Wordless Wednesday

Crossing Over the Mighty Fraser River

This morning my beloved enticed me with the promise of a trip to "Dagwoods" in Maple Ridge. A nice offer of a bacon and egger beckoned, but first we'd have to walk there, which is for us, is about a 55 minutes, one way, over the lovely new Golden Ears Bridge.

Before the bridge opened the only way to Maple Ridge from our place was either by HWY 1 over the Port Mann Bridge and then drive all the way around, or, we could drive to Fort Langley and take the little Albion Ferry over. Both routes took a long time out of your day. You were either driving forever in a ton of traffic, or, you were waiting for sailing after sailing, waiting for your turn to ride the ferry.

Here are some pictures of our last trip over the Albion Ferry. They were taken May 4/09.

All crammed in and ready to sail.

There's Maple Ridge in the background!

Today though we walked over in perfect "walking" weather.

On the long ramp leading up to the bridge you get to look down and see all of the industry going on. So this is what people do when they're not retired! The neat thing is, from so high up it reminds us of when we were little kids and you had little toy towns, little models, all neat and orderly. Everything in its' place. That's what it looks like when you look down from the bridge.

First off, the metal scrap yard.

The bridge awaits!

Note puddle in foreground, called that one in today. Last time we walked here on the 6th, it was about 40' long and about an inch deep and no other way around it but to go through it!

Next up, the gravel pit! It's fun to watch the goings on down there.

Did you know? It takes one load from a Caterpiller's bucket to fill the front truck bed, and one and a half loads to fill the larger truck bed behind it. The caterpiller operators are so skilled when they place the loads into the truck beds, tamping the last load down very gently, which is something we hadn't expected.

The sand and gravel are barged in on the Fraser River and travel by conveyor belts into the yard.

One of the trucks being loaded.

Off the barge, into the hopper, and over to the yard on a conveyor belt for this load.

The foreshore lined with old auto wrecks.

My beloved . You can see one of the barges over his left shoulder.

One of four "piers" that supports the bridge.

Looking East right smack, dab, in the middle of the bridge.

Two crazy old birds enjoying life!

Destination Dagwood is in sight just over the bridge!

We made it to the other side of the river!

This end is equally fascinating, lots of docks and working boats and boat houses. I'm sending my beloved down there with his water colours!

Well folks, that's the walk in one thousand words or less!! And let me tell you, that bacon and egger was delisch!

"The Sins of the Fathers"

If you were like me and went to Sunday School in the '50s you probably heard a bible passage that goes something like this, "the sins of the fathers will be revisited upon the third and fourth generations". I paraphrase owing to lack of memory, but the passage itself and its' meaning, even though I was but a wee lassy, really stands out for me. Also, the '50s, were weren't so PC, saying "father" rather than "parent" or even "mother" for that matter!

Today's blog isn't religious, it was just the passage that came rolling back over my brain today and let me tell you why.

A little history:
When our three daughters were little girls, they loved gum so much that they would scrape it off the sidewalk, eww, or where ever it was that they might be "lucky enough" to "find" some previously chewed gum, and pop it in their mouths.

I can't tell you how many times I cautioned them against doing so. How many times I caught them in the act, and I hate to admit it now, but even in desperation did the old bar of soap in the mouth trick slash punishment! For that girls, I truly apologize and would for anything in the world, take that back! Not that it really worked anyway.

Fast forward to our delightful Mother's Day Lunch:
After all of the noshing and decadence that a buffet entails, the adults were chatting here and there and likewise the children. Little cousins who hadn't seen each other in a while started to break off in little groups. One little group consisting of Cathy's Catie, April's Abby and my beautiful Niece's son "M", decided to get together under the table. It was a perfect spot hidden from the roving eyes of an attentive parent.

It wasn't until my niece said to Cathy and April, "look under the table" that we saw them there. It just so happened it was right under the table at which I was sitting, so in true Nanny fashion, thinking it would be cute to take a few pictures of them, I simply lifted up the table cloth and tried to get a picture or two of our little darlings. Now If I weren't a Nanny, I probably would have gotten down on my knees, but no, no, no, not me, I just lifted the table cloth up and randomly shot pictures. There, that's my excuse for the poor pictures that you will see below.

Well these three found a perfect little hide-away almost tent like, but with benefits. (And if, I had gotten down on my knees might have noticed). Yup, you guessed it, old, pre-chewed wads of gum in varying colours of white and blue and green!

Unto the Second Generation, at least as far as two of our daughter's are concerned!

Yup, in living colour, Cathy and April's daughters hard at work! Not "M" though, sure wouldn't want to tar him with the same brush! That wouldn't be right!

Still hard at it!








Ooopsie, spoke to soon, sorry Andrea!





Pick, pick, pick, pick!




Getting a better view Abby?



Isn't he a cutie pie?


Standing Joke in our Family! When I take pictures I usually always say, "How is this picture? I don't have my glasses on." They usually chide me, heck, I'd go so far as to say, they make fun of me~wear the shoe if it fits kids~and honestly, I didn't even look at these pictures until I got home and downloaded them. Or, I never, ever would have let this go on!




