Sierra Leone 2

Blake had never served in Bo.  They split his mission before he got a chance to be there and just wanted to see what it was like.  It was the nicest part of the country.  It was flatter and cleaner then the other places we visited. We really just walked around and checked out the town for 2 days.  One of the Elders Blake had trained was now in the mission home in Bo.  Blake messaged him and we stopped by to see him and some other Elders. These are cocoa beans on the ground that they were drying.  Later in the day when we came back this way they were all dried and bagged up. 

Again there was a church very close to our hotel.  We asked the Elders good places to eat and they recommended the Dohas which was great since we were staying there and one other place. 

Next morning we got up early to walk around.  There was an old air strip close to us.  We saw the sports arena. 

Well Blake and Dave saw it,  I looked at the fence :) 

I felt very safe in Bo and our hotel was right off a main road.  Just before noon I decided to go back to the hotel myself as I was starting to get a headache and Dave and Blake continued exploring. Honestly if it was not for the heat, everywhere in Sierra Leone would have been fun to just walk around and explore for hours. 

After our 2 days in Bo it was time to head back to Freetown.  We caught a poda poda.  I had not felt well during the night and was worried about travelling the 3 hours it was going to take us. I didn't eat anything and took just a little water. We made it back to Freetown safely and began looking for our hotel.  It was in a hard location to get to and very out of the way.  We finally found it and it was a weird check in, no bed for Blake, didn't see anyone else there.  It just felt sketchy.  We were only there one night but were booked to stay in the same place after Banana Islands until the end of our trip.  It had great reviews, somehow. I started looking at other hotels but not much available except one very pricey one.  I thought it was just me so decided to suck it up.  It was right down town by the famous cotton tree. And close by to Chicken Town, a restaurant that Blake and other missionaries had talked about often.  We gave it a try.  Was good. 

The  next morning when we woke up Dave said he had been looking at places and could we cancel the reservation we had.  I could still get a free cancellation and explained that the hotel he was looking at was really expensive.  He said at that point he did not care it would be fine and to book it.  Best decision we made. We got ready to go and headed to a fabric store for Blake to get some material.  Then found a tailor and gave measurements for the things Blake was getting made. 

Next off to the Banana Islands.  We caught a keke that took us all the way.  We had to go to Kent, an hour out of Freetown to catch the boat to the island.  We got stopped and were told we had to pay a fee.  Blake knew we didn't but after 5 mins of arguing he just gave up and we paid it. On the way back when one of the local men on the boat found out that we had been made to pay the fee he was very upset and went and talked to the boys.  They will do it to the next tourists but did get reamed out that day. We got on this interesting wooden orange boat and sailed 5 miles across the open Atlantic.  Not something I thought I would ever do. 

It was a small resort that we stayed at.  Only one other family was there at the time. There were getting ready for there open season.  We had a lovely girl that met us at the dock and had us come and sit at the outdoor eating area.  She explained that we could do and order whatever we wanted and that they would just keep a running tab and pay at the end.  We ordered dinner at 3 to eat at 6.  We would see them go out and fish for our dinner.  It was a neat idea and had some fun sitting areas and nice atmosphere. But the rooms were so hot.  No fan or power and open walls and windows.  Just a few tweaks and it could be really neat. One night there was a lizard in the shower and another night a mouse landed on our bug net.  Very glad for that bug net.  They cleaned the beach each morning and the ocean was beautiful to swim in.  We took a walking historical tour of the island that was interesting. 

