Week 32

Our current favorite photo of our temple

Well, I spoke too soon about spring having arrived! We have had cold temperatures and wind the last couple of days and, after going to the market on my bike, pedaling against a headwind, I wished I’d thought to wear my down winter coat! Oh well, I imagine it will be only a short-term setback, but who knows? Life is good whatever the weather offers. (Sister Husz told me today that in May there are always exactly four cold days, so I suppose we have just experienced two of them.)

The big event for this week was John’s dad, Charles William (Bill) Laing’s turning 96 on May 11. What a milestone! We were happy to have been able to talk with him to tell him we love him and are grateful for his example to all of us of enduring well.

Pop Laing turns 96!

Today is Mother’s Day and we are grateful for all the mothers in our family. Our daughter and the wives of our sons bring us great joy for their goodness and commitment to their husbands and children.  We are also grateful for our own mothers. Mine, busy in the spirit world and John’s in the waning days of her mortal experience, though several years younger than Pop Laing. We keep thinking he can’t possibly hold out any longer but still he endures his cancer. He has lost so much weight he is a shadow of himself.

He just can’t bear the thoughts of leaving without her, we figure.  

Last week Sunday came and went without my even thinking about our blog, let alone writing in it. We had a busy, busy day after our meetings after a busy week where John frequently being involved in teaching a new worker who decided that he would come without notice to begin training. No complaints—that’s what we are here for and John does a great job at it.

We have really enjoyed our family’s having shared pictures of events in their lives and since we have been no where lately and have not seen anything for these two weeks, we will let their pictures serve for our purposes today too.

David’s graduation with his MBA with his commencement was a wonderful milestone in their family and we are as pleased as we can be with their achievements. Bravo David and Chi!

Hurrah for David--Commencement Day!

Adam had a life-changing experience in going to India with his work and came home really desiring to make a difference in that huge country of burgeoning growth and overwhelming poverty. It is so interesting to have him retracing ground his dad traveled 25 years ago. We were glad that he did make it to see the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Hotel guard.

Adam's picture of the Taj Mahal. How lovely

Their family has also been acting in a community commercial for Cache Valley Hospital. It was fun to see the first video cut he emailed to us. It showed Kimmy in the hospital with the family grouped around her in great concern. Adam said they had to shoot and re-shoot because they kept laughing through the process. We thought Kiki was the star performer as she held her mom’s hand and patted her compassionately. It was fun for us to see.

Fishing with Dad is the best!

This week Patrick took his boys fishing and then went to give a 95-year-old client of his a hand building a brick walkway. He told Patrick that he had been working on it for 6 months with very little progress, Patrick volunteered to bring his boys by to give him a hand. They spent part of their Saturday finishing the job for a grateful elderly man, who, by the by, had been named the healthiest 90+-year-old in Oregon. Good for him, and good for Patrick for his kindness.  

Making a difference in the life of a 95-year-old

Good will project completed

Saturday we kicked back a little and watched a movie from ITunes that we enjoyed. It is a true story called The Greatest Game Ever Played. It is always nice to see something that is uplifting with no garbage in it. It was a good one to watch close to Pop's birthday since he loved to play golf and up until a couple of years ago went with his sons golfing each year to celebrate his birthday. We especially enjoyed the 10-year-old caddy, Eddie, who reminded us of our Kaimani.

Today John played the organ in our Sacrament meeting and then went to substitute for part of Primary while the sisters sang in Relief Society, part of a special lesson on the temple. He always enjoys playing for Primary but has had few opportunities in recent years.

Our program at church was full of Primary and youth numbers—how do all those little kids speak such great Deutsch? Ah me!    

This afternoon we drove with Pres. and Sister Husz to Chemnitz to see a special Russian Realism Art Exhibit at the museum there. It was nice to ride down with them. We were all struck by the hard, hard lives so many live as were depicted in the art we saw. We came away feeling very blessed to live in this day and age, though, of course, it too comes with its hardships.  

May your week be full of fun and uplift.