Okay...here goes...

I'm moving to WordPress. But I'm not going to export my Blogger site there yet in case people can't find me once this site is closed. So, whoever reads this on a semi-regular basis...I can now be found at Wendy's Journal (bookmark it!) - see you there!!

'Bye Again....

Goodbye, Kristy and Bob. May God bless you, protect you, and give you joy as you serve Him in South Africa. Your family here will miss you beyond words but you will always be in our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers... God is good - all the time. Even during times of separation and tears. Amen.

Okay...tell me what you think... Here's the link to my new Wordpress Site - Wendy's Journal - but I'm still learning how to do things there, so I'm not sure that I'm going to make the Big Switch. I haven't imported my blog from here yet and won't until I'm 100% sure.

I would like feedback from anyone, please. If I don't get any, then I'll just make the decision and let you know!

Thinking of moving....

...yeah, I am. No, not moving house - been there, done that. Enough. Floyd and I are trying to think of a name for our present house - any ideas? It's an English custom that I've always liked and, while the custom skipped over my parents (after all, how do you name 15+ houses anyway??), I'd like to pick it back up again... So let me know if you have any ideas for our PB house...

But, back to the moving. I'm thinking of (gasp) switching from Blogger to WordPress. I love their layouts and features - things that I just don't get with Blogger. I wonder if they'll read this and cut me off before I have a chance to switch? LOL. I sure hope not. But if I do, don't worry, I'll let you all know where to find me again... And I'll let you know before I make the switch.

Happy Birthday to Floyd...and other thoughts...

Floyd and Isabella - taken yesterday...

Today is Floyd's birthday and even though we're celebrating his and Mandy's together on Tuesday night, I just wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to my honeybun. I hope and pray that this will be one of the best years ever for you - I love you...

On another note...today I was in church, sitting with Tanya, Tom, and their little ones, and had the privilege of holding little Isabella in my arms. She fell asleep within minutes and I was able to cradle her for the rest of the service. What an awesome blessing that was. While she slept, I kissed her blonde soft curls and prayed for her - for her life, her relationship with Jesus, her safety and protection from all the evil out there, for her character - that she would be a woman of God's own heart. And, while I was doing that, I thought of my own girls and wondered if, when my Mum held them in her arms, if she'd prayed for them as fervently as I was praying for my little grandbaby. Knowing my Mum, I'm sure she did. And the Lord spoke to my heart and showed me a tiny glimpse of all the people who have prayed for our girls and the impact that has had on their lives. Glory be to God. At times when we know not what to pray for our children, God raises up his people to step in the gap and engage in spiritual warfare for their lives. How beautiful, how beautiful...is the family of God...

Canola fields before the storm....

Walking on the wild side....

Today was a really nice relaxing day...the kind that Floyd and I haven't had for a long time. When we woke up this morning (to an empty house), he asked, "Do you want to go burn a tank of gas?". And we did. Well, not quite a tank, I don't think, but I never checked at the end of the day either...

We started by packing a cooler with a picnic lunch, then I grabbed my camera (essential equipment) and off we went. We drove north to just look around the area and admire the scenery. All the fields of canola are in flower now so the countryside looks like a carpet of yellow. I looked all day for "the" photo but didn't see it until the evening (more on that later). We drove through Iron Springs, on to Coaldale, and then back to Lethbridge. We came, once again, to the conclusion that there's no nearby town as picturesque, quaint, and cute as Picture Butte. Despite its distinctive odor. We are really so glad that the Lord led us to our little town. Once in Lethbridge, we drove to Indian Battle Park as Floyd hadn't been down there yet. We decided to stop for our picnic lunch - it was a beautiful setting in the woods and no one else around. I decided to do an Alberta Wild Flower photo shoot, so took as many varieties as I could see. The album is in My Photos, (A Walk on the Wild Side) if you wish to see more... But here's a couple of samples:

















After our lunch, we started our hike up out of the river valley, up the coulees, to the top, by the bridge. It's one of the walks I've wanted to do for a long time as I pass the bridge whenever I go to work and I've always itched to get my camera out there and take some photos. So I did:
It was a long climb but we took our time and stopped a lot on the way to either take pictures or admire the view...

