where there's fire...

One of the advantages of living in Mission is that we're allowed to have contained fire in our own backyard. For the last two years I've envied our neighbours across the street. Their backyard looks like a scene right out of Survivor most nights, with the torches & the chiminea burning brightly. This spring they got us going by giving us a couple of their bamboo torches & we've added to the number over the course of the summer. The fire, however, was still missing. This weekend we remedied that. This evening we had our first fire in our new chiminea!

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Of course, where there's fire...

...there's gotta be smores!!!!

Mmmmmm...can I have s'more?

ROSIE

We have a new baby at our house...


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...come a little closer & I'll show you...

This is Rosie. She has been christened thus by Olivia, who thinks all vehicles should have an appropriate name. Rosie's name is derived from a combination of her color & her owners' love of roses.

Rosie is not overly high maintenance - she just likes to be clean, get some fluids occasionally, go for drives (preferably out in the countryside, although she likes a fast ride every once in awhile). Friday night she wanted to go all the way to Coquitlam for pizza. Apparently she shares my love for Me & Ed's. Isn't she pretty?

Ya, we got a new car. It was time to replace "Oma Van" (appropriately named because of her age) :) Never had a new car before, and I've ALWAYS wanted a sunroof. Road trip anyone???

picnic?

This morning we decided on an impromptu picnic at a local park with our family. The skies were a little overcast, but it was still quite warm so we decided on a time to meet & I got to work making a picnic lunch. We met @ 11:00, the kidlets played at the playground & rode their bikes, Isaiah was just finishing his lunch & it was about time for the rest of us to eat when it started to rain. It quickly became apparent that it was not going to be just a passing shower - so - the last picture of this series will show you where we finished our picnic.

Isaiah is not only adorable but also one of the happiest babies I've ever known

Malcolm has learned how to say "cheese" when the camera is aimed his way (what a ham!)

Sabrina, Olivia & Noah - the three amigos - always have such fun together

...yes, that's our picnic blanket in the middle of our living room (and yes, it's still raining outside) What season is this again?

60th ANNIVERSARY!

Last weekend we had the priviledge of hosting Rick's family for the purpose of celebrating his parents' 60th wedding anniversary. It's the first time that we have all been together for that concentrated a length of time & it was SO good to catch up! We are spread out as far as Toronto (used to be as far as Peru) and we rarely get together as an entire family. We missed seeing alot of the grandkids - most didn't make the trip with their parents. Anyhow, we had everyone who could come for a bbq on friday night. Saturday & Sunday was just Dad & Mom & the sibs. We visited lots, laughed lots, cried some, ate well, slept a little & just generally enjoyed each others company.

This is the original family - before I led the invasion of in-laws back in 1973...

...and this is the family now. I wish we could have had all the kids & kidlets for a picture - now that would be impressive!!!

We took a little drive up to West Minster Abbey, a nice place for meandering & chatting, checking out the view.
Happy 60th Dad & Mom - thanks for the great weekend together!