IT'S A GIRL!

Our family is growing! IT'S A GIRL! Blonde, cheerful and we are so excited to have her as the newest member of our family! I think everyone is! Especially Kevin!

No we are not new grandparents - we are going to be new parents again! I knew the guy/girl ratio in the family would balance out some day! I just needed to be patient. Kev's been anxious for this weekend and I think she was waiting too knowing ... someday ... just when!

KELSEY DAWN & KEVIN JAMES

We haven't heard a wedding date. We haven't even seen them yet - just a phone call a little while ago! I'm sure their smiles will melt away any snow or warm up any minus 20 + weather! We're excited for them and look forward to God's best in their new life together! More blogs to come!

Craft Sale 2008

Another craft sale has come and gone! Now that it is turning into a fading memory, I have time for a quick little update. My collection of pictures is severely lacking from 7:00 Saturday morning before the sale to after church the next day. So .... if you want a visual for those in between hours, you need to check with someone who actually captured pictures for that missing time period. One couple in attendance (B and K) have posted a gorgious picture on their blog spot! I'm hoping they will do more! I guess when we reach the actually "selling time" I pull a blank when it comes to getting the camera out from amongst the tissue and bags and boxes stored under the tables and actually take a few photos to share with you. Sorry, but I can share what I do have though!

Final prep before the sale

A bit of post-service MUSIC ...

... MARIO ...

... MUNCHIES ...

In between, we had a good sale. Considering the economic upheaval we find our world and country now entering, we had a really good sale! Without the help of our children we wouldn't have been able to pull off the final preparations and actual day itself! So much thanks to Kev and Kels for helping dad get the final signage out and tables prepared themselves for vendors to arrive at 7:30 that morning! Thanks too for helping get our own tables set up for the sale and then helping with the sales! Also for being back at the hall to take apart and pack up what will now go into the sale for 2009! Thanks to Brent and Kirstin for watching the little ones at home early that morning so the guys could help the girls get their stock in and get things underway! Tak as well for helping with the selling and for the words of advice for next years sale! Good ideas and advice are always welcome! Again, thanks to you both for helping get things packed up once 4 o'clock rolled around! I know spending time with the younger cousins was fun, but thanks so much for keeping restless bodies and minds busy and happy. It was truly a pleasure to hear the laughter in the next room of age range of voices playing "Clue". Hum! Have to keep in mind the closet full of games for the coming family celebrations!

Thanks to everyone who came and participated and then celebrated in our mini family reunion that evening and next day! Let's do it again! Same time next year? Sure thing!

Giving Thanks!

With the Canadian Thanksgiving long gone, and the American one just about the same time distance away yet, it seems funny probably to do a post about giving thanks! Tomorrow, Lorraine and I look forward to sharing Thanksgiving will all our kids! Now that B&K are back from Denmark(they were gone during Thanksgiving), we are going to share some time together at E&B's house, each bringing along some food.

I want to share with you though, our readers, that I cannot tell you how much I am thankful for a very special person in my life! That person happens to be my wife Lorraine! She has been beside me all the way through our marriage and sometimes during all those years, it wasn't always easy to do! I thank God for letting me have such a special person in my life, over thirty years together since we started dating! My love for her continues to grow and grow!



We had the wonderful opportunity on our anniversary earlier this month to share some time together in an old hotel in Banff. Wowsers, what a beautiful hotel! We had a wonderful time and what great service! We will do that again! It was suggested to us that we take the opportunity to stay in all the old CPR Hotels in Canada. We just might take on that challenge!

Bit of this and a bit more of that!

I haven't blogged in quite a while! This is a busy time of year for me so if you have been waiting for something more to read in our adventures "over the fence" - sorry! I'll fill you in on a few things since Fairmont!



We did get to go camping once more with Cor and Joanne out to Red Lodge. And yes, there really is a fire this time! If you look back to a former blog you will see us "pretending" to warm our hands over the fire. There were no fire pits down at Chain Lakes. Red Lodge certainly has them though and we were thankful for that. And for a trailer, and a furnace, and power hook-up to bake potatoes for supper in the microwave, and a nice big kitchen to do LOTS of dishes in! September is a bit nippier than August. But it is exciting to go camping comfortably in the Fall!

