So far this summer.....................

Jessica had a Gymnastics Day

Wow great handstand

On her floor routine

She did very well

Jessica got a medal

Good job Jessica!

Our first summer BBQ

There were many good friends

Lots of smiles

Brock and Clint with Clints new wheels

We sang happy birthday to David

A lovely picture of Kendra with Randy, you both look great!

Rob Becky and Justin soon to be four.....

Richards other Shelby

Some of my blooms

Da boys........

Da girls......

The fire was on with guests still there until 4am!

Flowers are looking lovely

Our peonies in bloom

Jaxi had a birthday party

The weather was perfect for pink feather boas and tiaras

The kids watched movies

The cake and feast scrumptious

The friends and family were all there

There was dancing too, a great night

A night at the Calgary Tower

Had a lovely dinner at the Calgary Tower with a group from Latin America and our LACA sales and support team from work

Remembering Forever Young Alphaville 1984

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2dLfUw8rcA

Back in 1984 the space age type clothes were the thing, see German pop group Alphaville from back then with above link. Though this song was popular 26 years ago, it is still a favourite and has been remixed several times including a recent Rap version that my kids like. I always prefer the orginal songs and the best part is looking at the then and now videos on You Tube of what they look like today, above was 1984 and today is here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eux3dT3tLf4

This song still inspires me and sure brings back memories, seems like it does for the people in the audience too!

A walk by the River in early April

Our neighbourhood is located next to the Bow River with lovely walking paths and a ravine that is easy to walk down but quite a breathless climb up. 

My son Eric and our dog Cujo came along

 In some areas it is steeper than others, but on this day we chose to walk to Beaver Dam Flats, there is a quaint bridge crossing to a picnic area with plenty of wildlife and people fishing along the river.

A  flood caused this bridge tobe rebuilt some years ago and it is actually much sturdier than the original one.

From this pathway you can reach a large picnic area complete with outdoor barbcues, just bring the wood and your food and you can enjoy a perfect nature walk amongst the Balsam Poplar trees

After climbing this hill back up I needed to sit for a few minutes to get my breath back realizing I needed the walk and exercise far more than I wanted to admit.

A rough Inukshuk a reminder of the recent Vancouver Olympics

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all mothers everywhere, an opportune time for everyone to appreciate all the hard work and emotion that goes into parenthood, here is a favourite read for this special day.

Your angels name is Mom

The child asked God, " They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further enquired,"But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said "Your angel will sing for you, and smile for you, and you will feel your angels love and be very happy."

Again the child asked. "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and teach you how to pray."

"And who will protect me?" God said "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." God said, "Your angel will talk to you about me, and teach you how to come back to me, eventhough I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God if I am to leave now, please tell me my angels name." God replied, "You will simply call her Mom." Sniff, sniff, sniff.

Some great pics of our awesome kids, if only they always got along so well ;-)

Tournament in Edmonton

Last weekend we went to Edmonton, Nisku in fact, near the airport and stayed at the Holiday Inn Nisku. Eric drove the whole way from Calgary, good job Eric.  Hotel was good and had a great pool and slide which the kids enjoyed. First game was Thursday and we won. Friday was spent at West Edmonton Mall, where the boys and younger siblings, enjoyed the whole day in the waterpark.  Parents visited a few varied establishments including Hooters and discovered the different cullinary and beverage offerings available.  A couple of Mom's indulged in a spa.

On the second evening there was a pizza party in the downstairs lounge followed by fun in the pool. A girls volleyball team arrived, setting an interesting tone for the boys who spent most of the weekend wandering the floors trying to find them.

Not sure about the expression on Eric's face here, perhaps some change in wind pressure or air quality?

Our boys won both games on Saturday, WAY TO GO BLACKFOOT EAGLES!!!! Comments from the other teams parents were that they had never heard such loud parents, we had noisemakers, cowbells loud whistlers and a few parents with extra strong pipes cheering like crazy.

At one point a parent overheard the cleaners comment about the "very bad smell" on the second floor from the hockey equipment, so Carol being industrious and our very adept team manager, organized an "equipment in the trees airing and sit in" where a few of us gathered, visited, played cards and enjoyed some afternoon cocktails, Dave provided tunes from the back of his truck and a good time was had by all.


A dinner at Boston Pizza on the last night and a standup final Sunday morning where the boys tied with the toughest team in the tourney and ended up losing in overtime, an amazing effort all weekend by the boys.

During the evenings the boys gathered in a room (poor cleaners the next day) and watched a movie, covered the floor in chips and had a general fun time, if they missed curfew, coach made them each do 60 push ups. Parents gathered in another room for some delightful conversation and cocktails in the evenings. It was a really great weekend and enjoyed by all.

On the final morning at the hotel some of the boys helped me to load our bags in the car...........

Remembering a great friend

Remembering Peter

This past weekend, a very dear family friend passed away suddenly in his sleep while away teaching an aviation class in Edmonton.  Our family happend to be in Edmonton on a hockey tournament, and heard the sad news when we returned home. My heart goes out to the Shewring family, Aki, Lesley, Diane and Stephen and all of your extended relatives, we are very sad for your loss, and ours in that we lost a dear friend. 

The Shewrings are neighbours of my sisters in Sidney, BC living across the street from each other for over 25 years, so everytime we visited my sister's house from Spain or now from Calgary, we looked forward to visits from the Shewrings.  There were many wonderful meals shared over wine at my sisters table and on the back deck with assortments of interesting friends that often stopped by for the great food and conversation, but mostly for the company gathered there.  That company often included Peter Shewring, his exciting life provided wonderful conversation, funny stories from the skies, and the best humour. Peter was the source of some of my greatest jokes which I would dutifully write down and take back to Tenerife and share with my friends, thanks Peter for all the great material, for years people thought I was funny, I owe it all to you and those Pilots who sure have great jokes!

There were many evenings when Peter would pop over with a bottle of wine and a video under his arm, and we'd all drink some wine and watch a video. Often one of us would fall asleep, but we all still enjoyed the movie, even if we missed parts, because Peter would make us laugh anyway even if the movie was a dud.

He kindly brought my son Eric a neat poster of the inside view of the control panel on a Lear jet after he had designed some planes and interiors on his laptop and showed them to Peter, he still has the poster.

Over the years we holidayed with the Shewrings, they visited us in Tenerife (AKI sent me my first rice cooker after their visit, where I burnt the rice for our dinner LOL and I still use it)! The ladies in the family joined us for a trip to Cancun and Cozumel in the early 90's (I think) when I worked in timeshare and over the years we really enjoyed the many great times. I will have to dig up those photos!

Peter, so long and happy trails, what a wonderful friend, your light will shine in our memories, will really miss the fun times, but I believe we will all meet again someday in the skies!

Miss Tenerife AKA Miss Calgary, as you used to call me
Obituary http://www.legacy.com/CAN-Victoria/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=141052304
My mother found this great tribute to him by his fellow pilots, and students from his classes.


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