This is the only blog we will write from America before returning to Avignon, France for the last 9 months of our mission. We have immensely enjoyed reconnecting with family and friends from medical school and 3 previous missions. I will share parts of three or four of those…
We spent a week in Utah at Rhonda and Marcus’ house. We often stay with them because they do not have a dog and we feel so comfortable with each other. Our reason for being near Highland was to celebrate Eden’s graduation with honors from Lone Peak High School. Eden is the oldest child of Neal and Candice who was born on the autism scale and has had every kind of therapy to learn how to conquer those triggers which isolate her from learning as others do. She has worked hard, earned the 5 honors chords on her gown and showed great poise in her class of 800 at the Marriott Center. She has been accepted at the University of Utah in their honors program. We are proud of her work ethic and amazing accomplishments. We give special credit to her mom for her enduring love and endless hours of service to Eden.
Our next adventure required driving 2500 miles from Jacksonville FL to Alberta, Canada via Rochester, MN. We met with Footes, Ferraras, and Shermans, eating, laughing and sharing experiences for five hours. It was so good to meet with friends who we have worked with in the Church and love what we love. In Alberta, we spent quality time with my five siblings, Tom’s two siblings and several friends, all of us recognizing that we are not as young as we used to be.
Then our 5 children arrived in Waterton with 3 of their spouses and nine of our grand children and the party began. What great fun hiking Bear’s Hump, going horse back riding, climbing Crypt (one of the top 20 day hikes in the world) laughing at old slides, eating good food, performing Lead Kindly Light a cappella in church, walking to Cameron Falls, and trying to skip rocks in the lake.
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| Cameron Falls |
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| The riders prepare to mount up |
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| The hikers |
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| The Crypt trail and falls - not for the faint of heart! |
Some of the things that most impressed me:
Cousins living together and liking each other
Cousins doing the dishes without being asked—special kudos to Elizabeth and Simon
Roses and thorns- Jonah’s comments showed great maturity
A foot and hand rub from Emily
Watching Cam and Jonah building a dam in the freezing Red Rock Creek
Ivy taking pictures - some very dramatic
Ethan and Asher providing great bass for the ensemble
Scott playing appropriate chords for Eensy Weensy Spider
Sitting by the big fire place in The Barn watching the FIFA World Cup
Waking up to pumpkin waffles with butter milk syrup and bacon
Each person introducing themselves at the Hicken family reunion
Watching the full moon rise and the fireworks from the Raymond Cemetery
We got to know each other better and made some great memories.
July 2 we all headed out by car: Erin to a Rushforth family gathering in Idaho, Ben to a 50th anniversary celebration on Vancouver Island, Neal already at home so Candice and Tommy could go to Orlando for volley ball, Hugh to N. California to prepare for the Tarpenning family reunion and Tal back to San Antonio and his new job. We made it back to FL in four days and have been shopping and packing to leave for France. Thank you all for coming. The only thing that would have made our time together better would have been if Candice, Tommy, Eden, Kristina and Hailey could have been with us. Love to all. G &G Spackman