Peter and I went out Thursday night after work to secure a couple of spots and Cor and Joanne arrived on Friday night. The drive back into Lacombe wasn't too long even if it was to work again for one more day before being able to enjoy camping for real! So this summer we managed to camp three weekends which is pretty good considering we didn't pick up the trailer until the end of July!

The trailer is fully cleaned and winterized now so it is down to business here at the office and at home! Speaking of business .....



For years now I have wanted to see this Giant Roadside Attraction in person. We needed to go to another small town to present a building proposal to a church in the town. By the time the meeting was done it was getting late and dark already. BUT before our long drive home we drove to the park displaying this landmark so I could see it - lit up in all it's splendor! To get an idea of the size - imagine my tall husband standing underneath this Pysanka. He would still clear the bottom by a couple of feet! It truly is a magnificent tribute to the people of the town. So if we have to work we can still make it fun!

This pretty well brings our adventures up to the past weekend. That is a blog all on it's own though and I have to get a few business things done now. I did say it is a busy time of year!

Final Chapter!

LET'S END ON A HIGH NOTE - LITERALLY!

The kids figured we should show this picture to our dealer and ask them if our warranty is still in effect! It was decent roads all the way up - honest! Can you see me doing the wild stuff off-roading? Not! The most I've done is go through a creek and up an embankment - and not with this truck!

You must admit without the drive on logging roads up the incredible view would have been missed! And what a view it was!

This was the back road into our hidden mine I alluded to in the last chapter. The short and easy road in was now blocked by an "adventure" company that charges big bucks to take people in on ATV's. So guess what? They blocked the road with their business so people won't think twice about paying when they see others in there in vehicles. We question their tactics - works for them - but can they really block off public access? Whatever the case it caused us to scan the backroad maps and find the back way in. Twice we missed the actual road in (remember these are old abandoned roadways or logging roads) but had an adventure trying to get in! Later we realize there was still a long way to go and our truck probably wouldn't have made it. We are a truck with fairly high clearance and four-wheel drive - but I like my truck too! Unscathed!



FIRST TIME WE MISSED THE CORRECT ROAD!



SECOND TIME WE MISSED THE CORRECT ROAD!



BUT WHAT A VIEW!



WHERE WE HAD COME FROM



WHERE WE WERE TRYING TO GO

There's only one other picture left in my Annual BC Vacation 2008 album and that's snow in the Banff/Canmore area. We won't look at it again! Snow will come soon enough. In the meantime we have treasured memories of our adventures this past year and look forward to many more to come!

Another Chapter!

I should finish up our BC trip shouldn't I?! Another summer-y exciting adventure we had while in BC was to take a train trip into an old abandoned mine. Now mind you we didn't go far under ground, but enough to feel the air turn cool and damp. And there was a retired miner in there explaining the mining operations to us on staged apparatus. BUT, to add to the adventure, our train did de-rail leaving the station. How many people can say they came out of a de-railment unscathed? We did! As you look at the pictures you will realize why this wasn't really as spectacular as it sounds.



OUR TRAIN INTO THE MINE!



VIEW ALONG THE WAY

As we circled around and went up the other side of the valley from the station, we looked back across and could see the Power House still standing, but of course abandoned (for now). The white building up the hill was the original entrance to the mine built in 1915. Much of the actual mine can no longer be entered since they have allowed it to flood with ground water. There are also a variety of original mine cars along side the mainline. Everything from the emergency "ambulance" cars to ones that took the former men of the deep to their place in the workings of the mine. Just looking at those cars gave me the shudders. You couldn't be claustrophobic or mind rubbing shoulders closely with your neighbor. I also could not picture the tall men of our family squeezing (literally) themselves into these cars! I guess you do what you have to do to work!



