Weekend

Yesterday Lloyd and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary in the peace and quiet of our home, enjoying a good dinner and just spending time reminescing about the events of the past 39 years. Here are some of the highlights:

- 1971 - moved to High Level, AB, to start married life together

- 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1986 family steadily increased until there were 9 of us.

- we made a few trips from BC - NS (3000 miles) to visit family

- due to Lloyd's federal government job, we moved a lot, living in 16 different places from Cole Harbour, NS in the east to Prince George, BC in the west, finally settling in Edmonton, AB

- the children quickly grew up, completed high school, went on to college, got married, and started producing children of their own.

- 1997 - First grandchild is born, Jonah Quist, and then the fun really began. He was quickly followed by 17 more grandkids to date, with more on the way.

- 2008 - We had our first family reunion to celebrate my 60th birthday. There were 32 of us at that time...from Lloyd and me, our children, their spouses and children.

Of course there's a lot of events between the lines. We've had many occasions to beam with pride over the accomplishments of our children as they developed their skills and talents and became honest, responsible adults. Our family has covered a lot of ground, vacationing and living in the entire width of Canada, and visiting many of the United States. We've had our ups and downs but always dealt with them together and with love. I wouldn't trade our life's adventures for anything. They've made us strong, and our love and commitment to one another stronger. Not for one minute has either of us had reason to regret getting married all those years ago. I can't imagine spending those years with anyone else. Hopefully we'll have many more years together. After all, 60 is the new 40 so we should have lots of time left.

This morning, as a late anniversary gift, our 18th grandchild, 7th granddaughter, Hannah Rose MacKenzie, was born in Lethbridge, AB. We'll meet her and visit her parents and two brothers in the next few weeks. Welcome to the family Hannah Rose.