In fact, it only took the parental units, aka, the Mother's to notice that there was gum under the tables and promptly shooed them all out from underneath.





Disclaimer:
We have no reason whatsoever to believe they actually "chewed" any of offending gum!-LOL. In fact, a very short while later our granddaughter, Coco, was given gum and as I was all Nanny paranoid, said: "What are you chewing?" "Give that to me!" "Coco, give me that gum!" and I scooped it out of her mouth, all the while unbeknownst to me, her mother had given her some!!!!


Poor kid! That's what happens when the "sins of the mothers" comes back to haunt their mother! I owe you a piece Coco, a fresh piece that is!

Others, Mothers and Daughters

On the cusp of Mother's Day my Mom phoned and told me that a dear, gentle woman, our friend, Pastor Ann Strand, died suddenly. I had the priviledge of working with her as church administrator when our church was in need of an Interim Pastor. Over many coffees in the office and lunches in restaurants and later on, serving on a Synod committee together, I learned so much from this amazing woman. I am sad to think that I will never again have an opportunity for a hug, a shared memory or a smile. Rest in Peace dear Ann. You are loved and remembered by all who were blessed to know you.

* * * *

On a happier note, I am looking forward to tomorrow when two beautiful women, my Mom and my Mom-In-Law, along with the majority of our families will be together to celebrate them. They will meet the newest member of our family, Master Colby, and probably be squashed, stepped on, sat upon, smiled upon and perhaps even drooled upon if they play their cards right, by many of their Great Grandchildren who will be there too!

Our moms are amazing and an inspiration to the family. Both now widowed and in their 80s (I won't say where they are in that category), living in their own homes and living full, rich, and for the most, part healthy lives. We are well and truly blessed. Thank you dear ones for all of your love and care and worry throughout the years! We celebrate YOU! We LOVE you!

O u r M o m s

This picture was taken the day before our Granddaughter Coco was born. About 2 and half years ago and for those who know and love them, they would say they look just the same~fantastic!

* * * *

I dedicate this blog to our beautiful daughter's Cathy, April and Amy. I cannot for the life of me imagine what life would be like without you. Full Stop. You have brought the greatest joy, love and laughter to our lives. A richness unimagined. From infanthood to following your heart into adulthood, what a grand journey it has been. To watch each and everyone of you blossom into motherhood, a gift.

C a t h y

Cathy and her darlings, Cameron, Claire, Carly, Catie, Caroline and Coco.
Picture taken last summer by: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kyleperison.com%2Fblog%2F&h=b70d8

A p r i l

This beautiful picture of April and Nick and their children, Hudson and Abby was taken by Cathy last December. http://www.cathyempey.com/

A m y

Amy and her pride and joy Colby. This picture was taken by yours truly just hours after they were released from the hospital.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

A Mother's Pride and Joy-Some Blog Love!

As we lunching at Cathy and Cliff's on Caroline's 4th Birthday, I received an unexpected offer that I couldn't refuse. Cathy asked me if I'd like to accompany her on a photo shoot and not just any shoot, we were going to visit Amy and Tyler's to shoot Colby Thomas only 4 days old.


Now I am very proud of my daughter Cathy, professional photographer that she is.

In Friday's Vancouver Sun her pictures featured prominently in an article about the very crafty Wendy Russell.


On Monday, a blog called A Million Little Details, high-lighed Cathy in the blog showing examples of her exquisite work from a Jessica Claire workshop which she attended last Autum~ http://www.amillionlittledetails.ca/


In it they say: Check out Cathy’s blogsite, here! Her work is seamless! Another specialty of Cathy’s is boudoir, check out her site completely dedicated to this sexy art!


High praise indeed and I say: Watching Cathy in action as I did for the very first time, I was so impressed with how she goes about it. Cathy puts so much creativity and energy into what she loves to do and the finished product shows. She has a real gift.

Here are a few pictures that I took of Cathy in action as Amy and Tyler looked on.

I have to say, that I started out taking pictures of Amy and Tyler's reaction, but soon realized that it was the whole scene~Cathy at work, darling baby boy and delighted parents as they peeked on at their little miracle~that was the real story!

What a great afternoon! Thank you Cathy for inviting me along.

PS: One of the many pictures Cathy took will be the highlight of Colby's birth announcement just as this one was when our darling Hudson Nicholas was born last December!

All together now, everybody say "awwwwww".

The Last Day of April 2010

Dear Readers, if you follow my blog, you've no doubt noticed, nary a posting for weeks and weeks. I wish it were otherwise, but it seems that Facebook has such a big draw it has really almost replaced blogging for me! I've turned into a fickle blogger.

What a month April has been.

Easter has come and gone with a wonderful family dinner at Cathy and Cliff's house. All of our children were there, including 8/9 Grandchildren which made for a lovely family gathering.

Unfortuantely Kayla was unable to be with us too or this would have made the perfect grandchild photo!

