September, 4, 2024

 Somehow the summer flew by and we are now getting into fall and the children are getting back to school. Liza and Brendon, along with Keaton and Sayde got Breya over to Edmonton and settled in her duplex house with roommates. She will be taking engineering on scholarship. It was hard for them to let her go. Her Bishop is Blair Bennett’s son. Sam will be staying here and taking business at Kwantlin University. He is now attending the YSA. Tammie drove out to St. George with Jadyn and got her settled in an apartment with two roommates. She will be finishing her online BYU Idaho program this fall with a practicum. She is living close to Justin and family. Max is back to work at his office but will also soon finish his graduate program in accounting. Ross is carrying on with his bachelor’s degree preparing for accounting. Jack is in St.George this week for his friend’s wedding and his classes start in Lethbridge next week. He is thinking of dentistry. Zach is not playing hockey this year but working for the same team in upstate New York and finishing his MBA. Treyvn and Keaton are in High School, Sayde and Wyatt in Middle school and our dear little Colton in Elementary school. Justin is our only one completely finished and is a Physiotherapist - Dr. Walker. They all work hard and I am so proud of them and I love them and I pray for them.

I finished teaching my YSA Temple Prep group and three of the boys are going thru the Temple this Friday. The Bishop has a ward group he wants me to teach this fall. I have, however, been called just last week, to be the ministering secretary for the Relief Society and I meet with the presidency for the first time this evening. I would love to continue with Temple Prep but that is up to the Bishop.

The Temple has a new shortened Endowment Presentation and that will be of help to many as well as allowing for more work to be accomplished. The schedules of all Temples will need to be adjusted. We have a two week closure starting next week and that should facilitate time to make some changes. Brian and Brenda Leavitt have just started their term as Temple President and Matron serving with the Goeders and the Userys. The Rempels did a great job under some difficult circumstances. Lots of changes at the Temple but I carry on as an Ordinance Worker and Coordinator for Female Love Ordinances.

I work on my yard and my home and keep myself busy on many levels. I had the car serviced this morning and try to stay up on the maintenance of things - so many things Tom used to do. I am doing my best. I am grateful for family and friends and grateful for Tom as we just celebrated our 24th wedding Anniversary on August 26th, the date he had picked out and booked before he even proposed. Oh, how I love him and oh, how grateful I am for The Plan. 

August 28, 2024

 I am listening to Hawaiian music as I write. Fifty-four years ago we were in Kona on our honeymoon. It was my first time to Hawaii but Tom had been there many times before. It was his favorite place on earth. They had spent a lot of time there when he was young. They would go each winter for a few weeks or months. They even put Tom into school there a couple of times. The music, the people and the islands themselves were very special to him and now he was sharing it all with me. If ever there was a prince charming taking his bride to his beloved kingdom, this was it. I loved it, he loved it and we were so in love with each other. Hawaii will always hold my heart. We first visited Kona on the Big Island, went on to Maui and then Honolulu before reluctantly leaving.

The weather has definitely been turning colder and looking more like fall. There has been some residual warmth of summer thank goodness. I have started doing a little fall yard work in preparation for the season to be fully upon us.

Cindy and Paul celebrated their 30th anniversary by staying at a Tree House in the Bellingham area for few days. I had Sam for Sunday dinner and phoned him each day. They had been planning on going to Hawaii but decided they best drive Jack over to Alberta in preparation for school instead.

I did a condensed Temple Prep course for the YSA as President Vermeeren wanted some of them Temple ready quickly. I did the last lesssons on Sunday and now our Bishop wants me to start with a group in our ward. I am meeting with him tonight.

I had my blood pressure doctor’s appointment by phone after recording my own blood pressure for three days. It’s the new medical way of doing things. My blood pressure was fine. I already knew it was.

Cindy took me to IKEA for a shop and I took them to C-Lovers for dinner that night. I hadn’t been to IKEA since being in Australia and to C-Lovers since I had picked some halibut up for Tom and I the day before he went into the hospital.

