Surprise!

Heather flew in this afternoon, we were so excited and thrilled

to have her for a short visit.  She hasn't seen me since last May 

and she hasn't seen her dad in over a year.  It was time!  

We picked her up at the airport and went straight to lunch with three

of our assistants that were back in Edmonton for a visit themselves.

We had a great time, ate some burgers, took some pictures, shared some laughs.

It was a great time had by all. 

When we got back to the mission home and helped Heather in with

her luggage, the first thing she wanted to do was Skype with Brad,

I know she misses him and all, but isn't that a little ridiculous.  They

just said goodbye to each other a few hours ago.

So after Brad got off work, she called him on Skype and told us

that they wanted to give us our Father's Day and Mother's Day gifts.

Well I'm all about gifts, so she handed over the sack and in the sack

were three rolled up ties for Chris, I assume and these two darling

little items for me!!!!!

Got us both, right between the eyes.  I know I didn't have any clue.
She once told me that if she did get pregnant she was going to drive all
the way up here to tell us in person.  But I just didn't see this one coming.
We are so excited for the two of them.  You couldn't wipe the smile off
Brad's face, the two of them were priceless.  I love how they chose Canadian
themed onesies to tell us.  Cute, cute!!!
Now there's really something to go home to, two new grand-babies.
And they won't be born until after we get home.  Yeah!!!!

Guess Who's Coming . . . .

We picked Heather up at the airport and went right to Five Guys

to meet up with a few of our "old" assistants.  They are in

town for a visit and they wanted to see us.  Sooo excited.

What a wonderful day, first Heather and then this.  We just love it

when our missionaries come back to say "hi".

They all three looked great and it was so amazing to talk with them and

catch up on their lives and what they've been up to.  These three are truly

the best of the best.  Proud to call them "ours".

We get warm hugs from them and it's so great that they are not

afraid to embrace us, makes us feel so loved.

Here we are with the three of them, thanks to Heather manning the camera.

This is James, Elder Knight to you.  He has been going to school,
doing a bit of hiking, (lives by the Tetons) and has a girl, sorta!

This is Michael, Elder Fields to you.  He's following in his

dad's footsteps and going the military route.  Boy does he ever wish

he'd learned German now!  He will be starting

up at BYU this fall.  Nice to have him so close.

And this is Ben, Elder Richards to you.  He is doing awesome,

very, very busy with school and working.  Still plans to go into

medicine and is much too busy for a girl. (that's just my observation) 

This is the second time that Ben's been back up here and called us

 both times, seriously, dear friends for life.

Thanks boys, for stopping in to say "hello".

Heather's Coming

Heather's coming, we are so excited for her visit.

She is coming alone, Brad has to work and he's finishing up

his last bit of class work before he graduates from WSU.

The planets did align on this one, things just seem to fall into place.

Jason came up earlier this year and we had so much fun with him.

And Heather hasn't seen her dad for over a year and I could really

use her help and advice to start the going home process.

She is here and in customs, can't wait to see her.

I have so many things planned, we will play games, and do Jillian,

and eat in all the right places, and go to Bulk Barn and take long 

walks together as a family.  Yeah

Back in Edmonton

We spent all afternoon in Denver, our flight didn't take off

until after 6:00 PM and we flew straight home, which was nice.

I know these are little things, and they are silly, but I realized that this would

probably be the last time we'll go through customs, coming back into Canada.

Our last passport stamp!

The last time we'd see what the missionaries see when they arrive.

So I had to stop and take pictures.  It seems like there is something new

every time we leave and come back.  This time we noticed the living

wall, (above) it is made entirely of living plants.  Unique, intriguing,

but kind of strange looking.

And of course, the Oil Kings display.  They really love their hockey.

Sad to say, we never made it to a real hockey game.  I say real, we did

go see the women play over at the U of A when Heather and Brad were

here.  We thought it was the men's team and it ended up being the women's.

Oh well, maybe next time?  The Oil Kings even made it to the playoffs

this year, but the planet's just didn't align for us, too busy. 

And these poor deer, well they've been here since the first day we

flew in with Courtney.  It's one of the first things we saw.  We were

fascinated by them, didn't have any clue what we were in for.

I will call them, Elder Buck and Elder Whitetail! 

Real Shopping!

Ahhh, REAL shopping, do you know how long it's been since

I've set foot in a JC Penney or Target, too long.

We don't have Penney's in Canada and I quite like Penney's, every now

and again.  They usually have nice dresses.  There is no variety in Canada,

they have The Bay and Sears, but that's it, no more.  That's why I've been

ordering all my skirts and tops through Christopher and Banks and having

the kids bring them up when they come, or mail them to me.

I realized the other day, that I haven't boughten anything casual, in over

three years.  Now that's got to be a record, at least for me.

Now a Target, a real Target.  I say that because we are getting Target

stores in Canada.  In fact, I am really hoping that they open before we have

to go home.  They are on date to open spring of 2013.  I guess that's

not going to happen, we are never going to see spring.

