Christmas

Hello all! Well, it took a while, but I'm finally putting up the photos from Christmas... we celebrated with John, Robin, J, Alistair and Ranger on the 23rd of December and again with Mum, Dad and Pat on Christmas Day... Mark and I were at his mother's place on Christmas Eve and overnight. Here are a few of the moments captured in time at Mum and Dad's...hope everyone over there in the southern hemisphere had a good one - and I hope Michael, that you're well on the mend - having the flu over Christmas is one thing...having it when you're in the middle of travelling all over the south Pacific at Christmas must be just horrible! Get well, soon!

Merry Christmas to all! (the days before you're home again will be in the single digits soon!)

xo

Happy 50th Anniversary, Mum & Dad!

November 23, 2007

"You are both so lucky

to have had each other

all these years gone by,

but luckiest of all,

are those of us

who have shared in your lives."

Happy 50th Anniversary, Mum and Dad! I love you both very much!

Wintery

Well, it finally happened - the snow has begun to fall. Today was the first day that it snowed (and stayed on the ground) here in Southern Ontario... I'm sure that Barrie has already had it's fair share of the white stuff, but here in Hamilton/Burlington, its a first for the season.

I went out at lunchtime and took this photo in the back parking lot at my work - not very impressive, but it gets the point across...I should have gone out early this morning and got a shot of the freezing rain. Brrr....

Actually, I was awakened this morning by the rat-a-tat of ice pellets on the bedroom window. You're probably getting right into the beautiful weather over there in Oz... how I envy you...

Hallowe'en 2007

Its been a while since I've posted anything - sorry about that. I do have some photos from Hallowe'en, though, that I thought I'd share.

It was pretty quiet, although Mark dressed up to take his nephew out trick or treating... (possibly-broken ankle and all...long story, but we're waiting to hear whether its broken or just really badly sprained). We stopped by Mum and Dad's on the way. There's also a photo of "Spider-man" with Andrew ("which came first, the chicken or the egg?") and Olivia ("Cowgirl").

(almost) Fall Fishing

Well, Labour Day is almost upon us - which usually means back to school and the symbolic "end of summer". But along with these sad thoughts comes FALL FISHING!

I finally - FINALLY - caught a White Bass this year! They are one of those fish that I usually catch every year, even if only a small one. But this year, I think Phil caught one and that was it. As the fishing seems to change every year in our little corner of the harbour, we can never really be sure of what we're going to catch. So, when I got this white bass the other day, I was ecstatic! Look at the size of it!! Who knows, I may not get many more of them, but at least I got a picture of this one!

Stuart's Visit - Part Two - J's Soccer Tournament in Paris/Brantford

So, the day after going to Niagara Falls, we all set off again in the van - this time for Paris (or Brantford...not sure which it was) to see J playing soccer and John coaching. Maureen, Tony, Kevin, Courtney and Parker travelled the long road from Windsor to come and meet Stuart, which was really amazing of them! It was a fun day - too short of a visit, I think, but we all got together for a little while, at least.


Maureen, Kevin, Tony and Stuart.


Parker - absolutely ADORABLE!


Dad watching the game.


Mum taking it easy.


Courtney and Parker.


The Hlady family.


Stuart and John.


J playing soccer with John coaching in the background.


Courtney being... well... Courtney!


...see what I mean?


The whole gang!

Stuart's Visit - Part 1

Well, Stuart has been and gone... but we had some fun while he was here! Mum and Dad and I took Stuart to Niagara Falls and did the whole "tourist" thing. We went on the Journey Under the Falls, The Maid of the Mist, and The Butterfly Conservatory. It was a lot of fun (until it was getting late and we were waiting for a bus and it was getting cold and windy and dark!!!).


Can't have a post about Niagara Falls without a few shots of the falls themselves!!!


Mum and Stuart.


Closer view of the falls.

Dad getting ready for the Journey Behind the Falls!

The American Falls.

Stuart waiting in line for The Maid of the Mist.

Mum, Stuart and Dad on the Maid of the Mist.

My turn!

Mum trying to stay dry.

Dad - likewise!!

Stuart, on the other hand, was right in the mist!

...and now for something completely different...

I don't know who this guy was, but I thought this was amusing...

Amazing colours.

These reminded me of zebras.

This butterfly seemed to want Mum to stay.

A closer look at him.