Omaha, Nebraska Here We Come

With Kyle and Camille home from Ottawa we ventured out early on Monday, July 22nd for our adventure out West.

Our first stop was to Omaha, Nebraska so we could have our Family Home Evening that night in Winter Quarters Nebraska where the Mormon Migration to the Salt Lake valley began.

On our travels we stumbled upon the Kanesville Tabernacle across the river from Winter Quarters at Council Bluffs, Iowa, where a historic settlement had been located.

 At the replica of the Kanesville Tabernacle there was a musical brehearsal going on and one of the performers was a former "Elder" Fox who was in the group ahead of Kyle at the Missionary Training Center when he was there and he had also served in the Wallaceburg Branch of the London Stake on his mission.

It was a reflective evening going through the visitors center and reading, watching movie portrayals of the what the Mormon Pioneers endured. That night we were grateful to get to our hotel after a good 11+ hours drive and realizing how a similar trip would have taken many weeks in the harsh land condition back in the 1840's.

A Joyous Graduation

There are milestones in any parent's lives and both Irene and I had a special day on Tuesday, May 11th celebrating Andrew's graduation  with his Bachelor of Social Work degree from York University.

We picked up Marci and headed over to York University for the afternoon convocation. It was a busy place with the multiple convocations going on and it was a bright sunny day.

Andrew was in the Department of Social Work and with having a surname with the letter "S" he was right at the very top of all the rows of seating and one of the last students to receive his degree.

When Andrew was coming in and while waiting at the very beginning we all felt Andrew was beaming and excited for this special day.

Andrew walking in to take his seat at the top and almost last position

After the chancellor, university president, honorary degree recipient and dean of the faculty spoke THEN the degrees were handed out.

There were iMag screens on both sides of the hall allowing us to get close up views of the presentation and so I managed to capture Andrew shaking the hands of the chancellor, Roy McMurtry. It has been a testament to Andrew's hard work, occasional obsessiveness, an incredibly understanding and supportive wife, and his passion for the field of social work, that Andrew achieved summa cum laude - with highest distinction - earning straight A's for all his courses.

Shaking hands with Chancellor, R. Roy McMurtry

For the longest time I was trying to capture a photo of York University's shield emblem and the Latin motto that appeared on a recurring slide presentation before the proceedings started. First time I missed it. Second time someone's head was in the way. Finally, third time lucky.

A reflective motto - personal and university

It was only upon viewing the picture on the camera that I realized the English equivalent for the Latin motto, namely: "The way must be tried."

This seemed all the more fitting for our Andrew.

Sustaining a mild head injury from a fall when he was 17, Andrew had a hard time finishing off high school. He would continue to have difficulties with studying when commencing college and managed to complete a diploma in social service work.

Along the way in his now completed degree program, Andrew has found things difficult but stimulating and has risen above his personal challenges.

Andrew walking out after convocation with no idea his Dad was taking this picture

Andrew has been tried and come off triumphant. We are proud of you, Andrew. Congratulations!

Degree in hand

With Marci, Andrew's great encourager

Proud parents and son

One phase over...Master's Degree next!!

Oh To Be In England...

April 17th brought the sad news that my Mom's sister, my Aunt Lily, passed away at age 92.

My cousin Val and I were the only living relatives on my aunt's side of the family. She had outlived all other relatives.

My cousin, Val, and I connected probably for the very first time as my Mom's death created a grieving process that distance us from her side of the family. This was a grand catching up and an understanding of the challenging dynamics of our families.

I offered and my cousin was grateful to have me conduct the memorial service at Randalls Park Crematorium in Leatherhead, Surrey, on May 9, 2013, where my Uncle Fred and Aunt Lilly had once lived where he worked as the gardener.

I was grateful that my brother, Brian, came to attend. There were two older step-daughter's of Val's deceased husband, Eric, in attendance, two twin adult daughters of their mother who lived in the same nursing home as Aunt Lily and the funeral home director. It felt sad to have so few in attendance.

I worked with my cousin Val to create a simple and short eulogy along with words of comfort from the scriptures.

On the first day I arrived in England my cousin Val picked me up at Heathrow Airport and she was kind enough to drive us down to visit my parents. It is always hard to see them aging so much and declining in health. Val took this picture for me.

I am glad I was able to go.

Crazy Things Parents Do

OK. So one night before going to bed I started swinging in our hallway on the side ledges as if they were parallel bars.

And so we caught this on camera.

Dad in flight in the hallway

After a storm night Mom and I went out for a walk in our neighbourhood when we came across this Caterpillar brand road paver. Mom's eyes went big at the thought of driving one so she jumped up and we captured this shot.

She's not actually sitting down because the storms we had made the seat wet.

Mom on the wild CAT!!

It's amazing the fun you can have as adults :)

Date Night on a Friday Night

With our new computer we can now get back to blogging again.

And what better place to start than with our regular date night which happened to be on Friday this week.

It was Irene's turn to plan our date and she had one we've never done before. It was a 170 piece Ravensburger puzzle of a red double-decker bus in England right in front of the British Parliament Building with the Big Ben tower right above the bus.

Our treats were those delicious Apple Blossoms from Costco heated up and enjoyed a la mode with some vanilla ice cream.

A novel date sweetheart!

Interestingly, the puzzle shows the #109 Croydon bus. It was in Croydon where I had to go for my first job interview at the Surrey Trustee Savings Bank where I worked for at the Leatherhead Branch after I left school at the age of 16.

Old Nauvoo

On our way to Roy's annual professional conference, this year in St. Louis, Missouri, we drove down and stopped in Nauvoo, Illinois on  the weekend before.

Saturday we parked the car at the hotel and walked through the streets of the town of Nauvoo and browsed and shopped. Then we went to the historic Old Nauvoo and went on two horse drawn carriage and covered wagon rides where we saw the various restored houses and learned the history, and also heard of the sacrifices and miracles that ocuured there.



Sitting in the front of the covered horsedrawn wagon



Sister Missionaries at one of the Historic Sites


We enjoyed seeing the statues, memorials and plaques in groves and various locations that told the accounts of the sacrifices and occurences of the early Saints in Nauvoo.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith



Plaque with the statue of Joseph & Hyrum



While traveling around old Nauvoo it was reflective to see the view the early Saints would have had of the original Nauvoo Temple as they left in the bitter cold of a February to head across the then frozen Mississippi over to the state of Iowa before heading to the Salt Lake valley.

Nauvoo Temple on the hill

It was an enjoyable time with much to think about.

Irene caught thinking while on one of the horse driven rides



Granddaddy and Granddaddyo In Action

It was wonderful for Roy to be with all eight of our grandchildren. One family calls him Granddaddy and the other family calls him Granddaddyo.

He tries his best to play and be with all of the grandchildren at all their range of ages.

From Star Wars light sabre fights with Mr E…

Trying out a boxing match with Kinect with Mr. T...

Reading storybooks out loud and adding Winnie the Pooh character voices…

To just being in the backyard…