Welcome Oliver!!

Ashley delivered Oliver, her second son, today just after noon in SLC. He is 6 pounds 8 ounces, 19 inches. We are waiting to see photos,and will share them as soon as we see them.

We are very pleased that all is well.

Amy was in SLC to help Ashley and take care of James. It seems there were many tender mercies and moments during her visit.

More soon.

A Day or Two in Our Lives

Sunday - L to R: Elder Fischer, from outside London England, Elder Hopponen, from outside Helsinki, Finland, Joseph, Sam and el viejo Guapo (hahaha), from Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Tuesday - Lobster formerly from Nova Scotia (as of yesterday) now just passing through Fort McMurray.

The first one. Joseph did not believe me about the green part inside the lobster.

Wednesday - Joseph built this model of a Caterpillar 797 Mine Truck, or Heavy Hauler, from only looking at a picture. No plans, no help of any kind. Pretty good, eh? See the engine inside?

Thursday - Here is Joseph (the tiny one on the left) in his first Lacrosse game. We play box here because of the weather and the mosquitoes. He scored a goal tonight too. it was fun watching and learning about the game. Michelle liked it too. It was funny because most of the other players, boys and girls, were significantly smaller than Buster, and they did not want to guard him.

School is Out, Forever

You can double click on any picture here to see better detail.
This is the Fern Chapel School, which operated from 1913 to 1949. One room, all grades. School here meant you were under the watchful eye of Barb's grandmother from Monday through Friday. Saturday nights the desks were neatly packed away to make room for the dancers in all of us. There were 5 standard steps used at the dances, can you guess which ones?

Live music was not always available, so you could bring your own music to play on the Victrola, which was upgraded in later years to this little gem:

Makes you kind of glad for Mr. Jobs and his little inventions, eh?

After the Saturday night dances, the men brought in the desks and benches for Sunday Services. A traveling preacher would come along once in awhile, and someone would play the pump organ until her legs wore out. You had better be saved by then, or you had to come back the next week. The stool was in Barb's house when she was a little girl taking piano lessons.

The local library, and few favorite story books shared among friends.

Welcome to the lunch room. The water urn was thrown in Medicine hat and brought by a teacher in the early days. The pails (look closely at them) were used as lunch boxes when paper sacks were expensive. Some of the pails were shared by students form the same house hold. On good weather days you could eat outside. in the winter, you could sit on the bench, or at your school desk.

After lunch you could... Boys on the right, and girls to the left about 30 feet or so.

The field was also the local ball diamond and parade ground.

The stove is original. The flue had to be replaced about 30 years ago. If you noticed the trees in the shot above, you can see there never was a lack of fuel to keep the school house toasty warm, even in the dead of winter.

This is how most of us see old school houses, photographs of old relics lost in time, or to time. Id Elk Point, the past is preserved for the future to appreciate. I believe it is good to know one's roots. I believe that change for the sake of change is not the best policy. The children and youth of Elk Point now have a more modern school, but is it better?

Road Trip

You have heard much about some of our friends Barb, Shiloh, and Lockie. About a week ago, Barb and Michelle went on a road trip. Lockie had gone to visit grandma at the farm, and the girls went to get him and spend a few days in the fresh air of the northern Alberta farming community of Elk Point. Along the way, they found a few of the wonders of the modern world.

Like...the largest mushrooms in North America (eat your heart out Texas)

and this little treasure...The sign is great, but the greatest part is the phone number (780) 636-1499 for those who are looking for an appointment. (double click for a better view) Personally, I am curious about the "home style" part. In my house, we have an in-home professional, kind of like having one's own personal professional golfer in the club house. We are always prepared and groomed by the best, and now perhaps the folks in Vermilion have an advantage over the folks in other communities.

Here is Sunday Dinner for the next year. Beat that Foster Farms.

Remember the old children's story about Jack and the house he built? Well this is the cat that the dog ate. When Barb and Michelle were at the farm, the dog, Katy, got a hold of this cat by the neck for a few minutes. Barb's mom had to quit her job because the dog was acting out and eating the chickens and the cats and looking at the cows in a funny way...

Now that the snow has melted, the cat is an easy target.

One of Barbs sisters lives close by, and told their mother they had a dog that was eating chickens too, and to cure the dog from the bad habit, they tied the dead chicken around the dogs neck for a day. It worked for their dog, so Barbs mother tried it, and Katy just stood stock still. Wouldn't eat from the food dish, or drink from the water bowl, or do anything else. Maybe the dog is cured now. Maybe something like that would be a new wildly successful diet aid. (hang a slab of bacon around your neck for a few days, and presto-magico - no more cravings.

Michelle told me tonight that she loves a man behind a roto-tiller, so I'd better get me another one I guess. No, wait, I have one, it is just a small one, but they say size does not matter...

The potatoes that are being used this year for seed were last years crop. Amy, Barb's mother, grows enough every year for the whole family for the year, and for the next year for seed too. Michelle and Barb each brought home a bucket of chive starts like the ones in the little bucket beside Amy.