After the climb down and a bit more walking, we got in the car and drove to Starbucks as we felt it was "time" - ha ha... We each had a Caramel Frappacino - my, oh my, I think I may have to ditch my Green Tea fav for a new love.

By now it was time to head back home and save the other adventures for another day. We had planned to walk along the river bank near the Bridgeview Campground but maybe that will be tomorrow...we'll see.

Once we got home, the sky began to get dark and it became obvious a storm was brewing. That was the scenario that I wanted for my photo of the fields of canola - dark clouds overhead. So, I once again grabbed my camera and we drove a short distance out of town to find the right spot. I hopped out of the car but by now the wind was blowing so hard, I couldn't hold the camera still enough. So I took a couple with it resting on the top of the car and a couple from inside the car. All things considered, I was happy with the results...

Then Floyd took me out to a Chinese restaurant in the Butte - it was very nice and the food was delicious. While we were in there, the storm hit in full force, pelting the streets with large hailstones and heavy rain. It didn't last long, though, and the car was almost dry again by the time we left... We hurried home to see if (a) Madison had survived, and (b) any water had come in the basement. We found the second to be negative (whew!) but Madison was shivering downstairs with two big white pieces of cardboard stuck fast to her side. What a dumb dog!! She had, in her fear of storms, gone into the back part of a cupboard where an exterminator (aka "Spider Man") had put down some glue traps to trace spider activity. And they were now stuck fast to her fur. Sigh. I held her while Floyd set her free, not without losing a lot of her fur in the process, believe me. Silly, silly, puppy...

The rest of today was spent blogging and uploading photos while Floyd watched video bloopers on TV. It was a wonderful day with my honey and I'm so glad we took a mini-vacation together. Now to start planning tomorrow!

Message for Family...

I don't know if you saw it on Facebook or not, but Cassie has started a new blog - let's try and encourage her to keep it up!! Link on the left....

Babywearing Grandma?

Why not? Mandy and Tanya both use the babywearing slings and carriers, so I'm entering a contest so that Gram can have some at her house while she's babysitting! Why not? Here's the contest info, if anyone is interested:

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

I have more to blog about...stay tuned!

Finally....

Okay…here goes. It’s been too long, so I don’t even know where to start…

A few weeks ago (June 15-22), my brother, Bryan, his wife, Sally, and three of their kids – Christopher, Michael, and Patricia – came up for a visit. They were heading up to the North Dakota area and, fortunately, we were only a short hop, skip, and a jump (okay, more like 8 hours plus a border crossing) from there. But we were 6 hours closer than this time last year, and that was good. Cynthia and her four kids came down from Edmonton as well, and we had Bob and Kristy home - to complete the whole family! It put (with our household and Tanya and Tom’s family) the headcount for meals at 24 but that was so much fun!! It was so good to have everyone under the same roof (okay, not literally…Bob and KB, Patricia, Cassie, and Samantha stayed with Tanya; Christopher, Michael, and Andrew slept out in our camper trailer) once again…it’s been awhile.

With Tanya’s help, I’d prepared some meals ahead of time and/or, at least, purchased the ingredients to have on hand. So mealtimes went well and there always seemed to be lots of leftovers. Everyone chipped in to help in the preparation, cost, and clean up (thanks, Christopher, for doing the dishes all by yourself at least one meal!!) and that made it much easier – that, and paper plates :-)

Highlights of our visit include:

