JUST COCO, and MOMMY!

What a glorious week! The sun has been shining which means, that we have some very Happy Campers sleeping under the stars. And while they are sleeping, camping, eating, splashing and playing, Cathy and Cliff's family decreased by half the number of children. Cameron, Catie and Caroline are with Uncle Tyler and Aunty Amy and Kayla. How very lucky for the children and how wonderful of Aunty Amy and Uncle Tyler. They are stars!

Monday to Friday, Carly and Claire are attending a combination activity/summer school camp. I hear they are just having a blast. Today I know, they went swimming. How fun and exciting.

The upshot of all of the above means that while Daddy is hard at work (and doing something fun at an airport I hear), mommy and Coco are footloose and fancy-free and that's where Nanny and Pappa come in! How lucky for us!

On both Monday and today, Cathy and Coco came by for about a 5 hour visit. We ate brekkie and lunch, actually got to complete a sentence, got excited about new things happening, got to catch up on gossip (love that), looked at a ton of photo albums, heard stories, discussed ideas and most importantly, got to concentrate ENTIRELY on the baby of the family, Miss Coco.

Coco has the sweetest laugh, and dimples just like her daddy's when she smiles, and does she smile! We played and played, ate and played some more until we tired her out but good. Today she said the word "up" when I removed her from her momma's old high chair and when she got down, she played with a great toy we bought for Cameron when he was one, a great family favourite, and was babbeling away. Such a delight for the eyes and ears. Sometimes she reminds me of Carly, or Catie, or Caroline, sometimes we see Cameron, sometimes my sister-in-law. A look, a laugh, a certain sound, but one thing is for certain, she is really coming into her own. What a delicious journey!

Here are some of the many faces of Coco captured during our 2 days of visits!

Coco, Day One

She totally reminds me of my Sis-In-Law in this picture. When she was a little girl of course!

A Teaser!

Cathy and her dad checking out the old photographs!
Oh ya Coco-Bean you are one sleepy little girl! She has her brother's eyes.

Coco, Day Two!

Playing with the Brio toy that Cathy's Pappa bought for her. So cool, as you pull the cart along, the egg flips over and over.

I'm too sleepy to stay awake any longer Nanny!

Wake up Coco, it's time for lunch!

Pappa and I will treasure these rare days, thank you Amy and Tyler for your awesome gift of time!

"The Summer of 42"

July 15, 1967 started off like any other summer day....we didn't even know how little we knew! I was 20 and had to have my dad sign the marriage certificate and my darling Dickie was a wise old 23! Today my beloved and I celebrate our 42nd. Not an exciting number like 25, or 30 or 35 or 40, 50 or 60. In the middle of the really big ones. But it suits us down to a T.

Thinking back over the years, the years before cell-phones, digital cameras, remote controls for TV's, never mind High Def, DVD players, keychains that play pictures, never mind computers or any of that. It was an exciting time none-the-less. The Summer of Love. The Beatles were huge. I remember singing the words off the album cover with our friends Tom and Yvonne the night before the wedding! Neil Armstrong was still dreaming of landing on the moon. We hardly had a pot to pee in literally, but we managed. Managed through the 3 years of university, renting dumpy digs with some truly horrible land ladies! Managed through the births of each of our precious daughters. Made a home for the five of us. We had each other, we had a roof over our heads, we had food in our bellys and a nice soft pillow to sleep on. We had love, we had laughter. Who could ask for more?

Have we been the lucky couple? Who knows. We sure feel lucky. Lucky to have found each other to love. We grew up together. Dick was only 18 when we first met and I was just 15. I remember travelling the No. 9 (Broadway Bus) and hoping and praying that if he didn't get on that one, that we'd meet when we both needed to transfer onto the No. 3 (Main Street bus). And often we did! Here was this handsome guy who had this brilliant smile and he likes me, he really seems to like me! Life was good!

From 2 to 5 to 18+ in our family. We are well and truly blessed.

How did I get so lucky! Happy Anniversay Dickie. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Dick and his parents and our friend Tom just before the service. Thank goodness his Grandfather who travelled from Germany to attend, had a camera!


Dickie signing his life away. My father signed mine-Thank Goodness!


One of the few coloured pictures we have from our day. This one courtesy of my dear sister-in-law.


One of my favourites of the day~I think Amy might have the best one!

It was a modest affair. A dear friend Helen sewed my dress and veil as well as my friend Yvonne's. We got married at Christ Lutheran across from City Hall, then had the reception in my mom and dad's rec room over the garage. No themes, no parting gifts. I can't even remember what song was chosen for Dick and I to dance too. My biggest regret, was that I never even danced with my Dad. That still saddens me to this day. (But I always made up for it where and whenever I could, and told him so each time we danced how bad I felt that we hadn't.)

Another one of the rare coloured photos. There were more of us in this line-up but I think perhaps one of our girls has it. They have scooped a few of our wedding photos. Missing is my beautiful sister and her husband.

My darling, shiney new husband reluctantly getting up to make his speech! Not all prepared and written out as we do now. He of course, got a laugh and that probably started him on his road to speech making excellence (right girls!) He looked so handsome in his black tux. I remember thinking he looked like Omar Sharief (spelling), but looking back today, I can see that Omar didn't hold a candle to my husband! I remember crying when we returned the tux.

Cutting the cake that my daddy baked, but didn't ice. He didn't like that part of being a baker. The topper adorned April and Nick's cake many years later. I made each of the girls wear my veil at their wedding rehearsals! Now I guess, we'll save it for our Granddaughters.

Yvonne and Tom, very much in love. Probably the best picture our photographer took all day. He captured it. They just celebrated their 40th a few weeks ago!

My going away outfit caused quite the stir. Everyone whooped and hollered. Mini-skirts had just travelled across the pond and probably no one had seen anyone wearing one yet. Mine got shorter and shorter as the time went on. I just love this "polyester" dress. I had little black and white shoes that matched. The gloves were worn by Cathy when she married Cliff and Amy carried my little silver purse when she married Tyler in January. My husband, so handsome in his brown suede jacket and yellow shirt and goldy-green striped tie. Like he stepped off of GQ (which I doubt even existed then).

To my beloved Husband,

Thank you for all of the 15,350+ Days!

For Better, For Worse, For Richer, For Poorer~

I LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Canada

Here's hoping everyone is enjoying Canada's Big Birthday Bash, each in your own way. I can't remember how many years it has been since we actually had sunshine. So put on your sunblock, your, flip flops and hats and enjoy! Canada, with all its' worts and wrinkles (sort of like me!!), is still the best place to live. This Winnipeg born Murrayville Mom's Mom is glad to be Canadian.