Day 283 Saturday, October 24

Remember the hole in our basement wall? Well, Jim put a temporary 'plug' in it and then we sort of forgot about it over our busy summer.

It is fall now, and the rodents are attracted to the warmth of the house. We remembered the hole but unfortunately, Jim was away at work.

One of the benefits of having Daniel at home is that he is pretty handy at things like fixing holes in basement walls......it was the first thing he did after settling himself in the house.






As for me.....my temperature is normal today. I feel better but now am coughing and sniffling - not alot, but ......

This evening was the more 'public' celebration of Jessica and Brock's marriage. I'm glad I was feeling well enough to go.

How many brides get to get all 'dooed up' and wear their wedding gown TWICE?

I think Brock looked happier and certainly less nervous than he did on October 3....their actual wedding day.

One of the many relatives I was able to touch base with tonight was newborn Rebecca Jayne....great granddaughter of my Aunt Mavis....granddaughter of my cousin Gail........daughter of Crystal, who is the same age as Kathryn. Rebecca was born the same day as Ava.

It was good to see so many rellies and long time family friendss in one place. Here, my cousin Jodi greets my mom.....

All my kids were also there, all looking handsome or beautiful. My grandkids provided much entertainment for the baby loving ladies of my family and the older girls played hard with Seth, Donny and Luca and Jessica`s friend`s little ones.

There are plenty of other photos, but I`m going to try end the year by fulfilling the original goal of this blog ...... ONE photo a day. I already did not accomplish this goal today.

As to that goal......I have felt that this blog has taken away from my original blog. I don`t think it would have if I had stuck to the original purpose. I was supposed to post ONE photo with very limited journalling. Since I`ve not done that, obviously, the posts on this blog have become what would have been on my original blog and since everyone that visits this blog also visits the other blog, I did not want to repeat info on the original.

For this reason (the fact that 365 is taking away from Musings) I am going to focus on the photo aspect of this blog. If I cannot keep myself from posting multiple photos and journalling about them, I will discontinue this blog at the end of the year. If I can actually take or choose ONE photo to give a pictoral history of my life, I will continue next year.

Now you have fair warning.

Day 272. Monday Oct 12

Jim had to go back to work tonight by 6 pm.




We had a turkey that had to be cooked.




Jim also had several jobs he wanted done before he left for work.




So.....Rob and Andrew came out to clear the old mattresses from the basement and take the foozeball table down and store it out of the way. This left some room in the basement to begin working on cleaning it out.

Jim, in spite of feeling pretty rough because of the cold he had, worked all day getting the yard ready for winter. He spent most of the time working on the dog pen-house.

The ill fitting doors needed to be repaired so the wind would not whistle through the openings around them.....

He also pulled out the old couch that had been in there for the dogs bed and swept all the accumulated shredded dog food bags out, leaving the dogs with a nice, clean house, furnished with plush, cedar filled beds.......

......and kept warm with 2 heat lamps.....

Here are Rob and Andrew - they were supposed to be just taking the foozeball table, but they got involved in going through some boxes, finding treasures from the past.

Rob and Lana were cooking a turkey at their house (pre-planned) and Andrew joined them so he could also watch the hockey game. Vinj and Kath had previous plans. Mike and Tor, of course, were sticking close to home - still having contractions. Daniel was advised to stay in Edmonton because of the roads and weather.

So it was that our Turkey was cooked and enjoyed by only 6.....Mel and Ken, Scott and Chelsea (Suzanne has been sick) and us.......

It was a comparitavely quiet meal and Jim left almost as soon as we had eaten.

I packed up all the leftovers for Daniel (who provides his own food at Mike and Victoriaès) and for Vinj and Kath who had been bitterly disappointed not to be able to partake in turkey and dressing.

Day 271 ~ Sunday, October 11

Turkey Day......or at least, that was the plan.

I got up early because we figured the turkey should be in the oven by 10 a.m. but before I could make the stuffing, etc, I'd have to finish another project I had started the day before.....I was drying beet greens in my dehydrator. The leaves were dry but I needed to remove them from the racks, crumble and store them before I could put the machine away, thus clearing my counter space. The greens crumbled easily but the stems were another story. After trying to crush them manually for about 15 minutes, I got the bright idea to put it all through the VitaMix. That made quick work of them, for sure, but now I was left with powder instead of crumbled leaves and stems.

Well, at least the job was done....I will use the powdered beet greens in soups, etc. over the winter......they add a large amount of vitamins and nutrients.

Just when I was about to start to make the stuffing (10 a.m.) Michael called and asked if we could all come there to have Thanksgiving since Tor had been having contractions all night and morning.

Of course, we did not want her way out here if she needed to go to the hospital, so we agreed and began calling everyone. I decided that taking an unstuffed turkey to Edmonton was not an option unless we wanted to eat very late, so I loaded up all the veggies and trimmings and we stopped at Safeway to buy a couple roasts instead.

