Woolly Mammoths, Monkeys, and Mice

January 25 (Monday)

Today is Sawyer's birthday. He turned 8. He's getting ready to be baptised. We're so proud of him and the decisions he has made.

Another day to venture out. The temperature has warmed up a bit, but the locals still complain how bitterly cold it is. Personally, I was very comfortable. I love that I'm not dripping with perspiration any more.

Storefront Celebrating the coming of the Year of the Monkey.

Monkeys and Firecrackers

We came across this little shop that sold mammoth tusk carved art. Very interesting. Very expensive. I thought mammoths were extinct, so where do they get all the tusks from?

This lovely little piece of art was priced at $40,000.00 HKD.

Small pieces start at about $15,000 HKD.

January 26 (Tuesday)

Another Burton birthday...Happy Birthday Parker...13 an official teenager. He's smart. He's cute. He has the girls chasing him. But he doesn't let it get to him. He's pretty cool.

Came across these two little cuties on our way home today.

January 27 (Wednesday)

Nora took me shopping after our shift. I felt like I needed some more clothes after my closet was raided last year when family was here visiting. It's a good excuse. She has this favorite place to go buy clothes at wholesale prices. Then John and I went out to Ladies Market. It was pretty crowded but it's always fun to look around.

I love Mickey and Minnie!

3D shirts...so adorable!

January 28 (Thursday)

Happy 18th Birthday to our little Emmy Bun! Well she's not so little any more. She is our first grandchild and will be graduating this June. Ah...where does time go? It seemed like only yesterday...

This was missionary week at the Temple. A lot of Elders and Sisters came throughout the week. John  was working at the Recommend Desk when Elder Love came in. Unfortunately, with so many people coming in, he didn't really have time to chat with him.

Some of the young Sister Missionaries serving in Hong Kong. They all speak Cantonese.

January 29 (Friday)

Yikes! The alarm didn't go off! John happened to wake up and it was 7:10 and we were supposed to be at the Temple by 7:45! We quickly got ready, rushed out to catch a cab thinking it would be faster than the MTR. It was raining, and cabs are extra busy with longer waits on rainy days. Anyways we did manage to get to the Temple by 8:00, only 15 minutes late. I had a legitimate excuse for a really bad hair day.

Today President Wong wanted all the Temple missionaries in for the early shift. About 67  teachers who are teaching English came for 2 special sessions at the Temple. It was a very busy morning.

We came home right after, had some supper, then went to bed around 8:30. What? That's unheard of...


January 30 (Saturday)

We're never in bed before midnight. However, we had a special mission to accomplish. Since this will probably be our only time to participate in Chinese New Years in Hong Kong, we thought we'd make the sacrifice of going to stand in line for special tickets to sit in the special viewing gallery at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza along Victoria Harbour for the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade. It was suggested that we get there by 2:00 a.m. to get good seats. We got up at 2:00 and arrived at 3:00 and were the 13th and 14th persons in line. By 4:00 a.m. the line had grown by a whopping 2 people. Guess we could have slept for another 2 hours. Anyways, by 8:00 when the ticket office opened, we couldn't see the end of the line as it wrapped around the block. These seats better be good. They're in section A and gives us the privilege to see the opening ceremonies. The parade is supposed to stop in front of section A and put on a special performance.

3:00 a.m. 13th in line. 

4:00 a.m. Still awake. 

5:00 a.m. Starting to get to me. 

6:00 a.m. How much longer?

7:00 a.m. I'm so done.

Each person was allowed to purchase 4 tickets each. So between John and myself we could get 8 tickets, but we actually needed 9 for our missionary group. We struck up a conversation with the young man in front of us, and found out he was just buying 2 tickets for an elderly couple. He said he would gladly get 1 more ticket for us. He was a really nice guy, and after the ticket transaction was finished, I told John to give him one of our "business" cards which has the Temple and church contact information. I thought he'd be a really good member of the Church. I asked him if he had a business card for us. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a card...and showed it to me...it was his temple recommend! Small world. I should have guessed he was LDS.

James Man was his name. He had lived in Edmonton for a short time but returned to Hong Kong and is in investments. When we told him we lived in Lethbridge, he mentioned that he had gone to a concert and the singer was from Lethbridge. Did we know him? A...ya...our son-in-law, Wayne Burton. Every day the world seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

We got home before 9:00 a.m. and I was just about to have a nap, but the cleaning lady showed up, so we left to get groceries. Came home to a clean apartment, then had a much needed nap. Then went for a walk along the promenade. It was a beautiful warm evening.

From Christmas to New Years... 

Same buildings...just different celebrations.

January 31 (Sunday)

It was the Jacinto's family last day in our branch today. Next week they will be attending a family ward. We will certainly miss them. Their 3 girls will definitely leave a void in our primary and young women's program. We will now only have 2 primary girls. And by March, Michelle and her mom will also be moving into the family ward, leaving us with only 1 primary girl. The Jacinto's had been in the branch since the branch was first formed. It was very difficult for them to leave.

Megan, Michelle, Me, Gillian - I'm gonna miss these girls!

MaryBelle, she's one tough cookie. Sister Coffey lending support.