Our son and his wife, Nate and Marcie, visited with us for a week in June. We had the opportunity to share them with Sister T's family, as well to see the sights of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables was Marcie's favorite). It was really great to have them here - again. They drove out with us a year ago when we first came to the mission. There is more of them and their visit in our previous blog entry (June 25).
This is Sister Ott with her Mom and Dad. She was on her way home, having completed 18 months in the Maritimes. We love her and have fed her a number of times, and her parents were so gracious to thank us and take us to dinner. They are very nice people and we can see why Sis. Ott is the way she is. We miss her already.
This is another of the utility boxes that we see all over the Halifax-Dartmouth area. So much more appealing than the olive green or drab gray these boxes usually are.
Was this home ready for Canada Day (July 1st) or what!?
Amanda Smith and Paul Hatt on their wedding day (July 1st) at the Canada Halifax Temple. Now happily married and missed in the YSA Branch.
Sister and Elder Wiebe have donned their red and white gear to cook up a meal for the open house at the mission home on Canada Day.
Sister and President Leavitt are also being patriotic in their dress as they help prepare for the crowds at the mission home. Those are NOT "bunny" ears on Sister Leavitt!
Our daughter Kirsten and her children, Matt and Lily, came to visit us for two weeks in July. Having our own children and grandchildren for a visit is such a great boost for us Senior Missionaries. It really helps us get through the grandchildren "drought."
Lily, our youngest granddaughter, was sure Nannie didn't exist anymore, except for a voice on the phone. They both went crazy when they saw each other at the airport.
One of our first stops after the airport was for some Newfie Fries! While eating these you can almost hear your heart valves slam shut.
The first weekend our daughter was here was also Senior Missionary Conference weekend. These are not seniors but four lovely sisters who came to sing a hymn for us at the conference - Sisters Lee, Echols, Drew, and Dougherty.
Another group of wannabe seniors were these three Elders (Bullock, Woodward, and Torrie). They also serenaded us at the conference.
Brother Fielden spoke to us about the growth of the church in the Maritimes. He was baptized way back in the 1950s, and is one of the most wonderful men we will ever know. He and his wife attend the temple everyday it's open, sometimes two or three times a day. He was Halifax Branch President when Elder Tiffany was a missionary here, Nova Scotia District President when we lived here in the 1970s, then a Patriarch and temple sealer.
Besides being trained in our callings, taking notes, listening to speakers, and the entertainers, we also got to eat.
First counselor in the Mission Presidency is Merlin Wentzell, here with his wife, Diane, and Sis. Call (with her back to us). Bro. Wentzell and Diane are two of our favorites from way back in the Bridgewater Branch. He was the first bishop of that unit when it became a Ward.
We ended our conference by attending a performance of the Royal Nova Scotian International Tattoo (we didn't get a tattoo - we watched it). This is our group on the bus headed for the Halifax Metro Centre for the show.
Sister and Elder DelaCruz, a temple couple from Hawaii, are enjoying the heat we had that weekend.
See, it is a real thing that happens every year, and is attended by thousands during the week it occurs.
This is the geriatric section (often called senior missionaries) in the stands, waiting for the show to begin.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police performing a drill march.
A part of the whole performing crew in the finale. We saw military competition teams, singers, dancers, Cirque du Soleil type performances, bands, choruses. It was a very amazing show. A great way to end the Senior Conference weekend.Our mission president told us to enjoy our family when they come to visit. Our CES Coordinator, Rick Cartier, told us to do the same, especially since there are no seminary or institute classes in session for the summer. So we did enjoy their visit, a lot at the beaches and all the way from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables territory). We had beautiful weather almost every day while they were here. It rained for almost two weeks before they arrived and has rained since they left. The same happened when Nate and Marcie were here. Maybe we should keep some of our visitors in Nova Scotia.
Lily is four and Matt is fifteen, and they really love each other (sometimes to the annoyance of the other). Here we are near Peggy's Cove.
This is the site of a memorial to those who died in the crash of Swissair 111, in the late 1990s, off the shore of Peggy's Cove.
Matt and Lily at Peggy's Cove.
This lighthouse is one of the most pictured sites in all of Nova Scotia. A nice backdrop to Kirsten and kids. There used to be a post office in this lighthouse with its own postal code, where you could mail postcards off to relatives and friends. It closed a few years ago.
Matt is tempting the waves, but they were calm and not giving in to the temptation of sweeping him away.
Matt and Lily are playing on the small beach near Dingle Tower, near downtown Halifax. One of Lily's requests in almost every phone conversation was for Nannie to take her to the park or to the beach.
