So Much To Do ...

November 21 & 22, 2015

After Oma's birthday dinner ... we went back to the house ...

to sit back and relax ...

James was so excited ... he had an experiment he wanted to show us ...

He had put an egg in vinegar for a couple days ...

then wanted us to see what was inside the egg ... with a soft shell ...

the only part left was the outer membrane ... inside it was still the raw egg ...

He had told me it was going to be messy ...

so I was prepared putting a cookie sheet underneath his hands ...

The next day ... the guys went outside to site in a rifle ...

and the kids helped Grandpa drive "Old Blue" ... out into the field ...

Ella and I had some "Girl Time" with the paper doll cut-outs ...

that I received from my friend Dagmar ...

I love that she shares these little crafting ideas ... !!!

Ella loved playing with the paper dolls ...

dressed them up and took all the pictures herself ...

Grandma did help with cutting out some of the smaller items on the sheet ...

Grateful to have them on file so that I can print out more at any time ... !!!

The guys came in from outside ...

and while they waited for lunch to be served ...

the boys wanted to whoop Grandpa's butt at Foosball ... !!!

After lunch ... Craig started to climb up on the logs ...

he was able to pull himself up and wrap his legs around it ...

Then ... of course ... daddy had to come along and show him how it was done ...

In Nathan's younger days ... he would pull himself around and sit on top of the logs ...

This used to be a contest with all the guys ...

when they came out for a visit ...

Before it was time to head back to Alberta ...

the kids wanted to go in the hot tub ...

Craig at one point was getting to warm and needed to cool off ...

and since the snow had disappeared from the ground ...

he decided that hugging the snowman would cool him off ...

After that they all went into the pool and quickly cooled off ...

sliding around on the ice ... than hopping back in the hot tub ...

to warm again ... !!!

Crazy Kids ... !!!

 

Party Continues ...

November 21, 2015

After the celebration ended in the Coffee Room ...

we went upstairs to Oma's apartment ... to freshen up before dinner ...

Ella was insistent that Oma open up her birthday cards ...

she would open them up and Oma would read them ...

Oma was delighted to receive a manicure and pedicure gift certificate ...

from the Knight family ...

The grandchildren wanted to have their picture taken with Oma ..

hmmm ...

can you see her in there ... ???

Oma received some beautiful cards ... gifts and flowers ... !!!

Oma's birthday dinner was held at the Heritage Inn ...

the food was delicious and plentiful ...

Oma also had a local musician come and play a few tunes on his guitar ...

along with "Happy Birthday"

 

It was a lovely evening spending it with family and friends ... !!!

 

November 20, 2015

Friday was an exciting day for Oma ...

she had been waiting for her package to arrive ...

with her new iPad Air 2 with 128 GB...

she bought for herself from my friend Dagmar ...

(Dagmar decided to buy a new iPad Pro)

It was awesome watching her open the package ...

fighting her way thru the wrapping ...

There inside the special case made for it ...

was her new iPad with a beautiful protective skin on it ...

Oma couldn't wait to have everything downloaded ...

from her old iPad on to the new one ... !!!

Oh happy day when it was all completed ... !!!

Thank you Dagmar for having the iPad Air2 for my mom to purchase ...

She has wanted a newer one for sometime now.

 

Party On ...

November 21, 2015

Oma enjoying mingling with all her friends ...

and family ...

More of moms friends arriving ...

James making sure everyone has had cake ...

and

Joe sitting back and watching all the action ...

This party just kept going ... right to the end of our allotted time ...
We needed to get this place cleaned up ...
and head to our next destination for this party to continue ...

It was a wonderful time ...
and the perfect place to hold Oma's Birthday celebration ...

 

Happy 80th Birthday ...

November 21, 2015

This past weekend we celebrated Oma's 80th birthday ...

with her friends and some of her family ...

at Joseph Creek Village ...

We were busy getting the coffee room decorated ...

before Oma came down to her party ...

Oma was waiting upstairs until she had the go-ahead to come downstairs ...

It was perfect for the great-grandchildren ...

to go and change into their party clothes... keeping Oma busy ...

Oma finally arriving into the party room ...

she was so surprised to see so many of her friends ...

as well as those who did not reside at Joseph Creek Village ...

Time for Oma to blow out all of those 80 candles ...

not

only two candles on top of the numbers 80 ... !!!

Oma was escorted to her table ... I proceeded to cut the birthday cake up ...

while

Craig ... James and Ella were helping ...

with serving the birthday cake to everyone ... !!!

It was a great beginning to her party ... !!!

There will be more pictures being posted in the next few days ...

 

Happy 80th Birthday ... !!!

with today being your actual birthday ...

 

 

The Sun is Shining ...

November 18, 2015

It was so nice to see the sunshine and the snow on the mountains ...

after days of cloudy, rainy and snowy days ...

We even managed to go for a 4km walk thru the bush ...

Hope it stays for a while now ... !!!

 

Working on the Bug ...

November 15, 2015

There was a break in the weather ... warmer with the sun shining ...

Mike decided to do some work on the VW ...

finishing off the sandblasting ... priming ...

and putting a coat of paint on the "pan" ... the core frame of the VW ...

After Mike was finished with the painting ...

we carried the pan into the shop for the paint to dry ...

Ready for the next step of the project ... !!!

Mike was happy to have this part done ... so that the frame would be protected ...

 

 

Perfect Snow Conditions ...

