Posts from — November 2008

Our baby is 30 years old today.

So! It’s a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!!!!!

This is a couple days late since we have been busy traveling and catching up at home.

Last Tuesday was SAGE”S 3rd BIRTHDAY. YAAAAAA! Actually, she had a party on Sunday with some friends from pre-school and from all reports everyone had a great time. Then Brenda and I drove down last Monday for her actual birthday which was Tuesday Nov 25th. We had a great time and are thankful that we were involved and there for such a big celebration, Sage received a lot of very nice presents from friends and relations and she had a great time. I’ve attached a few pictures of the big day.

It’s Saturday night and we are off to dinner at our good friends Rick and Gayle. Gayle is an excellent cook so we always look forward to dinner at their house. Rick has been doing a lot of home renovations so it will be good to see all the work he has done. David L. (our corling skip) and his wife Elaine are also going to be there. I am sure after dinner we will play a card game or game of some sort. Rick and Gayle are the best gamers we know, they just love friendly fun competition and lots of laughs.

It’s been a while since we posted and this one is pictures from Halloween. I know it’s a little late, but as they say – Better Late Than Never”.

So with out further ado……. here are pictures of the winners of the cutest grandkids at Halloween.

Now a couple pictures from Jeff’s “30 Days Before I’m 30 Party” which was held on Halloween Night. Jeff dressed as the “Patient from the Board Game Operation”, Lindsay as a “Chicken” and Dylan as a “State Troopr”, myself as “Zorro” (Antonio Banderas) and Brenda as “Smarty Pants”. 

Last Friday we drove to Vancouver to attend a 60th Brithday Party for Fred S. A little more on how we met Fred and Barb later in this post.

To make a bit of a getaway weekend out of the trip we stayed on Friday night at the Blue Horizon Hotel. It’s our most favorite place to stay on Robson Street, close to shopping, restaurants, walking areas, etc. but the best part is the view from the rooms. We usually request an 07 room, it’s on the back side of the hotel so it does get a little less noise, but it still has fantastic views of English Bay, part of Stanley Park and a little tiny bit of Coal Harbour. We have been staying at this hotel for over 15 years and at one time the view of Coal Harbour was unobstructed and at Christmas time you could see the Carol Ships at night. We took along Gramma and Grampa so they could have a bit of a weekend away also. They got some Christmas shopping in, a walk down to the ocean and really enjoyed themselves. We left them at the hotel on Saturday night, we stayed with Fred and Barb then picked them up Sunday morning for the drive home.

So, here’s how we met Fred, Barb and their boys Ryan and Marshall. 1986 was the first year we, as a family, attended French Summer Camp at Kalamalka Lake. We were delayed one day because our vehicle broke down, however we arrived on Sunday, got set up and Jeff was off to his daily camp activities. I was running a fair bit at that time so I put up a notice to seeing if there was anyone interested in a morning jog. Fred showed up and off we went with another fellow. Now for those who know Fred, the word “JOG” is not in his vocabulary. I figured I was a pretty fair runner at that time, I was just around a 6:30 min/mile pace, just at the elusive 40 minute 10K time. Anyway after we had jogged about 5 km out and a were on our way back (we had lost the other guy by this time, he turned back long ago) Fred politely said “I think I’m going to stretch it out the last couple kilomters”. Well all I saw after that was very fast feet, speedy legs and Fred’s dust………. I think Fred had time to run back to the starting point and jog back to make sure I was still alive. It turns out Fred best 10K time was I believe under 35 minutes. We also discoverd that Ryan was in Jeff’s camp group so a family friendship was born. Near the end of the week Fred and Barb kindly offered their home as a base so we could attend Expo 86, we took them up on the offer and have been visiting each other on a somewhat regular basis. A great family and great friends.

Well we no sooner got back from Calgary and we were headed off to Princeton. Kevin and Tamara had tickets to see Lenny Kravitz in Kelowna and and hooked up with her brother Gene and his wife Tonya. They had a great time before and after the concert, but they said the concert was not that good. Even though they do enjoy some of his music he definitely wasn’t in the mood the night he performed in Kelowna. Oh Well! It gave them a night away and some valuable time together.

As far as Brenda and I, we had a great time with the grand kids. Sage and Conrad were very well behaved and kept us hopping from the time we showed up. Of course no trip or weblog is complete without some “cutest little grand kids in the world” pictures.

Last night we celebrated Halloween and “30 Days till Jeff’s 30th Birthday. It was a fun time and a lot of laughs. It’s great to be included as a part of Jeff and Lindsay’s friends. Lindsay usually has a scavenger hunt for Jeff on his birthday, however this year she out did herself. This year she took a 30 piece puzzle and one of her friends pasted a photo on the front of Jeff playing Ulimate. Lindsay then wrote a birthday message to Jeff on the back. After that she divided up the puzzle pieces and handed them out to everyone at the party. In order for Jeff to get a puzzle piece he had to do something as determined by the puzzle piece holder. What happens at the party stays at the party……… trust me he had a lot of different things to do to get the pieces. In the end he got 28 pieces, assembled the puzzle and read the message on the back. There are still two pieces left to complete the puzzle and let him know what his 30th birthday present will be. Lindsay is going to make sure he gets those two pieces on November 29th.

Wednesday we drove out to Calgary to visit Jeff and Lindsay. It’s great to get out to see them. Of course this weekend is Halloween and Friday October 31/08 it is exactly 30 days till Jeff turns 30. So Lindsay is throwing a big party for Jeff and the theme is “30 Days till Jeff turns 30” and there are about 35 people attending, so pictures will posted once we get home. I’ll provide updates through out the weekend, if I can find a spare computer.

Last night we had dinner at “The Broken Plate” a real neat Greek Restaurant near where Jeff and Lindsay live. It’s the restaurant where we had the pre-wedding dinner for family at Jeff and Lindsay Wedding in 2007. For special events the staff bring the guests a china plate that they toss onto a tiled/cement area and when the plate breaks everyone yells ‘Opa”! Food was delicious and it was a great night out!