Aug.5,2008

Well it's been a while so guess I should do a bit of blogging. Last month was a busy one with lots of company and birthday parties and now things should start to slow down a bit.
Well last week Jorge's dad and sister went home and on Friday I went to Edmonton and helped my sister in-law move.I drove back on Sunday and got home about 6pm. She has a lovely apartment in the north side of Edmonton. On Monday this week we decided to go on a picnic with Tanya, Tom and the kids and Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah. We went to Police Outpost Prov. Park. Kind of a small lake stocked with Rainbow Trout and a beautiful view of the Rockey Mountains. We first went to another place but it didn't have a beach for the kids so off we went in search for Police Out Post Park.It took us a while to get there but it was well worth it. Lots of gravel road driving and lots of dust in the back of my truck. This morning I got up cooked a couple of eggs and then headed off to have coffee with the guys. After that I came home and raked up some branches from the lawns.I couldn't believe how high the grass was and it did need mowing. Our lawns are 4 times as large as our old one in Edmonton. Here we have actually 4 lawns and today it took me quite a while as it was pretty high.Then I cleaned 3 of our fountains and they really needed that. Then after trimming everything up I unloaded my poor old truck which still had the boat, 2 kayaks, all the life jackets, small portable grill, paddles, anchor, base ball gloves, pails, 6 folding lawn chairs.some fire wood , just in case eh? and what everelse you can think of . Didn't realize how much stuff we took along. We unloaded the cooler and all the excess food last night.
Wendy had to work this morning and just got home after 5 this evening.
I still haven't really looked into finding another music group but maybe I try to look this coming week. There is another Jam session this Sunday and maybe I will go to it if I have time.I believe they meet at Lethbridge but not sure just where it is. Then next week (the 3 Sunday of the month) it is back at Shauneshy where I went last month. Maybe this fall something will come up and I can find a group. Who knows??
Well that about I I can think of to write right now. So God Bless you all and have a great day.

July 20th,2008

Well as most of you already read today was my birthday. I think Wendy posted it on her blog and I got about 6 or 7 Happy Birthday wishes on face book from around the world. Thanks guys.

My beautiful wife and I have been home alone for the last few days and it has been fun. Not that we don't have fun when everyone is here but it has been nice and gave us an opportunity to spend some time together just the 2 of us.
One day we went to breakfast at Denny's in Lethbridge. We went and walked up to the special train bridge here in Lethbridge and spent the afternoon. It was tiring but well worth every moment. Today we went to church and then I went to a Jam session in Shauneshy. Not sure how to spell that. It was a lot of fun but a bit different than the jam sessions that I have gone to. I did play 4 songs and really enjoyed it.
Tomorrow Mandy and Jorge and little Josiah and his dad and sister are coming home in the afternoon. My daughter Kristy and her husband Bob will be home here sometime in the morning for only a few days and then they are off to South Africa for 2 years. Sigh. It will be hard not seeing them for 2 years but they will be doing Gods work and they love it. I know God will bless them for it someday and will keep them safe for us.
Yesterday Wendy and I went walking down by Old Man River and Tanya and the kids joined us. That was fun. Then in the afternoon Wendy and I went over to Tanya and Tom for supper and played a game after supper. Then Tom and I went to the church and Tom helped set up all the mic's and interments for the Sunday service. I didn't do much as I am new there and really didn't know what to do or how they set it up so I just watched. They had a bit of a problem and Wendy finially picked me up at the church about 1 am. and we came home.
My sister Betty and my brother Merlin called me today and wished me a happy birthday too.
Tomorrow I should go for coffee with the guys at the Cactus restaurant. Hope you all enjoyed listening to beautiful niece play her harmonica. If you missed it just scroll down.

My niece, Becky

This is my niece Becky playing the harmonica, she taught herself to play, by listening to the Kompanions cd.

She sure is good!

Tuesday evening

Hi everyone. Guess it is about time I updated this silly old blog.We have been very busy with familey and friends coming to see us and staying a while. 3 weeks ago Wendy's brother and her sister and her family and now Jorge's dad and his sister are here for 3 weeks. Jorge has been busy showing them around Picture Butte and Lethbridge. It is so good to have his dad here. He is such a nice guy and I really enjoy having him and his daughter her. Jorge's dad is a pastor in Chile and pastors 4 churches there so when he is home he is a really busy man. He is a real Godly man. Jorge is so happy to have his dad and sister her. Tomorrow I think we are all going to Waterton Lake and that should be lots of fun showing his dad around.
Our garden and back yard is just so pretty right now with all the flowers out in full bloom. Wendy is so happy with it. It is just beautiful.
This evening we went to watch Jorge play soccor but we had a storm and they had to stop playing half way thru. We had hail stones about the size of golf balls. We just got some rain in Picture Butte. Guess wwe live in the right end of town eh? It hailed for about 10 minurtes while we were in Lethbridge. Then we came home and had some supper and now every one is just sitting around or playing on the computers.Wendy is just loving haveing all three of her girl home. Kristy and Bob will be going to Red Deer on thursday and then coming back on Monday afternoon and then flying out to South Africa on Thursday afternoon next week.
We are have a great day and hope and pray you are all having a great day with us.
God Bless you all.

