kids

New Years 2009

2009-01-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Gran is in her element on Christmas day... she had some of her family around for another amazing turkey dinner....
Tom & Allan discussing something over a Stella.....

Can you believe that I have finally got a pair of Rider ear muffs...too cool....January 1, 2009... an 8 km walk in the -24 degree weather.... check the footwear....
Olin bollen and zura comst borscht for supper...they are much better tasting... than they appear in this picture...

Winter Solstice

2008-12-21T13:00:00.001-08:00

Welcome to our home...Sarah do you notice the new white door that your dad refinished this past summer...with mom's beautiful Christmas wreath...

This is the scene.... in -30 degree weather but the sun was bright and the sky was so blue that we decided to go for a walk...no not 8 km on this day...As we walked I thought that Farley would not be playing hide-and-seek on the walk like he does in Seattle...he would have been at the door begging to come indoors...

Here is the scene along Dawson...and the next shot is from ground level...your mom was a little concerned that passersby may I have thought that I fell and would stop to offer assistance...

And finally me and my shadow on the shortest day of the year...and the cold snap does not look like there is an end in sight.

November 20th @ Gran's

2008-11-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here is your sweet gran having desert...lemon pie...man she has not lost a step when it comes to putting on a spread.

Here we are on the eve of the ladies hitting the cruise ship...Mom, Mart, Devyn, Tom ready to get at the soup.

And the soup..you guessed it ...butta zup.

Cabbage rolls... and a huge salad with home made brown bread...

These are the flowers that Lily and her parents brought for gran the other day.

Gran's new digs

2008-10-26T19:06:00.001-07:00

Here's gran on her first day in her new condo...and she almost has everything upacked...amazing... she loves the island and the cupboards..but mostly she is excited to have a real fridge and most importantly a stove...she said that she will bake bread tomorrow.

This is the living room with a gas fireplace and a patio on the main level...if she is still here in the spring we can have flowers in pots for her...

The suite is quite large...as you can see, there is even room for her to have her table in chairs in a proper place....
The door on the left is the entry and just to the left of the mirrored doors (closet) is the laundry room...to the right of the closet is the second bathroom...and to the right of that is the second bedroom

This is the masterbedroom with ensuite...nice large shower and walk in closets...

And this is gran making her way to her chair so the she could pose for the picture that appears irst...you can see how bright it will be with the patio doors.... she appears to be very happy.

Safari 2005

2008-10-16T21:49:00.001-07:00

You have to wonder about taking 3 1/2 years to get it sorted but we have our safari pictures up. The picture beside the masks that you and Alvin brought is the one I took with the 7 elephants ..we cropped the picture and it is 12"X36"...and it is really stunning.
On the far left we have pictures of the kids at BSA playing soccer, the pictures to the right of them are both of the Zambezi...one from the deck of the Royal Livingstone, the other from the booze cruize....then the 20x20 is of the baobab tree that Wally took...and on the right is the great shot that Wally took of the elephant...where you can see the eyelashes....
Here is the painting that Lawrence Kenakin did for us for my retirement
Gran sits and enjoys the living room...this is on Thanksgiving Monday while dinner is cooking...
And here is your ma in deep thought or conversation...did you notice how the furniture positions have changed from gran's phot to mom's????

Emerson Wedding

2008-09-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sonja & her dad arriving from the house into the back garden...what a beautiful setting...
Steve and Sonja exchanging vows...notice the swing set in the background...one of the young lads behind us said that he didn't realize that he was here for a hanging...
Mr. & Mrs Steve Emerson... shortest wedding ceremony that I have ever attended....short and swwwweeeeet....
Mrs. Emmett with mom and Sandy... I loved the floweres....
Steve & Lizbeth Emerson...too bad Steve has his eyes closed....

Susan & Jason 2008

2008-09-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning at Martha's... I was attempting to get a good shot of Katrina but she is like all of my girls...funny faces and don't take my picture attitude...remind you of anybody Sarah

The wedding was at the Berry Farm...a beautiful site with the South Saskatchewan river flowing by....

Mom visiting with Eldon & Lois....

Ruben giving instructions to Dave the MC and Kathie taking pictures

Jason awaiting Susan
Ruben organizing last minute details .................. Ruben escorting his Susan to the alter...
Susan and Jason in the receiving line

Susan & Jason handing out killer cupcakes

Susan and gran
...as requested Sarah...beautiful smile with dimples and gorgeous brown eyes

Jason's mom and dad...Susan's mom and dad

Gran and Aunt Susie

Aunt Susie and her children...from left to right...Robert, Eldon, Erma, Aunt Susie, Wilfred, Ang, Arthur and Ruben

The gang with Kathie's dad John Krueger

For some inexplicable reason..there are no shots of Tom & Dev...or your dad for that matter. I think that when I was taking shots...Dev and Tom went back to the truck to get a sweater...it was quite cool. As I said above the setting was gorgeous. It was quite comfortable in the tent for dinner...and dinner was excellent.

