Melbourne Pettys

Vern and I are married twenty-five years, Calvin goes through the Temple and Carmen goes to the US.   

On the first of the month our Stake hosted a youth dance that must have had over three hundred attend.
Carmen and Austin both went and enjoyed themselves, Ellen and the others dropped them off and then when to a birthday party in Fitzroy. The next day was cool and sunny so Ellen and I went for a walk around Bundoora Park. That evening we all went up to the Stewarts place in South Morang for Thomas’ engagement party. That is everyone other than Carmen since she had to work. Vern and I drove down to Thornbury afterwards and picked her up.

Vernice had the night off on the seventh so we went down to the Temple with Ellen and met Dylan there. It was nice to be there with them both I can’t remember when we were last able to be all there together.

Saturday the ninth was the Stake Primary activity. They had booked the chapel by the Temple and had the parents drop their children off while they did a session at the Temple and we did Temple activities. There wasn’t many there however it was a good activity. Children can be such a laugh, the High Councilman that attended was sitting next to one little boy and he looked up at the High Councilman and at his gray hair and said “why are you so old?”

We had a house full of YSA that evening, having three YSA living at the house tends to attract them. Austin and Carmen were in the thick of it but Vern and I stayed at the other end of the house. It got a bit loud when Ellen and Dylan got the band going.

On Sunday the tenth I called a man that has been a member of the church for just over a year into the Branch Presidency of the Mandarin Branch. He was a little shocked but was happy to take the calling. The branch was set up to provide opportunities to serve and that is what is happening. The only issue was the buildings air conditioning wasn’t working well and since has been over thirty degrees each day for over a week it was like an oven.

We set a couple of records in Melbourne this month, the most days of maximum temperatures over thirty degrees which was nine and most days when the temperatures didn’t drop below twenty degrees.

Monday the eleventh was one of those hot days so we headed to the beach. Ellen and Carmen were staying with friends on the other side of town and Dylan would need to go to Berwick in the evening so we decided to go to Pt Leo on the Mornington Peninsula for a change. Dylan followed in the Mazda and as we got close to the beach Ellen just happened to pull out in front of us which was great timing since it is a trip that takes more than an hour. 

We went to the bay by the boat club and spent the day snorkelling around the rocks. Ellen and I went for a walk around the point and met Carmen and her friends who were looking for us. We all had a nice day and on the way home we stopped at Balnarring for fish and chips.

On the seventieth was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Since it was a Sunday we decided to make go out to dinner and see a movie the night before. That was a busy day for me since there were multi stake leadership meetings all morning with Elder Pearson a member of the Area Presidency. Since they were held at our Stake Centre there was a bit of added pressure. All went well though and they were great meetings. Vern and I went to the Jam Factory in South Yarra and had dinner at Fridays before going to watch OZ and the Gold Class Cinema. Gold Class is nice you have big reclining chairs and you order food and they bring it in during the movie.

 

The next big event was Calvin going through the Temple on the twenty-third then his mission farewell that afternoon. Jordan, Marion and Kiriwai drove down from Canberra and got here just as we were leaving so Jordan can into the Temple with us. Dylan was Calvin’s escort and Vern and I were the witness couple so I got to sit next to him as well. Vern had a mishap and fell down the stairs as she was leaving the house and grazed both knees so she did well. Ellen, the Dudfields and Tina Judd came as well. It all went very well and it was nice to have half our children with us.

Lots of people came to the farewell. The plan was to have it early because there was something else on that evening however people just never left. Some played basketball and another bunch were in the Music room jamming with Ellen on the drums and Dylan and Carmen singing. I managed to escape for a bit to take Janet home as she had made her way there on the train.

Eric Autufuga one of the Howe’s old friends past away and the funeral was on Thursday the twenty-eighth at the Deer Park Stake Centre. Vern’s Dad, Wally and Courtney drove down from Canberra to attend. Vern sang at the family service the night before then at the funeral the next day. He was a very faithful man and the first Samoan Branch President in Melbourne. It was a nice service, everyone was so happy to see Vern’s dad again. We all stopped by Tricky’s grave on the way home before they headed back to Canberra.

The next day was Easter Friday and all I did was jobs around the house and watched some movies in the evening. The next day was almost the same other than Vern and I went for a walk around the lake. Ellen was up at the Gold Coast playing in a basketball tournament which her team won, Dylan went camping with his friends in Rosebud and Bum doesn’t wake up until the afternoon so it was pretty quite.

Sunday the thirty-first we created a new branch in the City that will met at the city building in the afternoon. Vern, Calvin and Austin came along too. It will be English speaking but cater for the Vietnamese people. We had just over one hundred attend however there were  a few visitors.