We played a lot of cards and read.  Dave and Blake said it was like taking a vacation in the middle of our vacation.  We had been told that our MC may not work out there so to bring cash just in case.  We had already paid for half of the room so took an estimate of the other half and what the price of our meals had been so far.  Added in more for any excursion we might want and then more just in case.  We thought we were golden.  Our last night there we booked the boat for 10 and booked a car to take us back.  I didn't trust looking for a ride in Kent and didn't want to deal with the people on the beach.  They took our breakfast order and totaled everything up.  It was 2000 SLE ($100) more than we had taken.  We had been told the boat was complimentary, it wasn't.  Water was more expensive than other places and a few other surprises.  We started to panic a bit.  Dave tried his card.  Did not work.  He tried it a few times.  Nope.  I tried mine.  Still nothing.  Now we panicked more.  We had no way to get money on the island and no idea what to do.  Then I remembered when I had paid half the fee they had given me a website to use.  I still had that email so found the website and paid there.  Nothing.  We were sweating and praying at this point.  Literally had no idea what to do.  Then Dave asked Blake if he had room on his card.  He has a very low balance in case it got stolen on his mission. He had just enough to cover it.  We literally said a prayer and tried his credit card.  It swirled and swirled and finally went through.  Oh. My, Heck!  the relief.  We went to bed, got up and had breakfast and waited until the boat departed.  The whole time just a little nervous that they were going to come back and say oh guess what.  The driver we booked through the resort was worth every bit.  He met us right at the boat and took us straight down town Freetown.  We didn't cram in, just the three of us in the car.  I was never so happy to get off an island in my life.  But now that we know and could do a few things different, it could probably be a nice place to stay. It was beautiful and fun to have fresh fish, I don't even like fish normally, and lots of available activities.  It was very relaxing.  Just need to be better prepared.  

We drove straight to the tailor shop and check on Blake's stuff and then went to our hotel.

Sierra Leone 1

We had planned since Blake got his mission call to go back and visit the country he served in. We had  hoped to go for the temple open house.  As his mission got closer to the end we realized that if we didn't go soon after he returned that we might not get a chance.  We started getting all the vaccinations we needed, booked flights, looking for hotels, and researching what to do.  It is really not a tourist destination.  We planned 17 days with travel and found some hotels. Oct 21st we took off.  It took us 29 hours to get there.  We had slept a little on the plane, but were tired.  Once we landed we got our visas and went through customs.  We then found out that there is a $25 USD fee claiming to be a security fee to get out of the airport.  We did not know this and went to a few bank in the airport before our card would even work somewhere to get the money.  We had Ria ourselves some money but needed to get to Freetown to get it.  Blake also got us set up with SIM card in Africa so we could have data and not use our accounts.  We finally got out of the airport.  It was dark and Blake started talking to cars to get us a ride to our hotel. We wanted to experience the transportation and food like he had, but I did book nicer hotels all with A/C.  It was neat to listen to Blake as he started making all these deals and got us where we needed to go. 

Blake was a little on edge.  We got to the Waka Waka hotel and we were impressed that it was a nice as it was.  We had very low expectations for the whole trip honestly.   Pretty sure they only had 2 rooms in the whole hotel and we were the only guest.  They were very friendly and happy to see us.  

The next morning they brought us breakfast.  (We had breakfast included in all our hotels and then would usually have an early dinner or a small snack and a late dinner, so only usually ate twice a day.)  They brought us breakfast for 2.  We had thought it was a mistake but just shared, but quickly learned that even though we had hotel for 3 we only ever got breakfast for 2, except the last place we stayed.  They always brought it to us and it was always omelet, fried plantain, and either bread with mayo or a pita bread type thing. 

Then we were off to experience Sierra Leone.  We got on the back of motorbikes, main transport in most of the country.  You just hoped on 1-3 people and zip around.  Always bartering for how much you are going to pay and were you are going. We did sit and figure things out with Blake, he had been a little on edge to return.  He didn't love having to barter prices and figure out transport during his mission.  And he knew at first it was up to him since we didn't know fair prices or where we were going.  After figuring out how he was feeling and what we needed to do he started to relax and we had a great time.  First stop was the missionaries in Lungi.  We had taken a pile of Eatmores and wanted to give them to as many  Elders as we could. We stopped by and talked with the Elders for a little bit and they let us know the ferry schedule. 

We found another bike and got a ride to the ferry.  We paid 25 SLE which is like a $1.50.  We got our first real glimpse at the constant selling and hocking or goods around us.  It is all the time.  And if you even glance their way it is hard to have them move on. It is a 30 min ferry ride across to Freetown.  I was hot and dripping wet.  Blake bought us clothes that we used to wipe our faces the rest of the trip. 

