Catch Up--CANADA!!!!!

We have a lot of catching up to do--LOTS of great performances and adventures that we want to share. Let's start with...

CANADA!!Zach sitting like a big boy on the plane.

Our trip to Canada by FAR was one of our favorite Mercy RIver experiences yet. In May we flew to Ontario, Canada to perform at a tri-stake scripture mastery conference. It was a three day adventure—traveling all day Thursday, performing Friday, and traveling back on Saturday.



On Thursday we sat in our first plane for an hour before take off—because of some "paper" error—so we missed our connecting flight in Denver. Brooke demanded free food (that girl!) so we enjoyed pizza and cinna-sticks and ice cream while we waited for the next flight later that night. When we arrived in Detroit, I was shocked to discover that the Meagan Sandor I had been in contact with for months--the Stake YW President--was OUR AGE! We quickly learned about the church in Canada--how members there are few and far between (literally). Some members, like Meagan's husband David, drive 2 hours every week to go to meetings. And most members juggle several callings at a time and fill in leadership positions at young ages. It's amazing. What an ispiriation it is to meet such good, faithful people.

The London Stake YW Presidency

Meagan and her counselor, Cheryl (just as young and just as darling!) picked us up and drove us across the border to Meagan’s house. I enjoyed soaking in their Canadian accents—"howse," "owt," sore-y".....

This is Meagan's house. B & S said they would kill me if I posted this picture (no makeup, peeps) but I wanted to show this darling place!!!! If I go missing you'll know who did it.

Meagan’s house was this darling cottage like thing on a street with huge trees and houses just like hers. So cute. Inside it looked like we had stepped into a Jane Austen book. I thought Brooke would pass out. Around the house were vases filled with our favorite flowers, and on each of our beds we found our favorite candy.

The next day we worked on our script, trying to re-vamp it to meet the specific needs of the youth in this stake. Many of them are the only members in their schools. We prayed hard about what and how to teach these youth...and when it finally came together and I was very pleased (and relieved!).

Here are some YM trying to win Mercy River magnets. Would you believe me if I told you they were practically wrestling for these?

The fireside went great. My favorite part was mingling with the kids and hearing about their lives and seeing the light in their eyes. The next day we sang to them after breakfast (a fun little "mini-concert") and then we headed off to the airport. Meagan and Cheryl took us to “Big Boy” in Michigan for lunch, and BOY oh boy was it yummy.

Here we are with real Canadian syrup!

Chillin' in the airport with our amazing new cookbooks, a gift from the London Stake. Is it weird that all three of us LOVE cookbooks????? We spent the entire flight home reading them....

And so it was, that with full bellies and siutcases full (really full) with Canadian souvineers, we headed back to the USA.

Thank you, Meagan and the London Stake, for an AMAZING time!