Toese brought dinner over on Sunday for us to share. It was fun to visit and Siona and her family FaceTimed while she was here and I was able to say hello. Mary Harvey somehow remembered our wedding Anniversary on August 26 - so kind. Renee Gallant brought me Tom’s completed shirt quilt the day before our anniversary. Perfect timing. She had won first place with it at a fair and I was thrilled. 

Busy days and good family and friends.

My latest flowers from the “five months of flowers” the children gave me for Mother’s Day.

August 16, 2024

 Renee Gallant took some of Tom’s shirts and pieced together a quilt for me. I paid a women Renee suggested to do the quilting. I had no idea that Renee displayed it at BCNE fair in the recycled category and won first prize. I had been wondering when she was going to get the quilt to me but I guess it has been on display. I am thrilled that it was judged to be #1 because the man that wore the shirts was and is #1!!

Bob and Pat James came to visit me yesterday and I was so thrilled that they took the time to do so. They wanted to go for lunch but I decided to make them lunch instead and had it ready for them. We had a great visit. I love them dearly. Pat is so brave with her MS health challenges and Bob the perfect supportive companion for her. They are always fun.

Cindy and Paul drove Jack over to Alberta this week to get him settled for school in Lethbridge this Fall. They stayed with Jamie and Brooke and had dinner with Joanne, Dave and Jeff. They visited with Carol and Danielle and Tom. Jack now has a YSA conference in Calgary this week and then a trip to St. George for a friend’s wedding before school starts. Jack was a counsellor at the UBC FSY last week and Sam was a participant. I kept in touch with Sam while his parents were away this week and I took Sam, Ross, Sarah and Hansen to A+W for dinner on Tuesday. Max, Jacqui and Aksel left for Nashville last Saturday where they spent a few days with Trevor’s family before heading into downtown Nashville for Max to attend an accounting conference. They are on their 38 hour journey back to Australia today. I had the family for dinner before they left. We will miss them. 

Liza and family were with the Burgess family last week on their annual family camp. They will be packing Breya up soon to get her to Edmonton for school this fall. Tammie and Jadyn will be heading out for St. George the end of this month to get Jadyn moved over there to live with two roommates. She will complete her university online this fall and be living near Justin and JayLynn. Zach has taken a job in upstate New York with the team he played with last year but will now be working in the business part of the team. He is also working on his MBA online and Mo nursing.  Sam will be going to university locally and the rest of the children heading back to school soon as well.

I attended the Temple on Tuesday as usual and found we have a new shorted endowment presentation. It is about an hour long now. I first went thru the Temple 54 years ago and thru those years the presentation has changed and evolved. The basic ordinances never change but the presentation around them changes according the needs of the time. What a wonderful church and gospel we have.

Bela kindly invited me to her family BBQ last week while her children were all in town. It was so nice to see all of them. I made cookies to share with them. Jonny, Amber and her two daughter were passing thru and stopped to visit with me and they got more of the cookies. It was nice to see them. They had been camping on the island since Josh’s wedding. Jonny is helping me post the Grandpa Tanner pictures Tom has had responsibility for. There is a special family site where they post pictures and such. Jack came over with Sam to say goodbye and the Hardy’s got the rest of my cookies.

Cheyenne has also left to return for school. Kona I will miss her visits. She studied hard all summer and wrote her MCAT exam just before she left. I am glad Jean is here.

I am so blessed with a remarkable family, wonderful friends and a little sidekick named Kona.

August 2, 2024

 After getting home from Tennessee I started preparing for our family reunion at the Elton’s Lake House on Lake Whatcom. It would be our fourth visit there and our first without Tom. The girls and their families were all planning on coming and Trevor and Tammie were preparing to be there too. However, JayLynn got sick just as I left after my visit with all of them and she tested positive for covid. Fortunately I did not come down with it as I had last summer but Trevor, Tammie and Jadyn did. Justin seemed to get it too and Zach and Mo felt a little bit under the weather. Trey and I were the holdouts. Tammie made the decision not to travel to the Lake House but Trevor had business in Seattle so made the trip anyway but when still testing positive while there he and I made the decision that he needed to get home and rest. Everyone else made it including Jack who surprised me by taking the week off from his FSY job as a counsellor.

