Victim Services Fundraiser

Last night Murray & I attended a dinner & fundraiser in Coronation for the Victim Services Unit I volunteer with. We work in conjunction with the RCMP so the evening began with 10 RCMP Officers dressed in their red serge uniforms marching in to bagpipes followed by the singing of Oh Canada. It was a very patriotic moment.

I don't know how she did it but our co-ordinator was able to convince Paul Brandt to come be our headline entertainer and since all volunteers got a VIP pass to meet with Paul himself I was able so spend a few seconds with him. In 1993/94 when Scott was in the Calgary Children's hospital Paul Brandt was one of his nurses! At that time he was selling demo cassettes for $5.00 so I bought one and on a whim had him sign it "in case he was famous someday"!!! I took it along last night & Paul said it definitely is a collector's item now. He had donated a leather jacket to the silent auction that went for $850. I wonder if my tape is worth that much?!!!!

Elaine & Paul BrandtJust Paul & his guitar on stage in the Coronation Hall forabout 1 hr 20 minutes. He is very up front about his committment to the Lord & gives Him the credit for his success. Very refreshing in this day & age.

Murray & I in our finery!

Murray was the successful bidder on an official RCMP blanket. Here with Corporal Val Dennis the contributor.

We had a lovely evening and all in little ol' Coronation!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURRAY

On Sunday Murray had a birthday so I baked him his favorite cake - angelfood.Monday was an extra busy day. We did our annual weaning of the steer calves. It takes all of us to help round the cattle up and sort the cows from the calves then the steers from the heifers. Here Murray and Steven K. are doing some sorting.

After sorting, the steers were loaded on a cattle liner we hired plus our own liner.
The liner we hired was bigger!

Here is our own rig ready to back up to the loading chute.

This year for the first time ever in the history of Little Gem Ranches our steer calves went to an auction market instead of being sold right off the farm. They went all the way to Lethbridge so Murray took his load yesterday & stayed over for the sale. So far I haven't heard if selling there was a wise decision!

Also yesterday my cousin Adeline stopped in for the evening & overnight on her way home to Saskatoon from Calgary. With Murray gone for the night I was happy to have some company & we spent a lovely evening catching up.

Today was such a warm Autumn day that in spite of there still being some flies I decided to wash some windows. You just never know when that white stuff may decide to pay us a visit!

Nicholas & Mommy.

I have just returned home from a week (Friday to Friday) visiting Kim & Nicholas. It was fun & busy. With Yan in Winnipeg I tried to do some of his jobs in the yard. Nicholas is a very active boy who could live outside so whenever it was not raining or he was asleep guess where we were?!!!

Nicholas found water in the birdbath after one rain and since it was fresh I let him play!

A boy of many talents! He could not decide what to eat first, the cereal or eggs. so tried doing both at once.

Give me something to dig in & I am happy.

Kim came home from a course in Victoria with this rain suit for Nic I dubbed the pumpkin suit!
Hamming it up for Grandma.
Rearranging the landscaping a bit more to his liking!
Trying to ride the trike but it is still a little too large for him. However ....... going outside without it was not an option.

Enjoying the swing at the park. (With the ever present trike in the background!)

We enjoyed some of Baba's perogies for supper one night & Nicholas ate 5! Pretty soon he will be vying for the record with Jeremy & Ken !
Saying goodbye to Grandma. I knew it was time for me to go home when Kim came home from work & Nic ran & hid behind ME!!! I did have a wonderful time though & look forward to next time.

I flew back to Calgary Friday in time to meet Murray at the It Is Written Parnership Weekend. Scott joined us so I was blessed to see both my children in the same day! My Mom was also there. We were also blessed to get acquainted with Steve & Joni Darmody at the dinner table Friday evening. Saturday afternoon we returned home for Pat Schetzsle's 90th birthday celebration.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

On Saturday evening a group opf us celebrated Connie's 60th birthday with a Mexican dinner at Angie & Kevin's. Here is Connie with all her Grandchildren and her DQ cake!

Sunday morning Debbie & I biked the Terry Fox 10k fundraiser trail. It was a perfectly gorgeous morning with sun, no wind and great conversation so the ride was over before we were ready for it to be!

Murray had great combining weather today and would have had great going if he hadn't broken down at supper time. They are busy improvising at the shop as the nearest part is in Regina and won't be here until Tuesday! Just when we get good weather.....

Harvest 2008

Harvest has been going rather slowly as we have had rain showers off & on for 2 weeks. Murray has been plugging away at the peas as they do not take on moisture as quickly and perhaps will be done them tonight. As you can see it is barely tall enough to combine so no bumper crops this year!

This pic taken on the hill just 2 miles south of home just a few minutes ago!

Unloading the combine.


While Murray has been busy with his harvest I have been busy with mine! Well the peaches weren't mine until I bought them, but canning is a fall ritual. I am hoping to get more cucs to preserve before it freezes. I have already canned 45 qts of peaches and 16 of dill pickles.

Old Friends

The other day Murray was happy to receive a call from an old CUC High School buddy who lives in Medicine Hat. We haven't seen them in years and now their daughter is an EMT in Coronation & they were coming to visit her. Yesterday was a damp day with a heavy shower near evening so we were able to slip away from harvest & meet them in Coronation for supper. Verne is a supervisor with Cal Frac & is currently working in northern Russia. (4 weeks in/4 weeks out). We had an interesting visit. Always good to reconnect with friends.Verne & Wendy Hrenyk, Elaine & Murray

August Long Weekend

The August long wknd many family from far & wide gathered in Red Deer for the wedding of Laurel Tym & Sheldon Teirele. Their outdoor wedding in a barley field at her parents home was a lovely & unique setting. Congratulations to the radiant couple!

August 4, 2008

Cutting the cake.

Kim was a guestbook attendant.

Kim & Yan in their finery!

Cliff Tym, father of the bride (far left), with 9 other cousins that were at the wedding, Murray included.
The 4 Sankeys. Daryl, Steven, Murray & Scott.

Scott giving Nicholas a driving lesson.

On Saturday the young Moms (& Crystal!) enjoyed the park outside our back gate. Angie, Bibi, Crystal & Kim. Jaren at the top of the hill- "Hurry up guys!"

On Sunday several of the family had a ball game in the park and a BBQ in our yard.

Murray's dad & Ken Pierson.

Nicholas had a playmate, Briana Pierson, at our house all wknd.

We kept Nicholas busy washing Grandpa's Corvette-
and watering Grandma's flowers

and swimming in the kiddie pool

until he was played out!

Elaine, Evelyn, Mom & Gene
On Tuesday Elaine's sister & brother-in-law, Mom & Brother came for lunch.

We had a full house and a wonderful weekend of visiting & fun. Thanks all for coming & lets do it again! After all Linda's big day is still to come!