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?