August Mourn

I have a friend that loves Neil Diamond. Every day for the month of September, she plays his song September Morn while her kids get ready for school. Well, tomorrow is the first day of school,but wait...it's not September. Now, some of you may say "My kids started last week. " To that I say that would be fine if we got out the beginning of June.

But, we didn't.

It was June 28

11:50am, to be exact.

And, to global warming I say : Where were you this summer? I really needed you in those rainy months. The dog days of summer never came. I never got tired of the heat, never yearned for the feel of a Fall sweater, never really thought "when does school start 'cause (fill in son's name here), you're driving me crazy".

And that is why tomorrow I will mourn.

Bye boys. It was fun while it lasted!

Heritage Day

Monday was Heritage Day in Alberta- probably more commonly known as "the holiday in August"! Well, to celebrate we went to the Southern Alberta Ethnic Association event. There were display and craft booths from 20 or so ethnicities. Our favorite were the food booths, though. We ate Vietnamese wontons and fresh homemade perogies from the Polish Association. We should/could have been more adventuresome as there was Afghan, Sudanese and Filipino food as well as 12 other nationalities. For dessert we ate Keke (Tongan donuts) and mango lemonade from the Polynesian hut. It was a great day.

All that eating was followed by a long bike ride- had to burn it all off some how!

travel mugs

A little late, but better than never...

These 2 were great travelling partners. The "Blues Brothers" were caught enjoying a cool windy day at Cannon Beach, OR in May.
This little cutie was adoorbell (isn't that how seriously, so blessed would write "adorable", Kins?)
She was SO fun to visit.
This was a picture of the boys before their first plane ride. Good times had by all! Thanks Gram and Smith fam

sport FAN-atics

What a couple of months it has been. World Cup soccer was HUGE in our house. Dean cheered incessantly for Brazil (even though this is Owen) From the beginning, Owen had chosen SPAIN. You maybe heard the "scream heard 'round the world" at 116 minutes last Sunday into the final game. That's my Owen. He likes winning and winners. (Seriously, if Spain lost, it would have been miserable at our home)
First of July in Raymond- the Witbeck/Price/whoever else shows up to eat reunion. Uncle G brought his slack line which was a big hit. We had a lot of fun with our cousins from here, Calgary and Nevada.
Oh, and this...Lord Stanley's Cup made an appearance in our beloved little city! Kris Versteeg, formerly of Lethbridge, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks, brought the NHL cup here July 3. Bru and I were at Trek (i'll tell you more about that another time), so my DEAR mother took the boys and stood in line for over 2 hours to see it. These photos were taken by Dean.

Today the boys finished a week long sports camp:football and basketball. They learned alot and had fun. Since we are not big baseball fans, and there's no Summer Olympics, I think that this sporting family can take a break for a bit...like until tomorrow when Bruce runs his race.

Nike (or adidas, or someone else) was right...there is no finish line!!!!

summer is here!

BOYS and GIRLS-

man, there has not been much good stuff in the world to speak of. the weather in these parts has been almost unbearable (rain, rain, please stay away), our kids are STILL in school, we have no summer plans.

and then...like the shining, silver lining on those rainclouds that have been covering the sky of most of Alberta...

I turned on the tv tonight

and it was as if the sunbeams of heaven were shining directly upon me and my family as we enjoyed and celebrated the return of summer:

the season premier of WIPEOUT!!!!!

the big balls, big spills and the witty banter/play by play of its hosts John squared; it doesn't get better than this.

SUMMER IS HERE, FOLKS

when life gives you lemons...

So I am very disappointed tonight as I have been trying to load a video clip of the boys' piano recital (it's awesome, if I do say so- their playing- not my recording), but to no avail.

So, I did the next best thing and changed the blog.

It's not perfect but it'll do for tonight; Nothing like lightening up for summer!

I can't wait to spend some lazy days reading a good book on some soft green grass, drinking the raspberry lemonade mix I bought at Harry and David's, or playing (fill in the blank with any sport) with the boys outside. Just go ahead and ask me how many more sleeps until school is done (15 including the weekends).

We just can't wait for summer to begin...

the funnies

I love to read the newspaper. Especially the comics. I've been a fan of a few dailies over the years. Last year when our local paper "updated" the section I was quite upset. How dare they change my routine. Some of those characters had become part of my life and then, suddenly, they were gone. Here's one I saw today. And I smiled...because, for me, as much as I complain about stuff, its true. What would I do without my friends?

Ironically, the guy I see the least is the friend I wish I could see more often! I guess Bruce is the reason I've got so many friends!! So, thanks, Bru.