April 25, 2023

 We are home after a lovely week in Montana. Rissa tried hard to have me meet all her girlfriends. She organized a lunch at a local restaurant and most of them attended - Courtney, Corin, Deanne, Kim, the other Courtney and the two of us. They are all lovely women and seem to be very fond of Rissa. They all have children about the same age and are involved in activities together. He friend Molly was unable to attend that day and so we had brunch with her on her own. We had met Molly’s husband Josh and her girls at Eureka. Our fancy dinner out at the golf course restaurant went well. Colton had a cold while I was there so he stayed home with a babysitter while Wyatt came with us. It was his first time having to learn and use fine dining etiquette. He was cute and did very well. Lara Lyn and Colton drove us to Cranbrook Friday morning and we set out on an airplane adventure once again. Staying in the little guest house had worked out well for us and it also gave Kona and their big dog Otis some space. Otis and Kona have a love/hate relationship. He could have gobbled her up in two bites but she could put him in his place. They were hilarious. My dear Jean picked us up at the airport in Vancouver before she had to be back at work.

Kona and I settled back into our home and Brendon, Keaton and Sayde arrive later Friday evening ready for Saturday baptisms at the Temple. 

Liza ran a trail race Saturday morning and then met Brendon and Keaton halfway between Kelowna and Vancouver and exchanged cars in order for Liza to have the power chair car for Sayde. I had kept Sayde with me after I got back from my Temple service. Amy and Hyrum put my bedroom window awnings up on Saturday too and will complete them next Saturday. 

I had a ward conference in Chilliwack on Sunday morning and drove out in the rain by myself. Liza and Sayde went to Willoughby Ward with Cindy and Sam but we arrived home after church about the same time. We had our family zoom Sunday afternoon. We are concerned about JayLynn as her Crohn’s disease is out of control and they have had to move to St. George to be closer to her family for help and Justin has had to start a new job at another PT clinic. I am praying for them.

Liza and Sayde went to Children’s Hospital yesterday for Sayde to have x-rays and evaluation appointment. They were pleased with her and that makes us happy. They stopped at IKEA for shopping and then here to say goodbye and pick up their luggage and food for the drive home.

I have been cleaning and catching up on my callings, business and personal writing etc. I am cautiously optimistic about the awnings preventing further turf burn in the backyard. It would be a huge relief if that is the case. I carry on trying to do my best.

April, 18, 2023

 We are in Whitefish, Montana right now having travelled on Saturday with Air Canada from Vancouver to Cranbrook. Rissa picked Kona and I up there and we drove to their property in Eureka where Scott and the boys were. They will be building a cabin on it eventually but for now they have their RV and a large shed on the property. We went down to the lake, which is being kept very low at the moment. The children played in the sand while the dirt bikes raced by on the dunes. We went for pizza and met their friend Josh and his two girls. We drove back to Whitefish that night after dinner at the RV and saw hundreds and hundreds of deer along the way.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then up to their mountain cabin which they rent out in the the winters and summers months. Ago The children played their device games and we relaxed. It is beautiful up there. We came back to the house for roast beef dinner and I helped make Yorkshire pudding. We had our family zoom in the afternoon.

The children were off to school on Monday morning and Rissa and I went for morning tea with her friend Courtney and her Nana. Nana lives with Courtney and her family. We shopped in downtown Whitefish afterward and then came home for lunch before going to pick the boys up at school. We were meeting Rissa’s friends all along the way. Whitefish is a small town and everyone knows each other but it is growing. The growth is good for Scott’s realtor work but you hate to see it get too big and lose it’s small town character.

We drove to Kalispell today to get the car tires changed and we did some shopping and had sushi while we waited. When the car was done we did a quick Costco shop before returning home and Rissa went to help at the school.

The week before coming I was busy getting my callings and house in order. I did some LOW training for Dolly McMullin and refresh training for Kristle Loewen. I went to the Willoughby Ward YWs on Thursday evening as a guest teaching dining etiquette. Laurel Christensen had cooked a lovely roast beef  dinner for them. Some of the girls, especially the younger girls, were a bit overwhelmed but they were cute and excited to participate. One of the YW asked, “How do you know so much?”  I replied, “I am old”. It was fun. I also had my regular Stake YW zoom on Wednesday evening and I made assignments for upcoming live ordinances.

I miss Tom when I travel. This is my first time here without him and it is hard.  He always remembered things to bring and do and I am trying hard to think of and take care of all those things. Oh, I miss him on every level. Tonight we will go out for dinner and I will try to pay and I will know Tom could have handled that better too.

April 10, 2023

 Somehow two weeks have slipped by but they have been weeks full of happenings and fulfilling of responsibilities. General Conference has come and gone and Holy Week and Easter have come and gone. I feel like Tom is whispering in some ears, “Keep her busy.” It is good for me and it keeps my mind and body going.

I have completed the Temple Prep lessons with Amy and Hyrum and he has had his interviews and booked an appointment at the Temple. He is a great fellow and I pray they have bright future within the gospel. Hyrum is a carpenter and is going to build some awnings for my bedroom windows to prevent the sun’s rays from reflecting off the windows and burning my artificial turf in the backyard.

I am busy with my church callings, teaching Temple prep, training LOWs and scheduling LOWs with Temple assignments, doing my regular Temple assignments and having YW Stake meetings and doing a Presidency training meeting with a new YW presidency in the Clearbrook Ward along with the other members of the Stake YW presidency. We also had a Moroni’s Quest meeting to receive Stake assignments for the event to be held this summer.

I have tried to finish up some books I have been needing to read and I watched Presley and a Nova one day while Camille and Daylan attended the Temple. I am happy to help them out in some small way while Presley continues her cancer treatments at Children’s Hospital. I had Bela and Toese for lunch as Toese is getting over leg surgery and also just because they are my friends. Toese fell in love with Kona, everyone does. I took extra food from the lunch to Lincoln and Mary as they were getting over covid.  I had the Hardy family for dinner on Easter and invited Jean too even though I don’t know if western food is her favourite, I didn’t want her to be alone.

General Conference was wonderful and every talk was Christ Centered. They encouraged us to make more out of Easter, as we do Christmas and so I tried to concentrate on Holy Week a little more. The General Authorities suggested we only do sacrament meeting on Easter Sunday to spend more time with our families as we would if it were Christmas. 

I have made reservations to go to Lara Lyn’s next week to visit and to take Kona with me. We will fly to Cranbrook and the Bull’s will pick us up there. Hyrum is planning on building my awnings while we are gone. We leave on Saturday, April 15 early in the morning and Hyrum wants to start that day.

My life is full and busy but the hole in my heart is a permanent reality.