Saturday Afternoon

Well here it is almost the end of June and I haven't blogged in a long time. It is too hot to be out side for too long so I came in to call Wendy in England but she wasn't in. She few to England because her aunt Ruth passed away. Kristy also few over and they met and are staying at the Bournemouth Hotel. Her aunt has been sick for a while and is in her 80's. We were able to meet with her in March when we stopped in England for a few days before flying to South Africa to see Kristy and Bob.
Well today is is real hot here. I went to the dump first thing this morning with a load of Lillac bushes. Then I came home and stopped at the bakery and got some goodies. Seemslike my truck won't go by the bakery without stopping. ha ha. I went out to the garden and use the Hoe and got frid of most of the weeds in the garden. I planted some Radishes and cucumbers. Our garden is doing realy well at the moment. Have to keep it well watered as it is really hot here today. I believe it is about 30% out right now. Our back yard is just beautiful now. I was going to go up and try to fix the roof but think I'll wait until the sun goes down.
Well we had Wendy's brother Bryan and his family here and then her sister Cynthia and her kids plus Tanya and Tom and their 5 little ones and Mandy and Jorge and their new little one Josiah. So we had a house full for a full week. It was a bit hecktec but lots of fun. We sure went threw a lot of food but I think everyone including me enjoyed it. It wa good to just sit around and chat and talk to everyone. We haven't seen Bryan and his family in about 2 years.
One day we all went to Waterton Lake and enjoy a full day there. The weather here has been beautiful for the last 2 weeks. Today is the first time it has been in the 30's.

Our house is rel nice now. Wendy has it all painted up pretty and got all the picture and plaques hung up. It really looks nice. I have my garage almost finished. Still got to insulate the roof but want to make sure I have the roof so it won't leak before I do that. Bought the coating yesterday but think I'll do that later on today or Monday. It has been a lot of work but starting to really like it now. It feels like home.
Jorge's dad is coming here on the 9th. of July with his youngest sister. That will be fun for Jorge.

We are going to the University Alliance Church. Tanya and Tom and the grand kids go there.It is only 23 klm's away so it is not that far. We tried the e- Free Church but decided to go to the Alliance in Lethbridge and be with the kids. I guess that makes sence because we came down here to be closer and with them.

Just got thru to Wendy and Kristy in Bournemouth and talked for a few minutes.
They are doing fine and meeting Derrick and family tomorrow in Beournemouth someplace for lunch.
Well guess thats about all the news I got for today. God Bless you all and have a great day.

Friday

Friday June13,2008

Hi. Guess it's about time I sat down and wrote a bit about what's happening in my life eh? Well it has been a lot of work but it finally looks like I am almost finished for a while then I can start the other stuff after all our company is gone. In July some time I guess. Ha ha. I finished the bathroom up stairs and it looks real good. Yesterday I put new faucets in the down stairs shower and put up a light over the ironing board for Wendy and then fixed the side of our trailer where I scraped the fence getting it in the back yard. sigh. Then went shopping for some stuff we need for the next week or two. Met Tanya and the kids and we all went to Costco and then went to Safe-way because Costco didn't have some of the stuff we needed. Then I went and picked up a desk at Sears for Wendy and then came home and put the desk together that Wendy bought for her Laptop. Today is going to be a busy one as I have to cut the grass before it gets too high. It is growing so fast with all this rain. I have to run a wire out to our trailer so we will have electric out there. The other day I put in a new sump pump in our basement and got that working. The people before us had put in a backwash valve in the line but had put it in backward so it took me a bit of time to figure that out. So that never did work. I still have to fix the gate between our fence and the neighbors so the dog can't get out. I have to fix the back gate by our trailer that is just old and falling apart. Then later I have to fix the eves by the front door and the try to fix the roof for the winter. I have to cut down a door in my bedroom that won't close and then try to clean up the garage before everyone gets here on Sunday. I had to put a new lock on our back door last night as the old one was sticking and just worn out. Now got to make sure everyone has the new key eh? Oh well that sounds like I should be outside doing something before it rains again eh? Instead here I am sitting at this silly old computer.
Wendy's brother Bryan and his family are supposed to be here on Sunday and her sister Cynthia and her kids are coming on Tuesday. Kristy and Bob are coming on Sunday so it looks like we are going to have a busy 2 weeks ahead but it should be lots of fun. Counting Tanya and Tom's family plus our newest grandson we will have about 22 people here for a week or two. We haven't seen Byran and Sally for a couple of years so it will be good to just sit and talk but who knows what we will be doing eh? Maybe I should find a lot of little jobs that need to be done and see if I can get everyone to do them. Like cutting down some trees and trimming some and cleaning up the back yard. Just kidding. I just hope to relax and enjoy the new two weeks. Wendy is off for a while so that will be good for her too.
Well I have to go for now but someday when I get time I'll fill you all in on what happened and how much fun we had. If you happen to be in the area just stop in and sit and chat a while and maybe we can find and extra air mattress for you so you can stay a while. The more the merrier. Well thats my story and I'm sticking too it. Love you all.
Floyd

