were disappointed with our visit to the medical oncologist Dr. Suo as he didn’t seem as interested the Germany visit as Tom hoped he would be but Dr. Bahl our radiation oncologist seemed very interested and wants to see the report sent back with us from Germany. 

We attended the Temple once and served in the Temple twice or at least Tom served twice. I go with him on Wednesday evenings when he fills in for Br. Barrett as the sealer and I act as a patron. On our Saturday afternoon shift I was assigned to a living sealing. It took me awhile to realize that the elderly sister I was working with was Elnor McNaughton from the Vancouver Stake as she was using her maiden name and she is now almost 90 and in a wheelchair. She was being sealed to her deceased husband, a living son and a deceased son, her daughter-in-law sealed to her deceased parents and Elnor’s husband sealed to his parents. I kept saying it would be so nice for Tom to do this sealing as he had been Elnor’s Stake President and had known her for years and then the miracle happened. Tom’s assignments were changed and he was assigned to perform the McNaughton family sealings. It was lovely and we were thrilled for Elnor and her family. We were both assigned as patrons on the last sealing session when a young ordinance worker, Jacob Goeders, fainted after kneeling for awhile. We helped out with that and waited until the paramedics cleared him and Jacob left under the care of his fiancée Krista Jahn. Jacob is Brendon’s cousin.

Our Christmas cards arrived and I was able to get them done and orange rolls made and frozen. Max will leave for Australia while we are in Germany and the Hardy family are celebrating a little Christmas with him before he goes so I have orange rolls and spiced almonds ready to contribute. We also went to the bank with him and set up a joint account to help him get his money to Australia. We added money to the amount he made on the BMW so the total would come to 25,000.  We are planning on giving this amount to each of our grandchildren around the time they get married. We need to give it to Justin and Ross in the new year.

We went to visit Roger Jahn in the Langley hospital. We were happy to be able to see him but  not with the conditions of the area of the hospital he is in - such a contrast to the hospital Tom goes to in Bad Berka. We have much to learn from Germany.

We went thru a great deal of stress on Monday when Tom felt impressed to check on our flight to Germany and found that our reservation had been cancelled. He was on the phone with the agent for a long time rebooking and having to pay an extra $1,400 for cancelling and rebooking. We had never cancelled so should not have had to pay for cancelling or rebooking. He had cancelled the rail portion of the ticket and we feel that with our language differences, they misunderstood and cancelled everything.  We felt blessed that he felt to check on the status of things and that they did not charge us the full amount of the tickets again as they had kept our initial payment. We are still trying to work with the airline to get things completely cleared up. None the less it created a great deal of anxiety as we need to get to Germany for Tom’s treatments. We don’t need added stress or anxiety but we were grateful for the positives of the situation.

We are always grateful for the love, support and prayers of so many on our behalf.

November 30, 2021

 The heavy rains are continuing and we worry about areas nearby where they are already trying to drain and combat flood conditions created by previous rains. We also fear having more mudslides on the mountain highways in addition to the ones that have already occurred. There are shortages of needed items in some areas and gas is being rationed in most of southwestern BC and the island. We are grateful for our electric car but sincerely hope there are no power outages which would create a problem for us. On top of floods, summer fires, political unrest in many countries, fighting over covid vaccinations and covid in general, another variant of the disease has surfaced in several South African countries and the world is on alert again. There seems to be no end to the dramatic scenes being played out on our earthly stage at the moment. We are all searching for peace, safety and normalcy. We all feel as though we need a safe, warm vacation.

We have been working to complete our Christmas preparations and gift giving as we will be returning to Germany the end of next week. We have our house and tree decorated, our gifts delivered to our ministering people and most of our neighbors and our Christmas cards ordered but not completed yet. I have made one batch of my Christmas almonds and most bags have already been given away. Trish got here early Saturday morning and gave me a much needed haircut before we left for our Temple Shift and she received one of the nut bags. The others went with Christmas arrangements delivered to neighbors and the Barroby family.

We went to a Temple session on Wednesday morning and Tom served in the Temple Wednesday evening for Brother Barrett. I am not sure when that will change as the Americans are still unable to get across the border without being covid tested and that comes at a cost. How we miss our Bellingham Stake at the Temple and now with floods and highways washed out we are also missing the Vernon Stake and the Prince George Stake. A few people from the island venture over and  now with flooding in the valley, only part of the Abbotsford Stake are able to make it in. I go with Tom Wednesday evenings and we serve our own shift Saturday afternoon. It was understandably quiet this last Saturday. Tom served as sealer but we only had ordinance workers to help out.

Max is preparing to leave for Australia and getting everything in ordered. He wanted to set up an HSBC account to expedite the banking process but that requires a 30 day waiting period which he does not have. He asked if we could help him meet our HSBC banking personnel as we use that bank. We met him there on Thursday and made the decision to open a joint account with him but found we still needed to make an appointment with Linda our main banking advisor to complete the process so we will return later this week to take care of that. Tom has decided to give each of the grandchildren $25,000 around the time they get married and because he let Max have the full amount of money from the sale of our BMW, which was $8,500, he is going to give Max $16,500 to add to our joint account. We are hoping this gives the kids a little boost. We will close the joint account once Max has his own account set up in Australia.

We are praying and hoping that the world does not shutdown international travel because of the new covid variant but my heart feels like it will be okay. Tom will probably require at least two more trips to Germany for treatments. We are doing our best. We have both had two covid shots plus a booster and we have also had our flu shots. Most importantly our pleas are extended heavenward and that is the very best thing we can do.