First sight of Freetown.  Blake was not kidding when he said it was like hiking a mountain every day.  And we did not even do the worst of it.  After the ferry we got a keke to take us to the stake center where we were meeting Elder Lund and his companion.  Blake is related to Elder Lund and they had really gotten along well.  He was going home in 6 days so we only had one chance to meet him.  They invited us to teach some lessons with them, that was an awesome experience. 

We never sat inside houses.  They would bring all their wooden benches and stools outside for us to sit on.  Chickens running around our feet and close areas, but you could feel the spirit.  Anyone walking by they would ask if they wanted to join and rarely did anyone say no. 

I hope to never lose the image in my head of this one lady we taught.  We had hiked up a ways between paths and panbody homes.  There are no real streets.  She lived in a tin home.  6x10 maybe with 4 feet between her and her neighbor.  No windows only a sheet for a door and 5 kids running around.  All raised together, it was not clear which kids belongs to which lady.  They did all their washing and cooking and bathroom outside.  Dirt floor, tin sides, and those kids were so polite and well behaved.  Clean and happy.  It was really telling of what the country was like.  After a few lessons we said goodbye to the Elders and found a ride to Makeni.  It is a 3 hour drive from Freetown.  We took a 'taxi' (car). 

Envision a Honda Civic type car.  Very run down, not really road worthy and pile in 6 people plus the driver.  That is how they travel.  We always bought 4 seats so we could have the whole back seat to ourselves.  But strangers would get in the front and sit on each others laps for hours and just talk, share snack, etc.  Windows rolled down, travelling down the road with no traffic laws, zipping and honking around everything on the road.  We were always so grateful that our car made it to the next destination.  There are broken down cars and truck all along the road.  They just pull up a piles of grass and leave 6-8 piles behind the vehicles so you know it is broken down. Again we got there late and it was dark.  We got on bikes and went to the Wusum hotel.  This place had 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a sitting area and a kitchen.  Blake was very impressed. We Face Timed the kids as Cora had had her baby the day before and had a nice chat with them.  It started to pour before we went back out for dinner.  We were there at the end of rainy season and there were several rain storms but we were blessed to never get caught outside in one. After it stopped we went to the hotel restaurant to eat and then very tired went to bed.  

Our hotel happened to be in walking distance to the District Center.  Blake wanted to walk over and see it and he happened to run into the 1st councillor in the district presidency when we were there and others that he knew.  They were so excited to see him.  He called his wife and she came right over and it was so fun to see the excitement and love they had for Blake. We were also told that they were filling the font for a baptism the next day.  We decided to come back for that.  

 Next we went and walked around.  We saw where Blake had lived and he told us a cool story of one day he was waiting for his companion. (Later he found out that his companions bike had broken down and he had to find a new ride, he was 20 mins behind Blake)  He was waiting and waiting and finally decided to go in the house and wait for him. As he was walking back he passed a man, as he did as a missionary he stopped and talked to him.  Asked him if he believed in God and this man said yes he did and he had a book that talked about God.  He showed it to Blake.  It had no front cover and pages missing.  He said he had found it and he knew it was true.  Much to Blake's surprise he discovered that this book was The Book of Mormon.  Blake explained that that was the book from our church and gave him a new whole book.  Not soon after this man was baptized.  Such a neat story of how the Lord is preparing people and putting people in the right place at the right time.  If his comps bike had not broken down, they would have been back in the complex before this guy walked by.  Kinda cool.  We went and saw a pitch field and got a good view of Wusum Hill.  We then went back to the hotel, ate dinner, brooked our clothes, had a great discussion on our Come Follow Me that night and played some card games.  Then off to bed. 

The next morning we got up early to get to the baptism.  Blake said they always clean the church Saturday morning and he wanted to help with that.  Then we stayed for the baptism, which was really neat.  7 people were baptized.  Just before they were baptized they welcomed each individually by saying 'we welcome you, we love you'.  No piano.  The chorister would just stand, name the song, sing the first verse, and then we all sang the song.  And they sing very slow, pronouncing every single syllable. There were a lot of missionaries there and Blake had a great time hanging out with them after the baptism.