Friday June 6,2008

Here it is June and I haven't blogged for a while. Today the electricians just finished and hopefully we won't have anymore problems with the electric in this silly old house. I haven't got the bill yet but just pray that it won't be too high.I have the new bathtub in and the drywall up around it and it looks good if I have to say so myself. I now have a new window and bathtub and new wiring in the house and Wendy has painted almost everything and it is really looking good. Actually it is beautiful. My wife and daughters have a way of making things look so nice. Thanks guys. I guesss I am starting to like this silly old house. I went to Edmonton last week end and towed our trailer home and it was good to get back home here in Picture Butte. It is home now for sure. I still have a lot of work but it is all coming together. Wendy has our back yard (which is large) looking beautiful with all the new plants plus the old ones.Now if I can just find the time to go out there and sit a while eh?? Wendy is working and Mandy is in Lethbridge with little Josiah. He sure is cute and getting so big.
Well I should go finish fixing our fence in the back . I have to dig a whole and put in a new post and then put in some concrete mix to make sure it stays there. I have to fix our back gate because I hooked it with our trailer the other day. Need to fix the trailer a bit to. (SIGH).
I need to get busy and vacuum this house and clean up after the electrician. They left a bit of a mess but not bad.I hope and pray that you all have a great day. Love you all.

Thursday May 29,2008

Well it has been a while but better late than never they say. I have been working on this old house pretty much every day for a while now. Just put in a new Fiberglas tub and took the old green one to the dump. The plumbing has been a real nightmare. Trying to hook up the tub drain is and has been a real pain but I think I finally got it but cant check it for leaks yet. I am leaving tomorrow morning for Edmonton to bring my trailer back to Picture Butte. A friend of mine has been so kind to offer me his truck to pull it down. He heard that my little Ranger was to small. It is going to be hard to pull it out as I really did like the lake lot that we rented from Wally and Harold. They are such nice people.
Well things are really starting to shape up around here and thats a good thing.The flowers are starting to bloom and I have mowed the grass twice. It takes me just and hour and 20 minutes to mow the lawns but they sure do look good when you finish. Wendy has been planting some new plants and really cleaning up the back yard. Today Tanya and the kids and Wendy planted most of our garden . They sure did a good job. I was busy with the bathroom.
Adrie is going with me tomorrow so that should be fun. I haven't spent much time with the kids since I moved down here. Hopefully that will change soon. Monday we have and Electrician coming and that will solve a lot of our problems. We are trying to get this place in shape so I can sit back and relax I hope. My garage look real good and I can find things again. I put up a bench accros the front of the garage and 4 pieces of pegboard. I have most of my tools hung up but still have to put my sander and planer together and then I will be finished. Well almost finished I still have one wall to insulate and poly but I have all summer to do that.
Well it is getting late and I have a long day tomorrow so until next time, God Bless all of you. Pleas pray that we will find a church that we can call home. We really need that.

Have a great day
Love you all.

Wedesday May14,2008

Well here it is the middle of May and we are still not 100% settled but we are close. Wendy put some more pictures up and is doing everything she can to make it a little more homey and OUR house. I have not been happy with this silly house. Too many things that need repair and I guess I am just feeling bogged down and disappointed with how slow the progress is coming. I guess I don't like change and it is starting to show. sigh. I haven't been feeling the greatest and not having a Church that we can call home doesn't help either. Anyway this morning at about 4:30am. Wendy is at work. I was up and just looking around and realized that I think I am starting to like it a little more every day. Wendy has a way of making everything look so good. Gotta love that girl.
We have been running back and forth to the hospital to be with Mandy, Jorge and little Josiah. He is having a bit of trouble nursing. Please pray that he will get the hang of it real soon and can come home. He sure is a cute little guy. Last night I held him from 7pm. to 8:15pm. If you haven't seen any pictures of him just click on Mandy and Jorge's or Tanya's or Wendy's website and you can see all the pictures. On Wendy's site just go to her photo's and look for Josiah Reuben. We are excited and hopefully he will come home soon. It sure will be different having a new born in our home.
Yesterday I mowed the lawn and found out that there is a lot of lawn but enjoyed cutting it and it really looks good. Well maybe I do need a riding mower. Just kidding. I need the excersize for sure.
Well I had better get going as I still have a lot of work in my garage to do and a few more boxes to unpack so I can find all my tools. Have to finish insulating one wall and put up a couple of sheets of OSB board and some more peg board. Well I'm off to take out the garbage because the garbage man will be here soon.
Please pray we will be able to settle into a good church soon. I think I really need that.
Love you all
God Bless

Monday

Today was a busy day again. Seems all my days are busy lately. Today I insulated one wall of my garage. Only got 1 and a 1/2 to go.The walls in the garage are 10 ft. high. Not easy for an old fellow. The moving everything from one side to the other is the time taker. I Put some 3/8" OSB and then some peg board above that. I hope to have everything out of the boxes and be able to find a tool when I need it. Wendy is working again tonight. Then she will be off for 4 days. She wants us to get started with the cleaning up of the back yard. I cut a few limbs off a couple of the trees but there is lots more to be trimmed and cut and then I have to haul them away to the dump. It's a lot of work but I am starting to enjoy it. I have an eve trough problem that I would like to get taken care of so maybe I do that before she get up tomorrow afternoon. The grass is really getting green and th dandelion's are starting to come out. Guess that is about all for today. Have a great evening.
God Bless you all.