This is such a great picture. This is a great family.

Everyone helps to plant. When Michelle got home, and we downloaded the pictures, one of our snotty sons asked, "So, mum, did you help too, or did you just take pictures?" We let him live.

Amy, Dave, Lochlan, and Barb on planting day. We are going to have this one framed for them.

This is just one small thing for which we are grateful. Good friends are all around us, and the missionaries try to get us to share the gospel with our friends so they can enjoy the things we enjoy. To see the love this family has and shares with everyone around them is truly amazing. I want to be amazing too. Do you?

May(be), May(be not)

May 12:

CA meets AB (no, that is not part of a math problem)

Humph!

May 13:

Now we're talking!

Mother's Day

"Joseph, go outside and take some good pictures of your brother."

The reply is kind of half grunt and half sigh, not unsimilar to the noise a moody toddler makes when having to wear shoes and play with barbie dolls with his cousin.

So here is Samuel, just to the left of the small mourning bush. It is mourning the winter, and may not make it, however the Plant Doctor still has hope.

Here is another great composition of Samuel, a little to the right and down about 15 feet. He is riding his mountain bike on the way back from the jumps in a local park.

Samuel and a couple of his friends have made a few really big dirt jumps for bicycles, and are in a small turf war or "police action" over the area. Hopefully the UN will not have to send in negotiators or peace keepers.



The lovely lady and her naturally blonde retro viejo. Check out the really cool shoes.

Also notice how much greener things are this week compared to last week.

Spring is coming!


After the regular picture session, the boys remembered there was chocolate at home. They pooled their money and bought Michelle a gift basket from a local shop. The original idea was to get flowers and candles, and have some great chocolates on the side, but the folks at the gift shop saw through that little ploy.

They worry too much. Their mother is always willing to share her candy or other goodies with them.


Here are the two macho men with their mother. They were laughing and playing around about being too sexy for their shirts.

I think NOT!

They are good boys and we are fortunate to have them as sons.

with the Stars

So, here is a good question for you. How do you get youth to dance on Cinco de Mayo?

First you have to know a good recipe, and start out with great ingredients.

Prepare an area large enough to accommodate all the youth and all the leaders. Keep the latter off the dance floor, and use them later for garnish once refreshments are ready to be served.

The first great ingredient is a good sized group of Deacons. We suggest fresh ones, full of attitude.

If you have the typical variety, they will use closed body language to exhibit their disdain for having to touch girls (and or having to be touched by them.)

You can use the variety with the hands stuffed deep in the pockets, but this attitude is generally reserved for use by the third group.

The second group or ingredient is Young Women. They are usually more open to mixed activities, but they do try to hide their apprehension. We usually find this group running in packs to avoid situations where they can be singled our by the stronger (but goofier) half of the species

Last, add a healthy dose of Teacher or Priest attitude. This ingredeint is easy to find in pairs or small groups by bouncing a ball of any size or shape. It is like Pavlov's bell, bounce the ball one time and Teachers and Priests will fall from the sky, appear from no where, and circle the ball like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Mix these three groups or ingredients, shake well to thoroughly integrate, and viola!

You get this!!

Dancing activities where youth actually touch and move to the beat of the music (In this case Latin music because of Cinco de Mayo). This interaction is infinitely better than watching the girls dance in small groups or by them selves, while the boys stand in small groups or by them selves because they are afraid of looking odd to the girls.

When it comes right down to it, there really is no good reason that our youth do not participate in more cultural activities other than the simple fact that the leaders are too scared to lead by example. I have never heard of a man killed by dancing with his wife. But i have heard of men killed by the jealous husbands of those women.

So, the lesson of the evening is, dance while the sun shines for tomorrow brings too many excuses: babies, work, no talent, etc. At this point let me just say that a lack of talent is easily cured by a little practice.

We had a great time, even us old parents who embarrassed our sons by dancing with them and all their friends. We will have to do this again.

Another Great Day in Northern Alberta

Another beautiful Fast Sunday in Canada has come and gone. You can see that while the weather is pointing to spring, the trees and grass do not believe it yet. We have planted and put out some flowers only to find them wilted in the frost in the morning. Today, for example, the high temperature was 23 degrees C, high seventies or low eighties, no clouds, in other words, absolutely beautiful.

So, after church we went by our favorite picture spot in Fort Mac. This spot is on the way to one of the golf courses here in town. We have taken pictures here almost every month for over a year to chronicle the seasons, the growth of our sons, and our experiences in Canada. Today we were joined by Bailey as her parents were out of town on a business trip. She fits right in and takes no grief from the boys. She also adds some beauty to little foray.


This could be our missionary couple picture.

We must admit that the sun was quite bright this afternoon. Actually it is also quite bright in the morning too. today the sun rose at about 5:10 am, and set at about 9:50 pm.

On the Summer Solstice, the times will be 3:30 am and 11:30 pm, give or take a few minutes.

It looks like the sunshine has also caused the boys to shoot up, not unlike it does the plants here too.


Zoolander lives, I'm sorry to say.