It had threatened to be quite ugly all day...heavy clouds and rain in areas...but it was beautiful and sunny for the wedding... but cool.

Ryan & Janine Schultz Aug 23, 2008

2008-08-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Arrival at Ardrossan Jr/Sr High School Community Theatre... dad ties Tom's cravat... note the blue Alberta skies...

Signing the marriage papers...note the shoes on the boys...

Janine signs papers

Ryan signs papers

I believe that this is the time where Ryan began breathing again... check out Ryan's shoes...

Ryan has a look that says...man we did it... the lady in front is the marriage commissioner...

Wow what amazing people...we had a wonderful evening with Seth & Marina..

We were tucked away in the corner... Tom says this looks like your basement dad...

Mabear and her Rybear!!!

EFMF 2008

2008-08-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Gran in her element..kringle fresh out of the oven.. preparing saskatoon plautz... and a sink full of chicken..

Hal and mom looking at old pictures and Wally with his mini computer...

I cannot believe that the glasses are empty... we had great beers... Croatian, Polish, German and Belgian.. can you believe the city has been out of Castle for the past month...

Hal reviewing the program for the next evenings performances while gran takes five ... she worked so hard... all day

Mom did squeeze in the journal ...one morning... these are pretty busy days...

Tom and Dev arrive to join in the feast...

Now this a more believeable pose...

Tom digging out stuff to load into the Suburban...

and of course the bikes in front of Lorraine and Carl's place...and Tony and May's... can you hear them flapping....

There we go... even room for Alvin & Sarah

The troupe was dropped off and gran and I went to the airport to fetch the girls and then they were quickly fed....

Gran and the girls after she cleaned their clocks at a game of Quiddler....

Lisa'a Wedding

2008-07-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

A little leisure time for Neil, Ernie and pops the Thursday before the wedding.... a little fish fry for supper.

Auntie Martha where she seems to be at most weddings...she played brilliantly...

Auntie Darlene's Australian sister Alexsandra and her son Matthew...Lisa and Matthew travelled extensively... Australia as well as North America...Lisa'a aunt read a beautiful poem...apparently written by Darlene for Lisa... and Matt gave the toast to the bride.

The two gals who lit the candles were Shaun's sisters...these two girls had a great time...they were the Mistresses of Ceremony

Ernie walks Lisa down the aisle...

The wedding party... Mr & Mrs Shaun Glines

Gran visiting with Jenna Judin...Lisa's cousin from Etown... her dad was Arthur...Ernie's step brother who passed away last summer...

Lisa leaving the church service and on her way for pictures....

So as the wedding party went for pictures our hosts...Uncle Neil and Auntie Dorothy hosted a few us for some pops...

As you can see it was a perfect day...sunny and about 28 degrees...

From left... Judy Judin, gran, Shelley and Neil

Mom stepped in just in the nick of time...Neil, Judy and gran

We teased Neil as his shirt matched the bridesmaids dresses perfectly...

Pops and his god-daughter...

Lisa and gran...

Ernie and gran...

gran & Martha

Back garden 2008

2008-07-13T21:44:00.001-07:00

Sarah as promised, here are some shots of the backyard. Mom's sweetpeas, lillies, and our new oak tree.

Lavender and yellow pansies, and other pots. My canna lillies got shredded by hail the night that I was away fishing.

The shed with a few new additions... on the lattice work under the windows we planted two new clematis plants... you cannot see them as the apple tree (short one) is blocking them...I don't know if you can pick out the cowboy boot bird house on the left...a gift from Devyn.

I was hoping that you would get a better look at the lillies by the deck...

This is a better shot of the lillies and the oak.

Jackson Lake...fishing

2008-07-10T21:24:00.001-07:00

This is Jackson Lake... where is it... north east of Lac La Biche... on the road into Touchwood Lake... turn off the road into a parking lot about 1/2 km from the road. Now take a quad ride for 20 minutes (5km) into the bush...when you get there ... this is what you see.

This is camp... two tents...one for gear and one for sleeping quarters. Max, Tom Fiddler - wife of Debra who is one of the secretaries... a life long friend of Max's. Then there are Terry and Barry Sliwkanich - Debra's brothers...and Max's best friends growing up.

Tom, Max and Barry in one boat and Terry and me in the other.

The brothers having a fish fry...one of four in two days

Max and Tom in the kitchen....

Tuesday's lunch... yes a northern pike (jack)

The boys relaxing in the in the beautiful sunshine...

A little visitor to our campsite...

And this is yet another fish fry...cajun coating...

And this baby ended up in the pan above...