Sunday Evening

Today after church Tom and Tanya came over for lunch. We had the 4 grandkids over last night for a sleep over. First one since we moved here. Went to church this morning at the church next door.
This afternoon Adrianna, Erilyn and Amelie and I went out back in the yard and bagged some leaves. I even mowed a bit in the back but ran out of gas. Have to buy some tomorrow. Wendy just left for work and will be back home tomorrow morning at 7:30am. She works tomorrow night then is off for 4 days.
Tomorrow I hope to get some work done in the yard and rake some old leaves and take some branches and limbs that I cut off the trees to the dump. I cleaned all the eve troughs on Saturday and found that I have to do a bit of work on the eves.
Well thats about it for today guess I'll go watch a little TV. Have a great day.

God Bless you all.

Friday evening

Well here it is Friday already, where did the week go?? Today I went for coffee with the guys at the restaurant and then loaded Tanya's bike in the back of my truck and headed for Lethbridge. Adrianna was so happy to see the bike and took off as soon as I unloaded it. She sure does like it as her's was getting to small for her. She's a big girl now. Tanya and I chatted for a couple of hours and then I went to lunch with Tom. It is nice to be able to just pop in every now and then. It is 25 klms from our house to theirs.
Tonight we had the pastor from the church next door and we sort of got to know him a bit. They only have 25 registered member in this church. Guess if we join the number will jump to 29. Pastor Bob seems like a real nice guy and I hope to get to know him better. Jorge is off tomorrow. He sure comes home tired in the evening. Working in a feed lot is not the easiest job in the world. He says they just run all day long. Maybe tomorrow he can take it easy.
I still have a bit of work to do in my garage but it is starting to look good. I bought 3 more bags of insulation today and that should finish the walls. I think I'll do the ceiling later. Right now I just want to get my tools out of the boxes and hung up on the peg board. I am tired of digging thru a box to find a tool every time I need one. Well it is getting late and I am a bit tired so you all have a great evening. Love you all.
God Bless you.

Tuesday evening

Well I have a few minutes so thought that I would blog and try to keep this thing up to date. Today I spent most of the morning putting a new BBQ together. Didn't realize how many parts those thing have. sigh. I just opened a new micro wave stand and am going to try to put that together. Only about 120 pieces counting the screws and handles and hinges and shelves. Wendy and Mandy have spent most of the day painting the dining room and kitchen and 2 walls in the living room. Jorge got home from work and is now painting the baby's room. We have a man coming tomorrow morning with a new fridge for downstairs and then Sears is sending a man to give us a price on a new furnace and hot water heater. It is a bit windy out there right now but has been real nice most of the day.Well if I don't get going I'll never finish this micro wave stand for Mandy.
Have a great day.

Floyd

Friday Morning

Well I guess it's about time I sat down and wrote a bit of what has been happening in my life. Well as most of you know we moved from Edmonton on March 29th. We had lots of help loading the truck which was much appreciated. Again our friends were there for us. Thanks guys.
We arrived here in Picture Butte and moved in. Well we are still moving in I guess as I still have lots of boxes in the garage to bring in and a few in some of the closets that we haven't even looked in yet. I guess trying to put all the things from a 5 bedroom home into a 3 bedroom home don't work so good. It's kind of like trying to put 10lbs. of potatoes in a 5 lb bag. sigh. Well anyway here it is 25 days later and we still aren't completely settled.
When you move into a new (old ) house you find lots of things that you didn't see when the other people had all the furniture in it. Just little things like the lack of outlets in the walls, toilets that don't flush properly, light switches the don't turn on or off anything, light fixtures that hang down to low so people hit their heads, and a headroom problem as you go down stairs. Well we seem to have everything working at the moment but sometimes not for long. sigh. Just had to run down stairs and flip a breaker switch. sigh. Wendy and Mandy have been busy trying to get everything it it's right place. I put everything in its proper place but they assured me that,( that wasn't the proper place). Oh well you know how that works. We have been painting, putting up shelves, fixing door locks, fixing windows, trying to make the toilets flush properly, trying to make the kitchen sink drain in the basement, cutting off doors so they will close and some other things. We have a shower downstairs but none upstairs. the bathroom upstairs does not have a shower in the tub. It just has the little hand sprinkler thing so we are all running downstairs to shower. I am going to take out the window that stick's into the tub area and put in a smaller one and then take the plastic tiles off the wall and put in a tub surround and a shower head. When it warms up and stops snowing.
It has been cold and nasty ever since we moved and it is snowing right now. Well I guess there must be some good things about it all. Our kids have been a real help to us. Tom and Tanya, Bob and Kristy and Jorge and Mandy have helped us a lot. We have painted 3 rooms. The living room, the spare bedroom and Mandy's and Jorge's bed room. Jorge is fixing up th new baby's room and getting it all ready for him.
Oh! Jorge got a job working in a feed lot. He just started on Tuesday.
I have been going down to the restaurant here in the morning and having coffee with a bunch of guys most mornings. They all seem to meet about 8:30 every morning so I am getting to know some of them. I am going there this morning for coffee. Wendy and Jorge are working and Mandy is laying down so I go meet the guys.
Yesterday I insulated one wall in my garage and put poly on it. It's 10ft. high and about 20 ft. wide. I took down the old bench they had there and am going to put up a nice counter for some of my tools and put some peg board up on the walls so I can get some of my tools out of boxes and use them.
This old computer is dying . I have no sound at all and the monitor is real fussy. You can hardly read it. No my eyes aren't going bad. I know that's what you were thinking right?? I hope to go get a new one soon. Can't live with out a good computer eh??Even if I don't know how to use one. ha ha.
One good thing is that because it has been so cold you can't smell the feed lots no matter which way the wind blows. ha. ha. The back yard looks quite green at least the parts that is not covered with snow. If it ever warms up I have a lot of work I can do out there and I think I will enjoy that. Got a tree that needs to be cut down and a few that need trimming. It is a pretty back yard with a hugh garden area. Looking forward to trying my hand at growing some vege's.

