And Evan is serving his mission in the . . .

Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission. On Thursday of this past week, Evan received his mission call. He is shown above reading the letter that he received from the First Presidency. He is pretty excited to start his mission on October 14th. He will be in the Provo MTC. His mission not only includes parts in the northern Buenos Aires area but also all of Tierra del Fuego in the very southern part of Argentina (check out the website http://www.mission.net/argentina/buenos-aires/north/ for a map of the area.)

Happy Birthday, Alana and Grammie

For Mom's and Alana's birthday, we all went to Disneyland. Mom got her first annual pass to Disneyland, so we can go with Brielle and Gavin anytime now. Pictured above is Alana, Grammie and Grampie having lunch at the French Market in Disneyland.
Brielle, Gavin and Grammie had just gone on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the above picture. The two little kids sure enjoyed that ride.
We all had our picture taken on Main Street in Disneyland.
For dinner after Disneyland, we all went to Clearman''s Galley, better known as The Boat, for a great dinner (hamburgers, onion rings, red cabbage, cheese bread, and bleu cheese dressing). This place is an institution and the food is so good. . .no wonder it was so crowded that night.
Alana had a rather unconventional birthday cake, lemon surprise, but both Gavin and Brielle helped to blow out the candles for her.

Why the Finlay's. . . .

. . .pool hose has holes in it and. . .
. . .the spa has brown fur in it and . . .
. . .their peach tree has no peaches on it. Our resident bears on the Mesa have been visiting on a fairly frequent basis over the last week. It has been hot and they have cooled down quite a bit in the pool.

More Fun(?) at Ragnar

Here are 8 of the 12 team members of the Big Kahunas - Jeannie, Nathan, Ian, Allison, Alana, Danny, Annie and Erin. The team mascot was Nemo and he was passed from team member to team member at each exchange.
In the above picture, Alana is about half way through her 7 mile run in the Heber Valley. It was just starting to rain and she had a 2 mile uphill left to run so we were all cheering her on.
This is van #2's rest stop from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday evening where we had a light dinner and tried to sleep. Then we started our 6 legs of the race at 11 p.m. and ran until 5:30 in the morning. We were beat!
Teammates Annie and Ian, holding Nemo, point to the mountains that they have to climb in their legs of the relay - and it rained on them too.
Our van was decked out moderately compared to some of the vans. One vehicle had two tusks and a trunk attached to the front of a Suburban, ala prehistoric mammoth. Another had a skeleton in a lawn chair on the top of the car. There were some very clever ideas for team names and vehicles.

Run, Drive, Sleep? Repeat - The Ragnar Relay Race

We just started the Ragnar Run about 2 hours ago in Logan, Utah. It is a 188 mile race from Logan to Park City. The team, Big Kahunas, are shown above, ready to run. Grammie and Grampie are the inspiration for this race and will meet all of us at the finish line in Park City tomorrow. It is a round-the-clock run. I think one of my legs is at about 3 a.m. tomorrow. . .I'll let you know when I crawl into the van after I finish.
Evan is shown here with Nemo, our team mascot, starting the race. There are 675 teams competing, with 12 members on each team. Then there is a big party in Park City afterward.
We decorated our vans too. . .we have two vans with 6 team members in each van.
Gavin and Brielle took a little time out to go for a swim in the hotel pool where we stayed the night before the Ragnar Race.

Disneyland and Bocelli - It Doesn't Get Much Better

For my birthday, I went to Disneyland with Gavin, Meg and Elise to get my annual pass. I wasn't sure what rides Gavin would want to go on but I figured the King Arthur's Carousel was pretty benign. The expression on Gavin's face would indicate that he feels that Disneyland is NOT the Happiest Place on Earth.
We went on a couple of other rides and Gavin's favorite was It's a Small World.
In the afternoon, we went to a statue dedication of Pope John Paul II at the City of Hope. The donor of the statue is good personal friends with the Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli was at the statue dedication and sang for 1/2 hour for the 200 people that were present. It was absolutely incredible to hear him.
Reyna Diaz, Brad, Margaret, Gavin, the Italian sculptor of the statue, Mayor John Fasana, Grammie, Evan and Grampie in front of the statue. The white marble is from Carrara, Italy and the red marble is from Pakistan.

Continuing Our Cross Country Adventure

Last month, after James' graduation, Margaret, Evan, Alana, Grammie, Grampie and Helen drove to Ohio to spend time with Georgine and Bob Finlay. In addition to visiting the Amish Country, Kirkland and various sites around Akron, we were able to
spend time with many good friends.
After leaving Akron, we drove to Connecticut, across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Along the way, we stopped in Hackettstown, NJ. Grammie's father spent some years of his youth in Hackettstown. In the town square, there is a monument to veterans from this town who fought during WWI. James McMullen, Grammie's father, is listing on this town plaque. We also stopped by West Point, before our final leg of the trip into New London, CT.
Georgine and Bob hosted a wonderful dinner party with the Healey and the Piquettes. The Finlays, Healeys, Piquettes and Grammie and Grampie have been dear friends for many years. It is a real testimony to their friendship that they still stay in close contact with each other.
We were able to visit Bill and Sara Schwager, neighbors of our's in Bath. Their son, Paul, was able to stop by for a visit also. It was fun getting caught up with each other's families.
We decided to take a walk in Cuyahoga National Park along the towpath. The weather was just beautiful and the scenery quite picturesque. This is a journey we will long remember.

