16 April 2023 Week #29: Another Wonderful week with Livi and Quincy (and Lynette Sharpe)
Dear Family and Friends,
It is a sad time, but we will get over it. Olivia and Quincy leave in a couple hours. It has been wonderful to have them here. We are grateful that Lynette Sharpe came with them. It made us feel better about Livi traveling with a little one on 3 different flights, 2 hours, layover, then 14 hours, layover, then 4.5 hours. Just reverse that now with the second leg being 10+ hours with the tail wind. They had fairly short layovers coming, but going back they have a 9-hour layover in Seoul.
It has been a fun week. We went to Dumaguete on Tuesday. We saw some sights along the way. We stopped at some waterfalls. We hiked in and got a ride on a motorbike up the steep hill coming back out. The falls and pools of water are beautiful and pretty neat. In one of the little pools there were a bunch of little fish, the size of little goldfish, that nibble on your feet. It is a pretty good pedicure. Of course, a big one came by and bit one of my toes right off.
That evening we met up with Leo and Yet-Yet for dinner. They have two kids and were Olivia’s friends when she lived there back in January-April of 2016. It was so fun to see the excitement in Yet-Yet’s eyes to see Olivia. They had a big hug. I’m sure that is what meeting loved ones will be like in the next life. We enjoyed dinner with them and a great conversation. It is so exciting to see them strong in the gospel, raising their family to return to their heavenly parents, and serving others in their ward and community.
We stayed at a hotel on the beach. The next morning was spent snorkeling and laying around on the beach with Quincy enjoying the sand and water. She will wonder what happened when she gets back to 3 feet of snow. I stayed at the hotel most of the time and did some work. Lynette recertified with an instructor in a pool to scuba dive. Then she went out for a scuba dive. She is an adventurous lady.
We went back home a little different route. We cross both going and coming from Cebu Island to Negros Island on a 30-minute ferry. On our way there we went down the east side of Cebu Island. Coming back, after the ferry, we went on the west side of Cebu Island for quite aways, and then went over the mountains back to the east side to the city of Cebu. Beautiful drives, both going and coming. We got home late Wednesday evening.
Thursday morning it was off to the island of Bohol. We arrive by ferry into the port of Tubigon. We then drove through Sagbayan to the Chocolate Hills. Very interesting. Hundreds of hills that are very steep for 100-200 yards high and about 400 yards of circumference at the base. I’m of course just guessing at the size. You could probably Google it and get better information. Anyway, they go on for several miles. We climbed a lot of stairs to a lookout point so we could see hundreds of them. Then we headed to the Bohol Beach Club resort. It was wonderful. A lot of long white sand beaches. A real nice pool and kiddy pool, and wash off pool and shower after the sandy beach. Clyda and Olivia took turns tending Quincy while the other one went snorkeling with Lynette. I spent most of my time at the motel. It was plenty hot out. It is hot now and humid. It feels like a sauna most of the time. AC is wonderful. We finally have ours running well. They got it fixed the day Olivia arrived thank goodness.
At checkout time we headed to see the Tarsiers, tiny fist sized monkeys. That was okay, but not one I’m going to go to again. We got to see 4 of them total clinging and sleeping on a branch. They are nocturnal. Then we headed to Hotel Gabriella where we spent Friday night. I took Quincy for an hour ride in the truck to find the Tagbilaran Stake Center. I needed to meet Sister Ranara, the stake WSR specialist the next morning and so it was a good excuse for me to take Quincy while the ladies got massages. They said the three lady massage therapists were excellent. They would do that again in a heartbeat. Afterwards we went out for dinner. The next morning early Olivia and Lynette were picked up at the motel at 5:45 to go swim with the whale sharks. They had a good time. I went to the stake center to meet Sister Ranara. She has been doing a project for me on the FAITH garden project that the Tagbilaran Stake did with 120 families in a garden project. FAITH (Food Always In The Home). She has been accumulating results of the success of that project. I met her to get hard copies of forms from each family that participated and how they rated their success.
When we all got back then it was off to Tubigon to catch the 1:30 ferry back to Cebu. We had a good evening with grocery shopping, then out to dinner, and then dessert. Going to the Creamery on ninth east in Provo, of course, is tradition for Clyda and me with Olivia and Tessa. We hit that spot a lot of times during their BYU days. Second to that for Olivia and I is going to the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Well, I spotted one in the Ayala Mall several months ago and knew then that Olivia and I would be going there when she came to visit. Olivia probably accompanied me to seven different NCAA Track and Field Championships in either Des Moines, Iowa, or Eugene, Oregon. Well, once in Eugene, after the meet ended for the day, we went to the Dairy Queen which was right by our motel for dessert all four nights. That started a tradition. We stayed at that motel at least twice. But after that, if one wasn’t by the motel, we would search one out. It became tradition. I love traditions! Especially eating ones! Especially ice cream ones.