We have started going to a little church that is just 3 houses from ours. Evangelical Free Church.There are about 30 or 40 people that attend I think. It is a bit smaller than Beulah. I am hoping to join the worship team and maybe play a bit of Harmonica with them. I practices with them 2 weeks ago and it was fun.

The town is small and everything closes up at 5 pm. If you want something you have to buy it before 5 or you are hooped. The people are super friendly and I am hoping to meet some of the Seniors next week at the Seniors Club.
Wendy still hasn't found her lamp shades yet and some important papers that were in the same box. I think it might have got thrown out but don't know.

Well I guess thats enough about the move eh? Have a great day and maybe when I get the new computer I'll blog again. Love you all and God Bless you.

Thursday Morning

Well it is Thursday and they said it would be nice earlier in the week but have now changed and claim it is going to be cold again for a few day. Sigh We live in Alberta so I guess we just have to suck it up eh? I am spending lots of time packing and tying to get things done for the bank and the real estate people for both houses. As almost all of you know we have sold our house and bought another one in Picture Butt. Just got the inspection from the one in Picture Butte and it is only 43 pages long. Guess I have lots of reading to do eh? I checked it out last night and didn't see anything major that I should be concerned about but I will re read it today for sure.
I have a friend that is in hospital and I am going to go and see him today. Last night I went to the church with the mens group. All on our mens group are signed up and everyone showed up last night. The church is doing a 12 week group meeting for men and I am hoping that when it is finished one of the guys will step up and lead our small group. We have 9 guys at the moment but I am leaving as of Feb. 29th and Ralph is leaving in I think 3 weeks. His is in the Military and is being shipped out . He is in the Postal division but being overseas away from his wife and kids is not going to be easy for him. Please Pray for him. Our Mens group has been meeting for long time and I really love all the guys in it. They are truly Men of God. Every one of them is capable of leading the group but people often think as I did years ago that they just don't know enough about the bible or that we just aren't smart enough to lead a group. Truth is all you need is someone to have a place to meet and a little coffee or juice, a love for the guys and a heart for God. In all the years of our mens group it has always been an exciting and meaningful time. God has brought some awesome guys into our group. Many of them have or are leading a group of their own. God has Blessed me each time we met and I thank him for that. We have told our story's , Laughed, Joked and Cried together. Our group is a group that makes you feel welcome and they are always encouraging each other and ready to listen when someone has a problem and will give you advice if that what your looking for. Anyway I'm sure God will look after each one. I pray for them everyday.
I have to get going here. Got lots of running around to do so have a real great day. God Bless you all

Thursday Jan.31,2008

Wow how the time does fly. Here it is Thursday and still colder than it should be. They are saying it is only -22 but on my back deck it was-26. Well this morning I got up at 7:00am and turned on this stupid old computer. Seems to be a habit now. It is the first thing that I do after getting up even before Tea. SIGH. Mandy was on line so I talked to her for what I thought was just a little while but when I went upstairs it was almost 8 am. Took a quick shower and out the door to Happ's hoping to meet my friend Art. I sure am going to miss having breakfast and chatting with him, he is such a nice guy. God has bless me with some really great friends. Took me almost 20 minutes to get there with the traffic but he was still there. We almost solved half of the worlds problem but ran out of time so guess we'll have to solve the rest tomorrow or Friday eh?
Then I came home and answered some e-mail and deleted a few forwards. Funny you just can't delete them all because some are really good. sigh.Then I started packing some stuff and that didn't go to well. I spent too much time listening to CD's that weren't labeled and labeled some. Didn't get a lot done before lunch. Then got down to some serious packing and that lasted about a good 10 minutes and the doorbell was ringing . The man needed to get in the back to read the meters. ha ha. He had to come through the house because I can't get the gate open as there is about 5 foot of snow and I'm not going to shovel it out. It's just too heavy and it's too cold. I told him just walk through and I wiped up the tracks. He still had trouble finding the meters in all the snow. It is only about 5 feet high where it has blown in but he manage to kick and shovel so he could read them. Then I played my harmonica a bit and before I knew it, it was time for supper so up I went and made supper. My cook has gone to Lethbridge sigh. I did manage to get about 5 boxes packed and LABELED. Okay so they are fairly small but they are packed. LoL. I don't think size matters does it????
Then my honey called and I chatted and I found out that we have an address in Picture Butte now. No I'm not giving it to you now for 2 good reasons. One is I don't remember it and 2nd. because my wife said not to give it out. ha ha. I am waiting for the inspector to call me and tell me when he is going to inspect the house in Picture and I will probably go down there so I can be there when he does it.
Don't think he is going to find much wrong there anyway but they say I should be there and I'm sure he'll want a check right?
Well that my story for today and I am sticking to it. Have a great day and God Bless you all.

