Summer Fun

This summer we had a great time in Calgary. As the family gets larger, more spread out, and more established with their own lives (jobs, school, etc) it becomes more difficult to gather everyone together. But we managed it this summer - everyone came to Calgary. I arrived first and after just a couple of days there, I flew to Kamloops to visit Dad & Deanna.

We had lots of good old family time - spent looking at photo albums, dinners together, choosing library books & reading them, doing puzzles, cooking, swimming, and just enjoying time together.

Elaina is modeling her new princess dress-up from Saudi.

Usually I bring a supply of shoes for our granddaughters, but this year it was fun to share with my daughters. It's easy since we pretty much all wear the same size.

What fun to teach Elaina to play 'Old Maid'. She caught on to the game quickly, but not the idea of not divulging what's in your hand. She's certainly not ready for Las Vegas yet.

We also spent a lot of time at nearby parks with the girls.













One Sunday afternoon we had a picnic with friends, the Waltons, at North Glenmore Park. What a great time - just like old times, but with the next generation.

We ended our time in Canada with a visit to Ontario. First we made a quick stop to visit Claudette in Kenora and enjoy the world's best pyrogies. Then a reunion with some of Brian's cousins in Ontario and a visit to Amesdale.

What's this?! Brian using a luggage cart!

Our summer ended with a week in Belgium & Germany on our way back home, but I'll save that for another time.

Calgary Stampede

I'm back and we had a great time in Calgary. It was Stampede Week while we were there so we took in a few breakfast and dinners as well as a day at Stampede Park. For those who have never been to "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" I must explain that it truly is a 10-day event that transforms the entire city into a western theme. One of the most amazing events is the multitude of pancake breakfasts and hot dog/burger suppers that are set up for free in hundreds of shopping mall parking lots around the city. Many are complete with petting zoos, pony rides, line dancers and of course country singers. We introduced Elaina & Erin, Mike and Jared to Calgary Stampede hospitality. (I had come prepared with cowgirl boots for the girls from Saudi Arabia - no they don't have cowboys here - but they love 'glitzy' things.

We spent a day together at Stampede Park. The barns are always a hit for the kids and everyone loves the midway (well almost everyone) but from these photos, you'll notice that one of our favourite activities was sampling the full range of fair junk food - and I didn't even post the rest (corn dogs, ice-cream, popcorn, etc)

What a great time. More later on some of our other fun.

Quick Trip to Oman

Last week I went to Oman to visit a friend who lives there. Another friend came from Sharjah, which is in the UAE. We had a good time exploring the souk, grand mosque, old forts, and hot springs (as if the weather wasn't hot enough). I also gave a presentation on family history at the church. I came home with some bargains and lots of photos.

To Market To Market, but no fat hogs!

Last weekend several friends got together to explore the local market in a typical Saudi town about 45 minutes from where we live. I can share the photos with you, but not the full affect of shopping in the morning temperatures of about 45 degrees celsius (translation - 113 degrees fahrenheit)!

Lynne & Michelle shopping for baskets

Produce for sale

Pam buying a basket

I guess the umbrella prevents sunburn???

Drinking plenty of water prevents dehydration - and heatstroke. I could suggest a few other precautions, but then this isn't my culture.

We thought we'd discovered the garden of eden at the covered produce market. The small grocery store on our compound is sadly lacking in variety of fresh produce.

The watermelon was delicious, but not seedless.

We bargained hard (part of the fun with the local culture) and loaded up our wheelbarrow of fresh produce - no loonies required for this shopping cart.

Brian & Doug - basket lids make great shade hats.

Beach Parties

One of the things we like to do here is to go to the beach. The Aramco private beach at Half Moon Bay is on the Arabian Gulf, about a half hour drive from our house. Typically a group gets together to barbeque our own meat and combine efforts on salads and desserts. !

Kent (our bishop), Brian & Dave

Brian - still loving to build fires - and teach kids how!

This evening we had gathered to say farewell to our friends Dave & Sue who retired after living here for 20 years.

Ironically, for us Canadians, we don't go to the beach in the summer months - it's just too hot! But speaking of hot - how do you like the local beach attire?

We always enjoy a beautiful sunset at Half Moon Bay.

Desert Schmall

Last weekend we had arranged to take some friends out to the desert to dig for sand roses because Hardmans have her Mom visiting and Bests have their son visiting. (See my Blog post of Nov 8, 2008 for a description of sand roses). The idea was to dig for sand roses, hopefully see the camels wander by, and have a picnic.

Well.....it was so windy that our shade tarp and umbrella wouldn't stay up. That should have been our clue of what was coming!!! Then the wind picked up even more and of course started blowing sand, which really hurt on the legs, faces, under the contacts, etc. Compare the sky in the first photo (when it was blowing a bit) to the sky in the second photo below. Desert storms are called schmalls and we were in one.

It was almost a 'white out' - desert style, when we did see the camels on the horizon so some of us ran over to feed them cookies and photograph them and the camel herder. You'll notice from the photo that the desert dwellers are much better dressed for the desert storms than we are - as the sand continued to fill in our pockets and shoes, not to mention our ears, noses, eyes and throats. The men kept digging, but finally we gave in to the forces of nature.

Driving in the sand requires a 4-wheel drive, but still can be tricky, not unlike icy winter conditions. On the way out, Doug got stuck and we had to get out the shovels and our sand ladders to dig them out. We always carry the ladders, which are used to give traction and a base to get above the sand to drive out on.

We had the picnic back on our patio. The day wasn't what we had planned yet nobody was upset or too disappointed. One great thing is about this group of friends is that we enjoy new adventures together. The feeling is that we just had a different adventure than the one we had planned on. I like that attitude!!!