Grandpa's 85th - The Big Day

Tuesday

Tuesday was the big day; it was the day we celebrated Grandpa’s eighty fifth birthday.

Lori, Jim, Zoe & her boyfriend, Kelly and her husband, Lynn, and Doug’s son Noah all arrived on the morning Ferry. I was assigned to hamburger duty, but Jim came and helped me. It was good visiting with him.

We all sat around the back yard eating and visiting. There were some games out and we played with those a bit but mostly we sat in the shade and enjoyed each other’s company.

We did this until late in the afternoon when those people on the Ferry had to go catch their ride home. 

We helped Nana clean up and put the food away and then we all headed to “Trollers Fish and Chips”.

Not only is the food just amazing, but the atmosphere of sitting on a dock out on the water is also amazing.

After we had cleaned up all the food, Sarah and Sam and their little kids headed back to their hotel room and the rest of us went for a stroll along the boardwalk. 

It was a beautiful evening.

--------------------trivia--------------------

By 2030, Korean women are projected to become the first population in human history 

with an average life expectancy above 90 years.

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Grandpa's 85th - Butchart Gardens

Monday, June 29

Monday was Butchart Garden Day. We didn’t originally have it on the schedule because it was a total of over three hours of driving and would take an entire day but almost every child wanted to go see it. It really is worth it if you haven’t been there before. I have been there before, and it was still worth it.

Alycia flew into Victoria Monday morning, so we had a relaxed morning, ate breakfast at the Shaw house and then headed south.

One car went and picked up Alycia and the other car headed straight to the Gardens. We met up and ate lunch in the parking lot.

Robert Butchart owned and operated a limestone quarry on this site to manufacture cement. When the quarry was exhausted, his wife took over the big hole in the ground and turned it into this beautiful garden.

There isn’t much to talk about so I will just share some pictures with a few random comments.

They had this little corner that was filled with flowers. Mom insisted that we go into it and it turned out to be an amazing backdrop for pictures. Each of us got our pictures taken here.

Sadly, Mom and I didn’t get a picture together.

It was a long day.

But the day wasn’t over. We drove straight to Montana’s. Montana’s is a BBQ and steak restaurant, and we were there to celebrate Nana’s 80^th birthday. Grandpa’s birthday isn’t until July 29 and Carols birthday isn’t until October, but this was the week that worked out for most of the kids, so we celebrated them now.

Justin and his boys met us there and Sarah and Sam came a little bit later and we were finally all together in Nanaimo. Lisa and I shared a meal, and it was delicious.

From Montana’s we all went to the Shaw house, visited until late and then we all went back to our various beds.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Africa is the only world region where fertility remains above the replacement level.

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Grandpa's 85th

Friday, July 10, 2026

Saturday, June 27

We landed in Nanaimo rather early on Saturday, June 29. Kira, Piper and Cameron had picked up Alex in Vancouver, and they had arrived earlier that day. They picked us up at the airport. We checked into our rooms at the Vancouver Island University dorms and then we headed to Grandpa and Nana’s house. We mostly visited, but Carol had some games that we played. She fed us a nice meal and then we all went back to our dorms and went to bed.

Sunday, June 28

Ben flew into Victoria early Sunday morning, rented a car and met up with us at the Shaw house. We arrived in time for a very lovely breakfast and then we all headed to church at Boyd & Carols Anglican church. It has a fascinating history and a beautiful chapel.

After a nice service we got a personal tour of the building and the renovations they have made and then we decided to check out the neighborhood.

Alex is still recovering from his car accident, so Lisa called up the local bishop and borrowed a wheelchair they had at their church. I think Cameron used it as much as Alex did, but it was a real help.

The girls got stuck in a clothing shop, so the guys (me, Ben, Alex and Cameron) continued exploring. The first thing we found was the Bastion. It isn’t very clear what the Bastion was, but its name suggests that it used to be a defensive building with gun ports etc. When we were there though everything was locked up.