I'm just curious to see if they will be true Target stores, or Canadian

Target stores.  Things are just different, hard to explain.

We drove over to this outdoor mall, to walk around before our flight

back home, to Canada.  It was a beautiful spring day, almost too warm.

We saw these cute bear sculptures,

found out the Christopher and Banks store had closed down

and I couldn't resist and got a cold stone treat.   Shouldn't have,

it wasn't that great.  I tried to talk Chris into getting a Chick-fil-A 

but he resisted.  I would have had one, but we'd just eaten lunch back

at the hotel.  It was a sack lunch and just okay, should have waited.

I hung out with a couple of bears and had my picture taken with them.

"Watch out for mama bear behind you".

I'm ready to go back and give it my all for the next 2 1/2 months.

Can you say "trunkie"?

Denver

We took off on Thursday morning for Denver and our last 

Mission President's Seminar.  My attitude and feelings have changed

quite a bit over the past two and a half years.  I think I've grown,

I guess that's what we are supposed to do in this life, right?

This is our sophomore class, or Class of 2012!  These are the mission presidents

that were called and took their positions last July, they've almost been serving

for a year now.  Wow, hard to believe we were once in their shoes.

Seems like so very long ago.  But so glad it's them.

The couple on the far left are the new medical advisors, Sister Mary-Beard Reese

actually, he just came along for the ride.  Seven other couples, big class.

This is our "junior" class, or Class of 2011!  Wonderful couples,

all of which we've become very close with.  They will always be dear

to us.  And they are on their second year, over half way there.

And this is our class, the graduating class of 2013, our senior class,

or Class of 2010!  The year we came out.  

We will always have a very special place for these couples in our hearts,

we have grown with them, learned with them and struggled with them.

The very first day in the MTC we were put with these fine people because

we were in the same north central area, so we bonded immediately and became

very close.

from left:  President and Sister Cannon, The Jones',  President and Sister Maynes,

The Jergensen's, President and Sister Clark and The Campbell's (us).

Our lives will be forever changed and these wonderful people, are really

the only ones, that will ever know exactly what we've been through.

We will be friends forever and ever, bonded by missionary work.

It was fast but sweet and we were on our way home, by way of the 

Denver airport.  I think they've changed things since the last time we flew

through here, I don't remember these unique ceilings.  Denver is all about

the Rocky Mountains.  These tarps are supposed to represent them.

Kind of fun.

Just a little about our seminar.  We flew in Thursday afternoon and was

greeted by all our dear friends and mission family.  We were pleased

to have a special dinner that evening with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the

Quorum of the Twelve.  Elder Christensen spoke briefly and then introduced

Elder Cook who spoke to us for just a minute.  He would be addressing us

in the meetings the following day.  Dinner was wonderful and we enjoyed

the visits.  It's always great to see everyone and catch up.  

The following day, we spend listening to the four C's.  Elder Cook taught us,

then we had trainings from Elder Christensen, who is over us, Elder Cardon and 

Elder Carlson, he was new to the seminar this year, but very impressive.
He has a military background, a four star general and he teaches as such.
They were all very, very good.

We were treated to complimentary breakfasts in the morning from the hotel
restaurant.  I ate the first morning but skipped the next, trying to be good.
We had nice meals together, we even ate one of them with Elder Rhodes.
Now that we are almost done, he has really opened up to us, I think he was
a little reserved at first because we were his replacement.  But he was
laughing and joking about the mission and we were getting a big kick out of him.

The last night, we took the above pictures and the next morning after a
brief training in the morning, we were all on our way back to our missions,
probably never to see some of these people ever again.  We said our tearful
goodbyes and went our separate ways.  I wrote little notes to my dear friends
and left them at their tables,  but Sister Clark slipped out before I could even
 tell her goodbye.  I was deeply saddened, the entire way home.

I will forever cherish the people we met, the trainings we received and the
eternal friendships we made.  Goodbye and good luck!
"God be with you 'til we meet again!"

Sister Meldrum's Concert

Sister Meldrum, a sweet sister that worked in the office as the

secretary and a good friend, plays in a community orchestra and invited

me to attend a concert they were putting on.  I have been trying to get to 

one of her performances for over 6 months and this night seemed to work.

Her and her husband came and picked me up, one because I don't have a 

car and two, because President had a meeting.  It was in Sherwood Park,

at, Campbelltown Elementary School.  A french immersion school. 

That is Lorna on the left, playing the flute.  The concert was outstanding.

They do a remarkable job for a community orchestra that practices just once

a week.  And the songs they played, oh, some of my very most favorites.

Medley's from Beauty and the Beast, Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera

and several catchy Beatles tunes.  I thought of my dad as I listened and how 

much he used to enjoy music.  I caught myself tapping my foot and leading 

the music with my hand, low and on the side, just like he used to do.

Thank you Lorna, for one of the best cultural activities I've had, 

since I've been here.  It was truly delightful.