It was an incredible trip. We arrived at the lake late Monday evening...fished pretty much all day Tuesday and Wednesday and out on Thursday morning. The only access to the lake is by way of quad or horseback. It is quite during the week and ridiculously busy during the weekends. The fishing was amazing... I cannot tell you how many fish we caught (and released) and ate. Max, Tom, Terry and Barry are really well equipped and experienced campers.

Retirement Party

2008-06-27T22:22:00.001-07:00

So here we enter the Rugby Club and are welcomed by this poster...art work by Kenakin (of course)
There were many friends that spanned the years from 1974 for me and 1973 for Donna...just what we asked for...an evening with friends...having a beer or two.

And of course we had a live band...the Schmenge's... Yosh (Kenny Yaremkevich), By Gosh (Rush on the drums) Oh my Gosh (Yick on clarinet), Slosh (Don Gamble on the 12 string guitar, and Stan - the black sheep of the family (Max Chorney an the accordian). It was fortunate that Yick joined the band as now we actually have one member of the band who plays an instrument.

Of course Donna and I had to sit and listen to the talented band.

These three are former students who graduated from grade 9 in 1977~78...on the left in Linda (Roode) Wilson...teacher at Wildrose and the girl who asked me to give the toast to the bride at her wedding; Liz (Bewell) Garett; and Kim Sanderson. What a nice surprise.

Barry Findlater... my first principal in St. Albert at Lorne Akins...
Pete saying thanks for coming to celebrate with us... Dick Krenz beside me.. on staff at L.A. in 1974...
Tom and Bev Graham and Terry Nixey
Shirley Gaffney, librarian at L.A., Loretta Manning, who's son just graduated from BCHS last week, and of Schulha Barry... thank you for the peas and carrots.

Jyoti Mangat, Donna and Dennis Wright...
Rush with his summer haircut...Susie Q ...in tears... she is such a suck ...
Lowell Throndson (middle) was the Deputy Superintendent ... hired Cheryl Davies...and Rod Throndson..was principal at Robert Rundle
Alex Zechel who came down with the L.A. staff after their Awards Night...

Donna and the party planner Jeanette Kary...Jeanette did a wonderful job along with Diana Juse and Heather Gardner
Jeanette after a couple too many scotches...
The boys... have you ever seen Dan Wiles in a tie and long slacks????Roger was greatful that we waited for their Awards night to end...
Poster signed by staff members
My grad ring that was presented to me by the "Ring Man" who I have known since 1977.
Darcy - Dave Rush's wife, Bliss, Findlater, Roger Nicholson and Wally Diefenthaler...
And Sarah this was too much. We met this morning at 9h to do a wrap up staff meeting as we do every year...I give cards and gifts to those leaving...we say a few words...and this time..Donna and I received gifts as we are leaving...we each got a school bell that is a BCHS tradition, gift certicates and I rang the bell to end the year...THEN Kenakin comes up and says, "I am sorry but I have a special presentation that I would like to make to Pete. He and I have worked together for about 30 years and I know that I will miss my daily visits in his office. He has taken really good care of me over the years. I also know that he has a special interest in Africa as of late so I prepared a gift for him and his wife Marian." SO when I opened it up and revealed the gorgeous painting...there was not a dry in the house. What a wonderful send of by an incredible number of friends.

Candra & the dining room

2008-05-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

We had a great visit with Candra on Monday evening. To have visits from two of Sarah's dearest friends within a week was so nice.
So Sarah I completely forgot to send you images of the dining room...these are not exactly true colour representations but I think that you get a good idea...

Kuma, Nick & Kathy

2008-05-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well it is May 24th and we had a great visit from Kuma, Nick & Kathie. Mom asked them to come up for the day so that we didn't have to drive to Calgary. Kathie was kind enough to do the driving. We had a nice visit, quiche, salad and fruit and cookies for desert.
Ma & pa
The trio with the new bowls that they brought along
Kuma and her god-child
Kuma, Nick & Kathie.

Ma's new digs & company

2008-05-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

It was such a wonderful surprise that Clara rang the doorbell and we sat and chatted clear into the morning...you can tell that Clara adjusted to the new furniture with ease. And a bit more comfortable....
AND mom sitting in my chair ...she had her first G&T of the summer....so you know that it is nice weather finally...
Auntie Cheryl and mom...G&T and wine...the boys stuck to the beer...surprise
It was a great visit with Cheryl & Gerry...mom made a killer dinner...a nice quiet night with good friends....
These are not the best shots of the room but the new drapes are beautiful. The last picture gives you a bit of a view of the hardwood and the coffee table. I'll take more when we get stuff on teh walls...