Sunday Afternoon Jan.27th. and it is cold outside.

Boy is it ever cold outside. Wendy is on her way to Lethbridge and Madison and I are here in our nice warm house. I went to church this morning at 9 am. Wendy had to work in the book store and I had to take Mrs Mulbier to church so again as usual we were in separate cars. I hoping when we get moved into our new home that we can go to church together. Wendy is on the road right now and they are not good but she promised to drive slow and I am praying for her that God will give her a safe trip.
The service this morning was real good as usual. It sure is going to hard to say goodbye to all our friends when we move.
I got home and had to shovel our driveway out as there was about 3 foot of snow blocking it. I shoveled it out and just in time for Wendy when she came home. She quickly loaded her car and headed out. SIGH.
I talked to Kristy and Bob in South Africa for a few minutes and if your interested just go to links on the right side of this blog and click on to her blog site. If you go to Kristy's blog you can read her blog and that will tell you what they are doing today. You can also click on to their photo's and they have lots of pictures of Africa. I just talked to Bob's Dad as he hasn't been feeling so great. They found on Wednesday that he has some fluid on one lung and that he has been having some pain that he thought was kidney stones but they were not able to find any so that is a good thing.
Well I think I am going to do a bit of practicing and then maybe go watch a little TV or maybe pack a few more things. Okay so I might just rest my eyes a bit. I am trying to save them for when I get old eh? ha ha. I did a bit of packing yesterday and my closet never looked so nice. sigh. It was amazing all the things I had in there. Some good, some not so good. ha ha. I threw our a whole bag of clothes that I haven't worn or that don't fit any more. It's funny how you wait until you are moving before you clean things out. Oh well that about all for today. Have a great day and God Bless you all. If you think about it pray for Wendy as the roads are the pits.

Friday Morning.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to bowling I must go. Ya I am going bowling this morning at 11:00am. I think I will really miss that when we move. I have made many friends there. I think I'll miss a lot of things when we move but hope and pray I will be able to meet and make many new friends as well.I worry about our Harmonica groups but guess they will find someone. I feel like I am letting them down but I came along when they need a lead player and I am praying some will come along for them now. The Harmonicaires have already found a keyboard player to play with them. I think they should probably change their name eh? Two guitars and a key board just don't fit the name.

Mandy and Jorge will soon be here. They are coming on Feb. 9th. It sure will be good to have them back here with us.Well I'm out of here as it is getting late and I don't want to be late for bowling right?
God Bless you all.

Thursday Afternoon

Well here it is Thursday afternoon and all is well. I was told yesterday that they were going to put a sold sign on our sign out front but it didn't happen today. Today was a bit of a weird day. I got up and didn't feel so well so just hung around the house for a while. Then I went out in the COLD shop and made a piece for a clock for my friend Hess. I had to cut it and shape it to match the piece he had given me. It didn't take me to long and it was good it didn't because it was really cold out there.I made a few phone calls and tried to get some prices on renting a truck for when we move. Then I went to the post office and mailed some survey plans to the city and then delivered the piece of wood to Hess. Came home and cleaned the house and did the dish and then just laid around for the rest of the afternoon. Oh I called my Brother and my Sister in Florida and chatted with them for a while. Started to feel better so I baked some chicken and had supper. I practiced my harmonica for a little bit as we have 2 gigs coming up, one on Feb. 12 and one Feb. 14th. One with The Kompanions and one with The Rascals. Well guess it almost time to get to bed. It gets kind of boring around her being all by myself. Sure do miss Wendy. I should make a couple of copies of some CD's for a couple of guys .
God Bless you all.