November 23, 2021

 It is Keaton’s birthday and only Keaton would get on the family chat site to wish himself a Happy Birthday. He is 13 years old today. The days come and go with their events and celebrations and their ups and their downs. Our exciting news this week came for Max. We awoke Monday morning to the family all abustle on the Extended Family site with news of Max departing to Australia December 14th. Word had come Sunday evening that visa holders would be allowed into Australia as of December 1 and Max was booked and ready to go. We are all so thrilled for both he and Jacqui for they can now go ahead with their long awaited for marriage. They will be married December 18 and hope to fly back here in the spring for Tom to seal them and to celebrate with family here. They have made the most of their Covid courtship - FaceTiming each day, doing online dating, receiving their endowments on the same day on different continents, serving in their church callings and most recently Max sacrificing his beard to accept a call to serve in the Temple. We are so happy for them.

I finally got to my PT appointment and had my back and neck worked on. I wish Tom could have some work done on his back to relieve his sciatic pain but everyone worries about touching his back with cancer in his bones. We attended two Temple sessions this week and served Wednesday evening and our regular shift Saturday Temple afternoon. We attended the second session, Friday morning, to be there with our dear neighbor Jean. Melissa Rolfson had invited Jean to come and Jean wanted us to be there with her. We are so proud of her. We watched the Vancouver Stake Conference via zoom on Sunday as Elders Wong and Wolsey were there to change the Stake Presidency. George Goeders, Joe Bateman and Chris Miller were released and Bishop (President) Kenneth Bateman, Chris Miller and Greg Hall were put in. All good men. President Bateman is the North Shore bishop at the moment but will quickly be released. Another North Shore Stake President! Almost all the Vancouver Stake Presidents have come from the North Shore including Tom. We started Christmas decorating this week past week and hope to be finished in the next day or so. We go on short daily walks, trying to keep Tom’s strength up. We are already making plans for our return trip to Germany for Tom’s December 13th second round of treatments. 

Recovery from our heavy rains and floods has been moving forward amid gas shortages and now fear of more rain in the forecast. We carry on, carry on, carry on! We are living in an interesting and challenging time for us personally and for all mankind collectively.

November 16, 2021

 

I would eat each day at the guest room, then pack up and walk up to the hospital where I would have WiFi and I could connect with Tom. The children would FaceTime and message me later in the day when they were just up and getting ready for their day. I would buy my food at the small cafeteria and take some back to my room to eat for dinner each night and for my breakfast in the morning. I also tended to business in the hospital that Tom would ask me to take care of. It was a little lonely for me but I was grateful to communicate with the children and others who would write me. I would read my scriptures but try not to use too much power on my devices. I found one outlet where I could plug in to charge up but I still tried to conserve. I would charge all the devices thru the night after listening to an audio book before going to bed. As I walked back to the Kindergarten and guest room each night, I would stop under a street light and wave to Tom who would be standing in his hospital room window. He was unable to watch me all the way back as he lost view of me when I hit the forested area.

Tom was released from isolation Wednesday afternoon and we were able to be together. He was ready to explore the hospital. It is a lovely facility and Tom got us into one of the beautiful atriums to sit for awhile. He has a treatment friend who is from California. His name is Bill Powers and he is here for his second and final treatment. He is showing Tom all the ropes and sharing insights and food condiments that he brought with him. The Germans don’t seem to put mayonnaise or mustard on their sandwiches and Bill brought sample packets of both to use and a jar of peanut butter. Though the patients are in isolation the doctors, nurses and cleaners still come in and out of their rooms to talk to them but Tom had to change his clothes when he came out to be with me. He and Bill could visit in each other’s rooms once restrictions were somewhat lifted.

Thursday finally came and we met with Doctor Kulkarni before being released. He seemed pleased with Tom’s reaction to his treatment and we are scheduled for another treatment on December 13. Tom had arranged for a taxi to take us to the train station in Erfurt rather than the bus this time. It cost about $100 Canadian and Tom was not happy. We caught the direct train to the Frankfurt Airport which was much better than having to change trains in Frankfurt. The airport train station is right by our hotel the Marriott Sheraton so we were able to walk. Once settled we went out to find a restaurant for dinner. We found an Italian one right above the train station and the food was delicious. So nice to have a good meal together. We arranged to have a wheelchair pick us up at the hotel to take us to our Lufthansa gate in the morning and that worked out well except we forgot to have him take us to check our small bags thru but we managed. The flight home went well and we appreciated the premium economy seats with more room. Tom’s legs were a little swollen from all his fluid intake this week, lack of movement outside his room and flying. Paul picked us up at the Vancouver airport and got us safely home. We had made it and we recognized that we had experienced miracles and had been blessed all along the way.

We had our Saturday Temple shift covered for us in order to have a little time to get our feet on the ground although we did’t feel too bad on Saturday. Tom even offered to go into the Temple if Jackson needed to have him cover his final hour of sealings but Brother Bigler said they would be fine. The weekend brought a very strong Pineapple Express storm from Hawaii with winds and a great deal of rain. I was to get a booster shot at the outdoor clinic on Monday and also go to a PT appointment, however, both were cancelled due to the severity of the storm. We lost power for several hours Monday afternoon. When things finally settled by Tuesday we found we had flooded towns, highways washed out and stranded communities, cars and people. It has put our area into a disaster zone category. People are rushing to grocery stores and panic buying again. We hadn’t even considered panicking but things are certainly worse than we realized. 