The Last School Council Meeting 2008

2008-05-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

So May 13, 2008 was my last School Council meeting ever... when I arrived at about 19h10 I noticed a suburban (not mine) in the parking lot. Well I knew right away that something must be up because Cheryl Dryer never gets there before me. So the table was set...strawberries dipped in chocolate (white then dark) appearing like a tuxedo, fish crackers, fish gummies, and a tackle box filled with fish cookies...and oh yes punch filled with fresh strawberries. The fish cookies were decorated with a bunch of words...happy retirement, Pete, Bellerose, DAwg Tales, etc...and they had little paw prints all over them. One of the football moms does this all the time for our football banquets...a dead easy giveaway.
It was a really nice sent off by a wonderful group of parents.

Greek Orthodox Monastary & Cacti

2008-04-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we were invited to Neil & Dorothy's for dinner...we visited and Neil said that we should go out to the monastary.... so away we went. From Mesa we headed east to Florence Junction then south on Route 79 towards Florence (which is on the way to Tucson). We got there and they were closed for tours. So we decided that since we were going to visit Memory on Monday that we would go via Florence. Florence by the way is a prison town..both state and federal. In the monastary grounds you cannot enter unless your legs and arms are covered...ladies had to cover their heads as you can see here...yes that is mom and gran. The monastary was started only 13 years ago by 4 Greek monks...there are over 40 monks living there now. All the material and engineering is from Greece. There were several buildings...a church and several other places of worship and residences.
The grounds were lush. Several palms, an olive grove, several fig trees, an orange and grapefruit grove as well. Much new construction going on as well. The two pictures of the grounds were taken from the gate on Sunday... I ruined all my Monday shots with an incorrect exposure...except for the one of my two girls.Cacti really made me smile... these little lovlies are called prickly pears...
This is a prickly pear in full bloom... it is so strange to see these beautiful blossoms coming out of the cactus.More cacti...I cannot find these in my book....
And these are my absolute favorites...they are the saguaro...apparently (sawaro). These are gorgeous... apparently the saguaro is 75 years old before it gets its 1st arm... these babies must be ancient...also found in lowere elevations. As we drove to Sedona..in higher elevations...there were no saguaro cacti.

Sedona & Jarome

2008-04-24T21:18:00.001-07:00

Well this is a little late for posting but it certainly is timely in that we are in the middle of a springtime winter wonderland. Just looking at the pictures warms the bones...in thought anyway. As your dad has a reputation for driving to a destination and then driving around to explore that destination...well let me not disappoint. Once in the Phoenix area, I had to take a run up to Sedona...well because I wanted to. The pictures really do not do justice to the colour or the expanse of these hills. The drive through the desert was spectacular. We had Neil and Dorothy along with us and they gave us some interesting facts about the area. They explained the areas where certain types of cacti grew and where the division lines were. The trip to Sedona took us to higher altitudes and in these areas, my favorite cacti - the saguaro (sewaro) - the ones with the arms pointing upward, do not grow. We were up around 5000 feet or a mile high. I didn't get many pics of Jarome - the largest ghost town in the USA..but one funny picture of a 'Support Hillary' display. I would like to be able to revisit this area and spend more time exploring...get it..go to a destination and explore.

This picture made me chuckle. We were in a Mexican style market Teliquapaque (or something to that effect) and we found these lawn chairs made of large stones...you cannot really tell...and dear gran in a wheel chair...very reluctantly in a wheel chair.
Here is the 'Support Hillary' sign some lady had on her fence in Jarome... I am not sure what kind of support she was offering to Hillary.

Ernie & Wanda April 19, 2008

2008-04-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Mama in her new outfit...check out the shoes...
The wedding party...Ernie, Wanda, Wanda's grandkids Dylann and Kade, Ernie's grandson Alex, Carmen - Wanda's daughter, and Alvin - Laura's father-in-law.
Wanda with her two sons....Gran, Mart and Neil...awaiting dinner...

Mom with Ernie's step-sister Brigetta and her husband Robert Sand
Neil & Dorothy's daughter Shelley and her hubby Tony...
Neil & DorothyLaura & Ryan

Lisa and fiance Shaun Glines....

Neil & Dorothy in AZ

2008-04-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the gorgeous Hospitality Suite Resort (2 stars...and stretching that)...Marian & gran reading the paper by the pool...Gran with Dorothy on their front stoop...beautiful sunshine...we were invited for supper on the Sunday after we arrived...great ribs and chicken...and all the trimmings...Mom with Uncle Neil...catch the palm trees in the back...A couple of doors down there was this humming bird sitting on her eggs in the tiny nest..that itself looks like a bird... A couple more doors down there is a dove roosting on a Christmas wreath...
You guessed it...gran enjoying the freshly pick grapefruit...
Weird looking cactus ...

This is the view down the lane from their trailer... I really love palm trees...