Have you seen this room?

Evan and I took the train up the coast to San Luis Obispo where my parents picked us up and we spent a couple of days at the beach house in Morro Bay. We got to see the new door out to the deck in the family room and it really opens the room up.
The poppies were in bloom in the front yard with the other drought-tolerant plants and the yard looked beautiful. We went bike-riding along the water and saw a lot of otters out in the bay sunning themselves.

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Gavin had a wonderful birthday party. He especially enjoyed the helicopter cake. Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate.

Cadet Crump Becomes Ensign Crump!

On May 20, the Coast Guard Academy held their 128th commencement where Jeannie and 224 other cadets graduated and received their commission into the United States Coast Guard. There were many activities that we were able to enjoy while in New London. Our group is getting ready to board the ferry for a 3 hour moonlight cruise through Long Island Sound.
On Sunday evening, we watched the sunset review across the parade field. We were so grateful that Evan, Grammie and Grampie were able to help celebrate Jeannie's graduation.
After receiving their diplomas and commissions, the new ensigns were told to "divest themselves of all cadet symbols". It was fun to see the hats and shoulder boards being tossed into the air. Evan was lucky enough to grab a hat for a keepsake!
On the field with Ensign Jeannie Crump!
It was pretty warm sitting there in the football stadium during graduation. But everyone is all smiles afterwards. Evan is especially happy since we were able to eat at Mr. G's. one of his favorite places in New London. We have some great memories of our week in New London. Jeannie's first assignment will be on the HARRIET LANE in Portsmouth, VA.

Seeing America, the Beautiful, by Train

Our train trip from Portland, Oregon to Chicago, Illinois was a great adventure. The 6 of us, Ed and Helen Ferguson, Helen Crump and Evan, Alana and Margaret, had a fantastic 48 hours on the sleeper train going to James' graduation from veterinary school in Michigan. We started by flying to Portland and catching the Empire Builder train that left about 4 p.m. The first part of the trip was incredibly beautiful, traveling through the Columbia River Gorge. The first picture is with all of us in the observation car having a snack.
The meals were all served in the Dining Car and the food was delicious. We had steak, french toast, Angus burgers, omelets, etc. And the desserts were even better!
We traveled through Glacier National Park and saw the glaciers up on the mountains. When we rode along the prairies of North Dakota, I thought the scenery would be pretty dull but I loved the rolling hills of green and the antelope herds running through the grasslands when the train went rolling by.
We were able to get out in some of the smaller towns for about 20 minutes. . .just long enough to stretch our legs. Here we are in front of an old steam locomotive display in the town of Havre, North Dakota.
It was an amazing trip and made all of us want to take other train trips to really embrace our great country. We fly over it all the time but never really get to know most parts of it.

Dr. Finlay, I Presume. . .

Yesterday, James graduated with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University. We were all there to congratulate James and Megster for completing 4 years of a lot of work.
Gavin and Brielle loved spending time with one another. There will be plenty of fun times ahead for the two cousins.
Both sets of grandparents, the Fergusons from California and Finlays from Ohio, came for James' graduation in addition to his -laws, Roger and Christine Christensen, who traveled from Utah. We took some time to go to Holland, Michigan to see the Tulip Festival also.
We drove down to South Haven to see Lake Michigan. . .the wind was blowing and the waves were washing over the jetty.
James showed Brielle and Gavin how to fly a kite on the beach at Lake Michigan. It turned out to be a great time for family and being together. We are grateful to all of the people that were able to be there for James' graduation. . .now onto his residency and PhD in CA.

Coast Guard Softball Goes to NCAA Playoffs

It was announced on Monday that the Coast Guard Academy Softball team won a berth to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. This is the first time that the softball team has ever advanced to this playoff round. Their first game will be played on Thurs. May 7 in Beverly, MA against Bridgewater State. Coast Guard is seeded #3 in the New England Region.
This is a picture of Jeannie with her two teammates, Annette Boston and Colleen Denny, also seniors, at the final home game of the season. Good luck and GO BEARS!

Gavin Can't Wait for Brielle to come to California

A Day Out with Thomas and swimming at Ojai will be a lot more fun with his cousin, Brielle, is what Gavin thinks.

Gavin and Lisi liked the tepid water in the pool at Ojai.