We did a temple session Tuesday morning and then we went to a Surrey community Center for me to get my postponed covid booster. We both had phone call doctors’ appointments in the afternoon with our individual GPs. Terry Gledstone delivered our reupholstered kitchen chairs and they look lovely. Justin FaceTimed to tell us about the baby’s ultrasound and Rosemarie Scheimann brought us a dinner from the Relief Society Presidency. It was a full day and we are feeling pretty good but still a little weary from our journey.

November 8, 2021

 This has been an interesting  and very blessed week. I am writing from Germany and Tom is receiving his treatment as I type. We have prayed for this and continue to pray that the treatment will be a great benefit for him. We have certainly moved forward on the wings and prayers of angels. We cannot express our feelings when we consider all the prayers being offered on our behalf and the love people have extended to us and the arms that have been wrapped around us literally and figuratively. Friends like Sabina have helped us with German translation, others have messaged and reached out to us, Chris and Minna brought nose spray Chris has developed to protect us from the virus and we have truly felt lifted and loved. 

We went to see our medical oncologist Doctor Suo for the first time on Wednesday. We expected that he would be annoyed at us for leaving the country for treatment and encourage us to remain in Canada and go with chemotherapy or some such treatment. We were wrong and he was thrilled for us. He said he was planning on trying to encourage us to join a Theranostic clinical trial being done in Vancouver. We are aware of the trial but we also know that trials are random and Tom may not actually be given the real treatment and felt we needed to move forward on our own and insure he gets the needed treatment. Doctor Suo suggested we may want to participate in DNA studies that may be of help to Tom, our family and others so we gladly did that and we met with the fellow over the studies and Tom gave a blood sample. Our radiation oncologist grabbed us and said that a neck scan he had Tom take this week showed cancer at the base of the skull and in the cranium and he wants to do radiation in the area if Germany doesn’t provide improvement this week.. He seemed okay with us going too. Tom has also let Doctor Collingridge know and Dr. Vrabec has always been in favour of us going. We feel like our medical personnel are now behind us too. Tom had researched this treatment as soon as he was diagnosed and has always felt good about it. We prayed and he qualified with the PSMA scan and we feel we are doing what we are suppose to do.

We spent Thursday organizing and packing up and Friday finally came with Paul driving us to the airport. I had known we would need special blessings to make this journey as Tom’s back problems have limited his abilities and I have never taken the lead in travelling and it is usually Tom taking care of me and seeing to my needs. This would be an entirely different situation and I prayed for strength and for angels from both sides of the veil. They certainly came from the moment we entered the Vancouver airport. When I asked if I could leave Tom at the front of the check-in line while I stood and moved up gradually, the woman in charge put both of us at the front of the line and we checked our bags and then the “walker” before boarding the golf cart for a ride to our gate. They took Tom to the plane in a wheelchair when it was time to go and we were off. We had upgraded tickets in order to have more comfortable seating and the flight went well. When we landed in Frankfurt the airline had provided two wheelchairs to get us thru the airport and they insisted that I sit in the second chair as they wheeled us thru the airport at a fast pace, picked up our luggage, got us thru customs quickly and then to the train station connected to the airport. They remained with us until they saw to it that we were set up for our train connection. When we moved down to train’s departure area another man appeared having been assigned to help us onto the train. We went into Frankfurt where yet another man appeared with a wheelchair to transfer us to our next and final train. A couple befriended us on our three hour journey and when we arrived at Erfurt, our destination,  the husband jumped up to help us off the train. We connected with a bus in Erfurt and while boarding the bus I asked the woman ahead of us if this was the bus to Bad Berka and she grabbed our bags and got us settled on board. She talked to the bus driver to let him know we were to get off at the ZentralKlinik in Bad Berka before she got off at an earlier stop. We had arrived at our destination!  In Europe things close on the weekend and in the evenings and, though we were able to check into our guest room, there was no cafeteria open in the hospital and only vending machine food available. We were exhausted, hadn’t really slept for two days nor eaten since we left the plane. They tested Tom for covid, we bought some vending machine sandwiches and as it was getting dark and cold outside tried to walk to our guest room down the road but being tired and uncertain where to go, we failed in our attempt to find the yellow kindergarten building they had told us to go to. I left Tom seated in the walker with the luggage and ran back to the hospital to ask for some help. The night receptionist was alone and could not leave her post but a cute nurse came along and hearing of our plight suggested we wait until she had a break and she would get us to our room in the kindergarten building. Her name was Ronje and she finally bustled us down the road with Tom in a wheelchair, carried our bags and walker up the stairs and made sure we were settled before leaving. She was our angel as had been so many others that day. We felt cared for every step of our journey. It is difficult for us to have to rely on others and Tom has a hard time not being able to work thru our travel agendas on our own but today we were more than grateful for the help we received. We had literally been lifted and carried.

Our next concern was food for the next day, I prayed all night for help and direction. We had some bars I  had from my bag for breakfast and I had a strong feeling we needed to return to the hospital ready in our Sunday clothes in case we could make contact with the Bishop Tom had been communicating with and someone would  come to give us the sacrament. I also felt that food would somehow be provided for us. At the ZentralKlinik they have organized check-in times when patients from all over the country and world line up to check-in. Sunday afternoon is one of the main assigned check-in times. We were hours early but they checked us in anyway and told Tom to go up to his assigned room to let them know he was there. He hurried back down with news that they had told him because he was checked in, he qualified for lunch and because they had an extra lunch that day they would allow his wife to eat with him.  When we returned to his floor the nurse, appropriately named Christian, had a lovely hot pork roast dinner set out on a table in the visitors room with bottled water and juice. We were overwhelmed at what had just happened and how our prayers had been so literally answered in a way we could never have imagined. Our hearts and tummies were full. The Bishop said the missionaries would make contact with us but when we heard nothing, we returned to our room and had the sacrament on our own with a little bread from another vending machine sandwich I would be eating later for supper when Tom returned to hospital for the night. He would continue to revive his meals there now and I had enough to make it thru the night until the hospital cafeteria opened the next day.

