Spring is truly here.

Despite a rather cool week, it is safe to say Spring is here; the leaves are out, many bushes and trees are in bloom, the days are noticeably longer, and my walk-jog-run activities have moved outside. I first go along the road you see southward down to the tall buildings in the distance, then west, then north, then south in a sort of rectangle and back to our building. 

Much more interesting than running inside of a heated parking garage. In one of first blogs I posted a wintertime picture when it was below zero outside. It is quite different now. In the second picture you can see the snow covered Canadian Rockies. This also is the view to the west from our balcony. In next week’s post I will show more of the mountains as we are headed to Canmore next weekend for a brief stay.

The car highlight, I suppose, for this past week was getting a new Dodge Caravan, a replacement for one of two Caravans in our fleet of cars. Except for being a different color and having the new car smell, it looks the same as the older Caravan proving that the design has not changed in a few years. As the district or zone leaders come to the office for supplies and mail, they are quick to notice a new car in the office parking lot. They come into the office and come to my desk, “This one is coming to us, right?” Sometimes I respond by asking, “Perhaps this car should go to the companionship that has the cleanest car. Would that be yours if we go out and look?” Usually this puts things back into perspective. Hmmmm, as I think about it; maybe that would work as a more serious incentive than a Subway gift card.

We have again had a rash of parking lot accidents over the past week. Fortunately there was only one case where the missionaries were at fault. The others involved people backing into missionary cars. This is always interesting when our missionaries are not the at fault party; I get a call from the at fault person wanting to know (as I would want to know if I were at fault) where the estimate is going to be done and how much it will cost. I usually have no idea at the time they call as the estimate is pending so I get their name and number and promise to keep them in the loop. What they are trying to decide, of course, is whether they want to pay out-of-pocket and avoid their insurance company either jacking up their monthly premium or dropping them altogether.

The best highlight of the week was the baptism of grandson, Austin, in Colorado. While we couldn’t be there in person we were there in spirit. I will include a picture of Austin and his proud father. We, too, are so proud of Austin and the handsome and good young man he is turning out to be.

After our weekly visit to the Calgary Temple we shot some pictures looking out to the Calgary skyline. This is taken from the hill where the temple sits. In the next picture, which is just to the west of the skyline shot, is the site of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. This is known locally as COP, Calgary Olympic Park. The ski runs stay busy all winter long with day and night skiing but the snow is nearly gone. Unfortunately, most of the snow this year was man made.

We drive along the bottom end of the ski jump each Friday on our way returning to our apartment from the temple.

The final picture I will include is a visit to the downtown Calgary’s Knox United Church for a choral presentation. A friend and ward member who sings with “The Festival Chorus” knows of our involvement with choral groups in the Salt Lake area and invited us to attend. It was wonderful. The choral group was excellent, the soloists were great, and the orchestra was superb. 

Attending the concert was the first time we have been downtown other than to drive through since we arrived on our mission. We visited downtown briefly when we were here two years ago during the Calgary Stampede but there is obviously much to see and do so we plan to spend much more time there. We hope you will visit Calgary this summer and go with us.

Have a wonderful week!