After the baptism we went back to the hotel to cool off.  There I got email saying it was time to check in to our Vrbo booking in Bo for the next day.  So I emailed and checked in.  Host emailed back and said oh sorry, she was doing renos and place was no longer available.  What!!?! Now what.  As I was emailing company back and forth to try to get a reimbursement, Blake found a place that might have a room available. This all took a few hours and I was a little stressed about where we were going to be staying the next night. 

We then went to eat a a little place Blake had liked when he was there.  After we went for a walk around his area.  We didn't know he was looking for this shop, thought he just stopped randomly, but he knew it was the place that the branch president that he served with had.  He called the boys dad and he came running right over.  Again so excited to see Blake.  Watching everyone react to him was the highlight of our trip.  To see the love they had for him for being the one to share the gospel with them was truly amazing.  After church on Sunday as Dave and I were talking and watching him with everyone there we just said we can't put it into words.  We were awed and humbled by the work he had done.  But I got sidetrack.  The branch president came over and gave Blake a big hug.  He took us to meet his family and feed us lunch.  Then there were some others that Blake wanted to look up and Pres Kamara went with us. 

I honestly can not put into words what it was like to meet the wonderful people and hear their conversion stories.  And the stories of their families, Blake had asked one man if he had anyone that he wanted to join their lessons.  He said yes his brother in the UK.  So Blake sent a referral and his brother's entire family was baptized and had been through the temple. One man was crying he was so happy, he kept saying Blake had made a promise to return and had kept his word.  No one ever comes back. But Blake had. 

One lovely lady that Blake loved and everyone calls Mumsi, the District councilor's wife, offered to make us dinner. Whatever Blake wanted.  He requested cassava leaf so we could try it.  He said she was a really good cook and it was really good.  Pres Kamara brought us food for breakfast the next morning as well.  Such generous souls. 

Sunday we went to church where Blake had served in Makeni. Before church someone came and found Blake and told him that the Branch President wanted to talk to him.  He went into the meeting they were having and came back a little later.  We found a seat and just as the meeting was beginning Blake leaned over and said that we had been all been asked to bare our testimonies.  Ok then.  

Again fun to watch Blake and those around him.  After, everyone wanted pictures with us.  We were 20 mins late for RS and EQ.  After church there was another baptism.  We stayed for that and Blake saw more Elders that he knew.  When we went out back and saw the font, I recognized it from my favorite picture of Blake helping a lady into the water. 

Then said good bye to everyone.  They did not want Blake to leave. and found a ride to Bo.  Our next stop.  We took a taxi and then got in a poda poda for the rest of the journey. 

Once we arrived in Bo we took bikes to the Dohas Hotel and were very grateful that they had a room available.  It had A/C and two twin beds side by side.  Dave and I had to turn in unison and he tried not to kick Blake, but we had a place to stay. 

October

October was filled with appointments for Blake, doctor, dentist, optometrist and getting his passport fast renewed.  Because we needed it quick we had to make a few trip to down town Calgary.  Not my favorite.  

Dave was assigned to speak in The Pass and took Blake as his speaking companion. It snowed on the way up.  Blake was excited to see snow again, despite being very cold. A stop at Lumbreck Falls on the way home because it is so pretty. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner with Leah and Braydon that day.  We had ham and funeral potatoes for Blake.  I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all ready and travel to the pass.  Leah came early and put potatoes in the oven so everything was hot and ready when we got home.  Worked great.  That night Blake did a fireside.  Did an awesome job.  Everyone was fascinated by his experiences and the country. He got a ton of questions and I think he could have gone on longer.  Leave them wanting more :) Leah and Braydon stayed for the fireside then we played some games after. On Thanksgiving Monday we had dinner at Myrna's.  Was nice to see everyone.