Monday came which would be Tom’s treatment day. I returned to the hospital where we had WiFi and I could communicate with Tom. His area is considered to be an isolation area because the treatments offered there involve radioactive material. He spent the morning going thru tests and then just after noon he was administered lutetium 177 thru IV and then a water solution IV to wash it thru. He began drinking litres water as well to flush it thru his kidneys. They began scanning and could soon see that lutetium 177 was targeting the cancer sights. Wonderful! It was doing what it was meant to do. I was now able to purchase food at the cafeteria and stay in touch with Tom, our children and others as long as I was in the hospital and on their WiFi. It was somewhat lonely but I felt grateful to be there and have Tom being treated. I would walk home when it was dark having been able spend as much time talking to Tom as I could.

The guest rooms are literally in part of a kindergarten building. They are spacious and comfortable. I would take food to have for dinner and breakfast home with me and return to the hospital as soon as I could to make contact with Tom the next morning.  I would spend most of the day in the lobby area, talk to Tom, read, connect with children and others and take care of any business Tom asked me to see to. It was lonely but I was near to Tom and he wanted me near.

He was now in a 48 hour isolation period so we could FaceTime but I could not go up to see him. So passed my next two days - Tuesday and the first part of Wednesday.

November 2, 2021

 I am updating my blog and will write this week from Germany even though it happened the week before we came here.

It has been at week of Temple attendance and service and a significant week for other reasons. We attended the Temple during the week and then on Friday November 29th we went to the Temple again for Jack to receive his endowments. We met the family in the chapel just before entering the Temple to participate in Jack receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood thus qualify him for his Temple endowment. Those participating in that ordination were his grandfathers, his two older brothers and his father.  A special group of men. We had taught Jack Temple prep and we hoped that it had been a benefit to him. It seemed to go well and Sienne was there to meet him when he came out. He is a special young man and will be a fine missionary in Africa. We returned again on Saturday to serve our afternoon shift. I helped with a Laceste family sealing of Delores Laceste to two of her children - John and Grace and then John was sealed to his wife Amor and their son Eliot to them. It was so nice to be with there. Ron Komm performed the sealing and we had a number of clerical issues that kept me running up and down the stairs to the office but all was eventually accomplished. Jane was there with Ron too. I was exhausted that night and I think Tom was tired too. 

We also zoomed into the funeral service for Rosemary Burgess on Friday. It was lovely and I am sure Rosemary was pleased. Ruth Yates gave the eulogy, the three Burgess children spoke and George Goeders gave the spiritual talk. Our grandchildren and a few others sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and played their ukuleles. It was very touching. Liza sat behind Sayde and held her up because she didn’t want to be seen as she was crying. This has been a difficult few years for their family and hard for Liza too. Ted has been a kind caregiver and both Ted and Rosemary have handled it all with grace. 

We have been busy accomplishing our errands, attending to appointments and making preparations for our trip to Germany. I had a phone blood pressure appointment with the nurse and then the doctor and because my anxiety and blood pressure levels are up a little, the doctor has prescribed to new medication to take in conjunction with my ramipril. It seems to be beneficial and I feel like things have settled. I have a new young doctor, Doctor Song. She seems very nice. Doctor Brouwer has retired.

So our busy lives have gone this week as we move closer to going to Germany and Tom’s cancer treatments.

October 26, 2021

 We had Tom’s PSMA test last Tuesday and sent to Germany via FedEx that day. It arrived in Germany quicker than we anticipated and by Friday morning Germany had messaged us back telling us that Tom’s test results  indicated that he qualified for the Theranostic treatments in Bad Berka and we should make travel arrangements. What a blessing! We started to put things in motion and will be leaving on November 5th for Frankfurt and on to the Bad Berka clinic. The clinic has arranged for me to have a guest room on site which will be helpful as Tom will be in isolation for a couple of days after treatment due to radiation levels on him. One of our main concerns is staying healthy for travel and treatment so we each received the flu shot this past week at an Abbotsford pharmacy. People are so kind and helpful offering to do anything they can to help us. Sabina helped us interpret some German documents concerning my accommodations and Chris and Minna Miller arrived last night with a box of travel safe necessities. They brought their nitric oxide nasal spray to kill viruses, including covid, masks, wipes, surgical gloves etc. and lots of love. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful caring people in our lives. I credit the gospel and our years in the church for that great blessing. We are trying to put everything in order and be ready for this trip and praying that it benefits Tom. The CT scan and bone scan results indicated that soft tissue areas are fine, lymph nodes smaller and though new bone areas have cancer, old ones are the same or less active. Not perfect but good in some ways. Grateful for anything good.

