This 'n That

There were several things lately that I wanted to blog about, but I was busy, and I misplaced the camera for a while, and then we moved the office twice in order to lay the carpets and I didn't have the card reader hooked up for a while. So, in no particular order, here are a few things I wanted to share with you!



Thanksgiving weekend the Greeks came to visit us - and they brought their Segways! All of us except Janelle took a turn or two toodling around the neighbourhood. Calvin loved it the most - he and Shawn went all over town, through the cemetary(!), to the corner store for slurpies. Here's Calvin getting ready to take off. I'm not sure why I have that look on my face with my hands on my hips! Probably giving one of those motherly "be careful" lectures!


This is our mountain ash tree in the backyard. Andy thought it was so beautiful he took a picture of it. This was only a couple of weeks ago, and now it's completely bare. Fall is gorgeous here but way too short!


A couple of weeks ago Janelle went with the youth group on a "photo rally" at West Edmonton Mall (WEM for all us locals). They had to follow a series of clues to find certain stores and then take a picture of the storefront to prove they found the right one. This is Janelle with her friend and partner for the game, Marissa. They obviously were taking photos of more than just the stores they were supposed to! She had a really fun time with Marissa, who was one of the first girls she met the first Sunday we were at church. They're the same age, in the same grade, and live about a block from each other on the same street!

So how was YOUR morning??

This is what we woke up to today! Ain't Alberta grand?

He Cooks, He Cleans -- We'll Keep Him!

Tonight James made dinner for the family. He offered to do it, and I was happy to say yes! He walked to the store and bought the ingredients himself - steak done on the BBQ, couscous, rosemary foccacia bread with vinegar & oil, and chicken gumbo soup. Wow! Yesterday after dinner he got up and just starting cleaning up, including emptying the dishwasher and reloading it. And all James has to do is look at Calvin and Calvin jumps up to help him!

I could get used to having a James around here!

A Very Large Surprise Package

Today after I picked up Calvin from school I told him we had to drive to Nisku/Leduc to pick up a package. He was a bit confused, but I kept him from asking too many questions by distracting him with lots of questions about school. When we turned off the highway and headed for the airport, he said, "Okay, tell me what's going on." I said, "You guess, and I'll tell you if you're right." He replied with one word: "James." Yep, James Greek was coming to stay. We had a very large surprise package to pick up!

When the Greeks came to visit for Thanksgiving, James asked about moving here to live with us, getting a job, and starting a new life in Edmonton. We were open to the idea. Calvin was ecstatic. After the Greeks returned home to Salmon Arm, we adults had several conversations working out the details and deciding if this idea would work - if it would be the best thing to do. Then came confirmation in a couple of ways: the day after James returned home, he was laid off at his job, and the next day I discovered a seat sale on West Jet - $75 from Kelowna to Edmonton. He booked his ticket that day.

Then came the tricky part: keeping all this a secret from Calvin! Calvin was calling James every single day and telling him, "You HAVE to move here!" I finally told him to stop bugging James. Of course, by then the flight was already booked, but Calvin didn't know that!

James bought a one-way ticket, but has a general plan of staying for a couple of weeks, checking out the jobs and the community, and deciding if this is the life for him.

I'm thrilled to have one of my "other" sons here - or maybe he's a nephew? And Calvin's happiness level has just improved 100%/!

I Voted!!

This picture is from when I became a Canadian citizen this spring. Today I put my new citizenship to use and voted in Canada for the first time in our municipal elections. It was a very proud moment for me! After all these years of telling Andy how to vote, I got to do it myself.

Yep, We're Still Alive

I understand if you all stopped checking my blog! I'd give up too if the blog stayed the same for a whole month! I really have no excuse, but I do apologize!

At the moment I can't locate my camera, so this will be a photo-less blog. Here's a few highlights from the last few weeks:

- Emma came to stay with us for about 10 days, which meant we also got to see her parents briefly. We had so much fun with Emma - going to a kids' carnival at our church, jumping on the trampoline, playing at the park, going on the rides at West Edmonton Mall. We miss her and already want her to come back!

- We made new friends! I met a family at the church when they were registering their son for our children's program. After they'd come for three weeks in a row, I thought, "Somebody better invite them over so they feel welcome here!" And I thought that "somebody" should be me. We got along so well with them! I love making new friends.

- The following day we were invited to the home of more new friends, also from the church. They have a beautiful new home on a lake nearby. They own a large acreage with lots of trails and places to explore. We brought our canoe and ended up leaving it there. They can use it any time they want, and it gives us an excuse to invite ourselves over again! They also invited over another couple at the same time - a couple with a baby girl! Aahhh, my baby fix for the day....

- Janelle started a new babysitting job once a week for two little kids. It gives her a steady income of $20 a week.

- I'm totally loving fall in Alberta! It's sunshiny and crisp but not cold, and there are way more deciduous trees here than in Abbotsford, so it's beautiful. I never really cared for fall before, but I like fall here better than summer! Kind of nice not to have rain and wind and clouds. On the missing camera are photos Andy took of our trees in our yard - I'll post them soon.

So there's a bit of an update! Don't give up reading my blog - I promise to be more punctual!