One of our early morning trips to Calgary we came home through Okotoks to get some groceries.  There is a bakery there called French 50.  One of the doctors at my clinic had brought cruffins for everyone one day and they were so good.  I have stopped twice now trying to get some for my family but you have to get there early in the morning because they sell out fast.  We are driving back around 9;00 and I was like oh French 50, we have to go.  They only had chocolate left, I grabbed 3 9 (not cheap) and were brought them home to enjoy.  Something on my list of things to make. 

We moved cows home.  It went so smooth.  At one point I asked Blake why he was just hanging back and he said he that the cows were moving themselves.  We could have opened up gates on both end and gone and had a snack.  It did go extremely smooth and did not take long. 

Blake applied and got accepted to the bio/chem program at the U of L.  He starts in January. 

On the 22nd little Rhoda joined our family.  Cora had her on the side of the road.  Did not quite make it to the hospital in time. She is a cute tiny thing. Jane loves her sister and loves to give her lots of kisses and to share her books and toys with her. 

Cute sleepy little sisters.

We did get Blake's passport back just in time and then headed to Africa. 

Conference Oct 2025

Dave and I were driving a few weeks ago and talking about how he is feeling a little burnt out.  I said it is to bad that we can't just fly to conference since it was a great trip last year.  Dave said why not?  So we found the guy in our stake that was in charge of tickets and asked if he had any left for Saturday afternoon.  He did.  Then on the way to pick up Cora I started checking if the hotel we liked was still available and if there were affordable flights.  Everything just lined up and we were set to go. Later we got an email saying that not many people had asked for tickets, again we asked if there was Saturday evening this time.  There was.  Dave did make sure to say we didn't want to take tickets away from anyone since we already had some, but if no one was taking them we would take them. 

We got up before 4 on Friday and went to the airport.  I had told Dave that the plane left at 7, he heard they boarded at 7.  And for some reason this time he was sure it only took an hour to the airport.  It does not.  We compromised and left our house at 4:15.  I was a little stressed.   We turned in our car and the shuttle was full, so we got on the next one.  The driver took forever coming, we eventually got to the airport and into the security line.  Line was not to bad.  We soon discovered that they were moving VeRy SlooOooW.  I really think it was training day.  Dave kept telling me he was not worried, we would make it.  I thought there was no way and was already thinking how we get on the next flight. As we got closer I told Dave and Blake to run to the terminal, as my bag was last, so they would know we were coming.  They took my bag to check three times.  At one point the guy said he knew what was in my bag and the lady said it never hurt to look again for practice.  I was like are you kidding! I let them know my flight was leaving.  They did not care.  Finally I grabbed it and ran.  I see a lady in uniform standing in the lane asking what I was wearing.  I kicked it up and they opened plane doors and let us on.  Not happily.  Good thing our gate was the first one after security. After we had taken off and our hearts had settled I asked Dave when he really had been worried.  He said as soon as he saw the security line.  :)  I knew it! He also said that they had asked him if he and Blake were prepared to leave withouth me.  He didn't dare answer.  He thought if he said no they would kick us all off.  The rest of the trip we were very early for our flights. We took the round robin route but finally made it to Salt Lake.  Got an Uber straight to Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed a great meal.  Grabbed a few things for breakfast the next morning as we were leaving before the complimentary breakfast opened, then Ubered to the hotel.  Very ready for sleep. 

Saturday we were up again very early. We got ready and walked the 1/2 hr to the Tabernacle. We wanted to be in line by 6:30 at the latest to see if we could use the stand by line to get into the Conference Center. A block away it started to rain.  It continued to pour the entire day.  We had umbrellas but it didn't help a lot.  Blake said the rain was nothing as he could still see if front of him.  He was freezing all day.  Joked he was having a little PTSD from the rain. Luckily we could stand in a little alcove at the Tabernacle as we waited till they opened.  When we arrived we were about 30th in line.  

We had some lovely people that we chatted with the 2 hrs we waited.  They asked lots about Blake's  mission and we found out they have a grandson in our mission.  There was also a young man there that was waiting for his wife. We learned about how they met and an upcoming trip they are going on.  When his wife arrived just before they opened the doors we all cheered.  We had been very invested in her making it on time. It was just fun. We did make it into the Conference Center for Saturday morning session. 