This week was Liza’s Iron Man race in Sacramento and it proved to be an adventure. The forecast was not good for race day and we were hoping and praying that it would improve and besides, how bad could it be?  Well - after a difficult trip down, Liza got things organized and race ready but then race day came along with what is known as a Bomb Cyclone which threw the city of Sacramento into turmoil and caused the race to be cancelled for safety reasons. In the midst of the cyclone our daughter decided to release her pent up energy by going for a three hour run until she decided it really was not safe. What a disappointment! Brendon was home alone with the children and preparing for his mother’s funeral. Dear Liza, her life always seems to be full of adventure. Before she left for California she witnessed an accident involving a motorcycle and after chasing  down the offending car until they stopped, she dealt with the accident victim until help arrived. On the trip home from California she helped a gentleman in the airport who seemed to be having a seizure and/or heart attack until help arrived for him.  She said everyone was standing and doing nothing so she had no choice. Even his friends were frozen. She fears that he may have passed away. What a week! We just keep praying for her and her family as we do for all our children and their families.

I have removed most of my summer plants, getting ready for bulbs and winter. We have been attending the Temple and serving in the Temple. Tom performed the sealing for a lovely family on the weekend and I helped with their three children. Such a blessing to be involved in such a great work. We continue to watch our Come Follow Me broadcasts each week but we are doing home church to remain healthy. We are hoping Temple going is okay.

The Musical “Les Mis” has a line in one of the songs that states “to love another person is to see the face of God.” I truly believe that, and I have always felt that to have the privilege of loving and being loved by Tom Walker has allowed me to come closer to God and understand the character of God. Tom has always provided me with a heavenly view. I have always recognized that he is extremely special and have realized that I, for a reason beyond my understanding, have been blessed to have him as my own. I love to see the face of God and I love Tom who makes that face much clearer.

October 19, 2021

 Our Thanksgiving celebration lasted the full week as Trevor, Tammie, Jadyn and Treyvn finally made it to Seattle on Tuesday as Rissa and her family left here the same day. Because they were late arriving, they stayed overnight at the Marriott, driving up on Wednesday. We so appreciate them making the effort to get here and not giving up on us. Tom left for the his Wednesday evening Temple service and we ate before taking the children to the Temple do baptisms. Max and Jack met them there and helped out with the baptizing and recording and Trevor helped with confirmations. We gave the children money to go to “Wendy’s” to get something to eat and Trevor, Tammie and I went to do sealings with Tom. Tammie had some family names she wanted done and David Bigler managed to get things cleared for her to complete the work she desired to perform. There was such a lovely spirit in the sealing room and I think we all felt it. Trevor’s family went to the North Shore after I made a visit to Roots with them. It was their day at their North Shore home and we met them there for Chinese food in the evening. The Hardy boys came over later to help Trevor give Tom a beautiful blessing. Trevor and Tammie went to a Coquitlam gym early Friday morning and then went to White Spot with the kids and Jack and came home to clean up our garage. All of our kids have been so good to us. Cindy and family came over to visit with the Walkers before they set out for Seattle. Brendon and the three oldest children arrived an hour and a half later just missing their cousins. Brendon left the children with us and he went to the Temple. They then went to a Hotel where they were staying with the rest of their ward youth and members. We did our Temple shift on Saturday and Brendon and the children did a baptism session as well as an activity before heading home. We have had a wonderful family filled week!

We have done some medical testing for Tom amid the children being here and after their leaving. We did a bone scan at the Abbotsford Hospital on Friday as Trevor’s family were leaving and today we were up early and off to Initio Clinic in Burnaby where Tom was finally able to received him PMSA pet scan. We took the burned disc, which recorded the test, directly to a courier to have it sent to Germany. Now we wait for the results. We stayed home and zoomed church on Sunday as we are trying to keep ourselves healthy for tests, treatments and travel if necessary. Our dear friend Wendy Jack has helped us speed up some of our tests and we so appreciate her efforts and the prayers and help of so many.

Our house cleaner “Tom” arrived today to do the parts of the roof  he missed cleaning the first time. Terry Gledstone, our upholstery fellow called today saying our kitchen chair fabric had arrived and could I get a chair over so they could cut out the fabric for all six chairs at once and have them sew before his seamstress leaves for month. I took it over after lunch. He is such a nice fellow and so kind.

Busy lives but blessed and today I have a radioactive husband. I love him so much! 

October 12, 2021

 Every week seems to fill up with important events, appointments and people. This week we made the decision not to go to Germany to get PMSA pet scan and start treatments but to have the test done here and then make the decision about getting to Germany. We would then be able to still have all our children come for Thanksgiving, as well as insure that Tom is illegible for the treatment before actually going. As a result we spent the week preparing for and planning for the children. We attended the Temple on Tuesday, Tom served in the Temple on Wednesday and on Thursday we went for Tom to perform the sealing of Josie to her husband who passed away a year ago. That was a lovely experience for us and for Josie and her dear friends, all of whom are dear to us too. We asked others to serve for us on our Saturday shift to allow us to be with our visiting children. We were excited.