When you put these six together there is no end of trouble that they get into! Note the Easter Egg in Nick's nose!

In September, Dick and I started taking 5 of Cathy and Cliff's children to Sunday School and then back to our house for lunch and then while Pappa was cleaning up the dishes, the kids and I would be very busy making some sort of "art". It has been such a fun time, watching them create and then improve and improvise on their original ideas. The mornings are early for we retired folks, a 9:15 a.m. start and we usually drive them home about 2:00. It is a long day for Nanny and Pappa but a great one for us too. It has been so much fun listening to their jokes, hearing the stories. Making them laugh. Them making us laugh. Wouldn't trade a sleep in for all the world.

Way back in January Dick and I began a 500 Mile Challenge, which was essentially put out there to encourage people to join in and get fit. Each person keeps track of the number of miles you run/swim/etc. and in our case walk, record it and submit it weekly. Laura, one of the moderators of the blog along with her blogger friend Erin, came up with this great idea. So Dick and I decided we'd like to participate too. The blog includes things like profiles of participants, motivational ideas, and healthy recipes. Our daughter Cathy was profiled a few weeks back and then Laura asked us if we'd be willing to write something up, so we did. If you'd care to have a look, you can find it at the following link.

http://500in2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/meet-challengers-allyson-and-dick.html#comments


I have tried and tried unsuccessfully to put the logo on my blog, but it is beyond my powers of reasoning as to how to go about it!

The bulk of April has been taken up with waiting for our youngest daughter Amy to give birth to her baby. With a due date of April 13 or 17, combined with the fact that both her sisters, Cathy and April had early deliveries, so why wouldn't Amy deliver early too. It seems like we've been waiting virtually all month long for this blessed event.

There was always much speculation about when it would be born. Would the baby be born on April's birthday? How about mine? Or the baby's sister's? Or the baby's Oma's? The April 13th date then the 17th, came and went. There were the weekly visits to the doctor, week 39, week 40, week 41 brought not the most encouraging reports, " the baby hasn't dropped", "not yet" and yet, Amy was always so positive and really enjoying this pregnancy. She was the perfect candidate for having an overdue baby if there ever was one!

Finally, the big day came, she started to have twinges, twinges turned into labour pains! Maybe we'll be woken up with a telephone call tonight I'd say to Dick. The cell phone always fully charged and at the ready, in my pocket when we were walking, on silent when we were in church, on the night table, waiting for the call. Night one, no baby! Night two, no baby! Hour 46 of labour--a baby! Our daughter is a Warrior Queen I tell you and Tyler, her beloved is worth his weight in gold.

Here he is! Colby Thomas, all 8 lbs 1 oz. of him! He has downy redish/blond hair and is the spitting image of his daddy! What a little wonder he is. A perfect little miracle.

Just 13 hours old, so worn out from his long journey into love!

People have said to us, "this must be old hat to you, you've been through it so many times before." My answer is this. Each and every time we are blessed with a grandchild it is as if this little one is our very first. You never ever get used to it. It is exciting and scary and it is nerve wracking and exhilarating each time. It never grows old. When I get to gaze at their little face I instantly fall truly, madly and deeply in love. I makes me wonder, how did the world exist before you were born?

Our blessings:

Cameron

Claire

Carly

Catie

Caroline

Abby

Coco

Kayla

Hudson

and now Colby.

What joy each and every one of them brings into our lives. Magical!

At the Library With Coco, Catie and Caroline

Local libraries are wonderful places to visit, especially if you have a granddaughter or three to guide you through the intricacies of the various activities available to you. That's what Pappa and I did last week while their talented mommy was taking awesome baby-to-be boudoirs of their Aunty Amy.

First off, you can read books at neat little tables made just for your size small.

You can balance bean bag chairs on your head and wander around.

You can play games! Why you can even colour~but not on the books of course.

And in-between you can sit down with Nanny and read a book from the baskets on the table.

I do believe at least two are reading in this picture!

The Bean also likes carting around the bean bag chair.

Of course there's always a computer programme or two for the little ones to challenge themselves to.

It's Musical Computers everyone!

Or, you can play "hide and seek" under the comfy chairs.

Then again, you can lay on the floor, or Pappa can take his shoes off!

And then you can pose under your hiding chair.

Or, you can lounge around and look at the ceiling.

The possiblities are as endless as your imagination. And when you leave they even put a stamp on your hand. How fun is that!

When I was a young girl of 12 we moved to Vancouver from Kelowna. One of my favourite "big city" things was the weekly Book Mobile that visited our neighbourhood. It was stacked full with books and magazines, especially 17 Magazines! I thought that was just great. I wonder what our Grandchildren will remember best when they look back at their visits to the local library. Will it be the computers? Will it be the stamps? Or might it just possibly be the wonderful books and freedom and kindness you receive when you visit? That might be it. Oh yes, we still asked them to talk quietly, that hasn't changed much, but I can't remember ever having my picture taken while I was there can you?

So for a fun time be sure to check out your library. Remember to bring your camera and your library card you'll be glad you did!