Day 305....sunday, november 15

We had special guests this afternoon and overnight......

Day 259...Tuesday, Sept 29

I spent most of the day making a Christmas gift for the little girls.

Here's a hint as to what the gift is:

Don't tell!

Day 257 - Sunday, September 27

28 years ago today, our lives were blessed by the birth of our 2nd son...Michael Cameron. (To read my tribute to him, go to this link) The family gathered at Mike and Victoria's home to honor him and to celebrate.

Of course, some of my favorite subjects for photos are my grandbabies....

James Titus (aka Ty) is the epitome of cute little boy baby:

These are Victoria's 4 yr old twin brothers....Luke on the left and Joshua on the right. They are typical little boys - delightful.

My oldest grandbaby is not much of a baby anymore....she is growing up so fast - becoming prettier every day, it seems....

Elizabeth - whose newest nickname, bestowed by Seth, is "Bif" - makes a beautiful subject for photos:

Supper time, and some of the kids got their 'own' table.....Kaden was delighted to eat with his older cousins.

Mmmm.....Spaghetti and meat sauce.

Michael wisely removed Kaden's clothing before giving him a plate of spaghetti.

Kaden knows how to 'say cheese' for the camera - whether you ask him to or not.

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday dear Michael....Happy Birthday to you......

Many of the gifts were wrapped in paper adorned with Santas, reigndeer, and SNOWFLAKES. We warned Victoria that if it snows in the next few days - we're blaming HER!

This could be the last photo of Ava inutero.....

I'm sure Victoria hopes so.

Day 237....Monday, Sept 7 (Labor Day)

We spent the morning working on clearing the laundry room so Jim could mop the floor several times (because the backup of the sewer is concentrated in that room). Actually, Jim and Daniel did the majority of the work - with Dan taking things outside to sit on the deck until the floor was clean enough to put it back. We filled the gabage bin while we were at it - by 'purging' somewhat. I was too busy working to take photos, unfortunately. (Yes, it is true....I do not ALWAYS think of taking a picture)

The afternoon had already been booked as a BBQ with Vinj and Kath, SheriLyn, and Barry and Judy (from church). In spite of a rather cool wind (which I did not appreciate), we had a good time - and good food. It was nice to share our home and visit with 'new' people.

Barry and Judy brought along their own 2 boys as well as the Anderson boys, so the girls had a blast! They played so hard they barely stopped for supper....in fact, I don't think they did stop, at all - I know Liz and Soph ate hot dogs on the run and Emma never did come get her hamburger.

Some photos from the afternoon.....

Day 236 - Sunday, Sept 6

When you've been without a drain for 24 hours, you get a pile of dirty dishes......






By noon, the 'roto rooter' guy arrived to find where the blockage was in our sewer system.

Jim helped with the not so nice job.......the look on his face says 'something' is rather distasteful, to say the least.

Once the drain was clear (about 3 hours later), we went to watch the Roughriders beat the BlueBombers at Rob and Lana's. Their TV is now set up downstairs so it is not a distraction to the girls during school hours.

I took several photos of Titus - who always obliges with a different expression each time I point the camera at him....

After the football game, Jim was treated to the NASCAR race.......

During breaks in the action, Robert worked on organizing the basement. (They had just moved bedrooms/playrooms around)

A couple more Ty faces......

Mike and Victoria came over in time to 'watch' the race with us. Really, though, since Jim mutes the TV and listens to his computer, we just visit around the race - paying closer attention when there is a crash or Jim points something out. The kids also perk up if they see 'Kurt Busch' on the screen......they're a little behind the times though - Kurt is now Jim's 'second favorite'....Kurt's little brother Kyle has taken first spot. :D

Upstairs, the girls patiently waited for the race to be over so they could come home again with Gramma and Grampa.

It was pretty late when we got home and they crawled into bed.

Day 235 - Saturday, September 5

Today, Daniel took the doors off the 'china cupboard' in the kitchen for me. I've been contemplating doing this for some time.....My hope was that it would open up the kitchen a bit, making it seem a little larger and brighter.

Except that the crystal seems a little 'exposed' to accident, I like the new look.







I wonder what deep thoughts are going through Daniel's head?









The girls and Seth played hard outside all morning.....leaping from trailer to trailer (well, the girls did, not Seth).....

And playing on the trampoline......

Seth was a little stressed at the 'dogpile'....I think he was worried about Sophia.....

Elizabeth was in top form, gymnastically......

The girls have begun to 'dive' onto the trampoline.......

Here is Emma doing a flip.....

Lunch time.....Kraft Dinner and Hot Dogs......

Time for Seth to have a nap - he slept for several hours on the bed beside Uncle Dan at the computer.....

The afternoon was filled with sounds of harvest - and the air was filled with grain dust as the Hutterites combined the fields around us - running 4 combines at once.......

Our sewer backed up, unfortunately, so the afternoon was also spent waiting on a Vac Truck to suck out the septic tank in hopes that an empty tank would take care of the problem. The Vac Truck did not get here before it was time to leave for church so Jim stayed back to work with 'Winston' (think Red Green). Since we still had no functioning toilets, the girls went home after church with their mom.

Day 234 - Friday, Sept 4

Kathryn and Vinjelu asked us to come for a visit today......they wanted to be sure to have some time with Dad before he gets called to work and they 'don't see him again for months'. (we can only hope he gets called and there is that much work)

Of course, Jim spent some time walking Taliah, using his 'Grandpa hold'......

Our hosts:

Seth loves to hold Taliah.....

Jim and Seth had fun racing through the small house, Jim pushing Seth in his 'car', Seth giggling hysterically......

Seth and Papa 'read' some stories (about Seth and Taliah) out of these books, which Papa taught Seth had to be treated gently 'like a baby'.....

Now, they found a story book where there were pictures to go with the story.....(in other words, a children's book)......

No visit to the Muyaba's is complete without a photo of Taliah......

When we got home, Robert had brought the girls out for a few days at the farm. We had also brought Seth home with us so Kathryn could work on cleaning her house and catching up on laundry while Vinj was at work tonight.

There was a beautiful painting on the clouds after supper.....

Everyone came outside to enjoy the pretty sky - and play on the trampoline.....

A 'zoomed' photo of the sunset.....I liked the silouette of our neighbor's barn against the orange sky....

While the kids played on the tramp, Jim and I explored the garden and found this gigantic turnip.......

It is so big, it probably will not taste very good.



After the garden excursion, Grampa played a favorite game with the girls........(If I take my computer to Rob's this afternoon, I'll download a video of this game). Riotous laughter always ensues when Grampa is the 'monster'.

Finally, it is bedtime......but Seth's bag was without a sleeper. That would not have been a problem but he had to sleep on the floor of our room (rather cold) because the playpen was at the church after being at Vinj and Kath's for TK. Vinj and Kath took it to the church the other day when they were working there so that Seth could nap. When we left their house, Vinj had already gone to work and he had the key for the church. SO......I dug out a sleeper that belonged to Uncle Michael for Seth. Great Gramma Hutch had had it for at least 20 years (LOL) after she had fixed the zipper. She returned it to me a week or so ago. Lucky for Seth.

A full day.

SIDENOTE: While we were at Vinj and Kath's, Andrew was in our basement looking for a tent to take on a camping/quadding trip this weekend. He informed us that there was water on our floor. Daniel made sure the pump was running and by the time we got home, the water had been sucked off the floor. Problem solved (we thought)