Lana's Visit

 I was sooo excited for Lana, Rob, and Grace's visit.  It had been such a long time since I'd seen them and it was a wonderful visit.  It took them much longer to get here than was expected.  A what should have been 9 hour drive took 15 hours.  Because of that, their visit was also cut short, but we made the best of it and had a super time together.  The first day we went to the mission office so that they could see where we do our work.  Then we took the metro, but unfortunately got off at the wrong metro stop.  We meant to go the Museum of Fine Arts, but instead went to the Museum of Arts.  So we didn't get to see the Chihuly exhibit that I wanted to take them to.  Instead we walked around the Place des Arts and looked at some of the sights there.  Also we heard a lot of the Jazz festival music that was all around.  We actually stopped at a little children's jazz performance.  It was very cute and the music was quite good.  Even though Grace didn't understand anything of what was said, she still got the gist of it and really enjoyed it.  We had lunch there in the food court.  After that we went to the Chateau Ramezay.  This was the home of the first mayor of Montreal.  Many of the rooms had beautiful carvings on the walls.  There were lots of interesting things to look at.

              Montreal has lots of Indians in it's history and here is a statue of one of the Indian girls.

                                               Accessories of the Mayor and his wife.

                                                    A child's toy horse and buggy.

                                                        A  morning outfit for the Mrs.

We walked from the chateau down this darling little street of shops and cafes.  Musicians are playing in the center part and the street is bustling with people.  When summer time arrives, many flowers are put out in pots all over the city.  Everywhere you go there are lovely flowers.

 We took a buggy ride through Old Montreal.  Grace got to sit up in front and she even got to drive the buggy for a bit.  She loved holding the reins.  Our guide was fun and informative.

When our ride was over we ate Beaver Tail which Grace had been dreading all day.  She kept telling me that she did not want to eat a beaver.  She did not want to eat a rodent.  I assured her that it really wasn't an animal at all, but a delicious sweet.  She didn't quite believe me until she actually saw what it was.  Then, of course, she loved it.  
After that, John and I went to the car to rest because at this point, my foot was hurting and I just couldn't walk anymore.  Lana and her family did some more wandering through shops and shopping. They did resist buying a Polar bear rug for a mere $12,000.  Haha.  When they were done, we went home, had dinner of Lasagna, salad, and french bread that I had prepared earlier and then we played some games.  After staying up much too late, we collapsed into bed ready to wake up early for another fun day together.
I must add that I feel so very blessed and so very grateful to have wonderful children and children-in-law who have grown up well and who like us and like to spend time with us.  I know each Mom thinks her kids are the best, but I actually do have the best kids.  :)

Exciting News

On Monday, June 24th, our daughter, Andrea, gave birth via c-section to their brand new baby boy.  Little Noah was born healthy and beautiful.  We are so grateful that all went well.  As you can see by his smile, Reggie loves being the big brother.
One of our other daughters, Anna, drove from her home with her two little boys to watch Reggie and to help out while Andrea and Yoho were at the hospital.  I think it was so nice of her to do that.  The two big boys are having a great time playing together.  They have been swimming, playing at the playground, visiting the new baby and playing at home together.
We are so excited to have this new little baby in our family.  I love them all so much and feel very blessed.

Our Week

 Saturday evening we went to a very nice piano recital that the Allens invited us to.  It had lots of little kids, but they were so cute.  Even the youngest little pianist of about 4 years old held her hands just right.  As the recital went on, more and more advanced students played pieces.  They all did such an awesome job.  Even those kids who were no older than 10 were playing very difficult pieces and doing them without any mistakes.  The older ones were awesome playing Chopin and other difficult composers.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 Thursday we took a day off from the office and went to Plattsburg N.Y. We got our meds and then spent a lovely day with the Howards.  We were celebrating our 48th anniversary.  I can't even believe that it's been that long.  It sounds so old and really it is, but I still don't feel old at all.  For lunch we went to KFC and then for dinner we went to Texas Road House.

 I chose Roadkill this time and it was very good.  However, there was so much food that we all took food home.  We had enough for dinner the next evening.

 Yesterday I was busy filling zone orders when these 2 missionaries asked me to meet them on the second floor.  I went down and there they were standing in a classroom holding this pastry box.  They then sang Happy Birthday to me.  My birthday isn't even until next week, but they said they wanted to be the first to wish me a Happy Birthday.  How thoughtful is that?  I was so surprised and happy.

 I took their picture when they came upstairs and they said they had to have a picture with me.  So, her I am with Elder McCook and Elder Smith.  These two sharp Elders are just awesome.

 Normally I get zone orders on Friday once a month and then on the following four week days,  I fill two zones orders a day.  Friday of that week, after zone council, the Zone leaders come up and I give them their orders.  Well, next friday Pres and Sis Cannon are having their last day.  Their three years are up and we will be getting a new mission president.  Because of this, zone council will be on Tues. and I will give out zone orders then.  It is a LOT of work to get those zone orders together.  So yesterday afternoon after getting all of the zone orders, I began working and getting them together.  Elder Arhets always helps me move the big boxes full of books.  I had finished Ottawa's order and saw that I had twelve boxes of stuff.  Each box is so carefully packed by me.  It is tiring too, but I was working on the next order.  Elders Ruby and Wilber came to the office and asked if they could help me.  At first I said no, but then thought, "why not?"  I asked them if they really had the time to help and they said, "Yes we will be so happy to help."  They helped me with all the rest of the orders.  Oh my gosh!  It was awesome to have the help.  Within a couple of hours we were all done.  All the orders gathered, packed up, labeled, and put in the hallway, waiting for pick up.  I was so happy and grateful that they helped me.  It saved me hours of work.  We had fun together too, chatting and laughing as we were getting the work done.  I will certainly make them a yummy treat next week.

      This was my yummy pastry; Italian cannoli from the "best" Italian bakery in all of Quebec

 This morning we, the senior couples, had a brunch for Pres. and Sister Cannon.  We all gathered at the mission office and had the brunch in the High Council room.  There was a ton of food with lots and lots of left-overs.

                                                                 "We remember"

 I made the chicken enchilada ring and several people told me it was their favorite dish.  That made me feel good and happy.  Besides this we had tons of fruit, pastries, breads, juices, and dessert.  I am sure everyone had a good time.  I'm certain everyone enjoyed themselves.

                                          Each couple wrote a note to President and his wife.