Our Trip to Erie

Well we said goodbye to another one of our children. Vanessa headed back to BYU-Idaho on Friday. It is so hard to say goodbye to your children. Now with Jacquie and Ryan back in Idaho, Vanessa in Idaho and Josh in Ireland we are now officially emptynesters. Everyone says how nice it would be, but let me tell you it is very quiet around here. We miss all of them so much.

So instead of coming home after we dropped Vanessa off at the airport, Gary booked a hotel in Erie, PA

and we drove there to go shopping and get some R&R. He surprised me with the hotel (I didn't want to know) and it was a nice surprise. We really enjoyed ourselves and I'm so glad that I didn't come home to an empty house right away. It gave us the chance to bond again and we really had a great time. And one of the best places we ate supper at was Cold Stone!

Going to The Ex!

Vanessa wanted to do something this long weekend before heading back to school. So we decided (or she did) to go to the CNE in Toronto. It was fun once we got there. When we got near the Ex there was no parking. The Air Show was going on and it was very busy. So we were able to get a few pictures of the air show and then we drove right past the Ex. Gary decided to head downtown and park near union station and take the TTC over. In the end it cost alot cheaper, but the TTC wasn't to much fun. And I don't like being in downtown Toronto at night, but it all worked out in the end. We had alot of fun there and we managed to get back to the car safely. Vanessa loves being in that craziness, just like her sister and brother did. I guess when you are young it seems like fun. Not to me anymore. So here are some pictures of what we saw.

Air Show

CN Tower

Vanessa with an RCMP Officer

RCMP Musical Ride

Vanessa and Gary trying out a new car! Vanessa was dreaming!!!

Gary with his dream vehicle!!

Vanessa and I got tattoos at the EX! I got mine in honour of Josh on his Ireland mission. Vanessa just like tinkerbell the best. (oh they are just airbushed tattoo's not real ones, I'm not that crazy).

Girl's Day for Pedicures

On Friday Vanessa and I went to Kaizen's for pedicures. The Nantais family gave me a pedicure for my birthday, so we booked a Mommy/Daughter day. It was so nice. We sat across from each other while we were having them done. Then we picked out our colours. Mine was suppose to be pink, but it turned out red. Vanessa's is a nice purple. Our feet were so soft and smooth that we felt like we were slipping in your sandals as we were walking to the car. So thanks to the Nantais' for a wonderful birthday present.

Where did the summer go?

I can't believe it is almost September already. That means Vaenssa will be going back to school next week. I'm not looking forward to an empty house again. So this week I wanted to spend time with her. She asked me to go to Will's baseball game last night and it was alot of fun. They didn't win, but they still have one more game to take the title.

Sherry happy Brantford is winning!

Vanessa is sick because London is losing!

Will getting ready to bat. And Vanessa wanted a picture of his butt. We had 2 older couples around us (from London) and they were alot of fun to be with. It was great just spending time with Vanessa. I love the one and one with my children. I just wish I could do it with all of them.

He is doing great in Ireland!

We have had 3 emails from Josh since he got into the mission field. He is serving in the Finglas Ward in the Dublin Stake. He has had so many spiritual experiences already. I can see he is growing spiritually. He is learning to rely on his Heavenly Father and that is so good. It sure makes it nice for a mom to know that he has his Heavenly Father there for him no matter what is going on. Especially since I can't be there. He is getting along pretty good with is companion and learning lots from him. He has done lots of teaching and has had the opportunity to have someone come up to him and his companion and ask for them to teach him. His wife had just died and he wanted to know more about the church so he approached the missionaries. He hasn't sent me any pictures yet, but he emailed some to his girlfriend of when he was in the MTC. Here is a couple of them. Well that is all for now.



Josh at the Preston England Temple.



Josh in is room at the MTC.



Elders in the MTC that were from Canada. (including Josh)

He's Finally in Ireland

On Wednesday August 6th at 2:00 a.m. we received a phone call. But it was a wonderful phone call. Josh called from the Manchester airport to say hello before heading off to Ireland. I was hoping he would. He sounded great. He said he didn't get much sleep because they had to be up at 4:00 a.m., but he was excited to get to Ireland. So I patiently waited for a email or something telling me he made it. Because on the LDS Missionary Mom emails, they said that President Creer sends you an email. Well in my eyes, it is not quick enough. LOL So on Saturday morning it arrive!

THE EMAIL WAS FINALLY HERE AND THEY EVEN SENT PICTURES! It was great. He told us where Josh would be serving (Finglas Ward in Dublin). He told us who Josh's companion/trainer would be (Elder CraigGardner from Gloucester, England).

He told us how pleased they were to have Josh in their mission and they look forward to sharing great experiences with him. They explained some of the rules and told us his P-day would be on Wednesday. It is so good to have some of my questions answered. No we wait for our first email from Ireland. We hope that the people of Ireland come to love Josh as much as we do. I know the Lord will bless him for his effort.

I Love Our New Blog, Thanks to Jacquie!

I just wanted to thank Jacquie for all the hard work she did to updated our blog. I could not get it pretty like hers, so she offered to do it. And I love it. She even gave me a choice of 3 different ones. So once I get bored of this one, we have 2 others to work with, right Jacquie? So thanks again for all your hard work. I love you and miss you. Enjoy your time in New York City. I can't wait to see your blog once you get back.