November 17, 2015

What a beautiful sight to see first thing this morning ...

couldn't wait to go outside to shovel off the decks ...

Once I started ... the snow was the perfect consistency to make a snowman ...

so ... I dropped the shovel and started to roll the first snowball ...

 

After building my snowman ... I went to the garden to dig up a carrot ...

and gathered two rocks and a couple of branches ...

then went indoors to get a toque and a scarf ...

And ..

here is my first snowman of the season ... !!!

Enough of playtime ... had to finish shovelling ... !!!

 

Shortly after we had cleaned off the decks ...

the snowfall had turned to rain ...

I turned on the light to the patio after dinner ... and this is all that is left of my snowman ...

the rain continues to fall ... !!!

I'm afraid that there will be nothing left of my snowman by morning ... !!!

I know that I will have many chances to build more snowmen ...

with the winter season upon us ... !!!

 

 

Still in the Garden ...

November 15, 2015

It was a lovely day ... sun was shining ...

ventured down to the garden ...

to pick a few of the carrots and kale in the raised beds ...

A pot of stew was on the menu for the Sunday dinner ...

the fresh carrots and potatoes were the perfect additon to the meal ...

It was delicious and lots leftover to enjoy another day ... !!!

 

Creative Grandchildren ...

The boys sitting at the table ...

Daigen has his new therapeutic listening system on while he is doing his homework ...

and

Nixon is busy using scissors ... cutting little pieces to glue onto a piece of paper ...

Both of them in full concentration mode ... !!!

 

I knitted these slippers for the boys ...

while they were still living in Canada ...

I am surprised Nixon is wearing them in warm Houston, Texas ... !!!

 

I received this drawing from Craig ...

this morning ...

He created this lovely rose at his drawing class last night ...

Amazed at the detail for someone at such a young age ...

Well done Craig ... !!!

 

 

And ... We're Done ...

November 10, 2015

The weather finally cleared up this day ...

so that we could finish getting the last of the firewood ...

into the woodshed ...

It only took us a couple hours to get this load in ...

Mike continued to buck up the logs ...

while I used the wood splitter ...

to split some of them into smaller pieces ...

We sure ended up with quite a pile ... enough for a couple truck loads ...

With having the cooler ... wet weather ... we did use a bit of the wood ...

this was the hole we needed to fill ...

We finished around 6:30 ... working in the dark to finish it ... !!!

What a great feeling to have the woodshed filled ...

I took this picture the next day ...

with the sunlight ...

We're ready for the winter season ... !!!

 

The Guys ...

 

Nixon and Daigen at the driving range ...

Nixon apparently swag with all his mite ... to land the ball at the end of the mat ...

so cute ... !!!!

Love Daigen in full concentration mode ... making sure he is lined up to make the shot ...

ummm ... Think he has a bit of his dad in him ... :)

 

Today was "Dad's Day" at Westview ... Daigen's school ...

He was so excited to have his daddy go to school with him ... !!!

Happy to see Ian take some time from work ...

to be able to participate in this school activity ... !!!

It meant a lot to both of them ... !!!

 

Special Evenings of Song ...

November 6, 2015

The Bisset Singers travelled to Invermere for their concert ...

voices from Invermere, Cranbrook, Kimberley, and Quesnel ...

We enjoyed singing a variety of songs ... jazz ... swing ... Big Band ... etc.

Chuck Bisset, our choir director ... was proud to have his daughter ...

Savannah Bisset ... Operatic Soprano ... here from New York ... as our guest artist ...

 

November 7, 2015

We performed in Cranbrook Saturday night ...

The church was full of friends and family ... It was an exquisite evening again ...

with The Bisset Singers singing ... "Hit Me With a Hot Note"... "Dream" ...

"Peace Like a River" ...

"I've Got the World on a String" ... "Skyfall" ...

Duke Ellington Medley ... "Take the "A" Train ..."Mood Indigo" ..."Satin Doll" ...

and "It Don't Mean a Thing" ...

Then ending our program with a Christmas carol ...

"Christmas Time is Here"

Savannah Bisset ... captivated us with her operatic voice ...

in the second half of the program ...

with repertoire of opera pieces in the time frame of an hour ...

It was a wonderful evening ... !!!

Click here for the article ... in the local newspaper of Savannah's interview ...

Some members of the choir went to the Hideout Restaurant and Brewhouse ...

for a get together to have a bit of fun and relax ...

after our performances ... !!!

 

A Happy 10th Birthday ...

November 4, 2015

James celebrated his 10th birthday party with his family and friends ...

at the Alderside Field House ...

A place to turn the kids loose ... to have oodles of fun ... !!!

Afterwards going into the party room ...

for Birthday Cake ...

James received many gifts and cards ...

from family and friends ...

Looks like he was also enjoying a large dish of ice cream with his sister ...

On his birthday James built a tall tower from Jumbo Domino Tiles ...

Amazed that it was so tall ... !!!

James also bought himself a Scooter specifically to do tricks ...

with some of his birthday money ... !!!

Thank you Nathan for sending these pictures ...

 

 

Rainbow Over Downtown Cranbrook ...

November 2, 2015

What a beautiful sight ... when I walked out of the Bank ...

there was this amazing rainbow over the city ...

It was so big ... I was not able to capture the full rainbow ...

It would have been nice to be on the outskirts ...

high on a hill to take a picture ... !!!

I was grateful to have seen this spectacular sight ... !!!