August 27, 2018

Reese, Gwen and Tige

sending Love to Podge

We all missed having him in Utah

Gwen was my shadow

Tate #7 QB

Nicole, Ivey, Scott and Beau

at Tate's Football Game

Tige, Kaden and Eric 

at Kaden's Soccer Game

August 27, 2018

From the pictures above you can tell this was an unusual week.  Let me explain....

Monday, August 20, we got a call from Matt Boucher's parents who we had met on Sunday evening.  They asked if they could drop by our apartment on their way home to Las Vegas.  They had some canned peaches they had forgotten to give Matt and asked if we would make a special delivery to him.  Bro. Boucher is in the army so we had a great time chatting with them.  The golden bottles of peaches I'm sure will lift Matt's spirits next Sunday.  That evening we attended a senior couples FHE.  However, because of sickness and mission responsibilities only four couples were in attendance.  It was a pot luck dinner.  Luckily I had made some spinach pinwheels that ended up being the main course.  We also had fruit and two kinds of cookies.  Although the physical meal was meager, we were spiritually fed by Elder Burtonshaw who led a discussion about Jesus the Christ.

After getting more bad news about the cost of building a house from our second builder, we decided I would fly to Utah on Thursday to see a house we had found online.  President Clark gave me his blessing and we booked a flight on Jet Blue.  Had a great day serving at FAM.  Always come home exhausted but happy that we were able to serve.

Wednesday I taught two female MPs the Budget for Baby course.  They were outstanding young women.  I admire the young men and women who serve in the marines.  I met another new volunteer--Jazmin.  What an interesting woman she is.  She is serving as a surrogate mother for a couple in China.  She will deliver their twins in approximately two weeks.  When she had a few minutes of down time at NMCR she was pursuing applications from foreign exchange students from Switzerland and Egypt to select the student who will live with their family for the school year.  Jazmin's husband is from the Dominican Republic.  They met in Guam where she was a sailor and he was a marine.  Wow, talk about a person with international ties.  It was fascinating talking with her.  I got to work with Carolyn in the afternoon.  When I explained that I was flying to Utah the next day, we looked at houses together.  During that conversation I was able to teach her about food storage and large Latter-day Saint families.  Volunteering gives us so many opportunities to share our testimony about our families and important gospel topics.  

It was wonderful seeing Chelsey pull over to the curb at the Salt Lake Airport on Thursday.  I thought she would just be there with her girls but Tige and Kaden surprised me too.  (They didn't mind getting out of a school a little early to pick up grandma.)  Oh, what a treat to give them all a big hug.  The flight from the Long Beach Airport was so quick--much better than a 10-hour drive.  That evening I had the chance to watch Tige's football practice, swing Gwen, read with Tige and play Barbies with Reese--all the things a Grandmother loves to do.  Eric prepared a fabulous dinner while Chelsey and I did the football run.  After the kids were in bed, we laughed and talked until late at night.  My sweet companion had sent me a loving note--it was so strange not having him with me.  Gwen was especially displeased that her Podge did not get off of the plane.  But, she was my shadow for the weekend.  Loved playing with that precious little girl.

Friday Chelsey and Gwen escorted me to Woodland Hills to check out a house on Eagle Nest.  It was a gorgeous house on a magnificent piece of land--close to perfect.  I made an offer and the owner/agent accepted it.  We spent several hours making all of the arrangements.  Gwen was such a trooper.  After we finished up at Woodland Hills, we stopped by Grandpa's apartment in Provo.  Grandpa is looking fabulous.  It was so wonderful to be able to give him a big hug and get one of his precious kisses.  Denise and David were there with dad so we had a fun time visiting with them.  On our way to the Title Company to drop off the earnest money, we started thinking about the long drive to Woodland Hills.  It would take Boyd and Cathy almost two hours to travel to the new house.  It would be a huge sacrifice for them to drive that far to attend regular family dinners.  We talked and decided it would be best to delay making a final decision on the house until we had time to thoroughly discuss the purchase and pray about our decision.  We arrived back at Chelsey's house at 3:30 just as Cathy, Emma, Dylan and Aspen arrived for a visit.  We had so much fun chatting with them for a few hours--what amazing young women!! Can't believe how grown up they all are.  We enjoyed pizza, ice cream sundaes and some fantastic company that evening.

Saturday I rose early and drove to Nephi to watch Tate's football game.  It was so fun visiting with Scott, Ivey, Beau, Hazel and Nicole in the stands.  Tate  was the QB and played a great game but they lost on the last play.  Because it was such an exciting game, I couldn't leave early.  I  met Chelsey in Pleasant Grove minutes before a scheduled appointment to tour another house.  Chelsey was so great to accompany me on all of these tours.  This house was next to a pond that would be really fun for some fishing adventures.  We visited one more home in Alpine before we headed back to Eric's house.  The owners of the home were home and we had a fun time talking with them.  We took a brief break for lunch and I called Elder Halvorsen to discuss the houses we had visited that day.  Then we were off to Kaden's soccer game (which the won 5-2).  I love soccer and really enjoyed watching with Tige and Eric.  As soon as the game was over, the boys took me to the airport.  Ninety minutes later I was reunited with my favorite companion and we were headed back to San Clemente.  It was a wild weekend but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Sunday, it was back to reality.  I got up early and made Cranberry Chicken for our marine dinner.  Elder Halvorsen and I fasted to know how to proceed with our housing options.  it was a tender mercy when I explained our situation to Cindy Lundquist.  Her in-laws live 1 hour and 45 minutes away from them.  She told us how difficult it had been as they aged and were unable to drive the long distance to be with family and how it had strained their family relationships.  What an answer to our prayers.  We knew cancelling our contract on the Woodland Hills house was the correct decision.  What a blessing to receive the guidance we were seeking.  

Our meetings Sunday were terrific. Freda Weber spoke about why we do what we do--the importance of our testimony.  Bro. Olsen, our stake high councilman challenged the marines to let their light shine.  At the fireside Con Weber (Cal's twin brother) shared with the marines that nothing is impossible.  They can do more than they think they can.  Con is a powerful speaker.  We are certainly missing Charlie Company--again we only had 14 marines at our fireside.  Hoping to inspire the marines to bring their friends to our meetings.  

In the afternoon, we got to hear about Craig and Owen's camping/canoeing trip to the Boundary Lakes in Minnesota near the Canadian border.  What a fabulous adventure they had.  Owen will never forget spending that time with his dad.  We loved hearing all about it.  So thankful that as senior missionaries we can communicate with our family while we are serving in the California, Irvine Mission.