A bunch of the elders Blake served with and his MP and wife had all gone to the temple Thursday night.  He found out about it to late and as much as I tried I could not change his ticket.  He still wanted to meet up with his MP.  As he is a seventy now he was at all the sessions and we met them after the first one.  It was so fun to see the love they had for my son, and the love he had for them.  They were all so excited to see each other and talk.  It was beautiful and meant so much to me. Wonderful couple!

After that we needed to quickly get something to eat before the next session. We ran in the rain to Seven Brothers since we had enjoyed it last time, but the line was to long for us to make it back.  Finally Subway was the shortest and they were moving fast.  We downed our food, back in the rain and in line for afternoon session. Again wonderful messages and great to be there.  This time we had planned to jump on Trax and eat our left overs at the hotel. We knew that Justin and Emma were in the same session as us, so I texted him to see where he was sitting to see if we could met up.  He was down close at the bottom beyond barriers that we were not allowed to cross.  Luckily he saw us and came to us.  Then took us down.  He kept needing to tell people that he had been down there and had just gone up to see family and that he was down in that area with family.  He had to show his ticket many times.  They really wanted to kick us out.  Eventually we made it to Emma and got to say a quick hi to some of her family.  Again lovely people. Back out in the rain.  We didn't have time to head back to the hotel, so we tried to find a place out of the rain as we waited for last session. We found one building but it was so full.  We decided just to go to the mall. On the way we found a small ledge that while outside was blocked from the rain.  We just sat and chatted until it was time. Walking around we saw a few sister missionaries walking around and around.  At one point I jokingly asked them if they were trying to stay warm.  Two of them broke off and started talking to us.  One was from England and as we talked to her we found out that her friend was in Blake's mission currently. I guess there is was only one British missionary in his mission and he happened to be this sisters friend. Only Canadian meets friend of only British. Such a small world in the church.  Blake got a picture of them together so he could send to the elder. 

Then it was time to get in line for the evening session. Still pouring rain. We found our seats and found we were sitting next to a couple that are in Cora and Ammon's stake, the lady knew Dave in YSA and they are related to Emily so kind of knew Leah. We had so many fun stories like that.  It was a great experience to be in the Conference Center all three sessions on Saturday. 

Sunday was another super early morning.  We had to be to Trax by 5:30 to get to the airport to catch our flight.  We were to be home by 2 and planned to watch both Sunday sessions that night. As we were walking through the airport Blake realized that he had flown out of that exact spot exactly 2 years ago, almost to the hour.  Again kind of cool. 

We got to the airport in good time, got through security, found out gate and then after an hour there was an announcement that our plane had mechanical issues and they were looking for a different plane, anyone that had a connecting flight to please see the lady at the counter. We got in line.  By the time it was our turn what was left with our final destination was either a flight to Denver and home that left Monday at 1 or a flight that was Denver, San Fran, home that left early Monday morning and we would be home by noon.  A very round about way to get home but we took that one since we would be home sooner.  We then waited and waited to see if another plane would be coming. Watched Sunday morning session in the airport. Dave sent some text to his work explaining he wouldn't be there and we continued to wait.  Just after noon we finally got word that another plane had been found and was ready.  It was a tiny thing and Blake was a little confused where his tray table was. 

I was not excited about staying over one more day.  We had things that really needed to be done on Monday.  Once we landed in Denver I got to work. We used our vouchers and ate at Smash Burger.  One of Blake's comps had said it was good.  Did not disappoint. We found a quiet corner and I started making calls to United as they said we would have a hotel voucher as well. .  They gave us a hotel and another meal voucher each, which I thought was good of them.  As I was making calls there was a free leave a book take a book stand.  Dave had just finished his and so he left his and started looking at other on the stand.  He picked up one about building the railway across the US and found his relative in the book.  How neat is that. After that I wanted to find the check in desk and just have them try again to see if there was an earlier flight.  I said a prayer, found the desk and they had 3 tickets on a flight leaving at 7.  It was 4:30.  I said bless your soul, yes please.  Blake was hungry again and wanted to try Cantina.  We got in line.  After a bit we saw a bunch of people had budged and got right in.  Thought that was kind of rude.  Then we realized we were not in line,  hahaha, we were waiting with all the people that were watching the football game on TVs in the restaurant.  Felt kind of dumb.  Got in the proper line and had some great Mexican food. Finally on the plane,  Dave and Blake got exit rows so the had to say yes they would help in an emergency and, bonus, got extra leg room.  At last we made it home by midnight.  Tired and so thankful that we were not in a hotel in Denver, waiting to continue on. 