Tucson with Memory

2008-04-08T20:58:00.001-07:00

We had a great day on Monday. We travelled to Tucson via routes 60 east to Florence Junction, south on 79 through Florence (a prison community - both a State prison and a Federal penetentiary). Just south of Florence is an amazing Greek Orthodox Monastary which we visited and then south again on 79 to Oracle Junction then south on 77 to Pima College in Tucson where we met this great young man Memory...here with mom and gran...
We had a great visit with a mediocre late lunch at Olive Garden...shorts and sunshine...what a treat...and Alvin the next one is just for you...
This is Memory's ride...he said that I should not take a picture...but I assured him that you would want to see his ride... The vehicle behind Memory's is the rental that we had for the week...Toyota Highlander...

Farley

2008-03-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Mom has a new friend in Farley

Even Tom took to this little bundle of fur Chewing on my slippers...
Farley loved chewing on the rug as well
Mom fell in love immediately...no Sarah...no more dogs...we will offer to care for Farley when Uncle Wally needs to travel.
Spectacular blue skies on new fresh snow..about 4 or 5 cm over a couple of days

Dev was also taken by Farley

The Grannies Breakfast

2008-01-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Tom sitting in the new chair. It is only temporarily in that spot as the living room floor is not in yet....

...mom in her usual position
The pillows that we had made from the material that we bought in 2005 when we visited that shop in Lusaka...

Lil, Anne, Ruth and Gran

...a really nice visit...gran was so gigglely...when mom turned the opposite direction from Northwood Zellers....are we going to St. Albert Zellers...there is a nice eating area there gran says....then they drove past that and one of the ladies says that this must be the scenic tour...and mom says that is the mystery tour... they were so pleased that we would have them all over fro breakfast

Oceanside Oregon

2008-01-14T20:06:00.000-08:00

Oceanside Oregon January 1,2 &3, 2008. Oceanfront Cottage is the forth one on the shore from the left.

Complete with a warm fire after a cool walk in the rain...

...watching waves

....me too...

...the view from the bedroom...lift your head up to this view

Reading the sign...

A tunnel through the rock...your mom at the far end...and a peep hole through the tunnel wall...

The view out our window

Almost a sunset on our first evening...also the view from the window

Our new friend Clarence...every time we went to the kitchen he arrived...he could not believe that we didn't run out to feed him ...so he would walk around to the railing to bang on the window...just in case we didn't see him

The front entrance

High tide

The kitchen... oh it was a wonderful getaway...highly recommended.

Travelling Winter Roads

2008-01-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

The road was snow packed but the sun on the snow and the snow on the trees was breathtaking. Spots of blue sky...driving through the low clouds...mom said that in places it looked like blobs of whipped cream had been placed on the trees.

Driving far too quickly on these snow packed roads. This was on the Coquahala summit...I think that this guy passed me at one point.

Gran's Saturday

2008-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Gran had a craving for "butta zup" and I was really happy that she did. What a way for her to spend a Saturday as we ran errands all day

Fresh baked bread...to die for

and Kelvin & Alvin...where are you boys...white bread.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T15:07:00.001-08:00

Allan & Uncle Pete
Tom showing off his new South Park Police Department T-shirt
Mom as she takes a minute away from preparing the feast

Gran and her boys

Tom with gran

Christmas eve ribs and potato casserole
Gran hiding behind the Amarula...trying to show Devyn's little chocolate mice...and her other cookies

The crib games on Tom's new Oilers crib board...a gift from Dev's gran

Spencers

2007-12-23T22:07:00.001-08:00

What a nice evening with the Spencers...It was so good to see Rosa, Clara and Leon. Bruce and Jenny put on a wonderful spread of nibblies ...mom loved the punch and I enjoyed a couple glasses of beer...

Check out the kitchen...wow... it is gorgeous.

Irish Coffee - the last one 2007

2007-12-23T10:06:00.001-08:00

Irish coffee afternoon...

Must be holding court...or telling stories
Great shot..poor aim Cory

Pete's place...

Pancake breakfast entertainment.. the "Value Village People" from left to right...Max, Ben Siemers, Klein, Brian Gurnham, Rod Carleton (SRO) and Billy Turnham....to funny.

random shots from home..Yick, Judy Crosby and two aides...Mark Samuel, Lu Anderson, Dennis Wright and Max...Noble and Bliss behind the bar.

Christmas Lights 2007

2007-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

This house is on the corner of 97th St and 144th Ave...it is the intersection that we used to turn on to go to Dickensfield..

Each window has a box built inside ...in this one Santa is dancing

It is very difficult to describe the yard...lights, music, colour...

This is house is the old Mansion on Ada Blvd...we took gran for a drive last evening...

Saskatoon with the Peters Clan

2007-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Gran with Jody and her mom Ethel

Mom with cousins Ethel and Eva (Salmon Arm B.C.)

