Our 36th Wedding Anniversary Day

Our 36th Wedding Anniversary started after sleeping in a little bit and reading the cards for one another...while still laying in bed.

Then I got up and made Irene some pannekoeken, which are Dutch crepes, for our breakfast before we headed out to the Detroit Michigan Temple and our wonderful day.

We had come to the temple prepared to seal my Grandparents Weller. I had known their wedding date from a wedding favour slip of paper for very long time. However,  I was only recently able to find document proof of their marriage .

Charles Henry, Lillian Beatrice, Marjorie Elizabeth and Beatrice Ellen WELLER

We had things all reserved but I guess some people were not present. Nevertheless, our temple president, President Steven A. Hedquist, said we have to get this done and he arranged the people we needed to make the sealing happen.

We were also going to be able to seal my Mom to her parents and a baby brother, Gordon Charles, who lived only for an hour or two when born.

So with Brothers Leslie Grable and Val Nelson as witnesses, and Brother Richard Sanders and Sister Dale acting as proxies for my Mom and her brother we made a special memory.

During the sealing President Hedquist was tearful and my dear wife across the altar had tears streaming down her face. For me, I had such a remarkably strong visual image in my mind of my grandparents. It was as if they were there while I did not see them with my physical eyes.

Mom describes during the sealing of the children that she felt the presence of a male - young or old she could not determine as if he were watching the sealing - again without physically seeing him.

It was a sacred and special experience to to go through. It caused us to linger and reflect on what we had just gone through.  It was so unique from what we have previously experienced. We did not want to rush out.

We ate a simple lunch in the car before driving off.

We always drive past and under the Skywalk of the upscale Somerset Collection of famous stores with three levels and a South and North collection of stores, like Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks on Fifth Avenue, etc.

Of course, being grandparents ourselves, we visited stores like Hallmark, the Disney Store, and the Lego Store. We made sure to pause and have a Häagen-Dazs ice cream - I had strawberry and Mom had chocolate brownie and vanilla.

We also enjoyed dancing fountains...and taking a brief break before going back to our car. Mom found a great parking spot which saved us having to go valet parking. Go figure!

Then we went to Wal-Mart!!

Really, there are some things you can only get in the States so we had to. Naturally, we had a little treat since we were just a little famished with all our walking in the fancy mall.

Our reservations were at The Melting Pot where Melanie, our host, introduced us to our first fondue meal.

For starters we had a 4-cheese fondue where we learned to dip in artisan breads, seasonal vegetables and even apple.

Then we had chicken breast European-style fondue of canola oil. We could put the chicken on the skewers straight in the oil or cover them first by dipping them in either tempura or sesame batters. We also had potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower.

After we had a pure chocolate fondue which came with fresh strawberries, blondies, bananas, pineapple, marshmallow treats, pound cake, and brownies. Yum!

Then it was one last shopping stop before crossing the border and heading home.

It was a really special day and one that we thoroughly enjoyed and will never forget.

This quote we found in the Hallmark store describes exactly how we feel about each other.

60 Years Has Gone By Fast...and So Did My Birthday

Because a former colleague I knew from Parkwood Hospital had a retirement party in London, Ontario on the evening of May 12th we stayed over with a free hotel stay. That stay came about because of barking dogs at a hotel in Montreal - the only time I have appreciated dogs :)

So Wednesday morning I slept in - a rarity in my life - until 8:30am! Irene made me sausages, eggs and toast and we enjoyed that together, in our hotel suite.

Received a call from Tisha, Scott and their children singing Happy Birthday to me while I was still in my pyjamas. Then it was getting ready so we could leave to get a present from my children.

Talking with the Elford Family

Seems Renee had worked with all of our children and in-laws to send in things they appreciate or love me for. Off we went to M&T Insta Print on Bradley Avenue, which is where almost all of my early days business printing was done.

A priceless gift from my children and in-law children

In the parking of the print shop I read out loud all of the comments, in different coloured font associated with each of our 5 children with the in-laws having the same colour. They are such reflective comments and memories from each child - that you smile about and mothers cry about and grown men inhale any potential tears from escaping.

