My Dad 1933-2009

The past 3 weeks have been filled with family time as we gathered around Dad during his last bit of time on earth. During my 52 years I have always had both of my parents with me, so it will be an adjustment period for sure. After 13 days with Dad in the hospital, I left to go to another hospital with Richard as he had back surgery in Portland the same day Dad passed away. Richard is now slowly recovering and I'm getting rested up for school to start in a few weeks. For now, here is my picture tribute to my Dad....David John Drew.
Senior picture from Vancouver High School 1951
Amateur radio operator since 1956.... W7DPW ..... The airwaves won't be the same without him!! He spent much of his life communicating with others around the world.
Four generation picture with Grandma Drew, Jenny and I in 1986
With Jon just before he went to college.
Dad in his favorite spot in the house besides his radio room....HIS CHAIR.
With Jenny on one of her visits home after she got married.
Dad loved to take drives....here he is at Mt. St. Helens Josh's last picture with Grandpa and Tink just before he went into the hospitalOur last family picture with Dad....even though he was very sick he was still joking around with us when he had the energy....teasing me about eating his food, thumping us with his finger (something he did when we were little), asking us what the meaning of zero was and teaching us trivia about the Great Lakes (really!).........
LOVE YOU DAD....WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

Love Quilt

My Aunt Adele called me one day a few weeks ago and asked if I had any fabric scraps she could use in a quilt she was making for my Dad. He's going through radiation treatments and thought a quilt might help keep him warm when he gets chilled.In fact she got fabric from several family members so we would all be represented and showing our love to Dad, though her own fabric collection rivals even the best of fabric stores. She has ALOT of beautiful fabrics.....and she is always making something. She has a wonderful way with fabric....wall hangings, quilts, pillows (in fact I shared a pillow she made when Jon graduated on this very blog.) She worked tirelessly on this quilt and it was finished in amazing time!! Here are some of the squares....some of the fabrics are of state flowers and birds from around the country. In this close up, the Washington State bird...the goldfinch and Washington apples are represented. It was so much fun looking at all the squares she made and remembering the things she made with them. Aunt Adele is known to frequent as many quilt shows as she can around the Northwest....and my cousin Jane goes with her. Like mother, like daughter:)Anyway, here she is holding it up to show the back...she had the quilt machine quilted and presented it to Dad last week. I got a picture of Dad with his quilt, but am waiting for my brother David to email it to me (it was their camera). I'll post it when I can.

Burley Idaho

The Egan family reunion was July 10-12. The Vancouver Egans are very diligent in attending. Over 100 in all attended this year.
Christopher, Katherine and the kids arrived Friday night. Here Katherine and Kadelyn are sitting outside our hotel while we all visit and the kids play in the sand.
Uncle Josh had a fun time with his neices and nephew.
Melanie and Tom and Kelly as we ate lunch on the drive to Burley. I think I drove Tom crazy with my picture taking....but this is a wonderful picture of them!!
Chris showed Josh just who the stronger brother is....
and Maralee and Terran got in on the fun too!!
The sun was in Erma's face as she took this so it's a little lopsided, but here we are with our sweet family that was there. Serenity Lynn and Terran really don't look this way normally....they were being silly.
Not sure I can say that about Maralee. Isn't she cute this way???We went to Wendy's before the kids headed back to Utah, and Serenity got a little sad and didn't want us to leave. Here we are snuggling...I told her we needed to be brave and we hid our tears well. In the usual tradition on our last night, the Egan's played games until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. We had a wonderful weekend. Next year the reunion will be in Salt Lake, as it's the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express....and of course Howard Egan, the one who's name we all celebrate was not only a Pony Express rider, but a bodyguard to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and one of the original 144 pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley. See You there!!!

Lazy Days of Summer

Well, they haven't exactly been lazy, but it IS summer and I'm SUPPOSED to be taking it easy:) I always seem to find things to do to keep busy. It has been nice though. I slept in until 9:00 this morning!! I woke up at 7:30, but went back to sleep....because I can (as Jenny would say). I have lots of projects to do......cleaning....yardwork.... scrapbooking....playing games with my family. I took Josh to get a much needed haircut yesterday and I must say he is dashing!! Much better look....short hair. I hope I can convince him to keep it this way, but one never knows:) Anyway, just thought I would let you all know I'm enjoying my summer:)

Happy 15th Birthday to Our One of a Kind Son!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!!You have always been such a joy......
You find so much pleasure in everything.......
From your beloved tree.....
to stacking boxes....
crawling into the box your electric car came in made us laugh!!
You spent an entire summer in your tree building rooms with your friends......
On the first day of school in 3rd grade with Jenny and Jon posing on the porch:)
Building with Legos.....
.....and KNEX created a passion within you for learning how everything works. You love to watch Mythbusters and Survival Man and absolutely anything having to do with How things Work:)
Now you are 15 and you wore this silly hat just for me:)You love to dress up, speak in a British accent, and eat off of fancy dishes.....You're one of a kind and WE LOVE YOU!!

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go.........

This is so cool!! I figured out how to download Jon....I mean Elder Egan.....singing in General Conference in April.
This is my favorite song they sang, probably because it was just weeks before he left for his mission, and the words fit his life so perfectly. He appears at about 3:50 upper right and 4:33 bottom left part of screen. (There is a picture in the Ensign that was taken during this part and appears on page 65 of this months issue....Jon's in that too!!)
He said it was the greatest experience of his life!

