London, England/Three Hills, Alberta!

October is almost half over and so much has already happened this month.  At the end of last month, our hearts were crushed when we heard that Ron's cousin's wife had lost the battle to cancer.  She was only 45.  We decided that it was important for Ron to go and be with the family.  This part of the family is in England!

It was good for Ron to be there to have visits with his uncle and cousins.  Deaths are so hard and it usually brings people together that haven't seen each other in a long time. The funeral was hard but Ron saw that his cousin was surrounded by many friends and family. He was only there for a few days but he tried to make the most of his time.

While Ron was there, I worked and then went to Three Hills for the weekend.  The visit was a little overdue and so nice to see so many special people.  I stayed with Andrew and Brianne and got to spend some time with the twins.  Oh, they are so cute!

On Saturday, we walked all over town.  It was nice just being there. 

In the afternoon, I had tea with the team that travelled last year from Prairie.  It was so great seeing them and hearing about their adventures.  They are a pretty special group.

When I got back from our visit, John (the constable that Ron trained) was at Andrew and Brianne's and I got to visit with him for a bit.

That evening, Andrew and Brianne went out to a dinner and Carolyn and I babysat.  The boys were active but so good.  We managed to feed, bathe and get them to bed.  It did take two of us though.

On Sunday, I went to Mount Olive and it was so nice to be there again, especially because I got to sit with Marion and Merv Greene and their granddaughters.

After lots of hugs over the weekend, I drove towards Calgary and got to spend some time with my boy.  We did a Costco shop, had lunch and walked until it was time for me to pick Ron up at the airport.  He wasn't as tired as I expected and we had lots to talk about the whole way back to Pincher Creek.
Ron went right back to work and we were "blessed" with a little more snow.

This month so far has been about travelling near and far to see our friends and family.  I think the rest of the month will be more about staying closer to home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Way Overdue!

I've planned a number of times to get back to Three Hills but something always seem to come up.  The one time I went back for work, Andrew and Brianne were in Ontario SO finally, I just made it happen.  We were so excited to see Andrew and Brianne and get to know Elliott and Sawyer.  Ron connected with the boys right away.

They were just so sweet.  Lots of smiles and laughs.  We had nice weather so we got to walk take the boys for walks.

We had some great meal with Andrew and Brianne but the real excitement was when the boys got their meals.

Ace even got excited because food was usually flying. We have always enjoyed our time with Andrew and Brianne (our Alberta kids) but the excitement is just a little more now with these two sweet boys.

The RCMP have taken us from Ontario to the west and along the way we have grown our family.  Our visit back to Three Hills was way overdue but we were so glad that we finally made it work.  We went to the detachment to see everybody and I stopped at the college to have a little visit and even got to see two of the team that travelled last year.  Our visit wouldn't have been complete though without pulling out the Catan board and so both nights that we were there, we had game nights.

It was a great visit!  From there, we went to see our son and it was a little overdue to meet his new girlfriend.  We had a nice walk down to the river and let the dogs play in the water and then enjoyed a barbeque salmon dinner, followed by a backyard fire.

It was so wonderful seeing our son so happy.  He has had such a horrible year and it was a little overdue seeing him happy with his new beautiful friend and, of course, his dogs!

Visits

A week ago Sunday I waited anxiously for my sister and her husband to arrive.  It's so great when family comes to visit.  They arrived just after a big storm passed out of the area. 

I put my culinary skills to work and had a ham dinner and cheese cake waiting for them.

The next morning, we had coffee/tea and cinnamon buns to start our day. The morning was spent around the pool table and visiting in the living room.  After a quiche lunch, I acted as tour guide.  It's quite a beautiful place so it was fun to show them around. We stopped where the prairies meet the mountains.

We drove into Waterton and looked for animals but only saw elk at a distance and a few deer.  The bears were still hiding although we were told at the gate that "they were up."

The views didn't disappoint though.

After we finish sightseeing, we headed back home.  We had a barbeque chicken dinner and played some pool.

It was wonderful having Carol and Mike with us for a few days.  After a good breakfast, they were off to Edmonton.

The next day Ron and I went for a walk around Allison.  This was were we had been skiing.

We discovered that we weren't alone in the woods.  We were thankful that we only saw the evidence of him and not see the actual grizzly.

On our drive home, we saw a whole herd of elk and they crossed the road right in front of us.

Ron has been back to work and I have been doing a little catch up for the college and some dog walking at the SPCA.  It was a bittersweet moment this afternoon when my pal, Rex went to his forever home.

We are looking forward to a nice little break in a few days and can't wait to go and spend time with these little guys.  We love visits and visiting.

Aren't they cute!  Can't wait to hold these guys.

The Month of September

My last blog was on the first of the month and so I thought I should wrap up September with another email.  It's not like we haven't been doing things.  It's just been that I have been too busy to record it.

September 1 - Ron started back working at the Three Hills Detachment knowing that it would only be a few days before he was done.

September 2 - We went to church and enjoyed being a part of the church that we had called our home church for the past 3 years.

September 3 - Labour Day and both Ron and I worked.  The GlobeTREK team came for supper.

September 4 - Ron worked and met with the Moving Company.  Chapel at the college was a prayer send off for our GlobeTREK travellers.

 I helped prepare the dinner at Emma's (my boss) house for our department welcome party.

September 5 - I went to the airport early in the morning to see our team off.  They will be travelling for 8 months.  Ron's last day in Three Hills.

September 6 - We went to Airdrie for a follow up ultrasound from my surgery and took in a little bit of the horse jumping at Spruce Meadows.

September 7 & 8  - Ron and I worked to get the house ready for the movers and took time to see the twins.

September 9 - Our last Sunday at church and there just happened to be a barbeque to enjoy after the service.

September 10 - I worked and then we went to Marion and Merve's for a delicious steak dinner.  Marion had become such a great friend and it was so nice to have this time with her.  She even let me do all my laundry there!  Now, that's friendship!!!

September 11 - We had an early appointment with my specialist and was told that the ultrasound looked clear of cancer!  I don't have to go back until 6 months!!!  We had a farewell lunch at the detachment for Ron and then I got my hair done in the afternoon and had to say goodbye to my stylist...so sad!

September 12- Pack Day.  I had supper at Emma's with last year's travellers.

September 13 - Pack Day and then we stayed at the Best Western.  Said our goodbyes to Andrew, Brianne, Elliott and Sawyer.  :(

September 14 - Load day. Cleaned the house and headed to Stephen's.  It's always such a strange feeling.

September 15 - Relaxed around Cochrane.  Homeless!

September 16 - Drove to Pincher Creek in the morning for church and checked into the Stardust Motel. 

September 17 - Signed the papers for our house and got in and played pool.

September 18 - Moving truck arrived and action happened.

September 19 - 20 - unpack days

September 21 - Ron started work in Pincher Creek - Cpl Ron Clark!

September 22 - last box unpacked

September 23 - Church and rest day!

September 24 - Had a doctor appointment for my 55th birthday, went out for lunch and got our tv and internet hooked up.

September 25 to today - organizing and rearranging - making this house our home.

And now, I must get myself ready to walk to church in snow!