The Bastion overlooked the harbor and as we were checking out the views we saw “Trollers Fish and Chips”. It looked like one of those hidden treasures that are hole in the walls with amazing food. We headed down to the docks and shared an order of fish and chips between the four of us. It was amazing. We didn’t want to eat too much because we were heading back to Nana’s for dinner.

About the time we were licking our plates the women joined up with us and then we headed back to the house. Had dinner and did some more visiting.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Contrary to recommended practice, evidence shows that introducing infants to common allergens (such as eggs) early (in their first year), results in fewer allergic reactions than delaying the introduction of allergens. 

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The Craziness Continues

Monday, June 26, 2026

On Monday I summarized our fun and hectic week, and I was looking forward to a nice relaxing week. That never happened. It all started Wednesday. At some point I had chipped a tooth and while it was little more than a nuisance, I wanted to take care of it before we headed to Canada on Saturday. Dr Belnap was able to squeeze me in on Wednesday morning. 

Immediately after my Dentist appointment I headed to the Blood Bank donation center on Saber Springs Parkway. The last thing they said to me was “no strenuous activity for twenty-four hours”.

I went home and worked for a few hours and then headed off to mutual. They were planning capture the flag in the brush north of the chapel but only four boys showed up so we decided to play chair soccer which is a lot of fun. I joined in the activity. Towards the end of mutual, I was trying to beat a little twelve-year-old to the ball, but I was leaning into my run too much and started falling forward. I caught myself with my hands and it was like reliving a nightmare. My face was only inches from my right hand and in slow motion I could see my fingers bending back far too much.

Several years ago, I was in Texas helping Brandon move and I tripped over a curb and the same thing happened except that time I dislocated my knuckle. My hand hurt like crazy but I couldn’t just lay there so I jumped up and continued playing. My fingers were killing me, but you don’t need your hands to play soccer.

After about ten minutes I started getting dizzy, so I stood on the sidelines to recoup. I was standing next to Chris Sexton, and he was telling me something, but my dizziness got worse, so I told Chris I needed to go sit down. That is the last thing I remember until Chris and Jeff were gently waking me up. I had only been out for a few seconds, but I was very confused.

After ten or fifteen minutes I was back to normal and then I went home. When I walked in the door, Lisa asked me how mutual went so I grabbed a chair sat down beside her and said, “well, let me tell you”. I shared my sad tale.

Just before and after I passed out, I was sweating profusely. That ended at about the time I drove home but as I was sharing my story with Lisa, I got cold and clammy. I rested on the couch for a while and Lisa called our minister to come and give me a blessing. Our minister is Jeff Andrew so that was cool. I then went to bed. As soon as I climbed into bed, I got bad vertigo, that was weird because I have never had vertigo laying down, only when standing.

The next morning, I got up and headed to the bathroom. I could hardly walk. I had to put my hands on the wall to keep from falling. I couldn’t keep my balance. After taking care of my business I went back and sat on my bed to get dressed but I immediately started getting nauseous. I called for Lisa to bring me the “bowl” and no sooner did I get “the bowl” than I started to barf. I hadn’t eaten anything since I passed out so nothing more than water came up and not much of that.

Lisa had tried to take me into emergency the night before, but when she saw me barf there was no talking her out of it. I begged her to give me two hours to let me wake up so she said she would give me an hour. She lied, as soon as I went into my office to do my scripture study she called Kaiser. After hearing my story, they told her to bring me in.

And then we headed off to emergency. Mom drove me right up to the emergency doors. I tried to talk her into parking in the parking lot and walking in, but she told me I’m going in a wheelchair. She left me in the car, went and got a wheelchair. I got out of the car, turned around and sat in the chair and promptly started to barf. Mom had brought the yellow bowl, and she got it to me in time.

Our timing was perfect; we waited five minutes at most. The first thing they did was an ECG. My heart was fine.

