The Wedding

 Jenna and Clayton got married in the Manti Temple and then had a reception in Provo.  It was so wonderful.  We were lucky enough to be able to leave the mission for a few days for this event and also for little baby Noah's blessing.  It worked out just perfectly.

The happy bride and groom.  Jenna looked beautiful in a very lovely vintage wedding gown and I thought it was so fun that she could borrow Anna's veil.  

 All of our kids and grandkids were there and even our two little great granddaughters were there.  It was so absolutely perfect to see them all.  I miss them so much and this was great.  Now I can finish our mission refreshed after a wonderful visit.
After the beautiful temple sealing, we went to a nearby, cozy place for a wedding luncheon.  It was very nice.  Then everyone rushed back to Provo so that we could go to the reception.  The reception was nice too with a pasta bar and lots of different cakes instead of one wedding cake.  There was some dancing too.  We were able to see and visit with several very, very good friends. As the couple left, the guests formed two lines and got  sparklers to wave around as the couple walked by.  It was a great ending to a wonderful day.

   Alec and Kelly

                                                        Andrea and Yoho

                                                              Ryan and Val

 It was so much fun to see our good friends Tori and Rob from Texas.  Their daughter Emma gave one of the talks and it was my favorite.  She talked about some of the wedding customs from Romania where Jenna went for a study abroad.  One of the customs is to give the bride and groom a loaf of bread so that they will never go without bread (the staff of life).  Since she didn't have a loaf of bread, Emma took a roll and threw bread crumbs at them instead.  It was so funny.

    Greg and our granddaughter Dani with her two little girls Penny and Tatum.

                            Some of the "big" girls.  They were lucky to have their own table.

                                                Amadeo and Anna

                                                                 Sierra

                                                     Ethan with Papa

                                                        G and Ethan

                                               Lana and Rob, Mom and Dad of Jenna

                                                   Clayton's parents

                                                 Papa and his firstborn.

                                                             Lana and her family.

We had a hard time getting everyone together and here is the best shot of our whole family.

Michael and JaNee

Alec, Katie, and Kelly

 Here we are-all of the girls.  Wanted to take all of the boys, but Jose had to work and was late coming and then we never got it.  Sad about that.

                                                                      My darlings!

We also got to visit with the Houghtons and the Dopps and their kids.   Our friends from Texas, Quinn and Sandy and Warren and Sheila were there too as a surprise and we loved seeing them and their kids.

I am so happy that we were able to go and participate.  We got a last minute ok and my good friend Robin helped us with airline tickets which was sooooo nice of her.  Without that help we would not have been able to make it.  

 Here is a final picture of the cute newly married couple who got to go to Hawaii on their honeymoon just like their grandparents (us) did.

St. Lawrence River.

 A few weeks ago the Howards and we took a leisurely Saturday drive along parts of the St. Lawrence river.  Quebec is split along its southern latitudes by the St. Lawrence river, one of the longest rivers in the world.  The St. Lawrence is the gateway to North America and the Great Lakes and flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is surprisingly wide.  Ships come to Montreal via the St. Lawrence and we often drive past the locks.

 The Howards are the CES couple and they run the institute program here.  We often take a Saturday drive or have some fun outing with them.  They are a very fun and interesting couple that we enjoy spending time with.  They also both have a great sense of humor so we get to laugh a lot too.

 We stopped at this Drive-in which you can't drive through. Haha.  The food was good though.

There are quite a few little harbors along the way with lots of boats docked there.

We have been so busy as usual.  Last week we went to 2 zone conferences.  One of them was in Quebec City.  Tomorrow we have to drive back almost to Quebec City to get one of the mission cars out of impound.  One of the missionaries was wrongly stopped by a police officer.  He, the policeman, told the elder that he was illegally driving because he didn't have a Quebec license after being here more than 3 months.  He impounded the car, gave the elder a huge fine, and left the 2 missionaries on the side of the road.  Luckily zone leaders were in a city not too far away and were able to pick them up.  It has been a real runaround and big problem for a month already.  John and also the mission president have been on the phone with the legal department in Salt Lake and with various agencies here in Montreal and Quebec City.  The Elder absolutely was legal, but it will take a while for all of the paperwork to be approved, signed and sent here.   Meanwhile John is the only one with power of attorney to get the car out of impound.  And so tomorrow morning we drive there to get the car.  Then we turn around and back track and drive in the opposite direction to go to Ottawa for a zone conference which will be held on Tuesday.  Thursday is another zone conference.  In between, we go to the office to catch up on the multitude of tasks there.  I'm not complaining.  I'm happy to be serving the Lord, but it is a lot of work.

Birthday and Transfer Day

 I had my birthday clear back in June, but have been too busy to even blog about it.  I had the most wonderful few day.  I received so many texts and cards and calls that it blew me away.  I am so blessed.  Elders McCook and Smith called me on the phone and were talking to me.  Then they asked me if I could go downstairs for a minute.  I did and when I got there, they sang happy birthday to me and presented me with this Cannoli, "From the best bakery in Quebec."  They were several days early, but that was because they wanted to be the first to give me wishes.  I was so happy and excited and appreciative and it was delicious.

 Elders Ruby and Wilber helped me get zone orders ready and packed.  We had a good time together laughing and talking.  Sadly a few days later Elder Ruby got a phone call that his grandpa had passed away.  We have now had about 6 missionaries with that sad phone call.

                        Here's a photo of the delicious Cannoli and what is in the ice cream box?

 Yes, it's banana "birthday" bread from Elders Ruby and Wilbur.  Is there a better way to transport yummy bread?

 At transfer time last week these 4 all moved away.  Elders Wilbur & Ruby and Sisters Bolanos & Bourdon.  I will miss seeing them every day, but they are needed elsewhere. Transfer time is always exciting.  Which missionaries will move? Which will stay?  Who is going home?  Who are the new trainers.  All four of the above will be training newcomers this transfer.  I love the shot below of the bear hug.  I love how all of the Elders give each other a huge hug when they meet, even if it's a brand new Elder coming into the mission who doesn't know a soul.  Each Elder always get a big hug from the others.  These missionaries truly love other and they especially love serving the Lord.  The Sisters get a handshake except with each other, of course.

Transfer time was so, so hectic and busy for me.  I had to get supplies to fill 10 new apartments and also phones for all of the new missionaries.  I also had to get the zone orders filled and packed up.  That along with the regular duties of answering phones, billing insurance, writing letters, etc. etc. was A LOT.  In addition, we have a new president and so he has changed a lot of the standard form letters.  Well, actually he changed one and I had to change the rest of them because "Now you know how I like the write the letters and what I want in them.  You will be able to handle the rest,"said the Pres.  We also had to change all of our filing and labels because he also changed the name of the zones.  I had to match everything up to reflect all of the new changes.  John and I also did training of the new missionaries.  As well as all of that, I did the flights for the departing missionaries and arranged and went to a temple session with the departing missionaries.  Whew!  What a busy two weeks!