- The almost nightly concern of “meeting the skunk”. We have one in the neighborhood and several sightings occurred when everyone was here. Bob and Christopher eagerly obtained a trap from Fish and Wildlife but the tantalizing bait of peanut butter was never the right incentive to lure the culprit into its confines. The dilemma still continues to this day….
- The day trip to Waterton National Park. This was our second time to this park in the Rockies, and Bryan and Sal’s (and Cynthia’s) first. It was pristine beauty at its best – just spectacular. We hiked around the town site, Cameron falls, and then up to Red Rock Canyon, picnicking by a beautiful lake. We got some priceless photos and some good visiting times in while we walked.
- The phone call. Which corresponded with our day trip to Waterton. It was a blow in the stomach and an arrow to the heart that I wasn’t expecting, although I guess I should have been. Dear Aunty Ruth went to be with the Lord. It was a sad ending to our day but we realized that her days of suffering were over and she was in a much better place.
- The Corner Gas episodes. This Canadian sitcom takes place in a small Saskatchewan town. We’d told Bryan and family about it when we saw them in Minnesota but weren’t sure they would “get” the Canadian humour. Apparently Christopher has been watching it in North Dakota and had got the family watching it there on their way up to Canada. So it gave us quite a few laughs during their visit when we watched some more of the episodes.
- Patricia and her disgust at the Picture Butte “smell”. For those of you that may not know, PB is the “Feedlot Capital of Alberta” which means that there are quite a few of them, not in the town, but in the surrounding countryside. If you want to know more about feedlots, have a chat with Jorge who worked at one for about a month… Anyway, the abundance of cattle does bring its own distinctive odour to the town – “the smell of money”, the locals call it. But poor Patricia was often seen with a wrinkled nose, lamenting the way the wind was blowing at that moment in time! She’ll never make a farm girl…
- The night that Andrew went to bed early and locked Christopher and Michael out of the trailer. How they laughed when they came back into the house, saying they’d banged on the doors and windows yet still Andrew slept. With the lights all on as well! Thank goodness Floyd had a key to let the boys in to bed.
- A Chilean barbeque thanks to Jorge and Mandy! They did all the preparation and presented us with a Chilean feast that was spectacular to look at and delicious to eat!! Thanks, you two!!
- Going thru old photos with Bryan. We hauled out the boxes (thankfully I knew where they were, which is a miracle in itself!) with all of Dad’s old photo albums and loose photos of our childhood. It was good to spend the time reminiscing with him and watching him show the photos to his children.
- For Floyd and I, the visit was a wonderful time to just relax (finally) as we’d pushed ourselves to get the house and garden presentable for the big occasion! We’ve painted, torn apart, repaired, repainted, built, rebuilt, added to, taken out, planted, dug up, etc., for the past 3 months – ever since we’ve moved in. And this week was the week to just put our feet up, enjoy the garden and visit with family. I was so excited to show Cynthia the house and garden even though, in hindsight, I don’t feel like we two had as much time to visit as I would have liked to. I’ll have to get her down here another time this summer! It was also wonderful for Floyd and I to have all three of our girls and their families home – that’s something that we always cherish. Those times fly by so fast.

I’d like to say that was the week in a nutshell but I realize it was a big nut and so I am sorry that I wasn’t able to blog nightly during the time because (a) this wouldn’t have been so long, and (b) there probably would have been a lot more funny times that were remembered.

We all agreed that these reunions need to happen more often and we really want them to continue – maybe every two years or so. And we want to include Derrick and his family if that is at all possible. Seeing them the following week at Aunty’s funeral only confirmed that in my mind.

Life is just too short not to…

For those of you who viewed my South African photos, I've updated and added more to the Capetown Album because, for some reason, there wasn't many in there....

Too much happening....

I have so much to blog about - our family reunion two weeks ago, that was interrupted by the passing of my dear Aunt Ruth, which, in turn, saw me flying to England with her funeral... I will post soon, I promise but it's just not the time right now....

Meanwhile, here's a photo of my dear Aunty - I'm so thankful to the Lord that we visited with her in March on the way to South Africa.

I have posted some photos of my England trip under My Photos, album "England 2008" for those of you who would like to see the family photos (Derrick's family mainly)....

At long last....

So much to blog…so little time. I’m going to make this in point form – sorry about that. But if I don’t, it won’t get written.

- On the weekend of June 14/15, some of us drove up to Edmonton for Mandy’s baby shower. We left early Saturday morning and pulled into the city about 11:00 a.m. Tanya and Isabella came in the car with me, while Jorge, Mandy, and Josiah went in their van. We had a good and safe trip up although I did have a scare just after we left Lethbridge. It was pouring rain and as I went to pass a tanker truck on the highway, my car started to hydroplane on the water. I realized it when the speedometer plummeted from 110 to around 60, yet my car hadn’t slowed down. I prayed fervently and kept a steady hand on the steering wheel so we could finish passing the truck without leaving the road. God is so good and I truly believe He protected us in that moment that could have had tragic results. For me, it was a first and, God willing, a last.