I got to the Temple for a session and served my Saturday Temple shift the week I was home. I went to Burnaby to meet with Eric Muir and Sherri and Sherri brought some papers the next day to have me sign. I attended the Relief Society Pioneer activity with Cindy, Jacqui and Aksel. I shopped for groceries and other supplies for the Lake and made cookie sheet chocolate cake and prepped chicken salad for dinner the day we arrived. I also got my house ready for Joanne, Jeff and the McCues as they would arrive before I got back to be here for Josh’s wedding in Abbotsford. It was a busy week. I loaded my car with everything, ALL BY MYSELF, and after church on Sunday we headed for the Lake. Jack drove with me and we had a nice visit. We arrived first and Jon Elton was waiting for us. Rissa and family and Cindy and her group followed soon after. Sam had to work and they went back for him on Tuesday. Liza and the children had difficulties as there was an accident with a truck left on fire and they had to reroute. I stayed up until they arrived. Brendon drove down on Wednesday after work to join us.

We had a great week and I really enjoyed it. I felt Tom near and the children were all so good to me. The girls all went shopping for groceries and helped with the meals. Liza cooked two dinners and Rissa and Cindy one each. My children took me out for dinner on evening and we ordered pizza for the rest. We had some cloud one day but the rest of the weather was pretty good. The boys took care of the boat and took the children out for water activities. They played games and did numerous puzzles which Tom would have loved. We went cliff  jumping one day and on numerous walks. Scott, Rissa, Wyatt and Jack played golf one day and we all loved and cared for our babies Aksel and Hansen. We ate a lot! Sayde slept with me in the master bedroom so she won’t have to go up and down the stairs as often. They canoed and paddle boarded and Liza swam across the Lake with Cindy and Breya paddling along with her. The kids all enjoyed being together and the older children and the younger children had fun together. We have a wonderful family and I know Tom was enjoying them along with me. Jack had to catch a plane to get back to his assignments so Sam drove home with me and they left early. The Bulls had left on Friday and the rest on Saturday. I had cleaners come in but we got quite a bit done ourselves before leaving. Kona was with us all week and got a lot of attention.

Joanne’s family were at the wedding when I got home so I was able to unload and unpack before they got back. The wedding was a big success and they all left Sunday morning. I spent Monday cleaning and  changing sheets etc. The cleaning went into the next day or so. It rained early in the week which was good. 

I bought ice cream sandwiches on my way to the Temple on Tuesday and left them in the freezer for the workers as it was Tom’s birthday and that was my Random Act of Kindness. They seemed very appreciative. Barbara drove out that day and attended a session with me. She came over for a late lunch afterward and unfortunately left her phone behind and had to return the next day to reclaim it.

Wendy, Virginia, Robert Kearl and I met with Mayor Eric Woodward at the cemetery on Wednesday along with the fellow over cemeteries and we discussed our desires and ideas for improving the Fort Langley Cemetery. We will hopefully move forward in positives ways from here.

Kona had a grooming on Wednesday.

Cindy, Paul, Sam, Max, Jacqui and Aksel have gone up to Liza’s for a few days. Liza has opened her new clinic and is busy with that and also has Brendon’s family there and Ted staying at their place. Busy time. I went today to water Cindy’s outdoor plants. It is hot. 

Kona and I are busy here with yard work, business concerns and church callings. 

I am busy and blessed!

July 16, 2024

 Since my last blog post I essentially prepared for and went to Nashville for my time with Trevor’s family and for Jadyn going thru the Temple for the first time.

The Hardy family took Kona for me which I truly appreciated as Cindy was preparing for Max, Jacqui and Aksel’s month long visit and this is also her summer holidays. Cindy then got up very early in the morning to drive me to the Bellingham airport for a Southwest flight to Las Vegas and on to Nashville. I do not enjoy LasVegas layovers as it is an extremely busy airport and not an enjoyable experience. Trevor was there to meet me when I arrived. I arrived on Friday, July 5th and Zach and Justin with their wives and Treyson flew in on Monday. Trevor and Tammie spent Saturday showing me the lot for their new house and visiting a show home and similar homes being built. It will be very nice - bigger than their current home with a basement for all of Trevor’s gym equipment and bedrooms with attached bathrooms for each of their children when they visit, room for storage (allowing them to do away with their storage units) and for Tammie to have an office area as well as Trevor’s office. We went to visit Jadyn at work too.

