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.

Slapshot goes to SilverStar/Vernon

Unbeknowst to me, the kids packed my Slapshot and brought him to the wedding. I received Slapshot (the beanie bag penguin) from Lyden at Christmas ... it's a long story why. Because I am a good observer (or at least I thought I was) and have a good attention to detail, the kids thought it would be fun to display Slappy out in the open and take photos of him over the weekend. The home we stayed at was large and with all the chaos of all the family under one roof, I have to say, Slapshot went unnoticed by me! Rachel, Tyler, Lyden and Erin planted him in many locations amongst the house sometimes under my nose & I did not notice! They revealed Slapshot on our way out of the house, at which time I reclaimed him and took photos of our commute home.

Jordan & Krissy's Wedding - Sept 7

Photos taken Sunday, Sept 7 - Jordan & Krissy's special day.

From left to right:

1. the kids play a game of skip-bo;

2. group family shot before leaving Silver Star;

3. Jordan & Krissy exchanging vows;

4. Lyden and Erin at the reception;

5. Sister-in-law Ruth and nephew Tanner;

6. Brother Todd with Rachel;

7. Sister-in-law Silvana and mom;

8. Jordan & Krissy, the newlyweds

Vernon - Sept 6-08

My family (sans Andy who we had to leave behind because of work) and extended family headed out to Vernon on the evening of Friday, Sept 5 to attend my nephew's wedding on Sept 7. My brother Jeff and his wife Silvana drove me, mom and brother David. Rachel & Tyler left a bit earlier and took Lyden and Erin with them.

My brother Todd had arranged accommodation for us on Silver Star Mountain. His family Doctor generously offered us the use of his resort home which slept 17 - what an awesome and generous offer from a stranger! We met our hosts Dave and Patti Saturday night after going out for dinner to celebrate Jeff's birthday.

Radium family getaway weekend

While the weather wasn't as warm as last year's Sept long weekend, that didn't stop us from having a great long weekend Family Getaway (2nd annual). Rachel, Tyler and Lyden went ahead of us - we arrived about 9pm, after a rainy 3 hour commute from Calgary. We awoke to sunshine Sat. morning, perfect for our 9am tee off at Edgewater Hilltop golf course.

It rained all day in Radium Sunday but surpsingly, 18km away, it was dry and the boys and I enjoyed another 9 holes at Spur Valley golf course, as shown in the photo below.

Globalfest - Fireworks Finale!

Andy and I went to Globalfest last night to watch the fireworks competition finale (China won). We arrived early to ensure a prime viewing spot on the grass. It was a perfect evening for fireworks - no wind! The firework display was choreographed to music and the added bonus was the reflection of the fireworks on Elliston Lake as you can see in some of these images I captured.

and everyone's fave...s'mores!

It's a classic summertime treat .. this year with a bit of a twist. Instead of getting graham wafer biscuits and bars of milk chocolate we decided on "concerto" biscuits with 70% dark chocolate to build our s'mores and they were delicious! As you see from these photos, Rachel found the melting chocolate and warm marshmallow mixture a bit of a challenge! The solution? Tyler to her chocolately mess? Tyler hosed her down with the garden hose!

Anniversary flowers

Andy sent this beautiful boquet of flowers to the office on August 11 to mark our 29th wedding anniversary. How sweet of him!

Rachel & Christine's Sprint Triathalon

Rachel and Christine signed up for the Strathmore women's sprint triathalon on Aug 10 - we went to cheer them on. Christine wears the bright orange cap while Rachel shown here taking a stroke, sports a green cap as they swim 20 lengths of the pool 2nd photo: Rachel transitioning to the 20km bike leg of the race, and 3rd photo: Rachel finishing the 5km run Way to go girls! We are so proud of you!

Enjoying Summer

What better way to enjoy summer than taking a "bike hike", stopping to enjoy a delicious picnic next to the river, less than 30 min away from our home.

Rachel's 24th birthday

July 27 - a day to celebrate! What a beautiful day it was 24 years ago when God blessed us with His special gift of love.

CREW Calgary golf day!

Every year I look forward to the CREW Calgary golf day (note we do not call it a "tournament") because it's non-competitive and a great time. I had Sarah, Jan and Caroline in my foursome. The weather forecast called for rain in the morning but it held off all day - not too hot, not too cold - just right!

Vancouver Golf - July 16

Enjoyed a great day of corporate golf at Morgan Creek Golf Course. I couldn't have asked for a better foursome (Rick, Morley and Brenda) to enjoy the perfect Vancouver weather and awesome views. A great day!

Norman celebrates Canada Day!

Let me introduce you to the newest "member" of our family, Norman. When Andy and I were out for a walk Andy spotted a racoon floating face down in a Bow River tributary near our home and he fished him out and brought the racoon home, setting him outside the kitchen window. The racoon was a big hit with the kids, especially Lyden who gave him his name and immediately felt Norman needed a hat. After failing to craft anything suitable from paper, he and Erin set out on Saturday to find him one. Apparently "build a bear" had exactly what he was looking for - a cowboy hat (a Blue Jays ball cap came in a close 2nd). Erin brought over the Canada Day bandanda and Andy added the Canadian flag to complete the look.

