Day 298 - Sunday, Nov 8

"Church Service" at the retreat......We all wondered why Vinj got up and started loading himself down with all their bags and baby paraphanalia. Turns out, he was giving us an illustration of how we carry things with us on our journey that really have nothing to do with our final destination - Heaven.

Day 250 - Sunday, September 20

It was nice to start my day with the Muyaba's in my home...


My enjoyment of them, however, put me a little behind in leaving for the baby shower. Like an hour behind, at least.

I was so blessed when I arrived at the church to find that Judy and Sherry had already made coffee and set up the dining room for the event. I still had to rush around a little, since I'd run out of the house without makeup and wearing everyday clothing. Judy ran to Safeway for me to get some flowers for the table and soon, ladies began to arrive bearing gifts and food.

What a blessing to see so many women come to honor my daughter and welcome my grandbaby into the world! Most of the guests were ladies from the church - plus Kathryn's sisters, her grandma, Auntie Mel, and cousins Jessica and Suzanne.


The selection of food showed love and care for Kathryn.....

Kath was overwhelmed by the number of gifts brought for her baby girl......

Many of those bags were packed FULL of lovely things!

Taliah, being the guest of honor, was on her best behavior for most of the afternoon....

Titus was the only male who stayed for the shower.....his Uncle Dan had been there for a little while, before we got started......Ty was a good boy - as long as his mommy kept him with her. I held him for about 20 minutes when Lana went back home for some pens - that boy is heavy! I ended up having to pass him over to Uncle Dan before Lana got back.

There were many truly beautiful gifts - most in the sizes we had requested.

Jessica painted letters to spell Taliah's name....Kath loved the personal nature of this lovely gift.

When the ladies began to filter out, Judy and Sherry again were invaluable as they and a few others began to clean up and put everything back in order.

The shower was a success - thanks to people who love my daughter.

Day 242 - Saturday, September 12

The first day Jim is working again...I don't like his being gone, but a person needs to make enough income to keep the wolves at bay.

Daniel took the Excursion in to Camrose to buy the lumber he will need to build the entry over the root cellar stairs. I did some baking for the 'snack box' while he was gone.






When he returned, Dan surprised me with this item that he had obtained from a garage sale in Wetaskiwin the night before.....

It is a 'Pampered Chef' cheese grater - and it looks brand new. He didn't pay anything for it because the folks had just been closing up shop and let him just take it. What a windfall, eh?

We had a 'tailgate party' before church tonight....that is, they BBQ'd hot dogs and smokies in the back of a pickup and had salads and chips spread out on the tailgate of another truck. We sat on chairs in the parking lot, visited, and enjoyed the sunshine. I ate before I came because hot dogs are too high in sodium and fat for me to eat guilt free.

Vinjelu and Daniel walked over to the skate park and invited all who were there to come and share our meal. We were soon almost overrun by teenage boys on bicycles and skateboards. They ate, and talked a little to those who went over to them, then they left - hopefully, feeling like they would be accepted if they ever decided to come into a service

I think this was the only table set up...Vinj, Seth, Kathryn, and Donny A enjoyed use of it.

Vinj and Kath, with the help of the Abts, led worship tonight. Seth had 'practiced' with them for the whole hour and a half before the tailgate party. He was going to play the drum during worship - but, I think he'd had his fill of sitting relatively still.....he only lasted about 10 minutes into the service.

Next time, I think they should NOT have him practice, then he might sit and participate through the whole service.

He's so cute, though...he kept asking Tammy to turn the mike toward him so he could sing into it. She did, a couple times.

In this photo, he is clapping rather than beating his drum....

Robert and Lana both got new glasses today.......

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 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)

Day 233 - Thursday, Sept 3

Rob and Lana, Jim and I travelled with Vinj and Kath (and Taliah) to Edmonton to meet Mike and Victoria (and Kaden) for a business meeting. Of course, I took photos of my kids/grandkids.

Here is Taliah, travelling happily and quietly.....

When we got to our destination, Kath took some time in the van to feed Taliah....

Last night, Kaden fell onto the edge of the headboard of his parent's bed, gashing his head and necessitating a trip to the emergency ward at the Wetaskiwin hospital - resulting in 5 or so stitches. This event earned him the nickname "Crash" from his Papa.

After our meeting, we all went out for supper to the Olive Garden where we had a fun visit.

Daniel generously babysat the girls, Titus, and Seth. What a guy!

Day 238 Friday 08-28

This was the last day Gwanire and Mandalisto would be in Wetaskiwin so Jim and I went in to spend the afternoon with them at the Muyaba's.

One of the activities of the afternoon was shopping at WalMart. For some reason, they wanted to go to WalMart. Go Figure.

Actually, I understood when Gwanire was amazed at the prices....so much lower than in the UK.

Here are some photos from our WalMart excursion.

Back at the apartment, we spent some time outside in the sunshine.

Seth and Tikondwe snacked on apples.....

Supper was BBQed steaks and chicken.

The men stood outside and manned the grill (and talked) while the ladies stayed inside to make the sides and care for babies. And look at all the purchases Gwani made at WalMart. LOL

We also took photos of Taliah, of course....

After supper (which was a little late), Jim and I said our good byes to the Kolombes, and Vinj, Kath, Gwanire, Mandalisto, and Taliah went bowling. Daniel stayed behind to babysit Seth and TK.

Vinj and Kath will drive them to the airport in Calgary tomorrow, leaving Seth behind with Rob and Lana thus saving him from sitting in the carseat for 6 hours.