Days 217, 218, 219 - Friday August 7 - Sunday August 9

This weekend was our 6th annual "Family Campout"......this year, we rented the Living Springs Bible Camp instead of going camping. One of the best decision we've ever made! We had a great time and the facility was awesome!

Here are just a few photos from the weekend......I'd put more on, but it takes a long time with my internet connection and I am running out of time.

Good fun, good food, family, games, activities, laughing, talking, playing, eating.......

Day 217 Thursday August 6

Jim's still not feeling very good, but he was getting a bit of cabin fever so he decided to come with me to town on my mission to get groceries for the weekend.

Before town, though, we took Andrew a jug of water at his worksite.

We came home, unloaded the groceries, and sat down to check our mail, etc. We were both a little tired (we'd done quite alot of shopping - at different stores) and Jim was especially dragging, since he still isn't feeling up to par.

Less than 10 minutes after we sat down, the dogs started barking and we were pleasantly surprised to find we had guests......Mom and Dad Hutch were in the yard, greeting the dogs. Needless to say, we sat down and visited them - getting the lowdown on Dad's appointment in Calgary with the Cardiologists.

Dad and I took a short tour of my garden to discover that the dogs have been enjoying the cabbage! (Emma had told me this before, but I thought she meant they were eating the leaves)

When I went into the house to unpack groceries and make us some supper, I discovered that there was a 'Mini Pansy' growing between the boards of the deck!

This little guy must have grown from a seed that dropped between the boards from one of the flowers that I grew last summer! Cool, eh?

After supper, we started working on our meal preps for the campout. Jim peeled and cooked potatoes. I cooked eggs and made Jello and ........I forget what else I made, but I also did quite a bit of packing so we'd be ready early in the a.m.

Mom helped me peel eggs.

Rob and Lana showed up during all this preparation......they came to pick raspberries so Lana could make a fresh raspberry sauce for pancakes on Saturday morning.

Lizzy helped her mom. They got a full pail of berries.

Robert and Titus stayed inside and visited with Grampa.

A long, busy day.......Mom and Dad went over to visit at Ritchie's for a couple hours after Mel got home then came back to sleep in our spare bed (which THEY put clean sheets on for me). That is something else I did today - laundry and putting clean sheets on both beds.

Day 216 - Wednesday, August 5

This afternoon, I spent a few hours helping Kathryn unpack and get organized in their new apartment.

Oh! Didn't you know they had moved? I'm not surprised.....it was pretty quick - they began to actually move within 3 hours of being approved at the apartment - on Monday.

I used Kath's baby carrier thingy (Lana has one too) to carry Taliah around while I worked. I wish I had had something like this when I had babies! What a great invention!

Here is a photo of the living room from the kitchen. It is not big, but it also does not seem cramped.

And, the kitchen/living room from the front (back?) door.....

One of the best things about this apartment - their own laundry room with brand new machines!

We gave Seth the big bottom drawer for his toy box.

Just had to sneak in another photo of Taliah.....

The kids' room.....you can see Seth's new toddler bed in the corner..... there is room for a double bed, the change table, and a cupboard type storage closet they have - and still enough floor space for Seth to play...

Back at home, and after supper, I took out my 'Hutchy's Cookin Book' to get some ideas for the meals I am responsible for at our campout.......I was very sad to discover that most of the pages are damaged to some extent due to water leaking through the ceiling......I pulled the still wet pages out and layed them across the table to dry. About half the pages, although damaged, are no longer wet.

Oh well.....I guess when Danny gets married, his wife's cookbook will be copied from a copy.

Day 215 - Tuesday, August 4

Jim took these photos of Bear, sound asleep on the deck....

This is about how fast Jim and I moved today......we are taking it easy in deference to how Jim is feeling.

Day 214 - Monday, August 3

I started the day by going to Vinj and Kathryn's for a few hours.

Then, Rob, Lana and the kids came out for the afternoon. In spite of Jim being quite sick, we enjoyed having them all here.

Liz, showing Titus her drawing.....

Liz and Soph cuddling with Papa - and being silly

Day 213 - Sunday, August 2

Jim and I spent another quiet day since he is feeling quite sick.

I accomplished a few things, however.....

I picked tomatoes from my inside plant - there were about 10 that had ripened in the last 2 days.

We took a walk around the yard to find a few things that had blown off the deck in the storm the night before......I found this, laying on the ground beside one of the pine trees......

The egg is empty and the nest sports pieces of Lucy's hair!

Later, I spent time in my raspberry patch.....

The raspberries are full of thistles so I must wear long sleeves, jeans, and boots to pick berries. Normally, I take care of this job early in the day so it is not too hot. Today, I went out in the middle of the afternoon - not so smart.

In spite of the heat, I got 3/4 of a pail of berries! Not bad for the first picking.

Day 212 - Saturday, August 1

Potluck supper at church - with a twist.....

Soon after we started, the power went out!

A severe wind/thunderstorm came through at about 5:45 p.m. The same storm that tragically blew the big stage down at Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose.

In the basement of the church, we were aware of the storm only because we had no lights.

Someone knew where there were enough candles to keep us in low light for the rest of the evening. It was kind of fun, but made pictures rather difficult....

Kathryn and Don A led worship - unplugged - using headlamps (where did they come from, anyway?) to light their music....

It was a fun evening until we heard the report of the downed stage at BJV.....Andrew was there, with a VIP pass....also, the son of one of the elders was there with the same kind of pass - one that would make it possible that either or both of our sons were on the stage at the time.

We found out later that Scott and his friends were also there.

We were relieved to get ahold of Andrew almost right away - and Scott, within an hour after we learned he was there.

The other family didn't hear directly from their son while we were all there, but they had heard from someone else that the group he was with was in the camping area at the time.

I am thankful for God's hand on His children.

Day 211 - Friday, July 31

We participated in a surprise birthday party for SheriLyn tonight. We met Vinj, Kath, Trisha and kids at West Edmonton Mall. SheriLyn's parents made up an excuse to come to the mall and she was blessed by several people showing up to celebrate with her.

We had supper at Moxie's.....good food, reasonable service, good company.

Happy Birthday, SheriLyn.




SheriLyn had been gone for 2 weeks - so she wasn't here when Taliah was born. She lost no time in catching up, however.

Day 210 - Thursday, July 30

A quiet day at home, together.....

Our supper.....

Day 209 - Wednesday, July 29

Since Jim is no longer working for the time being, we met Vinjelu and Kathryn in Red Deer so that Taliah could meet her Great Grandparents Hutchinson......

Great Grandpa had fun playing with Seth......

Seth ended the day with an ice cream cone.....I think he enjoyed it!

Day 208 - Tuesday, July 28

A couple photos from my indoor vegetables.....

These Roma Tomatoes are super sweet.

Day 207 - Monday, July 27

I've been busy mowing grass lately.....here's a look at part of the back yard after it's been cut.

Day 206 Sunday July 26

Andrew came over to show us his 'bonus' that his boss gave him......

Day 205 - Saturday, July 25

We celebrated Victoria's birthday today - at Coal Lake, where she and Michael reside for the summer months.

It was a very hot day and we spent most of the afternoon at or on the lake.

I left a little early so I could be at church - Vinjelu was speaking for the first time. He did great!