Victoria was, indeed, having fairly regular contractions, and she spent most of the day resting and relaxing - only coming to the kitchen to show me where to find something....until after supper, that is - then she washed what dishes did not go in to the dishwasher.

The substance of the meal is not as important as the company we eat it with so no one complained about the lack of Turkey.

As always, we enjoyed being together.

Toward the end of the afternoon, it began to snow. Big, fluffy flakes that looked beautiful....

Andrew left first and soon after he was calling to inform us that the roads were pure ice. We all made plans to travel back together so no one would go off the road and be stuck alone on the side of the highway.

Andrew did call a bit later to say that after Nisku the roads began to get better. We still planned to leave together. Since Rob and Lana had their kids in the van and were waiting when Taliah decided she wanted to eat, we sent Mel and Ken and Rob and Lana off together and then Vinj and Kath followed us after Taliah was settled.

The roads to just past Beaumont were absolutely glare ice but they gradually got better the farther south we went.

And no baby tonight.

Day 270...Saturday, Oct 10

Since it is Thanksgiving weekend, Jim is not working - YAY! Two weekends in a row that he has been able to be home.

However, he came home feeling quite sick and our weekend was pretty full of plans.

Today, he had to get to the lab in Edmonton to drop off the soil sample kits from the last 2 abandonments he had done.

We made a stop at Costco to pick up some dog beds for the shed which Jim was planning to work on tomorrow. We also picked up some new jeans for Jim - in a size smaller than he has been wearing!

He also had some reports to write and paper work to do today but we wanted to attend the birthday celebration of our twin nephews in Sylvan Lake. So.....I drove and Jim worked.....

We spent an hour and a half or so at the birthday party for Joey and Titus.......

Then went home to regroup before heading out to church for the evening.

Day 233 Sunday 08-23

We had a wonderful family day today.....we celebrated Daniel's return home as well as my birthday.

We were all happy to have the opportunity to meet and interact with Vinjelu's sister and brother-in-law, G & M

Scott wasted no time in getting over here to spend time with Daniel.....







Daniel was introduced to his newest niece......

It was great to get to know M and TK.....

And, of course, G......

One of the activities of the afternoon was picking raspberries - Dad, Jessica, and Victoria all took a turn at the berry patch with Jessica being the most serious.

A huge swarm of bees was spotted early in the day, buzzing around the barn. We were afraid they were going to take up habitation in the old hive in the barn walls which we had filled with insulation foam a few years ago. However, after 'resting' on the outside of the barn for a short while, they disappeared.



This photo is of the last small group of bees before they all flew away. Previously, the swarm had covered this corner of the barn about 12 feet high.......

Great Auntie Melanie and Uncle Ken brought over the 'Little Tikes' car, truck, and trike that Steven and Scott played on when they were little. Seth had been in the truck once before so he waited rather impatiently while Auntie and Uncle gave the vehicles a 'bath'.

These toys were a big hit with Seth and TK....and later on with Kaden as well.

Thanks, Uncle Ken and Auntie Mel!

Of course, since Daniel has been gone for 5 months (and he's lost 20 pounds), it was inevitable that one of his brothers would challenge him to see if he had gotten any stronger......

Andrew claims the victory but then HE walked away with a broken finger!


I was blessed with many lovely gifts, including these lillys from Jessica and Donny.....

.....and these roses from Rob and Lana and the kids......

It would not be practical to include photos from every aspect of our day on this blog, I'll just say that we all had a wonderful time enjoying one another. I was blessed by each and every person who shared the day with us.

We ended the evening around the fire - unfortunately, the temperature dropped to be awfully close to 0 C....... we were not very comfortable, but we are stubborn Albertans - it is AUGUST for goodness sake! If we want to sit outside at midnight, we WILL - even if it is only 7 C!

Although the air was pretty nippy, the sunset was very pretty and only signalled the end of daylight, not the end of the party.

Day 101 - April 12, Resurrection Sunday

"Easter" Sunday.....although I prefer the title "Resurrection Sunday"......a good excuse for a FAMILY DAY.....and Turkey Dinner....

Here are the components of a fun day:

Start with a chocolate egg hunt in the living room.....

Then take a 'bucket ride' on Grampa's tractor.......

Go up to the barn loft for a game of "Old Guy Basketball"....in deference to the fact that Robert seems to sprain his ankle every time they play BBall conventionally. Since they play "OGBB", the boys were able to convince their dad to play too......

Lots of room for two games up there!

Take a nap......

Play peek-a-boo around the 'greenhouse shelf' ........

.....While Grampa reads about when Jesus gave Himself for us and then rose from the dead.....

Bundle up a bit and sit around the fire.......

Another fun day together....although we missed 5 family members who could not be with us......

Vinj, Kath, Seth, Keltie, and Daniel.