It was so much fun.  To sum up I would say it was a great experience.  We got up super early every day to wait in long lines.  Have stories we will talk about with each other for years.  Had great chats one on one with Blake.  Listened to wonderful messages from our apostles.  Met some great people.  Memories were made. 10/10 would recommend.

September

September has been a fun month.  We spent the first part of the month getting a few more chores crossed off our list.  Planning food, mowing, getting railings built and stained, had a date lunch, etc. I went with Dave to work one day and went for a walk and got some groceries.  We were surprised when Dave was called to be a councilor in the stake YM's presidency.  He said he feels like an old grandpa compared to the YM.  We had stake conference. Again I drove down with Dave and waited during his meetings until the adult session started. 

All the messages were wonderful as usual.  After Sunday Stake conference we drove up to get Cora and Jane.  Ammon met us half way and we did a quick (9 hour) up, turn around, and back down.  Monday Cora had an appt and then we hung out.  Tuesday I worked and Dave went with Cora to the dentist to watch Jane.  She then had to do a 2 hour gestational diabetes test.  Had tried to do it Monday while I was off so I could watch Jane, but was told she had to be fasting.  I tried to bip over and see how they were doing when I could and then took Jane for a long walk on my lunch break as Cora couldn't leave at all.  Jane did so good.  Wednesday we went to town to get all the needed food for our Nacho Bar. We had a picnic lunch at the park with Leah and Dave.  It was a hot day.  That night Dave scrubbed all the cobwebs off the house.  And I got the queso made for Sunday.  Jane was a big help. Thursday Blake got home.  Yay! 

It was so fun to have the whole family together again for the weekend.  After the temple Friday we went out to Cannon and Nicole's to help chop fruit and prepare for Levi's wedding the next day. We got back late.  Cora and Ammon stayed with Leah and Braydon Friday night.  It was good to not have Jane travel so much as we were going right back on Saturday for the wedding.  They stayed up late playing 5 Crowns.  The next morning off to the wedding we went.  It was a beautiful day.  They look very happy together, and the family dinner was delicious and well done. We left after the dinner, skipping the reception to get back and get ready for Blake's report and all the people that were coming the next day. 

Sunday was lovely.  So  many people to love and support Blake.

We got to spend an extra day with Cora and Jane as Ammon had meetings in SoAb. It was a sunny day.  We colored with chalk and Blake got working on his truck.  He made us an African dish as best he could with ingredients in here.  It was surprisingly good. He has been staying busy.  Making plans, researching school and programs, fixing his truck, scripture study, seeing the girl, hauling water, and the co-op. 

 He is anxious to get to work, but needs to wait until November and get a few things sorted. 

Dave took him waterskiing.  He didn't even hesitate.  Like riding a bike. Also did some wakeboarding and got some good jumps. He has been very cold.  I gave in and turned the heat on earlier than normal.  He keeps saying that the plan was to go on a mission and come home, so now what, and everyone keeps asking him.  

Leah and I had a free day off at the same time.  We usually work opposite days.  She had wanted to do some thrifting.  Blake and I went with her and hit 3 different thrift stores.  Found some good stuff and had great fun together.  Lots happened this month, it was a great one. 

When missionaries complete their missions in Sierra Leone they get what is called a muffler.  Blake said it is an African thing and he thinks maybe all African mission get it.  It has his mission, name, years he served all woven and country pins put on as well.  It is pretty sic.