Rissa, Scott and the children drove all the way from Whitefish in one day with Rissa doing most of the driving and Scott working. It was a beautiful day and drive for them. They arrived on Friday. Brendon had a cold so Liza drove down with the children by herself on Saturday. She didn’t tell us until she arrived that Rosemary was not doing well and they were putting her into hospice. Rissa and Scott went shopping on Saturday and put up our Christmas lights and did other needed chores to us zhelp out. We gave them our big edger and blower that were both too much for us handle and they bought us smaller battery operated ones. Trevor and family had their SouthWest flight canceled and had to reschedule. We had booked a hotel for Liza’s family on Friday and Saturday nights but without them here or Trevor’s family arriving, the Bull’s took the Hotel and our home was empty. The flight cancellation was not a one and done event for the Walkers and it would take them three times to eventually make it here. They had to keep getting covid tested with each cancellation and next booking. We ordered pizza for dinner Saturday evening. Those who were here attended Sacrament meeting on Sunday except for Liza and her two girls who stayed in the booked hotel Saturday night and zoomed their Kelowna meetings. Everyone came for pancakes after church and the girls helped me work on Thanksgiving dinner. Many hands really does help and I had made cake, cookies and stuffing  in advance. We were deeply saddened when Liza received news early Monday morning that Rosemary had passed away. This has been a difficult few years for Ted and Rosemary and their family but they have passed through it with great dignity. Liza and the children packed and left for home. We were grateful that they had made the trip. The Hardy and Bull families headed for the North Shore on Monday and all that means home to our children - their schools, their home, the beach and the Quay. We miss the North Shore so much but feel blessed that we have such wonderful memories and such a beautiful place to call home. We ate Thanksgiving leftovers on Monday. Jack had developed a cold during the weekend and he was keeping his distance. We managed to celebrate three holidays while everyone was here - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween. I think we should do that every year as we get together and fit a few other holidays in too. Rissa’s family packed up and headed toward home on Tuesday, stopping overnight in Spokane. We are tired but feel very loved and love them all in return.

October 5, 2021

 Cancer is a very up and down way of living and we are constantly praying for direction to help us maneuver thru the various routes and options available to us. We have been looking at the Theranostic targeted radiation therapy that is one of the newest and most successful and aggressive treatments for prostate cancer available at the moment. Tom found it almost immediately after he was diagnosed but the oncologist suggested we try hormones and other treatments rather than jumping to the most advanced first because the other treatments might not work if and when the Theranostic treatments begin to fail. That is the course we have been following with the xtandi hormones but as that has prematurely been failing we have turned again to the Theranostic as a possibility. Tom has been communicating with Germany, where the treatment was developed, and they are prepared to get us in quickly. Tom needs a PSMA preliminary test to determine if he is illegible and he could receive that here in BC or in Germany. We were ready to get over to Germany this weekend but the oncologist we met with today again suggested we check Tom’s condition out more here and consider less aggressive options first. Tom has decided to take the PSMA here on the 18th and consider things a little more after getting an updated bone scan, CT scan and talking to the neurologist regarding the results of the MRI for his herniated disc. All this is draining and tiring. It really does require  that you be your own advocate and do a great deal of praying. Thank goodness for prayer.

Tom served a sealing shift with Brother Barrette on Wednesday and another one for Frank Deyell on Friday evening as Frank had to serve as the Temple recorder. Friday was a lovely sealing session as we had Cindy, Paul, Max, the Leonards, the Wolseys and Ruth Pullman. We didn’t even need any ordinance workers. Jack had to work late on Thursday evening and Dago came by himself for our second Temple Preparation lesson. He is such a nice fellow and has such an interesting background. He was raised in Cuba which is a communist, Godless country and he tried taking rafts to freedom. Though that failed he eventually found his way to freedom and the gospel. Max and JayLynn both celebrated their birthdays on the fourth. They were born on the same day, same year.

The highlight of the week for us was two days of General Conference. We need the boost that conference brings every six months and we loved the wonderful messages delivered by our leaders. They certainly seemed to be encouraging vaccinations, covid testing and social distancing. They leave the decision up to individuals but “as for me and my house” they seem to be indicating. I am so sorry that this has become such a controversy in the church. I thank the Lord for our wise and humble leaders who seek nothing more than to do His will and bless our lives.

September 28, 2021

 This was a busy but a very nice week too. We delivered our BC Thanksgiving Food Drive bags to our neighborhood and the Kennedy’s picked the food up for us on Saturday as we had our Temple shift and we were concerned about getting it done before we had to be at the Temple. We went over to the North Shore to have Karl cut my hair and I told him for that for the time being, until we were a little more settled in our lives, we felt we better not be driving over for my hair to be cut. I hate to leave him as his needs mothering and help and so I will stay in touch with him. Jean came to mow our lawn. We did our Temple session on Tuesday and Temple service on Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon. Tom had a family history consultation with George Hara on Thursday afternoon and we had our first Temple Prep class here at our house that evening with Jack, who is preparing for his mission, and Dago, a new convert to the church, We got to the swimming pool once.

Our involvement with Tom’s health needs and concerns were ongoing, as we talk to different USA cancer clinics to determine if they are offering the Theranostic treatments we are seeking. It seems that the Mayo clinic has it already and we are working with them and others are expecting it to be available next year. Tom has worked hard to get thru to Doctor Baum’s clinic in Germany but language and messages that hang up have been a problem. He has to call in the middle of the night to hit their office hours and he finally got thru later today. Our dear Wendy Jack managed to get us in for an MRI for Tom’s back at the Abbotsford Hospital at 4:00 AM Saturday morning. We slept, got up, went, came home and slept again. We actually loved it as there was no traffic on the roads and the hospital was quiet and quick. We had been on Friday, the day before, to the Abbotsford and Langley hospitals to request copies of Tom’s imaging tests. Tom has the written reports but the Mayo and possibly other clinics want the real images. We requested the MRI on a CD too. It is full time job trying to insure your best interests health wise are being met. We are trying very hard and praying.

The highlight of our week came when Charmaine put on a recital Sunday evening at the church and dedicated it to us. She wanted to play for us while she was home from school in Austria. We felt using the church’s grand piano would be the best thing and then we felt perhaps we should open it up to others that would like to come. The Bishop agreed. We had a very nice turnout of friends, church members, her piano teachers and our neighbor Marie. It was lovely. She began the by playing “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” specially for Tom which had us both in tears and then she went on to play many beautiful classical selections and others numbers. She is extremely talented. The whole evening was special personally and I think it was for everyone who attended. Jean and the girls are so good to us and so kind. We love them. They came over for Tom to give all three of them blessings before Charmaine flies back to Austria and Jean and Cheyenne go forward in their schooling here. I have included a picture of Tom just before they arrived for their blessings.