Saturday Afternoon

Well I guess you all know by now that we have an offer on our house. God is good and it all happened in one day. I think he had it all planned eh, what do you think??? Well now we have to get down to some real hard looking and I just know that God will lead us right to the house that he has decided we should have. Well it will be nice to be out of debt Mortgage free and have $2.00 in my jeans. Oh lets see has anyone got a toonie they could lend me so I'll have the $2.00 in my jeans. ha ha. Just got a call from the garage that Wendys car is not ready at the garage so they are going to give us a rental car for the week. Sigh. Oh well please pray that our car will be fixed soon and not cost us too much more and that Wendy will have safe travel to Lethbridge and back on Friday.
God Bless you all

Friday Jan.18,2008

Wow! Where has the time gone? It just seems to slip away on me but then again I have all the time in the world. Well I have been feeling fine and thats a good thing eh? This morning I got up about 6:30am. and took Wendy's car back to the garage again. They still haven't been able to fix the leak. SIGH. Hope they get it done today because she is off to Lethbridge on Sunday. Well there is a lot of things happening in our lives and we have been busy getting shots(for our trip) eating out because lots of people want to take Wendy out and chat before she leaves for Lethbridge so I just go along for the ride(& the food of course). I think I have gained a few pounds in the last few days but who cares. At my age when you gain weight it makes you look younger because it smooths out some of the wrinkles. ha ha. Maybe I should gain some more eh? Oh well I don't worry about wrinkles because I don't have to look at me you do.
Today we have another showing of our house at 3:30pm. These people were going to look on Tuesday but something came up and they had to cancel. We have had lots of showings but no real good offers yet. I'm sure the Lord is waiting for the right one to buy it. I wonder if they will be Christians or not. For the last 24 years The Lord has been here with us. Well we will always have lots of good memories about this old house. It wasn't much when we bought it but we have put lots of work and love into it and I think I will shed a tear or two when I pull that door shut behind me for the last time. SIGH. I do pray that a really nice Christian couple will buy it. Oh well it's all in The Lords hands.
I am starting to get excited about moving. A bit of an adventure right. I'm sure what ever we buy Wendy will transform it into a lovely home like she has this one and will find lots of things to keep me busy. Ha ha. I hope the house we find is and old one so she won't have to beat it up and make it look old eh? I think thats what she did to me too, beat me up to make me look old. SIGH.
Well as most of you know Mandy and Jorge and the little Man child will be here on Feb. 9,2008. Boy thats not far off eh? Can't wait to see them, it's been almost a year. Then after March we will have all our kids back for a little while. God has been so good to us and I thank him every day for our family. What an AWSOME God we have. I am so happy for Jorge and Tom as the Lister and the Santana name will continue on. SIGH The Barto name will stop here in Edmonton but I think people will remember us for a day or two eh? Ya you'll remember us the guy that came form New York, Right??????? Ya the guy that Wendy brought back with her from New York or the landed immigrant that Wendy lives with ha ha. Ya, or the guy with the permanent Resident Card that lives on 175 street. Who knows if they will remember any of us when we go to be with the Lord. I'm sure somebody will remember.

Well this thing is getting long and I have to call my daughter Kristy in South Africa. Have a great day and God bless you all.

Jan.8,2008

Hi everyone , hope your day is going as well as mine. Today was one of those days when you wake up wondering is it going to be good news or bad. This morning I had a doctors appointment at 9:45am. at the Hy Center with Doctor Estay. I have been feeling really good so I was thinking well it should be good news. (Oh me of little faith). This morning I was to get the results of my PSA test that was taken on December 21st. After spending almost 45 minutes sitting in the office waiting to be called the nurse finally called my name and in we went. Wendy was with me. My test came back with a big 0 (Zero). yahoo. God is good. Prayers have been answered. Now I don't have to go back for 6 months and the doctors says that is a good sign that they got all the cancer when they operated. Thank You LORD.
Well I guess it is time to get back on track and back at doing things again.
Now the cancer is gone I just have to regain full control of the water works and then I 'll be 100%.
I questioned the doctor about that and he said that in time I will regain that for sure. Good news. I do notice that the cold weather and or running water gives me a bit of problems but the doctors said that was normal.
Well our house hasn't sold yet but Wendy has a job with the Lethbridge Police and she starts on January 21st. so she is going through some emotional times with all her friends at the com center. It is going to be hard for her to say good bye to all those people that she has worked with for the last 6 or 7 years.
So it will be me and Madison up here until it sells. Mandy and Jorge are going to be flying here on Feb. 9th. so that is not that far off. Wendy will be coming home on weekends or I will be going down there to be with her on weekends. Who knows eh?? Sounds like lots of traveling anyway.
Tomorrow I am off to the bowling ally at 9 am. and then I'll do my walk around the mall for 30 or 40 minutes. Maybe I can lose those few extra pounds that I gained around the holidays.(Ya it is only a few!) haha
Well thats my story today and I'm sticking to it . May God bless you all.

Happy New Year and what a crazy year it has been for us.

Wow here it is 2008. Can you believe it. Didn't think I would live to see it but here I am typing on this stupid old blog. It has been one crazy year for us. Talk about UP's and DOWN's well that has been our lives for the year. As most of you know our youngest daughter got married in November 2006 to a wonderful guy, Jorge Santana. I was told that I had prostate cancer. That started our up's and down's. Mandy and Jorge flew out in February to Chile and got married again for his family and then went to work with YWAM as leaders for a year.

