Weather is nicer ... finally.

Friday morning and I have had enough sleep so I figured it was a good time to update the blog. This month has been busy, but the heat has been way more than I expected. It just fries my brain and slows me down. I was able to spend more time indoors and got caught up on my reading. The best part of the month is the fact that I have spent more time with Jennifer and her family. Last week I got over to Foleyet where Don and Denise set up their camp for a week. Had a fabulous day playing texas horseshoes and seeing everyone. It was close enough to Vic’s birthday that Denise made an ice cream cake. Wow, was that ever good. It sure didn’t last long. The kids had fun in the trailer and there was a couple of gifts for Vic. So that was all good. The weather in Timmins cooled down this week and I got out to do some hiking. It was sure nice out last night.

Wasnt that a party ! ?

Back home Sunday night after having a few days off and spending time with Jennifer’s family. I was totally relaxed with no phone, no internet and no TV. It was nice to see the boys again, but the real purpose of the weekend was a celebration of Don and Denise’s 40th wedding anniversary. Scott, Jenn, Christine and Demetrios pulled it off perfectly and the surprise was complete. Nathan, Tyler and Victoria were also part of the planning and were fabulous helpers too. Scott actually headed out from Sudbury early Saturday morning, drove to north Westree and convinced his Mom and Dad they had to come back to Sudbury. The ruse was that the roof needed more work. So Don agreed to go and help and Denise agreed to come down and spend time in Sudbury as well. It was only at the last second when they saw the cars, the decorations and then all the people that they knew there was a party for them. Victoria, Tyler and Nathan gave “Grammie” Denise a nice bouquet of roses. There was also a huge chocolate cake with a nice funny photo of Don and Denise. For the cake cutting ceremony, Don pulled out his bush knife and did the honours. Along with all the guests from the Sudbury area, it was really nice to see so many of the Westree friends who made the trip down to Sudbury. How nice was that?! By the way, the food was so good that on Sunday morning, we all had hamburgers and cake for breakfast. This family knows how to celebrate. So from 2:00 p.m. to midnight, we all had a very good time with lots of food, cake and one or two beverages.

Canada Day with the boys and Jennifer

... have been putting off my blogging for a few days as I was pleased to have Jenn and the boys for company. They arrived in Timmins just in time to celebrate the long weekend. One of our first stops was at the Gold Mine Tour where they got all suited up for their trip underground. I remember bringing Jennifer down to the 4700 level at Kidd Mine when she ten years old.





It was nice for the boys to visit a real gold mine, in this case, the world famous Hollinger Mine. The boys got to see some real gold pieces and I was amazed to see a new vein of gold recently highlighted in the tour. As I looked at it, I was thinking how amazed the first prospectors must have been when they saw the gold veins in Timmins back in the early discovery days 100 years ago. Either way, I think the boys had a good time. I know Jennifer was pleased to look so glamorous in the mining clothes! Actually, her hair looks pretty fantastic. I was also pleased to show the boys around the Shania Twain Centre, and one of the awards on the wall was the Can-Pro award from my team at MCTV. We won a national gold medal for a documentary on Shania back in the 1990s and I was able to give her the award in 1998. After that we took in the Ribfest celebration where the boys had fun doing everything imaginable in a busy, busy afternoon. I just know I had more fun this weekend than I've had in a long time.