Another busy week trying to push forward with health needs and concerns but finding we are receiving many blessings along the way.

September 21, 2021

 We seem to be very busy and trying to fit in time to submit info on the computer to the Mayo Clinic and others for cancer treatment and make phone calls to up the time for Tom’s back MRI and such things takes real effort. Cancer wears you out emotionally and physically and we feel like we are moving in slow motion. We want to keep getting to the Temple and serving in the Temple, going swimming and doing other things we feel are important but we know we have to be our own advocates in seeing that Tom gets the care and support that he needs. We have our ups and downs but we are pretty good most of the time. Our children having been trying to help us and we appreciate that. Trevor and Tammie have found a couple more places in the USA that are starting to offer the theranostic treatment for prostate cancer patients but so far we feel that the Mayo Clinic is the best option and they have been communicating with us. Germany needs to have a phone call set up to start things with them and Israel did call us early in the morning one day. The spine clinic visit with LGH’s Dr. Janicki was good and he was very nice. He has ordered an MRI and feels that the pain is arthritis related and that if it doesn’t start to improve he can be fix it with some surgery. We need the MRI. Tom also told me that the zometa nurse Brie said PSA can increase when the patient is in pain. We are wondering if his constant pain has caused a problem. We will still move forward with the Theranostic option  in case the pain is not the cause and we need to be ready if a treatment opportunity arises.

We celebrated Ross’s birthday this week, had our weekly family zoom meeting on Sunday, distributed our BC Thanksgiving Food Drive bags in our neighborhood, got some family Christmas gifts from Roots (not all) and did our swimming and Temple service. Zachary and Monica drove out west to get Zach to Boise for his hockey season and spent a couple of days with Justin and JayLynn in Utah. I did a bit of Fall clean up in the yard. Our disappointment this week was that Max took our BMW on Monday to finalize the sale to John Layton and returned it later in the day saying that the sale fell thru as John’s wife MaryLou wouldn’t let him buy it. We were upset because John had promised Max during the summer that he would buy the car in September. Max had to renew the insurance and bring it back here. Too bad.

We continue to receive love, prayers and support and that truly keeps us going. 

September 14, 2021

 Today day has been a difficult day and also an exciting day. We went this morning to have our appointment with Doctor Vrabec for Tom to receive his lupron shot and to discuss how things are going. We knew Tom’s PSA levels had gradually been increasing but we were hopeful that it wasn’t going to be a problem. When the Doctor looked at it, he said that the hormones were failing and we needed to be looking at other treatment options. He put a referral into a Medical oncologist and suggested we look into the theranostic treatments offered in Germany and other countries. We were very disappointed as we had hoped the hormones would work for several years not several  months. He said the testosterone was low but PSA increasing indicating an aggressive cancer. The reality started settling in more as the day went on and by evening fatigue added to our concern and we both had a little meltdown which is not like Tom at all. We contacted the children indicating that we needed help with visa papers for Australia and just generally needed HELP. It gets hard to carry the burden of cancer even though we are aware of the love and prayers of so many and we are grateful for our supportive children who jumped into action and for our concerned grandchildren who just love us and offer support. Cindy phoned the Australian clinic right away and got some immediate direction. We are realizing the difficulty of going to Australia as they require a 2 week quarantine, a medical visa and to top it off very few flights are going into Australia right now due to covid. Other options such as Germany are looking better.

The exciting part of our day came with Zach and Monica FaceTiming to announce that they were engaged.  They are driving Zach out to Boise to first meet  Justin and JayLynn in Utah and then get Zach to Boise where he will be playing hockey for the Steelheads. Zach had the day all planned out and the engagement organized with his family’s help. Jadyn was hiding in the bushes to take pictures. Zach is a great kid and he has worked hard to get himself to the Temple and strong in the gospel and now we will have to pray for Monica that her heart will be open to the gospel. We will be praying for both of them.

Wyatt had his birthday last week and Scott had his birthday today. We continue our service in the Temple. We are looking for new kitchen table chairs but have decided to have Terry recover our old ones with a leather like vinyl. Cindy received another good job option at a high school that she has taken and we hope this works out well. She hated to leave her little student at James Kennedy Elementary school even though he is a handful. This placement is a better opportunity for her. Charmaine had one wisdom tooth out last week but still managed to play a beautiful number in sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was a special version of O How Lovely Was the Morning. It truly brought the spirit into the room and brought Tom to tears. Tom had his zometa infusion last Wednesday at Doctor Vrabec’s office.

This is a difficult time but we will move forward with faith. We are surrounded with love for each other and from many others on both sides of the veil.

 

September 7, 2021

Labour Day has come and gone and the children are back to school this week, although our American grandchildren have been back in school for awhile. Zach is waiting to drive out west to Boise to start playing for the Steelheads and Jaydn has been recovering from her tonsillectomy and will be doing online school this semester from BYU Idaho. Justin has started another semester in PT graduate school and Ross is on his way back to school again too. Max’s online school is ongoing and he is still waiting to get to Australia and to Jaqui to get married. JayLynn’s pregnancy is moving on with baby due in January. 