INSIDE THE MINE

As part of the mine tour we were taken into what they called a _________ Room. (Someone reading this blog can fill in the blank for me!) This room was sealed off for miners to retreat to in the event of a fire or emergency of some sort. As many as 30 men could be packed in one of these designated areas for anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days! They stayed sealed behind the door until they got the all clear to come out.

How do you get a fire in a mine? In the case of this mine and what they were searching for, the rock itself could ignite. Certain quality of rock when unearthed and exposed to oxygen would ignite, but only a certain portion of the mine had to contend with this.

The end of the road was the base of the ski hill. We had a choice to get off and have lunch up there, we kept right on going!

In order to fill in the blanks and numerous questions stirred up in our minds from this little tour, we bought a book in the handy train station gift shop. It also shares the stories the miners tell of their experiences. A good read I would say!

The final result of our mining excursion was a renewed interest to find more of the abandoned mines that scatter the landscape in our vacation area. But that is the next and final chaper yet to come!

More BC Vacation Time

No matter what the weather threw at us, we managed to get in some adventures we haven't in the winter months. As well as our "Teddy Bear Picnic Day" we went up to the top of the Hoodoos with Kevin and Kels. Guess what Brent & Kirstin? The Geocache is still there!! On the way back down we walked the cliff edge this time and worked our way through the tops of the hoodoos and all the sand dunes created by the prevailing winds!



STILL THERE!



KEV AND KELSEY ENJOYING THE VIEW



RESTING ON THE EDGE OF THE HOODOO CLIFF



INTERESTING HOODOO FORMATIONS!



HOODOO HOLE!



GROW WHERE YOU CAN!



AGAIN, A BEAUTIFUL VIEW DOWN THE VALLEY!

Our Annual Vacation in BC

Another yearly vacation in BC at our home away from home has come and gone. This was the first time we went during summer months - anticipating warm weather and lots of sunshine! Good thing we weren't counting on that to make or break the vacation! In fact this is what we drove home through (once back in Alberta though).



THE DRIVE HOME!

Back to our time in BC!

One day Peter took me on a romantic picnic in the woods. It turned out to be either more, or maybe less, than we bargained for! We are pretty sure we saw bear tracks along the way to our destination. No person in their right mind would go around with "bare" feet sliding down the drying rained on pathway! And driving out later we did see a black bear cross the roadway! So I do believe our romantic picnic had the potential of being a teddy bears' picnic.

Teddy Bears' Picnic by J. W. Bratton & J. Kennedy

If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go down to the woods today
You better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

No matter what, while watching over our shoulders we were able to have a hurried picnic lunch along the river bank looking upstream to the Lower Bugaboo Falls. They were gorgeous! Especially when the sun peeked through the clouds to brighten them up!



LOWER BUGABOO FALLS



STILL SMILING!

On our way to Bugaboo Falls we made one other side trip earlier that day. Our oldest son would be so proud of us! We drove up Swansea Mountain until the Forestry Service Road came to an end and we had to hike the last half a kilometer or so to the top. There are two hang-gliding ramps up there. I cannot imagine running and leaping off, trusting the airwaves to take you upwards and not plunging down into the valley below! But for those who enjoy such adventure what a beautiful place to soar with the birds!



TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN - HANG GLIDING RAMP!



INCREDIBLE VIEWS FROM THE TOP!



"OUR" MOUNTAIN

Some things never change!

Some things don't change! The party just grew, that's all! And so it should be!

LAKE LOUISE (BOW RIVER) - JULY/AUGUST 1998

PHYLLIS LAKE (CLEARWATER RIVER) - AUGUST 2008

Weekend of Yard Work!

Getting some yard work done can be fun and rewarding! Most people think spending the long weekend in the great outdoors is great - but the great outdoors of your own property getting it whipped into shape? Sure! Even with a new trailer sitting out back begging to be used, we needed to get our priorities straightened out for the weekend. Our poor front yard has been neglected for three years now. It got the basic mowing and weeding (for the most part) but the bark bed under the trees was in sorry shape! I'm glad to announce this is no longer true. NOW we can plan on camping this weekend with the kids. We are really really looking forward to this time together with them in another great outdoors. God's other great outdoors!