Gran getting whipped at cribbage by Robert

Lawrence's wife - left (from Kelowna) and Kaye is Ruben's wife...Ruben below...Lawrence never got in camera shot

Ruben who is with Ali -left and Megan -right (his daughters)

John...looks just like Santa

Lynn and her son Matt and Judy, John's wife.

Lynn is Leonard's twin and he missed the camera as well.

Julianne - Lynn & Rod's youngest daughter

And two shots of the beautiful hoarfrost outside the church...a block away from Auntie Martha's

Gran's Christmas Cookies

2007-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

Gran at the end of the day...she can hardly stand it that Sarah will not be home for Christmas...that's three years in a row...But gran she was just home this summer...but it is Christmas...

This is the beginning of round three...peanut butter cookies...

Cutting out the sugar cookies....

Mom in charge of piling the goodies as they come out of the oven....ginger snaps

The assembly line in action...

Gran adding the sprinkles to the sugar cookies...

S-U-G-A-R...C-O-O-K-I-E-S

Peanutbutter cookies

Christmas Tree 2007

2007-12-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

Mom's tree is much prettier than the pictures...so she tells me.

Seattle - gran & mom

2007-12-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

Uncle Wally's 1967 Jaguar

Megan & Chris cooking Mexican food.

Relaxing ...watching the Riders win the Grey Cup

Chris made the coffee table...

Megan & Olive(r)...they think that Olive may be a male. Chinchilla...not a rabbit

Gran with Elise...Jennifer's sweetheart two year old...Jennifer is a cousin of the girls...

Gran & Megan @ Caroline's...ready for a nap while mom and Caroline had an afternoon coffee..

the gang @ Caroline's... stupid little dog - Chihuahua Samson

Uncle Wally at the ballet..Nutcracker

the stage

@ the ballet

crib after supper @ uncle Wally's...Joe a sailing buddy and Bonnie in the corner

Bonnie, gran & Chris...notice that gran's glass is the empty one...

@ Uncle Wally's

What could be finer...gran in the warmth of the sun...having a wee nap.

@ Caroline's...Wally making the stuffing for the turkey

Swans on the Sturgeon River

2007-11-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that there are swans on the mighty Sturgeon River... believe it or not this really is the Sturgeon River in St. Albert. This is at the end of the drive from the Rugby Club out to the Kinsmen hut...and it is under the bridge (Ray Gibbon Drive) that is the west bypass...finally opened. One of the subs told me that he was down at the river as the swans were in...and I looked at him really funny and said, "Swans in the Sturgeon river?" Damned straight. This is the opening of the river at Big Lake.

Saskatoon

2007-11-18T13:32:00.000-08:00

Go Riders Go

Katrina Dawn...getting ready for dance practice...

Ruben & Kathie...good company...good food...good drink...great visit...

Breakfast @ Broadway Cafe with Allan, Martha, & Allan

Lisa... Ryan

Wanda & Ernie

Alex & Laura

Pete & Alex

Ernie, Wanda, Lisa, Laura

Calgary @ the Palliser

2007-11-14T18:15:00.001-08:00

Here you go Sarah....as requested... pictures... if you don't remember this is Chuck outside the Palliser as we await the arrival of Kuma & Nick

Here we sit with coffee after a really nice dinner at the Metropolitan Grill... mom thought that the girls were a littlel over-exposed... I thought very pretty....

Chuck & Kathie came to retrieve the old folks. It was a really nice visit.

Tom's Pad @ the Brighton in Oliver Square

2007-11-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

Tom's living room...there is a tv above the fireplace...yes a real fireplace.... and yes a real tv...albeit a small one...

Gran inspecting the digs...I think that Tom got the approval....he told her that he had at least one thing that she didn't have in her pad...a stove!

The girls posing... "We're smiling!!"

Tom's kitchen... pantry..yes a walk in pantry to the right of the fridge...to the left of the fridge is the 'in-suite' laundry room...

Bedroom...

Washroom...not too much detail required... a nice enamel finish on the tub...

Just for you Sarah... Al Bert's Donair & Shwarmah... the picture that I cropped wouldn't upload.

Sophie Lewin & Darren Young

2007-09-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Sophie & her dad arrive from behind the hill

Sophie & Darren

Nikola & Jake

Victoria & Aiden

David & Astrid

Matt & Annie

Tom & Devyn

Marian & Pete

Tom, Chad Hill & Curtis (Alexis)

Alexis, Devyn & Jill Chow (Chad)

Steve, Marian & Jan

Jasper with the Haleys 2007

2007-09-10T20:39:00.001-07:00

It was a quick but funfilled trip...Here are the four amigos at the river's edge at Becker's Chalets...nice as ever.

On Saturday we did a quick run up to Mount Edith Cavell and did the short walk...then went down Hwy 93A to a beautiful spot called where the rivers meet...a gorgeous picnic spot..and then on to Athabasca Falls...back for refreshments and out for supper. After a nice breakfast on Sunday morning we were on our return home but we stopped and explored several spots.