Our exciting news this week is that Zachary went to the Nashville Temple on Saturday to receive his endowment. I think it was a little overwhelming for him but he is excited to go again and that is best thing to do - go again and again. We had a busy Temple week last week with Tom serving as sealer on Wednesday and Friday evenings, along with our regular session Tuesday morning and our regular service shift Saturday afternoon. It was almost like serving in the presidency again. We love it.

Jack had driven back to Kelowna with Brendon and Bryson when they were here last and Cindy, Paul and Sam drove up this Labour Day weekend to visit and pick him up. Paul and Sam came over yesterday to help us trim our Dogwood tree in the backyard and cut our grass. Jack rode his bike over this morning to be here for the delivery of Tom’s xtandi medication while we were at the Temple but the delivery came just before he arrived and we left. I thought that might happen. He did stay to do a zoom meeting he had to attend and eat some treats. 

We continue to swim twice a week and Tom is doing his stretching exercises, his inversion table and his stationary bike. He does pretty well in the Temple and at the swimming pool but he seems to struggle with church on Sunday. He gets a lot of hot flashes and seems to be uncomfortable. The hormones he has been taking for hot flashes don’t seem to be helping and in fact seems to increase the problem. He is extremely brave as he is in pain most of the time but carries on.

The weather has generally been lovely with the odd cool day. Fall is coming slowly. We still need to get more rain to get the wild fires under control. The air quality in Kelowna has not been good. We are having more fires every year and throughout the world more sever weather patterns are becoming the norm.There are many days when we just feel ready for the Savior’s return and relief from the world and it’s turmoil. We are grateful to know the plan and know He will be coming.

August 31, 2021

Today is Anderson’s tenth birthday. During August 2011 we had three grandchildren come into the world - twins Halle Renae and Sayde Marie Burgess and Anderson Alan Bull. Halle and Anderson were both stillborn. Sayde was the only one of the three that survived. Since that month we joyed in the privilege of having Sayde with us and we have grieved for the loss of Halle and Anderson. What a trio they would have been and hopefully someday they will have the opportunity of being. 

Brendon and Bryson came down this last weekend for Bryson to attend a wrestling camp in Richmond. They were here for two days and kindly mowed our lawn, set up our new inversion table, changed a doorknob and replaced a toilet seat in our bathroom. Brendon is trying so hard to help us out each time they visit and we really appreciate his efforts. He has his parents in Kelowna too that are struggling with his mother’s illness. Jack went back up with them. He is trying to be with Sianne who is visiting family up there too.

The highlight of our week was our neighbor Jean’s first visit to the Temple to receive her endowment. She went on Saturday the 28th on our shift. She had invited the Mandarin members of our ward and Shannon Tsai as her escort. I went over a few days earlier to help her pack her Temple clothes and go over a few things with her. The Temple kindly ran the session in Mandarin and she did really well. We were so pleased and happy for her. She is remarkable and we are proud of her and the girls. I tell her we were prompted to move to this neighborhood for them. They are blessing in our lives.

Tom is faithfully doing his exercises and we are still going swimming twice a week. Not our thing but we are doing it and trying to keep his strength up. He is rarely taking any painkillers as they don’t seem to help and only create side affects. We have tried the inversion table too.

We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary on August 26 by ordering dinner from the Keg. We are so grateful for each other and more in love than ever. He is the best decision I have ever made and I am the best decision he ever made but we have always felt that the decision was made long before we ever came to earth. How blessed we are and we are very much aware of that fact.

The Sister missionaries came over to visit us Thursday morning. They live in Jean’s basement so coming over is not a long journey. The rest of our week filled up with our session at the Temple on Tuesday morning and our service in the Temple Wednesday evening (Tom filling in for Brother Barrett) and Saturday afternoon. We do our regular weekly grocery shopping and Tom is finding electric grocery carts in all the different stores. We keep ourselves busy.😊

August 24, 2021

 We continue with our swimming twice a week at the pool and Tom doing a little work on the stationary bike each day along with his regular exercises and the wearing of his new back brace. We went to see a new physiotherapist in Abbotsford yesterday and he gave us some interesting insights and suggestions. He claims that as Tom’s nerves begin to heal they will do so from the foot up and the pain diminish at the same time in an upward direction. We have an appointment with the Lion’s Gate Spine clinic in about a month - hopefully sooner if we can get the appointment moved up.

We attend our regular Temple session each Tuesday morning and Tom fills in as the sealer each Wednesday evening for Brother Barrett. I go along with him to help out. Our USA workers cannot come up to the Temple without a covid test at a cost of $150 for each test. We miss our Bellingham workers and patrons. We serve our own shift each Saturday afternoon. Tom is the sealer on the 3rd Saturday and fills in other times as needed. He does very well when he can sit. Our Temple is only serving at level 3B covid capacity. The new Temple Presidency started last week with all of them here together and this week the couples are beginning to work on their own. They will do great.

We have had a little rain but not nearly the amount we are needing to extinguish the forest fires and help our drought like conditions. The air quality continues to be poor in Kelowna but Liza has still tried to get out to bike ride which worries me. The Kona Iron Man has been canceled for covid reasons and Liza fears that the Penticton race will be canceled as well so she is looking for a race in the USA she could join. The world seems to be experiencing fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, war, unrest and the covid pandemic all at once. We just feel ready for the Savior’s return. 

We are grateful for the gospel and for our family. All our children were on the Sunday family zoom along with our grandchildren. ❤️ We have been called to teach the ward Temple Prep along with our music calling and we taught Zachary Temple Prep again on Sunday. The Temple, the gospel and our family - all things we love the most!