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.

Day 236 - Wed 08-26

The Muyaba's and their London family came over for the afternoon. Jim and I wanted to be able to spend a bit more quality time with G & M

It was a beautiful day - nice and hot - so we spent it outside, mostly.






Jim thought M looked like he'd enjoy running the tractor for a bit. It was a win/win situation....M got to 'be a farmer' and Jim got his west field plowed up.






Taliah is changing so much.....becoming a little personality.







Of course, Seth took his turn at 'driving' the tractor....






Actually, he let his Uncle give him a real ride on the tractor - and he didn't cry as soon as it was turned on!


TK takes a moment to contemplate life.....








G and M celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary today.

Daniel drove them to Leduc where they had booked a nice room to spend an evening all alone in honor of their special day.

After he dropped them off, Daniel went out to the lake to spend the evening with Mike and Victoria.

As his parents were driven away, Kathryn distracted TK by asking for a kiss......

Actually, he didn't need much distraction.....he was quite happy to be with his uncle and aunt.

Vinj and Kath and the kids stayed to have supper with us then hurried home to get TK to bed 'on schedule'.

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.