HOW MANY TOOLS DOES IT TAKE TO GET THE JOB DONE?



GETTING LANDSCAPE FABRIC DOWN - NO WEEDS!



SPREADING OUT THE CEDAR MULCH.

Peter and I make a great team! We put the fabric down together crawling around under the trees and around the cedars. Then I shovelled mulch from the pile into wheelbarrows and he spread it around and packed it in. We had a truck load of cedar mulch delivered early Friday morning (took the day off) and dumped on a tarp on the road out front. It was very important to get it in place as quickly as we could. The last bit for the back yard that didn't make it there is dragged to the side of the house - still wrapped up in the tarp. I think the tarp won't hold back water anymore. Oh well, it's one of the ones purchased to cover the wood etc while building the station. I think it has served it's purpose over and over again!



GLAD IT IS DONE!

Now all we have to finish doing is getting some more barrel planters for next year to place around in the cedar and reseed part of the front lawn. There is always something more isn't there? I'm just glad to be this far! Now about that camping ....



LET'S GO!

Chain Lakes

READY TO GO!

We picked up the new trailer! We both really like it and are anxious to get lots of good use out of it, even this season! So much so we went camping right away with Cor and Joanne. They were heading out for the weekend and once they knew we were picking up a our trailer on Friday they invited us to join them. Cor was amazing as he helped Peter adjust to all the new things you wish you knew, but don't, about a trailer. Lots comes from experience and we gleaned from their experience! So first of all a big huge THANK YOU to them for making our first camping trip out a good experience!

As soon as we pulled out from the RV dealership we got on the QE II which rapidly became the Deerfoot Trail running from north to south Calgary. Our destination for the weekend was west of Nanton and the quickest way there was through the city. I guess if we can go on the busiest freeway in the busiest city on a sunny Friday afternoon during rush hour, we can drive anywhere! We were relieved though to arrive at the quiet little Provincial Park in the south west foothills of this beautiful province we live in! Cor and Joanne had a site reserved for us so we only had to pull in, unhook and take all our camping gear from the back of the truck and load it into our yet unused trailer! Probably easier said than done! With Cor's help Peter got our new little home in place and we set up housekeeping!



WHEW! WE'VE ARRIVED!



"LEARNER" AND THE "LEARNED"

There are no individual fire pits anymore in the campsites so we had to fore go that important part of camping and sit around the "coffee table" and visit. (We had good visits both Friday and Saturday night!) We were so excited to sleep in our new "home sweet home" we couldn't get to sleep Friday night! When we finally did, we slept very well.



"PRETEND IT'S A FIRE!"

Saturday morning we had a fun morning cooking our first meal in our little home on wheels. We cooked and ate inside since nothing was set up outside yet.



BEFORE BREAKFAST



AFTER BREAKFAST

Saturday we went into Nanton and went to the Air Museum featuring a Lancaster bomber from WW II. It is a very interesting collection of war planes and items gleaned from that time period. The plain metal building from outside hides this fact! After spending a number of hours wandering inside and watching a well documented film concerning the strategy involved during bombing raids we wandered the town looking for a coffee shop. The obvious one in town was closed due to a family funeral. We finally managed to find a little roadside cafe that satisfied the craving.



LANCASTER BOMBER



MORE PRETENDING!

After a very filling bar-b-que supper cooked individually and shared at one site we went for a long walk to see how far up the lake we could see. The wildflowers were gorgeous and so much like many seen in the mountainsides themselves. The area around Chain Lakes is unique with shrubs domineering the foliage instead of stands of trees, but very pleasing to the eye! The weather was warm and breezy, which helped keep the mosquitoes blowing right on by! (Each morning the air was calm - windy by afternoon - and once again calm by evening.)



LOOKING BACK TOWARDS THE CAMPGROUND



LOOKING OUT TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS



LOTS OF FLOWERS TO EXAMINE!

Before we were ready for it, Sunday afternoon arrived and it was time to pull away and head our separate directions! A good first camping experience and looking forward to more this summer.