Happy Labor Day!! Happy Birthday Dad, Garrett, Diana, & Mom and Happy Anniversary Jason & Danica!! It's your month!!
We started out the month at Bear Lake with the Mallory's who spent the weekend with us. The guys got in some fishing. Langston and Mazin were able to catch a few. Smiles all around. The canyon leaves are starting to change, it's looking like fall is upon us.
When we got home we unloaded the trailer, got it put away, did some wash, Dale served in the Logan temple, and we served at the CVHC and then headed to Salt Lake to catch our overnight flight for Boston for our cruise along the Canadian Nova Scotia Shores on the Norwegian Jade cruise ship with our friends, Floyd & Alison Griffiths.
Day 1: We met up with the Griffiths at the airport (because they had an earlier flight than we did) and got a bite to eat and then met up with the Norwegian Cruise Host and got on the bus that took us to the pier so we could board the Norwegian Jade. It was a nice day. On the ship we did our safety checks, got settled in our rooms, got our luggage, and then checked out the ship. We had some lunch out on the deck.
It was a bit windy, but nice. We soaked in some sun before going back into our cabins to get in a nap because of our overnight flight. Then we browsed around the ship, joined in some of the ships games, and had a later dinner.
Day 2: We were at sail all day, so we slept in, walked around the ship, checked out some of the activities on the ship, ate, played cards, visited on the deck (thought about getting in the pool, but the air was a bit chilly). ate and watched a Western themed song and dance show that was pretty entertaining. They were fun to watch and full of energy.
Day 3: We woke up in Halifox, Nova Scotia. After breakfast we grabbed our jackets and rain gear due to the forecast and headed off the ship to check out the shops on the pier and then met for our Peggy's Cove and the Titanic Cemetery excursion. We boarded our bus and saw some pretty scenery. Our tour guide shared a lot of information about the area while we were enroute.
Once we got to Peggy's Cove it was blowing REALLY hard and raining. We did have rain gear, but our pants and shoes got soaked! The waves were really crashing on the rocks creating huge sprays of water and the rain with the wind made it tricky to walk on the slippery rocks up to the lighthouse, but we made it and got a glimpse of how fierce the ocean can be for fishermen. It was quite the sight.
We had some time to check out a couple of shops and got some hot chocolate to help warm us up before getting back on the bus. If it would of been nicer weather, we would of stayed and checked our more of the area, but everyone was wet and freezing, so they cut the sightseeing of the area short.
Our next stop was at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, the final resting place for 121 passengers of the Titanic. It was still raining lightly and with us already being wet it was still quite cold. We walked around some and read some of the headstones. It was pretty humbling to think what these people suffered on that dreadful day of the the sinking of the Titanic.
When we got back to the pier we were greeted by a guy playing the bagpipes. That was pretty cool! Once on the ship we all took a LONG hot shower to warm up. I actually climbed into the bed to warm up after. We had a light lunch and went to a Trivia game. Then had a early dinner in the Grand Pacific Ballroom. We were a bit underdressed for that place, but the food was tasty. After dinner we went to the Stardust Theater and watched the movie Top Gun: Maverick on the big screen.
Day 4: We woke up in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Again, we slept in, got breakfast and visited and then took off to check out the sights. This time we went on a self guided walking tour. Old town Sydney is where the Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution settled in 1785. We saw the world's largest fiddle (it's 60 ft. tall). We checked out some homes from the 1700's like the Jost House, the oldest home in Sydney, the Cossit House, and St. George's Church, the oldest building in Sydney today. One of the churches, the St. Patrick's Church, is the oldest Catholic Church in the town. They've had Queen Elizabeth visit it and recently King Charles and Queen Camilla from England attend this church. We also walked the boardwalk. It was a beautiful area and a LOT better day to be out and about.
After a later light lunch, we hung out at the Bliss Lounge on the ship and did a word search challenge, and an unscramble game. The ocean got kind of rough and the ship started swaying pretty good! At dinner it was interesting to see how well the servers were steady on their feet! We played cards, and went and watched Karaoke to pass the time. The night show got cancelled due to the rocking ship because it was scheduled to have aerialists and acrobats. It was pretty rocky, you definitely held onto the banisters when going up or down the stairs. I've never felt a ship rock like that. We did go see a magician preform his tricks which was pretty impressive to fill up our evening. We hit the sack a bit earlier and got rocked to sleep.
Day 5: Our next port was in Charlottetown, the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte. We didn't sleep in much today, because our shore excursion started earlier than any of the others. After breakfast we headed down the plank for land to aboard our bus for Prince Edward Island to see the area where the author of the book and movie "Anne of Greene Gables" was inspired. The sights from the bus were green, colorful fall colors, tiny villages, and fishing harbors.
The last picture above and first below is inside the Prince Island National Park
They had a guy playing the bagpipes at the Prince Island National Park entrance in the first picture below.