Stewie's visit

Rachel and Tyler were "bird sitting" an African lovebird this weekend named Stewie. They came for a visit and brought Stewie along. Stewie is personality plus - he loves to sit on people's shoulders and demands a lot of attention. Here he is sitting on Andy's shoulder, overseeing our card game with the kids!

Annual trip to Saskatoon Berry Farm

We picked up some beautiful hanging baskets at the farm. We were suprised to see Zimbabwe stone sculpture exhibit and the photo below entitled "we all share" is but one of many beautiful pieces on display.

Bike Ride/Picnic

We are so lucky to live close enough to Fish Creek Provincial Park that we can ride our bikes from home and have a picnic by the river!

Golfing with the Geese!

To celebrate summer's arrival Lyden, Andy and I went golfing at our local 9 hole par 3 course ... neither of us did very well at the game but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. As you can see, we shared the course with a bunch of Canadian Geese and their babies who pretty much ignored us the entire time.

These photos were taken by Tyler (or Rachel) on a walk Andy led us on one day, just a short distance from Keresley Village where Andy grew up. He and his mates would often go up to "Corley Woods" to hang out or fish in the local pond (now dried up). In the first photo I am standing by the face, not as scary coming down as it is coming up the lane as shown in the 2nd photo! Andy told us how he and his friends would often speed down the hill past the witch on their bikes, faster than usual when dusk fell! You don't have to be a young lad with an active imagination to understand why!

Back home ... oh the memories

Returned to Calgary on May 30 and back to work and reality on Monday ... going through the 396 photos we took and came across this one I took during our walking tour of Oxford universities/city and I am reminiscing already ....

Birmingham

We decided to explore Birmingham yesterday and today. We would have liked to have gone on a couple more Cotswolds walks before leaving, but the weather turned and we have had a lot of rain over the past few days - not exactly ideal walking weather!

Yesterday we drove into Birmingham and parked near the Bull Ring (in a ridiculously tight carpark). The Bull Ring is a large shopping centre in the heart of the City. It was easy enough driving in from Coventry on the A45. Teresa gave us directions as to how to drive in but failed to mention you cannot go back the same way you came so it was a bit stressful finding our way back! We couldn't find an A45 sign to save our lives, so we headed south and found our way back on our own! We arrived around 11am and while there were lots of people about, we found as the afternoon progressed, the number of people increased and oh so many more cars/buses were on the roads. We hit rush hour in a big way leaving the country's 2nd largest city. We went back today on the train (less stressful) and finished exploring the Art Museum (brilliant museum, lots to see, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, ceramics, jewellery, stained glass, metal works and more) and much to our surprise, admission was free! This photo was taken in Victoria Square (appropriately named given the sculpture of Queen Victoria who stands regally overlooking the square).

Dinner with Nev & Teresa

We took Nev and Teresa out for dinner at Rupali, an Indian Restaurant Saturday night. We had a delicious meal and as usual, shared many laughs together.

Grandma's Garden

Cotswold Walk - Blockley

Andy and I did a 4 mile walk on Saturday which started in this pretty village in the Cotswolds (yes, yet another picturesque village)! The walk started at St. Peter & St. Paul Church (shown in post below) and after walking up through fields and woods and back down again, we ended back where we started, at the church. It was a rather windy day but pleasant enough. Most of the roads in England are narrow but I found these streets narrower than most, esp. with cars parked tight up against the stone walls on the streets leaving mere inches to either side in which to negotiate! This village is built on a hillside which gave me more occassions to hold my breath as we circled the village looking for parking! I find negotiating these narrow streets very stressful - Andy somehow manages to drive well despite having a "Nervous Nelly" (and navigator) sitting in the passenger seat!

St. Peter & St. Paul church in Blockley

After finishing our walk we went inside this church which, with the exception of a few more modern churches in England, is filled with history.

When excavating to expand the church in the 1700's the excavators found 2,000 skulls and bones and after due inquiry, could find no record as to who these bones belonged to or how they came to be buried at this site. The skulls and bones were re-buried in the vault inside the church below the tomb of Lord Harwick's daughter as shown in the top right corner (photo tried to also capture the wooden timber roof joists which were really superb). This tomb is located just inside the wall on the left just behind arch shown in the bottom left. The angel carries a banner that reads "Gloria in excellis Deo" and is hung high on the stone arch on the left side.

Broadway Walk

Rachel, Tyler, Andy and I went on a 4 mile walk to Broadway Tower, a 1024 foot climb which afforded superb panoramic views from the top and along the way as shown in this photo mosaic. We had ideal walking temperature but it was a bit overcast and hazy. We encountered gusty winds at the top and decided to eat our picnic lunch huddled against a stone wall just a short distance on the descending walk.

Lion King!

Went to the Lion King today in London with Rachel and Tyler - it was great! Costumes were phenomenal. We hopped on the train at Coventry station to Euston and from there travelled on the tube to Leicester Square and grabbed a quick lunch & then took in the matinee performance at 2pm. It was a full house.