- The shower was a lot of fun, even though we felt rather unprepared. Mandy’s friend (and one of our adopted daughters), Myria, had already done so much and we’d talked a lot about the food/decorations, etc., but when it came down to the program, I felt like I was just winging it (I was supposed to be the ‘co-host’). The women that came, though, were dear friends of many years and had a lot of fun just visiting with others they hadn’t seen for a while. Tanya (with Isabella wrapped on her back) was the unofficial photographer and she was a God-send. I enjoyed the trip up and back with her and it gave us a good time to chat. Kristy also came up from Red Deer and the four of us stayed with the Pendergasts. Mandy and Josiah (the star of the afternoon) received some wonderful gifts – I still haven’t even seen all of them (reason for that to follow)!

- After the shower, we met up with “the boys” (Jorge and Andrew) and all of us (along with Cynthia/Cassie/Samantha/Bethany) went to West Edmonton Mall to (a) pick up a few things, and (b) visit. Oh my, the crowds! I can’t say I’d forgotten in so little a time, but I’d sure become used to our small little unpopulated mall in Lethbridge. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table for supper but it gave us a chance to visit with Cynthia and the kids. KB and I had a good chat while we waited. I’m trying to take advantage of every second that I have to spend with her before the long dry spell to come when they go back to South Africa. Dessert for everyone was a trip to Baskin-Robbins and World Class Chocolate topped the day off…

- Sunday morning saw us at Beulah for the first service and then we visited with friends in the atrium till around 11:30. We were all a bit disappointed that Keith was out of town but Art spoke an awesome word on Psalm 139 – one of my favorites. I used to have the whole psalm memorized and it made me realize, once again, that I want to get back into memorizing Scripture.

- After a quick lunch, and saying goodbyes to Cynthia and clan, we went to the hospital to visit a very dear family friend, Paul, who had suffered a heart attack a few days prior. It did our hearts good to see him feeling better and almost his old self.

- To summarize – the trip was a lot of fun and my only regret, I guess, was that I didn’t get to visit as many of my old work friends as I would have liked to… But hopefully that will be for the next trip.

- We arrived back home late Sunday night but earlier than Bryan, Sally and their kids, who were on their way up from North Dakota for a week’s visit. Now you know why I haven’t been blogging this week – 24 people for meals makes for a busy, albeit fun, time!! And that is where I’m going to end this post…more on their visit next time around…

Along with my African album, I've started a June 2008 one as well, if you'd like to look... Here's a few of my favorites so far:

Josiah Reuben - when I was babysitting him last night...

Kellen with Grammie's yummy cinnamon buns!!

Hungry little man "eating" his Mommy...

Tanya with the weadel weas, wheeze weadal, weed weasel..what is that thing???

Kellen in the garden..."I help, I help!!" And he did...ask Tanya how he helped seed...

Finally....

...only a few months late... I've posted some of my African photos in My Photos (link at left). There are six different sub-albums, you'll see them listed on the left when you go into the Africa 2008 album. Enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JORGE!!

We are so glad you were here to celebrate with us this special year! Enjoy your gifts and many happy years to come!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday....

...Mum. Even though today we had a family celebration for Jorge's 25th birthday (tomorrow), my thoughts often wandered to my mother today as the date June 8th will always bring her to mind. She was my biggest fan, I'd have to say, and was my most adamant supporter whenever I needed her. She always pushed me to reach new heights, achieve new goals, and was rooting for me all the way. She was a hug when I craved one, a shoulder to cry on when I needed it, and an encourager when I couldn't go on. She told me what I needed to hear even when I didn't want to hear it and she believed in me like no one else ever has - maybe because she was my Mum. And, oddly enough, at the ripe old age of 55, I still miss her...and can't wait to see her again.