One spring I stayed out at Promontory Point by the northeast corner of the Great Salt Lake calving out our cows. I was just batching it out there. One day I helped the neighbors work some cattle. There was a husband and wife and a hired hand. Two smoked, one chewed tobacco, and they all drank coffee. They offered me some of each. I told them no thanks. They said they would probably be healthier if they didn’t use it. One of them then said they would be better off financially if the didn’t spend all that money on those vices. So I asked them how much each of the vices cost them a month. They figured it out and were kind of shocked at how much they spent a month on those items. It was amazing to me. I can’t remember how much it cost, but it was quite a bit. I said, Man, I wish I had that kind of money to spend on ice cream each month. We all decided if we ate that much ice cream a month we would be rolling around instead of walking. Now you know why I look the way I do. Ice Cream!!
Today’s church meetings were once again wonderful. Quincy was kind of a stink this morning and was getting run down. Too much on the go. She has done wonderful, but a lot to ask of a little one. She slept well last night but then was getting kind of ornery about an hour and a half before church. Olivia put her down for a nap. She finally took a long one. So, we didn’t want to wake her up for church. Olivia missed church with the ox in the mire, or the baby in the much-needed bed. They have a long trip home tonight. She is doing much better now after about 3-hour nap. We are now down to about two hours before we head to the airport. Olivia is napping now, and grandma is in heaven with Quincy. They have been outside walking around, but it is extremely hot even two hours after the sun has gone down. They have visited Sister Garner for a while. Now they are watching a lot of old videos and Marco Polos of Layne. She loves watching them. She acts just like she knows that little buddy cousin. It is fun. They have spent the last 30 minutes watching and she is still totally engaged. I’m going to try to get a little Marco Polo of her watching. For the family, I got the Marco Polo. You will love it.
I went to choir practice tonight. We sing at stake conference next week. On Saturday we sing 3 numbers at the leadership training meeting. Then on Sunday morning at 8:00 we sing 3 numbers at the adult session. They have it then, so they only have the cost of getting to the conference one time. The kids will join for the adult session. It will end at 9:30. Then they will eat their snacks, and the general session will start at 10:00 and we do 3 more numbers. When you spend a couple hours singing you can lose your voice. It has been fun though. We are getting the numbers down fairly well, and with the Lord’s help they will sound real good next weekend. People’s testimonies will be strengthened as they listen and feel the Holy Ghost whisper to them of the truths taught in the songs. Remember Holy Habits and Righteous Routines will help you Lift Where You Stand and stay on the covenant path to return to the Celestial Kingdom to be united as families forever. Wonderful promises for us to see Tillie and Clyde again along with many other family members and friends.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandma and Grandpa
Briant and Clyda
Week #29 4/10-4/16
It is a sad time, but we will get over it. Olivia and Quincy leave in a couple hours. It has been wonderful to have them here. We are grateful that Lynette Sharpe came with them. It made us feel better about Livi traveling with a little one on 3 different flights, 2 hours, layover, then 14 hours, layover, then 4.5 hours. Just reverse that now with the second leg being 10+ hours with the tail wind. They had fairly short layovers coming, but going back they have a 9-hour layover in Seoul.
It has been a fun week. We went to Dumaguete on Tuesday. We saw some sights along the way. We stopped at some waterfalls. We hiked in and got a ride on a motorbike up the steep hill coming back out. The falls and pools of water are beautiful and pretty neat. In one of the little pools there were a bunch of little fish, the size of little goldfish, that nibble on your feet. It is a pretty good pedicure. Of course, a big one came by and bit one of my toes right off.
That evening we met up with Leo and Yet-Yet for dinner. They have two kids and were Olivia’s friends when she lived there back in January-April of 2016. It was so fun to see the excitement in Yet-Yet’s eyes to see Olivia. They had a big hug. I’m sure that is what meeting loved ones will be like in the next life. We enjoyed dinner with them and a great conversation. It is so exciting to see them strong in the gospel, raising their family to return to their heavenly parents, and serving others in their ward and community.
We stayed at a hotel on the beach. The next morning was spent snorkeling and laying around on the beach with Quincy enjoying the sand and water. She will wonder what happened when she gets back to 3 feet of snow. I stayed at the hotel most of the time and did some work. Lynette recertified with an instructor in a pool to scuba dive. Then she went out for a scuba dive. She is an adventurous lady.
We went back home a little different route. We cross both going and coming from Cebu Island to Negros Island on a 30-minute ferry. On our way there we went down the east side of Cebu Island. Coming back, after the ferry, we went on the west side of Cebu Island for quite aways, and then went over the mountains back to the east side to the city of Cebu. Beautiful drives, both going and coming. We got home late Wednesday evening.
Thursday morning it was off to the island of Bohol. We arrive by ferry into the port of Tubigon. We then drove through Sagbayan to the Chocolate Hills. Very interesting. Hundreds of hills that are very steep for 100-200 yards high and about 400 yards of circumference at the base. I’m of course just guessing at the size. You could probably Google it and get better information. Anyway, they go on for several miles. We climbed a lot of stairs to a lookout point so we could see hundreds of them. Then we headed to the Bohol Beach Club resort. It was wonderful. A lot of long white sand beaches. A real nice pool and kiddy pool, and wash off pool and shower after the sandy beach. Clyda and Olivia took turns tending Quincy while the other one went snorkeling with Lynette. I spent most of my time at the motel. It was plenty hot out. It is hot now and humid. It feels like a sauna most of the time. AC is wonderful. We finally have ours running well. They got it fixed the day Olivia arrived thank goodness.
