Company!

Today my brother Lloyd and his wife Betty are coming to our house from Ft.St.John, BC. They are coming for the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations of my other brother Ron and his wife, Delaine on Saturday. Times moves on!!! Lloyd was in their wedding party and it just does not seem possible that 50 yrs.have gone by already. Ron and Delaine have been role models for Jim and I. I remember when Ron would bring Delaine home to mom and dad's when they were courting. I was just at the age where this was soooooo romantic and I thought to myself, I want to have what they have, a love so strong and a friendship which still goes on today. Plus they have a strong Christian faith and it shows. They are simply the best.......They have raised three handsome sons and one beautiful daughter and they have 12 grandchildren. I love them so much and wish them many more happy and wonderful years together. Blessings to a dear couple!

22 days!!!!!!

In exactly 22 days from today, our kids from the States arrive in Calgary and we are just so excited!! Nancy comes from Winnipeg via Westjet on Sat. Oct. 7th and Eric, Sue and family come on Sat. sometime. They are driving. Nanc is staying for a week and the Strom's for a week and a few days!! We just wish Wayne could come as well. It will just be so good to have them here for Canadian Thanksgiving! We will celebrate with the traditional turkey dinner, turkey and all the trimmings!!! And we hope it is going to be nice that following week so we can go out to the mountains. Maybe we will have a wonderful Indian summer. The trees are already turning color and the streets are covered with leaves. I love fall, the crispness in the air and the brilliant colors on the trees. Today I am sitting here at the computer and as I type I look over and on the floor is little Kalle playing with toys, in the family room is Jemma, Siri and Nate writing in their little notebooks and watching Winnie the Pooh. Their parents went out for dinner last night and then today they will maybe get some more boxes unpacked. It is hard to do stuff with 4 little ones around as you know Sue and Eric when you have moved. It is raining out today and they say we might get some snow. Yesterday they had snow in Banff and Canmore and expecting more today. Tomorrow, Sept. 17th is Sue's birthday - Happy Birthday Sue!!! I remember so vividly the day you were born. We were getting ready for church and all of sudden, my water broke and we had to quickly get to the hospital. And at exactly 10:56 A.M. just before church started, you were born!!! What a thrill! You had lots and lots of black hair!! You looked like a little papoose and you weighed in at 10# 5oz. We will celebrate your birthday, Noah's and Heather's when you come!!! So you will have to wait for your birthday gift!! Have a wonderful day and you know we will be thinking about you. Listen real hard and perhaps you will hear your dad and I singing to you!!!!!..........

Overwhelmed!!

I am overwhelmed with emotion tonight as I looked again at Nancy's blog and the ultrasound pictures of our precious little grandson in the womb!! All I can say is this: It is truly a miracle, a miracle that only God in His love can perform. Words cannot adequately express the wonder and the overwhelming feeling of awe and humility when you think how this little person is being formed. I think of the verses in the Psalms where it says:

For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well!

Besides being a miracle, it is a mystery. Know this, little one.... that the God who created the universe is right there beside you, even now, holding you in His tender hands , giving you a mommy and daddy who will love you forever, who will pray for you and teach you that "you are special" and the best news of all, that Jesus loves you........

Fun Weekend!!!

We just got back from a 2-day mini-vacation. Saturday morning we got up early, made a picnic lunch and took off north to O'l MacDonald's Resort and Campground near Stettler, Alberta around 9:00 A.M. We took off on a different highway, went through cute little towns, past cows grazing in the pastures, saw many very nice acreages and farms along the way, drove down into valleys and over rivers. Finally about 11:30 A.M., we reached the campground where Heather and Duane and their friends (their daughter Courtney goes to Trinity and was in the same grade as Jemma) were situated. What a great place for families!! It is right on Buffalo Lake which is shallow so far out, a nice beach,and lots of things for the kids to do. We spent the afternoon with them at the beach, then took off about 4:00 P.M. for Camrose. We didn't tell anyone we were coming, just got a hotel room for the night. It was such a gorgeous evening so we went for a long walk around Mirror Lake right in the middle of Camrose. Camrose reminds us of Fergus so much. Went to Walmart and then came back to the hotel and ate at the restaurant there. We got up this morning, made coffee and I still had blueberries and strawberries in the cooler so we had that for breakfast. Got ready for church and of course seen alot of people there. Joy insisted we come for lunch so we did. They are in the process of selling their house and are building another one which they will live in for perhaps a year and then sell. They think they will be able to get into it in Oct. Their boys and another friend build the houses and Orv and Joy are the general contractors. Alot of work but they are so good at it. The house they are living in now is absolutely beautiful and are hoping to sell it at a very good price. They had just been to Hawaii for 6 days from Aug.11 - 17th to attend their son Kjell's wedding on Lanikai Beach in Oahu. It was Joy and Orv, Kjell's girlfriend's mom and her Gramma and Kjell and Michelle. They showed us pictures. Very nice! We recognized the beach cause we had spent time at the exact same spot. We left their place around 2:00 P.M. and drove to Wetaskwin to the Reynolds Museum where there was a motorcycle display and also a threshing and harvesting demonstration. Jim was in his glory!!!! I sat out in my chair on the lawn, reading and enjoying the sun. I guess it was about 4:30 when we left there and drove to Sylvan Lake for supper. The beaches there were just packed with people, the lake with boats, seadoos, sailboats, waterskiers, rafts, etc., etc.!!! We ate at Joey's Only which was right beside a marina and watched as people came with their boats to go for a ride and then got their boats out of the water and unto their trailers. Very interesting! It was two great days away and tomorrow it is going to be nice again so we are going to our lake to spend a few hours. The last few weeks have been so extremely busy so it is so good to relax!!!!