Kirsten and Matt on our visit to Beach Meadows, near Liverpool.
Beach Meadows was the first time Matt, and Lily actually waded in the Atlantic Ocean. They found out just how cold the water is here. 
We visited the burial site of Sister T's parents, William and Lillian. Do these names give you a clue where Lily got her name?
How do you have a family get-together without food?
Here we have cousins Norah and Lily. Norah is Dave (our nephew) and Natalie's 5 year old daughter and Lily is 4 years old.
Aunt Lil and Lily snuggling.
Kirsten was born at Fishermen's Memorial Hospital in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
One of the very few days that was not exceptionally great weather, we spent in Lunenburg.
Same place, same day, guess who switched to take a picture. You can see the thick fog in the background, and Sister Tiff is wearing a sweater (July 8th)
Lily loved this home in Riverport, a tiny fishing village near Lunenburg.
Another of many very large homes in Nova Scotia.
The Anglican Church in Lunenburg has been in a number of Hollywood movies, Simon Burch being one of them.
We're not sure how old Lunenburg is but this house claims to be the oldest in town. It looks to be about 1760 - older than Elder Tiff!
While in Lunenburg we got a glimpse of the schooner The Bluenose, a beautiful sailing vessel currently in dry dock for repairs and refittings.
These are some of the colorful shops at Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage, near Dartmouth. The area is a favorite of many tourists and locals. 
Kirsten's least favorite color is green, so we felt a picture beside one of Fisherman's Cove's finest was fitting.
Lily and her mom at - you guessed it - Wharf Wraps Restaurant!
Sister T with a "small" salad.
We visited the cemetery where many of the victims of the sinking of the Titanic are buried.
Matt's in the water up to his neck and loving it at Rainbow Haven Beach near the community of Cow Bay (really close proximity to the temple in Dartmouth).
Big brother gently walked his little sister out into the water to get her courage up.
Then, with no fear, they took a run for it and loved it!
Lily loved being buried in the sand by Nannie.
She was in heaven with all of the sand and ocean. A REAL BEACH, Nannie!!
We didn't ride around the Halifax Harbor on Theodore, but we got a great picture of Lily here.
A day on the wharf in Halifax is not complete without a piper in Nova Scotia tartan.
Matt decided not to be in the same picture as a guy wearing a skirt.
Lily is a very lively little girl, but sometimes she has to snuggle under the little quilt Aunt Lil made for her and catch a few Zs - recharging her batteries.
A replica of "The Hector" which brought the first Scots to Nova Scotia in the 1700s. At the harbor in Pictou, Nova Scotia.
We're waiting for the ferry in Pictou to take us to Prince Edward Island. Matt is pulling an Uncle Josh pose in the back of the picture.
The ferry to and from Prince Edward Island.
60% of our group on the ferry, with PEI lighthouse in the background. Weather was beautiful and water was calm.
Welcome to the land of Green Gables!
Could this be Anne, the lovely little girl we've heard so much about?
Matt said he didn't see how people could be comfortable wedged into this buggy for a ride.
Kirsten and kids at the back of Anne's home.
Two lovely women enhancing the beautiful colors of the flowers in front of Anne's home.
Lily says, "You mean you have to pull on those things to get milk? I thought we got it at the store!"
A rare sight - a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman on a horse! (Spotted near Anne's home.)
Showing off a crab on the beach at North Rustico, PEI.
A T-shirt we saw in PEI which pretty much describes the Tiffany family.
Our wonderful hosts in PEI were Elder and Sister Tibbits from Alpine, Utah. She's so much like Sister T, it's scary. She's walking here with Lily near the beach in Summerside.
We spent a full day in Mahone Bay, with Anna and Roger Davison feeding and entertaining us.
Enjoying a stroll along the water in downtown Mahone Bay.
While he was visiting, Matt had the opportunity to go to the Halifax Temple, actually located in Dartmouth.
Uncle Milford adorned Lily in the latest Canadian fashion.
Some of the shoreline near Halifax. This one is rocky, but there are many beautiful sandy beaches to enjoy.
The last Saturday of their visit, we attended the Halifax Ward picnic, where Kirsten, Lily, and Nannie stayed in the shade and showed their motherly instincts with Sis. Caverly Smith's newborn baby.
Elders Gibbs and Henderson cooled off by being targets for a water balloon toss.
Elders Hadley and Campbell, Corey Peters (a YSA), and Matt had a good evening playing basketball at the church.
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