Melbourne Pettys - July

Regional Basketball, Ellen and Dylan have a weekend on the Gold Coast, Calvin goes to Vanuatu, Dylan and Ellen start University.

Since Ellen had organized a going away party for Cora on Monday the first and the house was going to be full on YSA. Austin, Mum and I took the opportunity to go to the Drive In with the Judds and watched Despicable Me2.

The first two weeks of the month was school holidays. It is doubly hard going to work when Vern and the younger children are at home. Ellen and Dylan are working and are now both enrolled for University. The day Dylan got his student card he went to the movies at the student rate. I hope he uses it for more than that in the future.

Austin made it into the Stake Basketball senior team and played in the Church regional competition at Wantirna on Saturday. There weren’t enough older girls in our Stake to make a team so Carmen didn’t get to play but she went down and watched. Ellen was the coach of the younger team and they won their division.

We picked up Sister Folau for church on the seventh. Now that I don’t travel around we can pick her up. It was just like the old days going to her house and picking her up, just that we aren’t in the Kombi any more. That evening we went to a Broadcast at the Stake Centre that we thought was for everyone however it was mainly for Ward and Stake Councils so we were on our way out and Elder Petty walked in. It was good to see him, and strange as well. He just shook our hands and went in.

Mark Aiono passed away and Dot asked me if I could speak at the funeral. The service was on Friday the twelfth so I took the day off and spoke about the Plan of Salvation.  It was a nice sunny day and all went well. By the time we finished lunch it was pretty late and we had to go home to that Ellen to the Airport. She and Dylan are up in Brisbane this weekend to attend Brigham’s engagement party and hang out. When you are young free and single that is what you do.

Calvin finally got his Visa and left for Vanuatu on the fifteenth. There was drama with his connecting flight from here to Sydney but he made it. He left his winter clothes at the Mission home and Austin and I picked them up when we went to Temple baptisms the next day.

Dylan came back from the Gold Coast on Wednesday the fifteenth then he took off up at Falls Creek and the snow for the next weekend.

Elder Grover and Elder Wilson came over to help us with or missionary work. Elder Grover was Elder Petty’s zone leader and had good things to say about him as does everyone that we come across from the mission. It was very strange having Calvin serve in Melbourne and in our Stake, I have no idea what thought about it.

Marion and Jordan came down for a visit on the seventieth it was nice to see them and have them around. They went with Ellen to an early session at the Temple on Saturday and then they drove to Geelong and picked up a TV that Max had in storage out there.

That weekend was really cold it only made it to 11 degrees on the Sunday and it was sunny. On the Saturday it was about the same but raining and I was working on the bricks in the back alleyway in the mud. After church we all went over to Sister Folau’s place for lunch, the food was good but the house was cold and it took us some time to thaw over when we got home. Marion and Jordon headed back to Canberra straight from there. We had some visitors that afternoon, Ellen picked up Trae since he has now moved back to Melbourne and Mark brought Jalen over.

Ellen and Dylan went to their University inductions since they start at the end of the week. They are both doing Arts degrees, Dylan is at Latrobe and Ellen is at Melbourne. They are both pretty excited to get started. They talk uni talk together. They also played basketball with their non members friends down at the Stake Centre on Saturday the twentieth.

Carmen isn’t in the school production this year however she is helping out with the make-up so she has been down a few times. She is enjoying being in the audience. Her friend Maddie came up to watch as well since their school is also putting on Foot Loose.