From there we drove down to Stobie's Pizzeria at Dufferin and Richmond Streets. Irene was excited to tell the staff it was my birthday and the one gal there said if you can prove it's your birthday with identification the pizza slice was free. That's what we did!

We had hoped to eat in Victoria Park but it was so cold we ate in the car. Mom brought some cream soda to drink with our lunch.

Then it was birthday cake hunting. I am not a big one for cake and often have some kind of pie. But we had to go to Toronto for a meeting I had on the 14th. What could we bring with us to go to the hotel?

Irene had planned for us to go to Angelo's Bakery and Delicatessen on Wonderland Road north of Oxford. Mom picked up a chocolate swirl cheesecake and I had Sfoglia Square which is like flakey pastry with layers of custard cream and icing sugar on top. So good! But I wouldn't know that until the evening.

En route to Toronto we knew we wanted to eat dinner in Ancaster so we didn't have to deal with downtown trying to find something amidst the more upscale restaurants. But the traffic was so smooth sailing we got their earlier than expected.

That's when I saw a Ciniplex Odeon movie theatre and and suggested Irene and I watch a movie. The only movies showing in the next few minutes were both 3-D and Mom's vertigo doesn't handle that well. Mom encouraged me to go and enjoy myself on my birthday. Off I went with 3-D glasses on and enjoyed watching - "Avengers: The Age of Ultron".

In the parking lot after the movie I heard from Camille wishing me a happy birthday.

Kelsey's restaurant was right next door so we went there and shared a meal together as portions are just so large for one person. And we still had dessert coming :)

Arrived at One King West hotel at...you guessed it..1 King West Street in downtown Toronto.

While registering with the female front desk clerk the Gilpins called me on my cell phone. I had to quickly explain my grandchildren were singing Happy Birthday to me - with a few "cha! cha! chas!" thrown in for good measure. She was so moved that she upgraded our room and gave us free internet. Thanks kids!

Up in our lovely hotel suite and enjoying our birthday goodies - with candles in of course (one each!!) - I received calls from the Saundersons in Port Moody, BC and the Saundersons in Ottawa, Ontario with their own special renditions of "Happy Birthday".

I know leading up to my birthday that family members and friends have made a big deal out of turning 60 years of age.

For me it has been simply a reflection of gratitude for all I have been able to do and knowing full well there is still more to contribute to the lives of many more people.

"Old" does not equate with 60 for me.

I am so very thankful for all Irene did to make this day a very special day for me. We had a lot of fun together.

Thanks also to my children and grandchildren for adding to our singing greetings tradition and for the priceless gift they gave me.

Happy Birthday to Us...with Neil Diamond

We have long wanted to see a concert with Neil Diamond and somehow the location and timing of when his previous concerts happened just did not jive with our calendars.

One time we were in Montreal and we went to see the Beach Boy's 50th Anniversary Tour performance. The next night was Neil Diamond and we just could not do that back to back.

But one day last fall as Irene and I were driving back to Kingsville on the 401 she heard on the radio that Neil Diamond was coming to London, Ontario just 2 hours away from us.

That's when I got on the computer and booked us some expensive concert tickets to attend our dream of seeing Neil Diamond LIVE!!

These tickets were going to be our birthday present to each other.

When we arrived it was kind of neat to look through one of the doorways to see the stage. I could not find the number of the gate way that we needed.

What I had forgotten was that with the ice arena now floored over for a concert we were not in any of the regular arena seats. Uh, uh. We were on the main floor and just 13 rows from the stage. We were definitely excited! Now I know why they cost so much last fall :)

On stage was his guitar before the band set up.And we saw the special light and effects personnel climbing up above us to the special light rigging.

The diamond shaped background on the stage became an incredible light show or screen showing pictures and videos. Leading up to Neil's coming on stage the lighting effect made this diamond area spin with lights that made it look like a real diamond from which Neil appeared through a doorway.