They performed a bunch of blood tests. My blood is good; I wasn’t even dehydrated.

My oxygen levels were 100%.

My blood pressure was a bit high but that was to be expected considering my pain and suffering.

They X-rayed my finger. It was broken.

They gave me antinausea medicine, it made all the difference.

I got a CT scan on my head. They weren’t looking for a concussion but bleeding in the brain. There was no bleeding, but he was pretty sure I had a small concussion because I had all the symptoms.

We waited for ever for all the test results to come in but once the doctor talked with us, they gave me an antinausea patch, splinted my finger and sent me home. They just wanted to make sure that my heart was OK and that I didn’t have a brain bleed.

Thursday was a rough day but every morning since then I have been a little unstable when I first wake up and then I’m mostly fine the rest of the day. Every day gets better. for now I walk very carefully.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Studies show that for adults over 65, being in the  'overweight' range (a BMI of 25-27) is associated with the lowest risk of health problems and the best long-term outcomes. 

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An Amazing Two Weeks

Monday, June 22, 2026

Wow, the last two weeks have been crazy but fun. I am exhausted and a little sunburned, but I feel quite fulfilled. It is going to take me a few days to relate everything but let me give you a brief recap.

Wednesday, June 10 Sterling, Chris and I rode with the Deacons to the beach. We were going to ride through the canyon but there was a rather scary brush fire in the Canyon on the Monday and they wouldn’t let us ride through the canyon so we ended up riding on the bike path.

Thursday, June 11 Sterling, Chris and I drove the deacons to Palm Springs, and we rode up the tram up the mountain and hiked into Round Valley.

Friday, June 12 We hiked to San Jacinto Peak (10,834 ft) and back to our campground.

Saturday, June 13 We hiked back to the trolley station and drove home. I then attended Mark Ma’s graduation from UCSD and then Lisa and I met with President Mauseth who released me as a second councilor in the Bishopric.

Sunday, June 14 I was released in Sacrament Meeting and Jeff Andrew is our new Bishop with Dan Cho as first councilor and Jeff Millard as second councilor. Lisa and I were trained as volunteers at the temple, and we got the house in shape for Alycia and her family to arrive on Monday

Monday, June 15 Alycia and her family arrived.

Tuesday, June 16 Mom and Alycia took the kids on a Torrey Pines hike and then to the beach. Alycia met up with a friend. Trevor and I worked until 5:00 and then joined up with them at the beach. Alex and his family arrived at 12:30 in the morning.

Wednesday, June 17 Trevor collected trash, Queen Lisa, Princess Lisa and Alycia took all the kids to the Children’s Pool while Alex and I worked. As soon as Alex was done one of his morning meetings we joined up with them and went to Old Town. That evening Alycia and Trevor headed to the Legoland Hotel.

Thursday, June 18 We went with Alex and his family to the Temple Open House and then to the zoo. Alycia and family spent the day at Legoland.

Friday, June 19 Alycia’s family headed to Sea World while Mom and I hung out with Alex and his family while they packed to head to Las Vegas. We then joined up with Alycia and her family.

Saturday, June 20 We did the Temple Open house with Alycia and her family and then Alycia and her kids headed for home. Mom and I then went to the Highland Games and manned a booth for the RSCDS (Royal Scottish Country Dance Society).

Of the last fourteen days I have spent the majority of nine of those days outside. Even having emptying most of a can of sunscreen I have a special glow about me but thankfully, my sunburn is mild enough that it hasn’t disrupted any of the fun. A day in the sun really saps your energy.

We are now alone, we’re exhausted but our hearts are full.

--------------------trivia--------------------

For a brief period of time, Pepsi had the sixth largest navy in the world. In 1989 the Soviet Union traded a fleet of subs and boats for a whole lot of soda. The new agreement included 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer. Pepsi immediately sold them to a Swedish company for scrap. 

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