At checkout time we headed to see the Tarsiers, tiny fist sized monkeys. That was okay, but not one I’m going to go to again. We got to see 4 of them total clinging and sleeping on a branch. They are nocturnal. Then we headed to Hotel Gabriella where we spent Friday night. I took Quincy for an hour ride in the truck to find the Tagbilaran Stake Center. I needed to meet Sister Ranara, the stake WSR specialist the next morning and so it was a good excuse for me to take Quincy while the ladies got massages. They said the three lady massage therapists were excellent. They would do that again in a heartbeat. Afterwards we went out for dinner. The next morning early Olivia and Lynette were picked up at the motel at 5:45 to go swim with the whale sharks. They had a good time. I went to the stake center to meet Sister Ranara. She has been doing a project for me on the FAITH garden project that the Tagbilaran Stake did with 120 families in a garden project. FAITH (Food Always In The Home). She has been accumulating results of the success of that project. I met her to get hard copies of forms from each family that participated and how they rated their success.
When we all got back then it was off to Tubigon to catch the 1:30 ferry back to Cebu. We had a good evening with grocery shopping, then out to dinner, and then dessert. Going to the Creamery on ninth east in Provo, of course, is tradition for Clyda and me with Olivia and Tessa. We hit that spot a lot of times during their BYU days. Second to that for Olivia and I is going to the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Well, I spotted one in the Ayala Mall several months ago and knew then that Olivia and I would be going there when she came to visit. Olivia probably accompanied me to seven different NCAA Track and Field Championships in either Des Moines, Iowa, or Eugene, Oregon. Well, once in Eugene, after the meet ended for the day, we went to the Dairy Queen which was right by our motel for dessert all four nights. That started a tradition. We stayed at that motel at least twice. But after that, if one wasn’t by the motel, we would search one out. It became tradition. I love traditions! Especially eating ones! Especially ice cream ones.
One spring I stayed out at Promontory Point by the northeast corner of the Great Salt Lake calving out our cows. I was just batching it out there. One day I helped the neighbors work some cattle. There was a husband and wife and a hired hand. Two smoked, one chewed tobacco, and they all drank coffee. They offered me some of each. I told them no thanks. They said they would probably be healthier if they didn’t use it. One of them then said they would be better off financially if the didn’t spend all that money on those vices. So I asked them how much each of the vices cost them a month. They figured it out and were kind of shocked at how much they spent a month on those items. It was amazing to me. I can’t remember how much it cost, but it was quite a bit. I said, Man, I wish I had that kind of money to spend on ice cream each month. We all decided if we ate that much ice cream a month we would be rolling around instead of walking. Now you know why I look the way I do. Ice Cream!!
Today’s church meetings were once again wonderful. Quincy was kind of a stink this morning and was getting run down. Too much on the go. She has done wonderful, but a lot to ask of a little one. She slept well last night but then was getting kind of ornery about an hour and a half before church. Olivia put her down for a nap. She finally took a long one. So, we didn’t want to wake her up for church. Olivia missed church with the ox in the mire, or the baby in the much-needed bed. They have a long trip home tonight. She is doing much better now after about 3-hour nap. We are now down to about two hours before we head to the airport. Olivia is napping now, and grandma is in heaven with Quincy. They have been outside walking around, but it is extremely hot even two hours after the sun has gone down. They have visited Sister Garner for a while. Now they are watching a lot of old videos and Marco Polos of Layne. She loves watching them. She acts just like she knows that little buddy cousin. It is fun. They have spent the last 30 minutes watching and she is still totally engaged. I’m going to try to get a little Marco Polo of her watching. For the family, I got the Marco Polo. You will love it.
I went to choir practice tonight. We sing at stake conference next week. On Saturday we sing 3 numbers at the leadership training meeting. Then on Sunday morning at 8:00 we sing 3 numbers at the adult session. They have it then, so they only have the cost of getting to the conference one time. The kids will join for the adult session. It will end at 9:30. Then they will eat their snacks, and the general session will start at 10:00 and we do 3 more numbers. When you spend a couple hours singing you can lose your voice. It has been fun though. We are getting the numbers down fairly well, and with the Lord’s help they will sound real good next weekend. People’s testimonies will be strengthened as they listen and feel the Holy Ghost whisper to them of the truths taught in the songs. Remember Holy Habits and Righteous Routines will help you Lift Where You Stand and stay on the covenant path to return to the Celestial Kingdom to be united as families forever. Wonderful promises for us to see Tillie and Clyde again along with many other family members and friends.
With love,
Dad and Mom
Grandma and Grandpa
Briant and Clyda
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