The Budweiser Gardens seats over 9,000 people at best of times and with the floor being used for seat it may well have been 10,000 fans cheering for the song master, Neil Diamond.

So while the pictures I have are taken just with my iPhone, they bring back amazing memories of an incredible concert where we stood up on many occasions and sang with Neil Diamond his classics like Cracklin' Rosie, Forever in Blue Jeans, Beautiful Noise, I Am I Said, Brooklyn Roads and many others along with his more recent songs.

On his new album he has written some more of his typical reflective and thought provoking songs.

One of them was depicted through an animation portrayal of the story being told through the song and was very well done.

And of course, Neil came back on stage after a long standing ovation to give at least 4 or 5 encore performance of songs along with the great classic audience participation song, Sweet Caroline.

With no intermission, Neil Diamond, even at 74 years of age, gave a memorable and enjoyable concert that we will never forget.

Once Upon A Time...

It happened one Saturday morning in May.

May 3rd to be precise, at the LDS Toronto Ontario Temple. Our Kyle was married for time and all eternity to his sweetheart Dixie.

It was a fast paced weekend for us all.

First, Camille had just moved home earlier that week. Then Tisha and her baby, Logan, flew in from Alberta to Windsor on Friday afternoon and later that evening we picked up Marjorie at Detroit Airport who flew in from Montana.

Our Andrew did a red eye flight from B.C. straight to Toronto and stayed with a friend until we picked him up on Saturday morning.

For 48 hours we had all 5 of our children together to celebrate Kyle and Dixie's wedding with a small family dinner with both sides of the bride and groom's immediate family.

Afterwards, in between rain, which finally stopped, we all manged to get some great photograph captures to remember Kyle and Dixie's special day.

To say the least there was one proud Momma on the scene.

And as the rest of the story goes...

...they all lived happily ever after!!

Beautiful Province of B.C.

For the week before Easter and Easter Weekend, Irene and I were able to go to Vancouver, B.C. to see our son, Andrew, his wife Marci and their new little daughter, Capri. She is a real cutie and we loved being able to be with her.

Irene, and all of us were able to have lunch together in Deep Cove with Mary Anne McCall, whose family Irene lived with when she first went to Vancouver when she was a teenager. Lot's of laughter and fond memories were shared.

Corn, Wall's and Mountains

The next day saw us on our way through Nebraska and then South Dakota.

Along our journey we saw signs for the World Famous Corn Palace in Mitchell which we had never heard of. Irene was insistent that we make time to see some of these sites as we might not be driving this way again.

I remember having to drive off the highway, and turn left and right and right again following a maze of streets and signs with not one of them telling you how far it was.

Then we saw it...

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD

Mitchell's Corn Palace is decorated outside with different colored corn husks in artistic murals. These outside murals are changed every year. Inside are murals of pictures from classic local artists that are changed after so many years.

It was an interesting tourist lure. And we even managed to get our picture taken with Cornelius

Dad found Cornelius inside

Camille snagged a picture when the corny guy ventured outside

There is a famous drug store called Wall's Drug Store that started up in the Depression Era in the town of Wall. Business was not good and the wife of the owner suggested they put up signs on the highway offering free cups of iced water. Now the highway signs captivate travelers not only with water but also other novelties and attractions.

We heard about these signs when reading one of Richard Paul Evans' books in "The Walk" series.

It was great to enjoy the many touristy things to do and visit. We enjoyed a lovely meal at the store.

And of course, we each had a cup of iced cold water. They now serve an estimated 5,000 cups a day.

Then we had to drive along fast for the next 1.5 hours in time to visit Mount Rushmore and the night lighting performance. Irene was excited to show us one of the sites she had seen with her family growing up. We caught some photos just before dusk, watched a short outdoor video presentation about the four presidents depicted by the sculptor, and captured some night photos too.

Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln

Saunderson, Saunderson, Saunderson and Saunderson

I have to learn some things about my camera!

Quite something to finally see this historic memorial.