Week of 15-21 June 2009

Dear Family, - Happy Father's Day
Today we spoke in the Farmington Hills Ward sacrament meeting in the morning and went to the North Shores meeting to see the Grand children sing and Tyler pass the sacrament. It was a special bonus to see some of the members from the old Gratiot Branch (where we served a 1 year stake service mission), who now attend the Roseville Ward.
This week the house has been in a messy turmoil because we are having the tile replaced, but it is looking really nice now. We really like Nick, our Albanian master tile man. He is doing a great job removing the old cracked and worn tile , preparing the surface with a layer of cement which makes a hard flat and level surface for the tile , and then laying and cementing in place the tile. Monday he will grout the tile and Tuesday seal it and hopefully finish up the job. Then we will be able to put appliances, furniture and “things” back in place and clean up.
This week, Dad had a breakfast with three on his friends from Ford on Tuesday and played Racquet ball with two other friends on Thursday. It was good see them and catch up on what is happening with them.
Friday we both went to the Stake Youth Conference where Mom taught five 1 hour group sessions about the ancient temple and tabernacle, how they symbolize Heavenly Father's plan for us and how they relate to today's temple. She did an excellent job in preparing the youth to go do baptisms in the temple afterwards.
We hope all is well with y'all,
Love ya, Mom & Dad

Week of 8-14 June 2009

Dear Family,
We have enjoyed being home for one month now.
Mom & I attended the funeral service for John R. Pfeifer on Monday. He was the Stake President when we first came to Michigan. He called Dad to to serve in the Bishopric and ordained him a High Priest. It was a great funeral service for a very talented, accomplished ,vascular surgeon.
Tuesday, we attended Samantha's 5th grade promotion ceremony at her Elementary School. Next year she goes to the Jr. High School with Tyler.
Our home has a new roof. The 12-15 man roofing crew, all from Central America, came at 8:30 am, tore off the old roof, installed the new roof and cleaned up by 4:30 pm. It was very interesting to observe the process; even when it started to rain they kept on working.
Saturday we were invited to and attended Samantha's birthday party. We enjoyed the celebration for Samantha, who is becoming such a wonderful young lady. Jim's Mom and Jack were there. It was good to see and talk with them again.
Sunday was the High Council speakers and we were invited to talk. Mom spoke in the Warren Ward and Dad went with Jim to speak in the Southfield Ward. Mom's favorite thing was staying for the No. Shores sacrament meeting, sitting with Ryan and Vanessa's families, and partaking the Sacrament blessed by Ryan and passed by Tyler. Now we will go to wish Jim a Happy Birthday. A special Sunday indeed.

Love ya, Mom & Dad

Week of 1 - 7 June 2009

Dear Family,
HOME - This week of events has been filled with getting our house in order. Dad is claiming victory in the battle of attrition to rid our home of the uninvited mice that took up residence in our basement. We have contracted to get a new “lifetime” roof on the house, stained the deck, painted the mailbox and shopped for a new tile to replace the cracked and worn tile of the foyer and kitchen. We have learned that getting our “matter organized” is hard work and very expensive, but we look forward to having a good roof over our heads and a solid, pleasant to look at, floor under our feet.
CHURCH - We went with the missionary Elders to teach an investigator a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has been studying and praying with a great desire to know and is committed to be baptized. The lesson went well and we were able to share our testimony with her. She thanked us for coming and lifting her up. We both felt good about being with the missionaries again. As a part of the Family Home Evening Activity on Monday, we have been asked to share our mission experiences with the “Empty Nesters” of the ward. Also, we have been invited to speak in other ward's Sacrament Meetings on the 14th and 21st of June.
FAMILY – Monday we went to dinner at Rio Wraps, watched a movie and played game of Boccie at Partridge Creek with Vanessa and her kids (Jim was out of town on business). We enjoyed watching the baseball games of Joshua and Tyler and Samantha's last soccer game of the season and they seemed to enjoy having us there. Grand buddies are great! After Joshua's game we took Preston & Jacob home and ate some of Ryan & Maureen's leftovers and at Ryan's insistence, we played a game of “Settlers of Catan”. Friday after work, Ryan brought Preston with him and we fixed a squeaking brake on the Ranger, while Nonna and Preston played Dominoes. Today, we went to Ryan & Maureen's to celebrate Preston's 7th birthday.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad