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.

A Fun Retreat

We just got back from the Jasper retreat an hour or so ago...it was such fun. We scrapped until 1:30 am on Saturday morning, but quit early (12:30 am) this morning, and kept going today until we had to close up shop a 3:00. It was a great retreat...the hostess plus 17 scrappers...lots of room to spread our stuff out and work. We took our own snackies, but the hotel kept us supplied with coffee, tea, juice, pop, water, cookies, squares, and fruit mid-morning and mid-afternooon, as well as buffet breakfast and lunch both days, and a special dinner on Saturday, all included in the modest cost of the retreat. We made new friends, took a mini-album class, went on a horse-drawn carriage ride around Jasper, won door prizes, and cropped till we dropped. It was a very productive weekend for me - usually a very slow scrapper. I completed six 12 x 12 layouts, a card, and a nine-page mini-album. I'll be posting pictures of some of the layout in subsequent entries. As fun as it was, it's good to be home and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

The pictures are self explanatory I think...Me and Mickey at the crop, Mickey and Me with our luggage (the bottom layer of cases isn't included in the picture), and the group in the horse carriage.

Happy Feet, Pretty Feet

Mickey and I are going to Jasper tomorrow for a scrapbooking retreat. As a preliminary treat, this afternoon we went to a spa and had lovely, soothing, relaxing, pedicure. So again, these are pictures I didn't take, but they're fun to have and show. We didn't realize that we had chosen the same polish color until we were actually having the polish applied...we do things like that a lot...our tastes are so similar. I like my feet, but the whole affect is ruined by the gross kankles I inherited from my grandmother.

I won't be posting a blog until at least Sunday, when we're returning from Jasper.

Horton Hears A Who, and Panda Hut Too!

Before Amy and Curtis left for Hawaii last weekend, Amy planned activities for her girls for most of the days they'd be away. Today was 'fun with Grammie' day and the babysitter kept Kenzie home from kindergarten so she'd be ready to go as soon as I got home from work around 1:30.

Luckily, Horton Hears A Who has just come to the theatres, so that's where we decided to go (the girls came over last night so we could plan this date). I loved the movie and so did Kenzie. Syd dozed during the middle part of it, but enjoyed the popcorn and pop when she was awake. After the movie I let them choose where we'd go for dinner. Kenzie chose Panda Hut (they both seemed awfully familiar with it and the menu selections!) so that's where we spent the next hour and a half. They love the play area (the restaurant used to be a Burger King and the new owners saw fit to leave the play area there for their customers) and what they didn't eat of their noodles and rice, we brought home for them to eat later, or for the babysitter, whichever comes first. It was a fun day and the babysitter had a peaceful afternoon with just Aidan to take care of.