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 232 - Wednesday, September 2

When I left this afternoon to go get my nails done, Jim was taking the wheel off his truck in preparation to change the ball joints.

He was very happy that he had purchased an impact wrench for himself before beginning the job.

For some reason, he chose one of the hottest days of the month to do this labor intensive task. He was very pleased with himself that he was able to successfully complete the job - he really had had doubts that he could do it. Personally, I was very proud of him.

I took a photo of this orange snapdragon, just because I like the color. The photo isn't the best, but you can still see the color, at least.

As always, I enjoyed my hour and a half with my sister while she gave me a fresh set of nails. Afterward, we went out to the hot sun (escaping her hot shop) while she waited for her next client. Main Street on Camrose is a pretty place to sit and wait......

Day 231 Tuesday, Sept 1

Daniel moved the sled he crashed on Christmas Eve over to where the other sled is parked. He began to work at removing the broken pieces to be bent back into shape - or replaced, as the case may be.

He is working on the snowmachine because he wants to be able to ride it this winter......does that mean winter is just around the corner?









Together again.....and now, I can take a picture of the field or the sunset without having a snowmachine to shoot around.






While Dan was working, Jim was........

.....reading....for my birthday present. (See my 'Musings' blog for details, if you don't know what I'm talking about)

He has finished 'Mrs. Mike' which he said was interesting from a historical standpoint. He has worked in the area that the main part of the book took place so it had a personal draw for him. His comment, as he was reading the last few pages, though..."Everyone dies in this stupid book".

Today, though he is reading "Deception" by Randy Alcorn. I do not see how anyone could not be entertained by this book. I guess we will see if he likes it - he has just started it.

Daniel went from the snow machines to chopping up the tree that blew onto the road last spring. He dragged it into the yard before he left for Montana so it should be pretty dry by now. Here is a series of photos of him working hard. We told him to use the chain saw for cutting into pieces then the axe for splitting. He wanted a hard workout, though, so he shunned the saw.

He should have listened to his dad, I think! Now the tree is still in one piece and the axe is in two pieces.

Remember the volunteer viola that was growing between the boards of our deck? Sadly, it died in spite of being watered regularly. However, another plant has appeared several feet away from where the first one was.......

Day 230 Monday, August 31

I took Seth to the doctor for Kathryn today.....he's had a cough and runny nose for about 12 days.

When I got home, Jim and Dan had returned from Edmonton where they had gone to buy us a new freezer. Dan was laying in the hot sun on the trampoline, 'talking to God'.

My garden looked nice, so I walked over to take some photos. My brussel sprouts are still pretty small, but I continue to be fascinated by this plant....

The nastertiums are finally blooming - their bold colors are worth the wait!

Here is the main focus of the day.....still on the trailer.....

After supper it was 'out with the old'.....

The countertops were full of frozen and half frozen food (mostly half frozen - thus the need for a new freezer)

The new freezer, besides being frost free, has a few bells and whistles.....an outside temperature readout, a 'fast freeze' feature, and alarms when the door is ajar or the temperature rises above a certain point.

The interior is slightly smaller, due to the frost free feature, but it is organized a little better....

MOST of what was in the old freezer went into the new.....it IS a little smaller, after all. BUT there are features (like baskets) that make it more efficient.

I am happy to think I will not have to de-frost this freezer!

Day 240 Sun. 08 - 30

57 years ago today, Jim Hutchinson Sr and Aryel Wakelin became man and wife.

We took advantage of this fact and the beautiful weather and gathered our family and the Ritchies in Red Deer to celebrate with them in their back yard.

Jim and I made this card/photoboard for them on behalf of the whole family......





We printed the photos large so Mom could see them easily.

Here, they take a trip down memory lane after Jim revealed the 'card'.....

57 years is certainly cause for celebration.

What is the secret to being married for 57 years?

Don't leave. Don't give up. (that is MY advise)

I took a gazillion pictures (what a surprise) and decided to just include these photos above, of the guest of honor - except for this photo that I include simply because it makes me laugh.....

Be sure to click on this one to enlarge it.....you'll smile, too.

Day 239 Sat. 08 - 29

I joined several other ladies today for a wedding shower in honor of Jessica Tia.






Janice did a nice job of organizing and planning the event.....with some help from her mom.






My SIL Angela was there, with her 10 1/2 month old twin boys. Here is Titus (I think) who would not smile for me.







Of course, there were gifts....that is, after all, what a shower is all about - an opportunity to 'shower' the bride with gifts.....







The twins enjoyed the wrapping paper.

The rest of us enjoyed the gifts....

Sarah made and decorated this cute cake for the occassion....

After the shower, I visited at Rob and Lana's for about half an hour until it was time for me to go to church. Daniel brought Jim in for the service.

After church, we visited with Andrew for about 45 minutes outside his house.

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.