The last picture above and those below are from inside the home where Lucy Maud Montgomery received her inspiration to write the Anne of Green Gables series. It was neat seeing this.
We ate a nice fresh lobster lunch at the Prince Island Preserve Company, an island landmark. We also saw some of these buildings and sites along the way.
After dinner we got to see the show that was cancelled last night. It was pretty impressive. They did acrobatics and were doing aerial stunts. We were definitely entertained. After, we found a spot, we played card games and listened to a guy playing the piano and singing. He was pretty good too.
Day 6: Corner Brook, Newfoundland was our last town to see along the coast. We slept in and ate a later breakfast then headed out on foot to see the area. We found a trail around a smaller lake and walked that. It lead us to a beautiful area with swans swimming in the water, lush green and just beautiful. We also checked out some of the stores and sights by the pier.
This was our last day to get off the ship in Canada, our next stop will be in Boston.
We ate a late light lunch, and then went to some of the game shows and watched some Karaoke. We even participated in a Paper Plane Competition.
After dinner we went to the Wheel of Fortune event and then to "Elements", a show that had magic, aerial acrobatics, music and dance that all tied into the elements of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire at the Stardust Theater. After that Dale and I stopped in to check out the "Night of One Hit Wonders" where all that had done shows did little bits in this show kind of like a variety show. At the end the captain and other staff members came on stage to be recognized. It was a pretty powerful show.
Day 7: We woke up at port in Boston Harbor. Where we had to be off the ship by 8:30am we grabbed a earlier breakfast and then walked onto American soil, got our luggage and boarded a bus that took us on a tour through the streets of Boston to pass some of the time we had before we caught our flight out of Boston around 7:30pm.
We saw Copley Square, an area with some awesome architectural buildings, like the Trinity Church and Boston Public Library. We saw the Boston Commons area which holds Beacon Hill, a very prestigious area. We saw the famous "Cheers" bar, the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party began and saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere had two lanterns hung to signal that the British Redcoats were on the move. We also got to see the USS Constitution Sailing Ship, but we didn't have time to go through it, but it was still cool. Then we were dropped off at the Boston Logan Airport. It was worth the ride. However we still had to waste around 3 hours in the airport.
We made our flight and got home to find all well. I felt like this was more of a kick-back cruise because we weren't on the go as much as we usually are, but we saw some beautiful sights on land and saw some very nice entertainment on the ship. Plus the company was pretty good too.
We got home and the next day we loaded up the trailer again and headed back through the canyon to stay at Sun Outdoors. This time Andrew, Titan, Nora & Arwyn joined us (Lindsay wasn't feeling well, so Eloise stayed home to be with her), as well as Garrett & Zandra and their kids.
Garrett was going to be doing the Bear Lake Brawl, an Iron Man type event. We went to show our support. I didn't stay in the trailer though because I was getting together with some of the gals I'd gone to BYU-Hawaii with back in 1981, so 43 years ago!!
I met up with them at Deana Mendenhall's cabin that was about 8 min. away from Sun Outdoors. We ate a Mo Betta's Hawaiian dinner, visited, reminisced, slept some, had breakfast, played Pickleball, and visited and played cornhole and visited. It was SO fun and great to see these wonderful ladies!
In the pictures below--L to R: Cenia Nielsen, Deana Mendenhall, Teri Johnson, Me
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Dad and Andrew got up and got Garrett off to start his race around 6:30am on the East Beach of Bear Lake. He had to swim 2 1/2 miles in that cold water.....BRRRR! Well, he did it in pretty good time, got his wet suit off and his biking shoes on and headed out for a 112 mile bike ride, which took him around the lake twice. I missed that part due to being with my Hawaii gals.
I met up with dad, Andrew, Titan, Nora & Arwyn around 5:00pm. We pulled together some food to take to Zandra and the kids and headed over to the East Beach where the race started to see Garrett and Josh Nuckles (his friend that helped him train for this) and his wife and their kids. We visited, ate, and waited. Garrett and Josh finished the race around 9:00pm that day. His run of 26.1 miles took him 6 hrs. 3 min. and the total race took him 12 hrs. 57 min. Not bad for his first true Iron Man race!! I guess having Josh coach him helped out as well. He placed 3rd in his age group and 15th overall. Josh placed 1st in his age group and 13th overall. Way to go guys!!
The next day we took everyone fishing at the Garden City pond for some fun. The only two that caught a fish were Titan and Luke (but I missed getting their pictures). All had a good time and enjoyed the sunshine. After dinner Andrew & Garrett's crew headed out. Dale and I stayed another night. Then after breakfast we hooked up the trailer and said good-bye to Bear Lake until next year. I sure enjoy the time we have at the lake, especially when it's not crowded. So pretty and serene.
