Mom's birthday lunch

Took my mom out for her annual birthday lunch at Annie's, next to The Ranche Restaurant in Fish Creek Park where we had Rachel's wedding reception. Rachel as you can see, joined us for lunch. It was a lovely warm day so we sat outside to enjoy our meal. The only annoyance to our the otherwise tranquil environment was the sound of beaking gophers only a few yards away. One gopher boldly came onto the veranda, likely looking for a few chosen morsels. After having gone "gopher shooting" with Andy a few years ago, I can attest first hand that gophers aren't the smartest animals around! They have no fear of man. While some may be charmed by these little critters and think they are harmless, they really wreak havoc for prairie farmers and cattle operators, and pose a real danger to horses, many of whom have broken their legs when caught in a gopher hole.

couple more Scotland photos...

couldn't resist posting a couple more ...

Ahh... Scotland

Just under a week and Andy and I are off to the UK for a holiday - visiting family in England, traversing the "South Oxford" route via canal, going to the seaside and hopefully sneaking in a quick visit in Scotland to visit with friends in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Andy took this photo when he briefly worked in Glasgow in 2005. I love going home to "the old country" it is so rich in history! I love visiting with family, catching up with friends, seeing everything so lush & green (quite a departure from the prairies!), taking in the vast array of architecture, enjoying a good "cuppa" and who doesn't love hearing all the various accents as you travel around the country!

May Long Weekend

The long weekend started off on a sad note by attending Pastor Kerber's funeral. Pastor Kerber married and baptised Andy and I and baptised each of our children. He was the senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church for 19 years. Andy and I ran into him last weekend at Home Depot and I thought to myself then, how well he looked. Walter had a fatal heart attack on Tuesday which just goes to show you that you cannot judge outwardly appearances. Funerals are generally sombre occasions and while funeral services usually focus on the "celebration of life" of the deceased person, the true celebration for us as Christians is knowing we will see Walter again, when we join him in eternity.

Andy left early Sunday morning for the annual bear hunt; he'll be gone for a week. After church the kids suggested we all go grab an ice cream and then go to the putting green. After sharing an ice cream, on the way back to the church, I couldn't help but notice how ominous the skies looked so I backed out of going golfing ... the kids were not put off by the potential rain so they carried on without me. I went home to create a wedding album for Teresa and Nev (to take with us when we go to England in a couple of weeks). While I was working on the album I heard the heavens open ....suffice it to say by the time the kids got home, they were not dry! While the kids played "Star Wars" monopoly, I prepared dinner and afterwards, Rachel and Tyler washed up (which made for a nice change!) I finished up the wedding album Monday afternoon.

Mother's Day

This morning we woke to light rain and overcast skies. Rachel, Lyden and Chantelle ran the Mother's Day 5K. I picked up my mom and we went down to cheer the kids on. Rachel and Lyden came across the finish line together around the 34 min. mark. Chantelle was under the weather but persevered and finished a bit later. We headed home, stopping at the Starbucks for a coffee. Andy whipped up a delicious brunch of crepes stuffed with peaches or raspberries & whip cream filling (how decadent!), sausages, turkey bacon, coffee and orange juice. Scott contributed a Dairy Queen ice cream cake inscribed with Happy Mother's Day, Mom A and Mom P.

Golfing Fun

Today it was absolutely gorgeous - not sure what the official temperature was, but it was over 20 celsius. Andy and I ran some errands in the morning and took to the lounge chairs on the deck in the afternoon. Lyden came home from work around 2:30 and when Erin came over around 3:30, we had a game of Wizard on the deck. Lyden joined us for sushi and he was open to trying some real sushi - he sampled a "special scallop", spicy calamari roll and salmon sushi, but he didn't like the wasabi/soya mix, and as a consequence found sushi quite bland. He ended up ordering chicken teriyaki while Andy and I stuck to the sushi. After dinner we met up with Erin around 7pm and headed off to the putting greens for 18 holes. I was glad I brought my coat as the evening progressed, the wind was a tad nippy but we had fun!

National Scrapbooking Day!

All work put into preparing the mini-me album kits paid off! The class was a success! What's better yet is the new friends I made - after the class I had the good fortune to be sitting next to Christina and Karen's table (shown here) and they showed me how to construct a "scapbook in a box" ... a very cool project! Now I just need to decide what photos/theme I'll use for my scrapbook in a box.... likely I'll save it for my holiday photos (the countdown is on .... we'll soon be off to England)!

Deer Visitor

After dinner Lyden looked out the window and spotted this deer in our yard! After nibbling on the flowering crab apple tree he wandered into the back yard to sample the birdseed on the bird table.

We often see deer when walking down by the river (5 min. walk from our house) but in the 11 years we've lived here, I've never seen a deer wander this far into our community!