Horeshoe lake was our first off road hike. Set back off the highway south of Jasper is the stunning Horseshoe Lake... it would be an amazing rock diving lake. We stopped and walked into Buck Lake and Osprey Lake and then we found a nice campground for a wee bite and a drink of sorts. We drove the David Thompson highway back through Rocky Mountain House and we had supper at Smugglers in Sylvan Lake...then on towards home...

Here's mom doing what she likes best...skipping along the trails...

Here I try to make like Alvin...the Ice Whisperer. Alvin you will be happy to know that it was quite cool there.

Here we are a beautiful lake called Horseshoe Lake...GORGEOUS!

Summer 2007 Part 2

2007-08-21T19:07:00.001-07:00

So the kids are finally home after a 38 hour flight... warm hugs greet them

After a feast at Noodle Noodle...a long standing tradition for travellers...gran shields her eyes from the bright sun.

Tom is looking at 'my' book on Zambia...

Sarah goes looking for her adopted tree from grade 4...long lost memory...

We did find an afternoon to go to the lake for a ski... the girl hasn't lost her touch...

Alvin looks on with interest....

Friends over for cranium...

A walk around the 'ledge'...

The girls after a really good giggle....Jen what colour was the wine??

A little jaunt to Jasper... Marty, Tom, Carly, Devyn. Sarah & Alvin... Alvin enjoyed the glacier....

Heritage Days with the girls....Alvin and Cody did go along

Gran and Sarah prepare vrenike...

Then it is the annual Folk Festival...

Good music....weather...beer tent...and FRIENDS!!!

Beer tent

Friends

Sport drinks????

Crackercats baseball game with Bob & Diane Haley

Friends...nachos and beers

Horsey buds

The gang

The girls....

Special moments...special ladies...

Noodle Noodle ...won ton soup...spring row...before you go.

Anniversaryflowers for our 35th...thanks

Summer 2007 Part 1

2007-08-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful summer this has been. We first had two weeks of visiting with Emil and Monique. We had such a relaxing visit that their kids were wondering what I had done to their dad. I simply taught him how to sit and do nothing... and nothing we did (almost)

Here we were on the deck every morning (coffee), most afternoons (beer and white wine), and most evenings (more beer & wine)

Then we travelled towards Whistler...Emil loved the beautiful 'shots' along the way. We drove, stopped, ate, had beer & wine at some favorite picnic spot...

We saw spectacular scenery on the way to Whistler...mountains, rivers and Emil's favorite deep ridges...and incredible roads.

Helmken Falls and Dawson Falls are quite breathtaking...sunsets were stunning... and of course when you find a saloon...more beer.

So we do get to Whistler....thanks to Wally (Marian's brother) we had a lovely condo in which to...relax...yes there was one or two beers and a tad of wine.

Leaving Whistler via the "Sea to Sky" Highway leading through Squamish to Vancouver....construction for Olympics in 2010. So did I say that we had to go this way because someone was afraid to go back through Lilloet?

Revelstoke...driving in the clouds and meeting up with Valerie..Monique's neice @ the BIG EDDY! Did I say more beer?

Banff Springs Hotel...do I notice pint glass and a wine glass????

Calgary at Chuck & Kathy Middleton's with Kuma, Nick, Kyle, Brock & diablo (my personal friend). A wonderful supper ...great company and only one wee beer and maybe a glass of wine...

This is back home to the comfort of our deck...the hottest July on record...Emil with his favourite flowers...and Emil this is how tall the Calla Lily grew...Sarah and Alvin.

This is relaxing.... I thought that I was watching the 6 o'clock news!!!!

Gran's New Digs

2007-07-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

So here we are at Gran's new digs... GRAN, Marian, Tom and Devyn and I took most of Sunday and Monday of the Canada Day weekend to move gran to her new home in St. Albert. For the Americans, Canada Day falls on July 1st...it is kind of like the 4th of July in the USA.
The new digs are a whopping 474 square feet of apt style living...so for gran to move from her 1040 square foot (plus basement) condo to this place was and is quite a challenge. The main living room space is split up by a wall that has the cupboards, a beer fridge and a sink. On the left you can see gran sitting in an alcove (for lack of a better descriptor) and on the right...at least it is on the right as I write this..she is sitting in her new mondo modern remote controlled lazy boy chair.

I am hoping that in the next order is a shot of the "kitchen" area with her microwave, new dining table (drop leaf)...

And now if there is any control of where the photos and writing line up...we should be in gran's bedroom.