Because I have a Stake calling in our church, I was involved in helping with the National Day of Service to honor 9/11 day. Our Stake did our activity later due to a big deal that the city of North Logan put on to remember 9/11.
Our stake had citizens help build a trail up Hyde Park Canyon, helped with yard work in some of the neighborhoods, tied baby quilts to donate to Logan Regional Hospitals newborn care center and held a car wash that was for any emergency care worker in Hyde Park to say thank you for your service. Dad and I worked with the car wash. We had the missionaries show up to help out for a bit so we washed their car, and we had a guy that lives in Hyde Park and serves with Cache County Search and Rescue bring in their trucks, trailers, and ATV's for us to wash. We also did some personal cars. We had a fair amount of families come to help which made it fun. We figured we washed around 18 vehicles in the four hour period. Not a bad way to spend a Sat. morning, huh? I'm glad the weather held out for us. Although it was a bit chilly for the first two hours.
I ushered "Something Rotten" put on by Music Theater West and "Thriller" put on by the Odyssey Dance Company out of Salt Lake, at the Eccles this month. Two opposite types of shows, but both quite entertaining.
I also got to help watch the Hassell kids, June & Brooks. Amie and I covered for each other but they slept at Amie's. The kids loved having little ones around to play with. It worked out pretty good. I'd tend when Amie had to work, or had sports and the kids helped out some as needed. Then Amie watched the kids when I had obligations. It was a win, win deal for all. I even got some reading in :)
Diana celebrated her birthday! Happy Birthday Diana!! We're blessed to have her in our family. She shares her special day with my mom, Amy Hadfield Petersen, so that makes her day extra special and easy for me to remember her birthday.
As I said earlier, Amie watched June and Brooks to help out Jason & Danica while they were in Ecuador. They took the kids on the River Trail by the Logan Golf Course, and to the Center Streets Biggest Pumpkin Event. They also took them to church with them. The kids loved having June & Brooks in their home.
The Mallory's also got to go up into the canyon by the Cinnamon Creek Campground area and Porcupine Dam and watched the salmon run that happens there every year. Pretty cool, and very colorful.
They had a sad thing happen at the end of the month in their family though, their family dog of 14yrs. passed away. Lucky was a great dog. Matt would take her on daily walks pretty much up until she died when they moved to Providence.
Elder Mallory has been learning to adjust to his surroundings, his companion, and the language. They had an opportunity for a baptism and he ate a whole chicken, feet, brains, and all for a dinner that was served to him. WOW! He's had another missionary living in their apartment, Elder Cook, who is from Moroni, UT they get to work together sometimes, he likes that.
Garrett celebrated his birthday early in Moab! Happy Birthday Garrett!! They got away for the Labor Day weekend. They took all their bikes and got in some biking and hiking. Sounds like a good time. I'm thinking that bike ride helped prepare him for his bike ride for the Iron Man, what do you think?
The Hassell's got in some fun too. Danica met up with her friend Kimmery and her boy, that's about the same age as June, at the Young Living Aquarium in Draper. The kids loved it just as much as the moms.
June started pre-school! She's loving it too! Hard to believe she's old enough for this, but they do start them earlier that I did when our kids were young. I'm sure both mom and June are going to like it.
Jason and Danica, Jan Hassell and Paul Matthewson (Jason's mom & step dad) and Jan's twin sister, Jill and Jill's daughter, all went to Ecuador for part of a Humanitarian project that Guild Mortgage was lined up to help with. That's why Amie and I started watching their kids. Their flight got delayed so it worked out that they could all go together. Next month I'll share some of their fun as well.
The purpose of their trip was to help cover their water filtration system that's is in the Amazon jungle. They built a cover for it so that bugs and animals can't get in it and contaminate the water. They also helped put piping in to carry the water to the village, Verde Sumaco.
They were able to interact with the children on their free time. Of course Danica's painting fingernails and doing art with them, that's right down her alley, The kids loved doing it. The villagers did a dance performance for them for entertainment.
The kids loved that Jason could talk to them in their language.
In our nations news......There was another assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida while he was golfing at one of his resorts. That's two attempts in 3 months. Pretty sad that our citizens have gotten to this type of action over an election.
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The incident occurred 64 days after a previous assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in which Trump was shot and wounded in his upper right ear by a sniper. Law enforcement officials said that the golf course's perimeter was not fully secured as Trump was not an incumbent president. The Secret Service did not search the perimeter of the golf course, as Trump's visit there was not a scheduled event. (Info. taken from a news article)
Boy, what next?
The war between Russia and Ukraine actually started in 2019 and has been going off and on as well, but it started with more vigor again in February of last year!! CRAZY!
I called this month Seasonable September because it was mostly in the mid 70's as a high and around 45-50 degrees at night. We didn't get much rain though. Perfect fall weather.
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