Pizza Boxes!!

Aaahhhh...pizza box...the mail that makes a scrapbooker's heart beat faster...not because we love eating pizza so much, but because a scrapbooker's pizza box is filled with papers, and ribbons and buttons and chipboard and alphabets and card stock and...and...and... Nothing brightens up a blah day better than coming home to find a pizza box in your mail. It's a good day. I got one today.

Sisters

Wendy and I were born not quite a year apart - she was born on May 18 sometime in the 20th century and I was born the following year on May 10. When we were little, Mum used to invite the neighbourhood kids over for cake and ice cream on May 14 to celebrate both of our birthdays together at the midpoint between our birthdays.

The reason I'm bringing this up now is that yesterday I received a birthday card from Wendy - two weeks early - but I know it'll be the first of many I'll get from her this year. I don't know when it started, by whom, or why, but for lots of years now we've been sending each other half a dozen or more cards every year in the couple of weeks before our birthday - most of them funny or insulting with at least one 'nice' one. I start collecting cards to send to her shortly after our birthdays are over and save them until the time is right to send them. A fun tradition to look forward to each year.

Focus

Layla loves to climb the fence around her yard. Her tiny feet fit right into the spaces on the chain link. I told her to look at me and smile and she said "I can't. I need to focus." So she kept her head turned into it's focus position, looking straight ahead and said "Cheese".

Now That's a DOG!

This is Chester, Mary and Greg's 165 lb. Mastiff. He's a beautiful dog with a bark that puts the fear of god into anyone who comes to the door. He's mellowed in the five years they've had him and isn't as unfriendly toward men as he used to be. He's always liked me though...and this weekend when we visited his family in Oliver, BC, he became Lloyd's new best friend. He's very protective of Layla (when she was born we were afraid he'd eat her!!) and growled at Lloyd when he was teaching her how to hit a golf ball - guess he thought he was going to hit her with the club.

As beautiful as he is, Chester has one major flaw...he drools...a lot...we were all slimed more than once this weekend. It's a condition common to large dogs with jowels. We love him anyway. Layla calls him her big brother.

Pictures From Oliver, BC

I missed a few entries here because Lloyd and I took a trip to Oliver, BC, the wine capital of Canada, to visit with Mary, Greg, Layla and Chester for a couple of days. We miss our daughter and her family since they moved away from Edmonton a couple of months ago. They have a lovely home in Oliver and have settled in nicely. It's a beautiful drive between Edmonton and Oliver, through the mountains and into the vineyards of the Okanagan. We had never been there before in spite of having lived further north in Prince George, BC for a number of years.

This first picture is Lloyd, Greg and Layla, with Chester sitting guard in the front. Greg isn't really a hippy. He's just wearing the headband to practice his golf swing before he and Lloyd head out to the course.

The second picture is Mary at the Rancho Chica in Omac, Washington, just an hour's drive from their home. It'll become a regular stop on our visits to them - the food is incredible and the staff is fun and friendly.

The third picture is of Mary and Layla in a pensive moment.

A Few More

Two more layouts from the weekend retreat - the first is Lloyd with Kenny last summer and the bottom one is Charlie with her baby sister, Eloise. Some day I'll learn to scan my layouts so they come out better, either that or take straighter pictures! As usual, the layouts look much better in real life.

A Few Layouts

The card on the bottom is a copy of one I found in a magazine. I love it. When I decide who to send it to, I'll put a greeting on the tag. The other two are a couple of layouts I did at the retreat this weekend.