Family....Ties that Bind

There is always so much to do and see when we're in Utah. We managed to squeeze in some time for family before our plane took off after taking Jon to the MTC.We were able to see some of the grandkids after they got out of school. We went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. It was a nice sunny day and the kids filled us in on their busy lives. Here we are with Chris and the kids....Serenity the youngest...very energetic and happy little girl. She was recently on TV being interviewed at her school. MaraLee (in back) l....she sang a solo for us that she is singing in the school choir. Kadelyn, the oldest likes to write and is a good example to her older siblings....and Terran...is his Daddy's boy, loves to make silly faces, and also sings in the school choir.
My cousin Tara lives very close to the MTC....her husband works for BYU. I hadn't seen her since she's had children.....5 adorable girls and finally a little boy:) The two oldest girls were still in school. We had fun catching up on all the years that have passed so quickly! Though we are cousins, Tara told me she always thought of me as an aunt....I am 20 years older than her (WOW I feel old!!)
And finally my uncle Ron....Tara's dad. We had a very short visit, but it was great to see him. Aunt Pam had a meeting to go to, but it was great to see Uncle Ron. They have 3 girls... Michelle, Heather and Tara and 2 sons....Ron and John. He's had some health problems the past several years, but he looks great! When we were little girls, and he was single and carefree, he told Debi and I that he would pay us for our grades....A's getting the most money. I love to remind him he owes me ALOT of money since he never paid up. I've been out of school for 35 years now....that's ALOT of interest!!!

MTC Trivia

Some things we learned about the Provo MTC this week.
Provo MTC is one of 17 such training centers worldwide....Provo being the largest.
There are also training centers in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and United Kingon to name a few.
Up to 3,800 missionaries can be trained there at any given time.
20,000 will be trained this year.
4,000 letters and 500 packages are delivered in the mail center EACH day.
There are 3 cafeterias that serve 8,000-10,000 meals EACH day
2.6 million meals each year.....2.5 tons of breakfast cereal.....40 tons of potatoes
They feed approx. 3,000 missionaries in a 2 hour window.....each missionary is given 40 minutes to eat.
There are 330 missions worldwide serving in 165 countries.
50 languages are taught including English and ASL (American Sign Language)
4,000,000 copies of the Book of Mormon are placed each year
125 million Books of Mormon have been printed since it was first published in 1830
There are 52,000 members serving full time missions at this time.
MY son....Elder Egan is part of this wonderful effort to spread the gospel throughout the world....he is doing as the followers of Christ did when He was on the earth. He has left ALL worldly things behind and has cast in his net. He is a modern day Fisher of Men:)

The MTC (Missionary Training Center)

It was a great day!!We drove to Orem and had breakfast at the I-Hop with our missionary. Chris and his girlfriend Mary, LaDena, Jenny and Logan all joined us. The restaurant was packed with families taking thie sons and daughters to the MTC. Breakfast is free for all missionaries on the day they enter the MTC.

There were people directing the traffic once we arrived and Elder Egan unloaded his luggage where he was directed to a place to drop it off while Richard parked the car.
Then we all walked over to where the new missionaries entered to get their badges and sign in. We went through a door to the right that said "families of new missionaries".
The mom's got to put the badges on our missionaries. I was a bit teary eyed trying to do it:)
The little orange circle is what all new missionaries keep on their badges for awhile....it means "new missionary." The MTC is packed with missionaries (I'll give some MTC trivia we learned another day)...and they don't want to loose them:)
We were able to take pictures in the lobby, but as we went for an orientation type thing, all cameras and phones were to be turned off, since it was in a dedicated chapel where we met. While everyone filed in to sit down, they played some of the little video ads that are run on TV to advertise the church. Then there were some speakers and we sang "Called to Serve"..... a real tear jerker:) After a closing prayer we said our goodbyes and families went one way....and the missionaries went the other way. It was very sweet to see all the little brothers and sisters of the missionaries crying....mom's were crying....dad's were crying. My missionary gave us all hugs and off he went. We cried a little, but we were so happy for him to have this experience that we tried to be strong.
I saved my tears for outside ......I couldn't resist being silly in front of the MTC sign and Jenny caught me on camera. I'm sad of course, but very happy Jon is doing exactly what he wanted to do since he was 16 and went on a mini mission to Hermiston Oregon. Now it's the real thing and he is prepared. We love you Elder Egan!!!

Elder Egan Part 3

Today was our last day with Elder Egan. We spent time in the Manti Temple, which is just beautiful!!I just love how majestic it is....and the grounds so manicured.
Jenny came with us. Logan was working.........

Jon gave me another 5 pictures today....I think he owes me one because we only took 4:) We went out for Chinese food tonight which was very yummy. Tomorrow is packed with alot of things to do...... going to the MTC (missionary training center) where we will leave our young Elder in very capable hands. He is very excited:)

Elder Egan....... Part 1

Sunday was a wonderful day!!! Jon spoke at church on "Finding joy on the journey". He did great.... We had alot of family and friends come to hear him and then afterward we had a luncheon at our house. I'm really mad at myself because as happens when you are hosting something like that, it's hard to remember the pictures....hence NO PICTURES!!! Aunt Adele, Darrell and Rene and their family, Linda and Holly, Art and Marilyn, Erma, Alvaretta, David and Myrna, Mom, Aunt Ellouise, Lauren and Carol McCann, Ron and the boys, and Janan Ellis (who Richard and Jon home taught) all came. We had to leave a houseful of people to get to the Stake Center for his setting apart. It was beautiful. Mom and some of the aunts were there with us. We took pictures afterward....I did remember the camera for that!!
It was a beautiful day outside.
Josh tells Jon he will be bigger than him when he gets home:) Scroll down for part 2 of the journey.