The living room/kitchen with no person in view and finally gran in the alcove or den wondering what to do with all her stuff

So today when we went over to see gran before beers with the Spencers and Carly we went to see gran and drop off a few things...she looked great...she had lunch in her new spot and fish for supper. Her comments were very positive and she did say that she does feel a tad "young" in this place...she did say that everyone was really nice. The most overwhelming thing is that she has discovered that she brought tooooo much stuff along...when we arrived she announced that a huge tupperware container was full of stuff that needed to be taken to the Salvation Army.

Bellerose School in Thailand

2007-05-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Alan and Sherri Thorne...they belong to a group who attends meditation sessions. The entire group were on this trip but the Thornes didn't tell anyone that the real purpose of the trip was to celebrate the opening of this school. Most of the group found out about this project while there... I cannot imagine how they, the Thornes could keep it to themselves that long.

Front view of Bellerose School in Thailand which is about a three hour drive from Bankok... the side view kind of gives an idea of the depth of this school. The school is built in the shape of an 'E' with no interior walls.

The school is built beside a school that hosts grades one through twelve. It is built for the poorest students and it should house about 30 to 50 students.

The picture at the top is Alan with the Governor of the region.

The school is built by the donations from Bellerose in St. Albert for about $10,000CDN. The government in Thailand will pay for the teacher...sounds a bit like Alberta's government. The monies were raised primarily through recycling pop cans and juice boxes. Other fundraising events were: yard sale at school, pi day (Math club), sale of cotton candy and ice cream sundaes by a special ed group.

The children in the pictures were actually on their summer vacation and were brought in specifically for the opening of the school. The gals in yellow are volunteers and many people were wearing yellow.

Yellow is the colour that shows respect for the king, who has been on the throne for over 60 years.

Alan and Sherri brought bags of treats for the children...Canada flags and pins, pencils, erasers, staplers...

Happy 60th

2007-03-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

What a birthday to remember... an incredible
staff... a 47 voice choir... singing two African
songs and oh yes...Happy Birthday

And an envelope with $1290 cash to donate to
playpumps.. because Africa has become so
important in my life... thanks Sarah.

This is about the time the tears started ....

Don't you love the cake... Melissa had to

borrow the animals from her boys....

reluctantly they shared....

Lawrence was eager to taste the cake...

It was a most overwhelming day... and it seems

that my family...even in Zambia knew about it.

It certainly doesn't get much better than this.

New Years 2007

2007-01-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

The only day that we had on the beach was the 31st. So the top pictures are at St. Armand's Key where we had lunch... don't you love the habiscus.. and the phony tree in the middle of the circle... great lunch and soooo goooood ice cream cones toooo....

Siesta Beach... what can we say... it's tradition... we called Tom and he heard the waves... we tried calling Sarah... no luck on my cell...soooorrrry....

Grandpa with Kody & Kyra... they are really sweet.... Joe and Janelle... she is due on the 6th... today. Sean relaxing... I didn't take many pics... none of Danielle, Yolande... the party...

Christmas 2006

2006-12-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

So this was Christmas 2006 at our house and at gran's... I forgot to photograph the laden table... so all you get is left over dessert...

An evening visit from Candra and her Leon, Carly, Jen and Cody... we had a great visit.

2006-12-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Triple Octogenarians

Here are the three Octogenarians...Uncle Abe, aunt Susie and Gran... 82, 80- & almost 83 repectively. This was at the end of the night and they were tired...can you tell?

The bottle of Amerula lasted about 33 minutes... the gang at Auntie Martha's

And can you believe there was your other favourite... Appleton's

And yes all before the party!!! (Gran was napping)

Entertainment included the Friesen brothers... they are cousins on both sides... they also were the guys at grandpa's funeral..

Aunt Susie's group from Warmen...

Uncle Abe's son Don and Don's daughter... Don is the guy who sounds like Don Williams....

Auntie Martha and Erma (Aunt Susie's daughter sung a couple of duets...

Laura and Lisa sounded like Angels... you can really tell that they had voice lessons... their control was incredible... even Tom agreed

This is Laura's young man Alex...

Gran...Uncle Abe...Uncle John...Aunt Susie... and Uncle Corney... Uncle Pete left before the picture was taken... these are the remaining sibs...

Sarah do you remember Bill & Ann Thiessen from T&T Trucking... well they came... he has lost so much weight... the lady with eyes closed is Aunt Susie... Uncle Abe's wife.

Mom and Ruben hosting a trivia quiz of Friesen Facts... they had fun... mom was nervous...

The second blog will be candids... it doesn't seem to want to load anymore pictures...

Octogenarians Candids

2006-12-17T16:10:00.000-08:00

Sooo... the evening wraps up at Dave & Erma's place... this was a wonderful way to wrap up a super day... Mom only had three glasses of Shiraz...one shot of Amerula... yes we told them that we had a bottle of Amerula in the afternoon so Dave thought that we should once again toast Sarah who couldn't be with us to celebrate.... aren't we nice. The picture on the right below has Tom talking with Susan and her beau Jason...