Norman is ready for Hallowe'en!

Baking Baklava

Lyden and I were on our own this past Saturday.  Tyler and Andy went hunting; Lyden did not join them because he had to study but took a break in the afternoon and looking for some activity to do together, he mentioned he'd like to learn how to make Baklava, so that's what we did! Because Erin is allergic to nuts, Lyden found a "nut free" recipe - we substituted the nuts with sunflower seeds and it tasted better than I expected!

Fun!

Was playing on the computer today ... love how this photo of Andy post Gorilla Run turned out!

Gorilla Run!

Andy and Rachel ran the 16.5 km Gorilla Run today at the Calgary Zoo. I was joined by Tyler, Lyden, Erin, mom & Mody - we went to cheer the runners on.  Andy crossed the finish line at 1hr 39 min and Rachel at 2 hr 13 min, with Christine right behind her.  Christine's dad Mike also ran the race, coming in at 1hr 43 min. - it was truly a father/daughter race!  While we waited for the runners to come in we wandered about the zoo and Lyden got up close to a peacock roaming the path! 

CREW Conference in Houston, Texas

I attended my 4th annual CREW convention, this time in Houston, Texas.   The flight down to Houston was diverted to Dallas and what was intended to be a 4 hour journey ended up taking 7.5 hours, a dismal start to the convention where I was joined with 3 other women from the Calgary chapter.  We missed the trade show/marketplace Wed. night but Thursday and Friday's events did not disappoint.  The speakers and panelists for each of concurrent sessions were excellent!

Thanksgiving Dinner @ Jeff & Silvana's

Jeff and Silvana hosted Thanksgiving Dinner this year.  

Photos: 

1. Andy carved the bird; 

2. dinner served buffet style and shown in photo:  my brother Scott and his wife Mody (who immigated from Thailand in Sept) , nephew Stevan, neice Madeleine; 

3.  brother David with his daughter Madeleine;

4. David overlooking a game of Racko played by Rachel, Tyler, Erin & Lyden.

Finished results!

Ahhh... finally, the job is finished ... here's the after photo - we still do not have any furniture in the living room (since donating our couch, coffee table & chairs to Rachel & Tyler when they got married).  Next project to tackle:  new window coverings!  Not sure when but it's definitely on our "to do"/"must do" list .... 

Dust, Dust, Dust .. Everywhere!

Andy, Tyler and Lyden spent 3 hours last Saturday tearing out the carpet from our main floor in preparation to instal hardwood.  Andy as seen here, was instrumental in assigning tasks to the boys.  How would they manage without him?

After pulling up the carpet walking the house sounded like an echo chamber!  And despite sweeping up the floors, it was a little dusty but nothing compared to the installation of the hardwood!  Sawdust and fine dust was everywhere!  We'd vacuum after each day's progress but it really was a futile effort.   

Montreal

Just a few photos from the Oct 1-3 legal offsite meeting held in Montreal. Top photo: after dinner group photo at Le Locale Thursday evening;
Middle mosaic - photos taken on our city tour;
Lower mosaic - photos taken at during our tour of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement - a highly complex in which the building was constructed on top of the Autoroute Ville-Marie spanning across the expressway.