Friday, March 28, 2014

California Dreamin

                       Party time on Mission Viejo Lake with Dave, Lisa and Kids.


Dave and I took Carter and Brady over to Phoenix to spring training and a game with the LA Angels vs San Francisco Giants.  Great time, nice experience, I forgot how much I love baseball.

 Wendy and I spent a a few days down in San Diego and visited the Mormon Battalion history site and there in the artifacts was a sword that Philemon Merrill used on his journey as part of the Mormon Battalion.  Philemon is my Grandma Saunders Grandfather on her mothers side.  Great surprise.

We had a great day going on a tour of the USS Midway.  It was great to see the immensity of this ship and get educated on how they launch a plane and trap a plane when it lands on the deck.  The living quarters and food services were neat to see.  We had lots of fun and thought often of the young boys in our family and how much they would enjoy this museum.


some great old planes and new ones as well.


A tribute to all the sailors and to Bob Hope.

                                  The famous Coronado Hotel on Coronado Island

               Pearl of India - great old ship that went around the world at least 6 times.


Long Long beaches on south shores of Coronado Island - wonderful place.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Preparing for Samoa weather

Wendy and I have to get ready for warm weather in Samoa - 31 degrees every day with a low of 26 degrees.  80-90% humidity.  
So we are spending a month in Southern California where we can swim everyday and get some sun.



We will be able to go to the beach and catch a few rays as well -

I think Wendy is excited about this

We can do a bit of biking and walking to round out the exercise 

And of course we will need to get a bit of golf in as 2 years is a long time to not golf.  

More Tests

Here is a picture of our 3 bedroom home in Samoa.  The van has been replaced with a new 1 ton van so we have lots of room for passengers or cargo and spare beds for guests.

Wendy and I have spent the past few weeks back in Calgary getting new medicals, X-rays, Police reports and passport documents filled out.  We are grateful for the Dr's who have helped us thru the process in a very efficient manner.

We went out to our home in Windermere for a few days to pick up some clothes and check on things. The mountains have had lots of snow as you can see - it's building up everywhere.  The Valley was clear and no snow, very spring like.  We had a nice few days to relax.


Jessica and CJ went down to St. George to look for a home so Wendy and I have been the chief cook, bottle washer, baby sitter of Eli and Ida for 4 or 5 days and it's been real fun.  We took some walks, played some games, and had a special meal each night.  Saturday - Pizza , Sunday - spaghetti, Monday - meatballs, Tuesday - Tacos, Wedensday - Waffles.  Whatever rhymed we made.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The Family we will miss


Well, I don't know - you tell me. DO you think you would miss this bunch?  I know we sure are going to miss them and expect they will all grow a few inches while we are gone.  These little ones are a great blessing in our lives.  It seems as though most of our thoughts and aspirations centre around these special boys and girls.  We love them and we pray for their success in life as honest, upstanding contributors to a better society and loyal friends.  We hope they will always know how much we love them and will stand by them in their successes and failures.

Checking in on the Salmons

Wendy and I took a flight over to Texas to visit Stacey & Aaron and the 4 boys.  We had a great time with them.  How could you not;  Dahl is just the best big brother and so kind, Ty smiles so hard his teeth fall out, Reid is wonderful friend and brother to Rex and Rex is cute as a bugs ear.


Rex showed us how to eat ribs at a great place in Durant Oklahoma, Aaron's dental office is in Durant.  Rex can really clean up a rib.


Ty & Dahl both had a basketball game at the Baptist Church.  They have a great facility and the boys get lots of good teaching in both basketball and religion.  Before the game starts the teams all join a circle and the referee kneels down in the middle and says a prayer. At half time both teams formed a circle and a young lady gave a bible story. Following the game they all went into a room and each player was recognized for their good play and given a nice message.  They do it up big in Texas


Dahl and the boys were great cheer leaders for the Olympic games while we were with them.  We watched Canada and the US as they went for Gold.  The Canada women's hockey and the Canada men's hockey were lots of fun for the boys to watch.


We all went to one of Ty's plays at the school one evening and watched Ty perform with his class.  They did a great job.

Time to Visit Loved ones.


Wendy and I had time to visit Dave & Lisa and kids in California in that we don't leave for Samoa till June 9th.  We drove through the Redwoods as we made our way down to Southern California.

Wendy couldn't get her arms around this tree and it was a small one.  The Redwoods are very beautiful, we would suggest to anyone that it is a worthwhile drive through the "avenue of the giant"


We had a great time hanging out with Dave and family, riding bikes, swimming, going to baseball practices and enjoying some nice warm weather.

You have been Re-assigned

Well after 4 months of trying to get visas to India we have been unsuccessful.  We have tried every thing and every way we could think of to get the Consulate attention and issue us a visa but we were unsuccessful.  We have since learned that the Missionary Department has called 8 couples in the past 2 years and no one from Canada has been able to get a visa since early 2012.  This of course makes it difficult for the Missions in India.

On Feb. 20th Wendy and I were reassigned to the Samoa Apia Mission to work on the American Samoa island as CES Specialists, teaching Institute, Missionary Preparation, Temple Preparation and to provide services of all every kind to the 40 missionaries on the Island.  We are so excited.