The children arrived on Monday and Tuesday evening we went to the Temple with Jadyn. She did well but going to the Temple for the first time for anyone can be both wonderful and challenging. Treyvn and Jaya took care of Treyson while we were gone that evening. Monica was there toobut she feels uncomfortable caring for babies or children as she has not been around them and has never held a baby or a child. Jadyn works on her schooling online and Zach does as well so they were both busy with that. Jadyn also had her work and Treyvn was busy with his football. Zach was doing job interviews too. Little Treyson is very sweet and gets lots of attention from Trevor and Tammie and the rest of the family as well. JayLynn was doing well but started feeling sick before going home and was diagnosed with covid. They had been to a waterfall/swimming area the day before and I thought she perhaps had a cold from that. She has a hard time and I pray for her always. I left for home on Thursday, July 11th and retraced my path home through LasVegas. Dear Cindy picked me up late in the evening and then had Max’s family arriving early the next morning.

The Hardy’s brought Max, Jacqui and Aksel to see me on Friday but I didn’t hug them then just in case I was coming down with covid. I got to hold Aksel on Sunday. He is a very happy active little fellow. They’ve been busy since their arrival and Max is having to work this week from here - doing Australia hours. 

I was back at the Temple on Saturday for my shift and attended the Temple today. I was suppose to substitute for Donna Deyell today but Colleen said they didn’t need me so I did a session as usual. I took Kona to the vet for her annual checkup and shots yesterday. She was not happy but I do think she is happy to have me home. I am getting ready for our week at the Lake House next week and for Joanne’s family coming for Josh’s wedding and some of them staying here the day before we get home from the lake. Busy time! 

I am so blessed and blessed to feel that Tom is helping me with all of this. I had been struggling with accessing our two business accounts online but suddenly had an insight thru the night. I am trying and receiving help along the way.

July 2, 2024

 It has been a busy couple of weeks and my blog is behind.

Hardy “wise” we had Hansen’s baby blessing on June 16 and his father gave him a beautiful blessing. Jack had a young girl sit by him during the meeting that likes him. He has a number girls that like him however, he left today for Alberta where he will train and then serve as an FSY leader for most of the summer. He will be moving around to different cities in Canada each week. Sam had his graduation ceremony on June 17 and I was there with Cindy, Paul, Reid and Edith. The Rolfson, Jahn and Cardno families were also there. Jack has been trying to get Cheyenne to institute and YSA church, 

Rissa called and said Deanne Shockey had invited them to fly up to the Langley area with her and her girls as they were coming for a horse jumping competition. They have a private plane and they had extra seats on board, That was a treat for them and for me. They flew into Abbotsford last Tuesday and left on Saturday. I had Cindy and Rissa together for their birthdays for the first time in years. I took them to High Tea in Fort Langley and I kept the boys on Rissa’s birthday so they could stay at a hotel downtown. We got out to White Rock twice and they attended the horse competition one day. Liza and the children arrived on Friday which added to my treat. I had everyone for dinner that night and I know Tom is happy when he sees his children together. I am tired but I loved having everyone.

Liza and the children came down to shop for furniture for her new office at IKEA and to shop for other things as well. Liza pulled the trailer for the first time alone but managed fine. Brendon had things he needed to get done at home. Liza struggles so with her anxiety and depression. She is a magnificent daughter of Heavenly Parents and one of the greatest individuals I have been blessed to know but this earthly trial is a huge challenge. I pray for her to find solutions for relief.

Toese’s daughter Siona’s young husband died in a diving mishap in Hawaii. They live there and he goes diving to catch fish all the time. It is tragic and our hearts are aching for her and her family. Bela had Toese and me over for dinner after it happened. I donated to Go Fund Me for her. Toese has left and is over there now.

I attended a bridal shower for Elise Ryan, a YSA girl that served in the Temple with us. Cindy and I went to visit our dear Diane Andrews who is now in Hospice care with her cancer. We love Diane. She is a ray of sunshine. I got my Two Companies Year Ends into my accountant, my property taxes paid and am trying to keep up on my commitments. 

I am preparing now to fly to Nashville on Friday. Jadyn will be going thru the Temple on July 9. I am proud of her. Justin and family will be coming too. I am not sure about Zachary. I am trying to get my callings and everything in order. Cindy will keep Kona.

My yard is looking beautiful and I am grateful for it and for my lovely home. I am blessed on so many levels.

June 13, 2024

 I awoke at 7:00 this morning with Ryan and his crew moving my new turf along the side of the house into the backyard. He removed the old burnt turf a couple of weeks ago and we have been waiting for the replacement to happen. As Tom was struggling with his health, we made the decision to put artificial turf in the backyard so that our family, friends and neighbors would not have to worry about mowing our grass. After Tom passed I was grateful for the decision as it was one thing that didn’t have to trouble my heart BUT within a very short time I started seeing streaks on the gras and finally determined that my bedroom windows were reflecting onto and burning the turf. I cried a lot that summer with grief and the turf problem added more pain to my life. Ryan said he would replace it but I first had to find a solution to the burning problem. I looked at many options and about a year later Hyrum and Amy built and installed awnings over the bedroom windows. Now I waited to see if more burning occurred with the awnings in place.  I waited months and in the new year decided to arrange with Ryan to do the turf replacement. He has had trouble fitting it into his busy schedule but finally - finally it has happened.  He did it for free but I will pay the cost of the turf. I am excited and the dog is thrilled to have her grass back. Now I pray that my awning solution continues to hold. Ryan put filler in that is suppose to keep the turf cooler.

It has been  busy couple of weeks. I helped plant the Temple’s summer flowers. Mary and Lincoln are helping care for the Temple grounds and Mary asked me to help. Sean Sugden had not used volunteers before and I think he was thrilled with how quickly things went. We did not get if it finished that first day though but I was determined to complete it before Summer Harvey’s sealing on June 5 so I asked for more volunteers to come the following night and we got it done. The wedding day went well and I attended the beautiful reception in the evening with Cindy and Paul. I also helped try to declutter the Nosils’ new seniors condo with a group of ladies. I attended a special sealing of 13 deceased Squamish Nation children being sealed to their parents. Myrna Olson asked me to help with that ordinance. It was a very special privilege as we all knelt together. I have had a meeting with my bank regarding my numbered companies. I have worked at my business affairs and callings and have attended Sam’s seminary graduation. I had a long conversation with Sabina which was very nice and a good visit with my sister. I have bought plants and some new summer clothes. I have gone to the Temple to assist Dolly McMullin with her first live ordinance along with my other Temple visits and duties. I realize that my busyness helps keep me healthy mentally, physically and spiritually.

Most importantly we celebrated the second anniversary of Tom’s passing June 6th.   I choose to celebrate and remember him on his birthday and his death date because I choose to remember and celebrate him and his life always. Cindy kindly took the day off and we bought some plants and went to the cemetery. We then went for brunch at Saba’s. Cindy had high school lunch at her house and afterwards we drove to the North Shore to visit my parent’s grave and take a plant. We picked up Chinese food for dinner. Melanie Leonard had been by and left some peonies for me. Kelly Groom left a message letting me know that the Sechelt Branch were thinking of me and Tom. People are so kind and so many continue to ask me how I am doing and remember Tom with great emotion, respect and love. Even Sabina said her visit with Elder Richard G. Scott was much like talking to Tom and Brother Requelmie had to rush up and hug me to tell me of his new Stake Presidency calling because he knew Tom would be thrilled. Tom was loved because of his Christlike love for and service given to others and oh, how blessed I have been to feel of that love throughout most of my life. I am beyond grateful to still feel it everyday.