The word Cancer scares you at the best of times. Anyway I was told not to worry about it but they did a biopsy in February just to make sure I guess. Then it was a fun time for us to get on a plane and head off to Chile to be with Mandy and Jorge for their marriage (for the second time) for his family. We were so excited to be with them and meet all of Jorge's family. After 3 weeks of fun, food and family we were back in Edmonton . Another up and down eh? When we got home the messages on the phone said to call the doctor right away. Not a good sign eh? That will take the smile off your face for a few minutes and make your head spin. We were told that it definitely was cancer and we should go to the Cancer Clinic. Then we were told that almost every man has Prostrate cancer and many men live a normal life with it for years and it is usually a very slow acting, None aggressive thing, but they did more test and decided that I should have treatment of some kind. Because I have IBS disease they ruled out radiation and we decided to go for the operation. Then it was off to talk to a surgeon and the earliest we could an appointment was September 17, 2007. Things almost went back to normal except our daughter Kristy and her husband Bob in Blackfalds (near Red Deer) were talking about going into missions. Little did we realize that in a few short months they would sell their home (just built in 2006), quit their jobs and join up with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and in September they flew off to South Africa. It was sad that they were leaving but we were also happy for them . We would miss them for sure but they are doing Gods will and what more could we want for them?
Then we started planing our summer with the yard, the trailer at the lake, working out when we would drive to Lethbridge to see Tanya, Tom and the grand kids. Oh I forgot to mention that early in the year Tanya and Tom had told us that they were expecting their 5th. in September.

Then on July 21st. we received a call from the Surgeon that they had an opening on July 23rd. and he thought that we should do the operation then. Okay so bye bye plans for the summer and off we go to the hospital and they do the operation on July 23rd. Right after the operation the doctor came in the room and said that they were glad that they did the operation now as it was a very aggressive cancer but they thought that they had gotten it all. Ya think God might have had a hand in this? That sort of changed our lives a bit, well I guess you could say a lot. For the next few months I was house bound and didn't do much but lay around in the sun which was good but not something that I was used to and not feeling good didn't help so that was another up and down thing.
While all this was happening Wendy was having a bit of pain in her right hip. The kids flew to South Africa, little Isabella was born and Wendy had her name on the list for a new hip. Things were going along quite well. Then we decided after much prayer that maybe it would be nice to live closer to our grandkids and Tanya and Tom. That 6 hour drive to Lethbridge is a long time and then 6 hours back sigh and we don't get there too often because of Wendy 's work. We also thought that if we sold our house we could maybe pay off our debts and buy another house in the Lethbridge area and be mortgage and debt free and maybe Wendy wouldn't have to work full time and we could still survive and be close to the grandkids. They grow up so fast and we are missing that part of their lives. Well and we ain't getting any younger you know?
Well it was house hunting and looking and we thought that we had an offer and we thought that we had found our dream home. More ups and downs.
Well Wendy has been experiencing some facial swelling for a few years now when she is overtired and is stressed out ( usually when working the night shifts) and the doctors have not been able to figure out any medicine that would help this or prevent it. Finally her doctor sent her to a specialist that prescribed a medicine that seemed to really help and for 3 weeks no swelling. Only to discover that the medicine that she is taking is known to cause cancer. Another up and down eh? Why the specialist didn't tell her about that? Who knows, so she has stopped taking it because who wants to take a medicine that is known to cause cancer? However 2 days after she stopped the swelling is back. sigh.
Well that is most of our story. I still am not feeling 100% and they say that sometimes it takes the better part of a year to recover. Still don't have all my energy back and don't have full control of the water works. sigh. Our house hasn't sold and the dream house in Picture Butte has since sold. Wendy applied for a job in Lethbridge and has the job. She is to start on Jan 21st. So she will be staying with Tanya and Tom and I will be up here until this house sells. More ups and downs eh?
Well lets see if we can find the good in all this. I am sure that our house will sell and that God has a place all picked out in the Lethbridge area for us.(He just hasn't shown us yet). We have a beautiful new little grand baby, Wendy has a job and her name on a list for a new Hip, Mandy and Jorge have received his Visa and they will be flying here on Feb. 8th. Oh I forgot to mention that Mandy and Jorge are expecting. In March we are flying to England for 4 day's and want to see Wendy's relatives and then we fly South Africa to be with Kristy and Bob for couple of weeks. Oh they are talking about being leaders for YWAM . They will fly home with us and stay for a few months . Hopefully we will be all moved by then OR NOT. I am feeling better everyday and we are still able to smile everyday and Wendy and I have enjoyed our time together and we still have lots of friends. (Don't we)? More ups and downs but that is life, right? It is all in Gods Hands. We love you all. Sorry this is so long. I wasn't complaining just telling it like is, right? Maybe I'll go back to not blogging to much eh? Through all the ups and downs God has bless us so much. He is still in control.
We love you all.

Saturday Morning Dec.29,2007

Wow where has the year gone. Wendy had been off for 4 days and we have had fun just hanging out together and watching (Lost) one of my Christmas gifts. It just didn't feel like Christmas with all my girl not being here. We were able to talk to all of them with the phone and the computer and see them with the web cam.
Well 2 more days and that will end this year eh? I have been practicing almost every night getting ready for our New Years Eve gig. That will be a busy evening. We have to set up at
4 :00pm. so not to disturb the evening meal and then I think we play while they are having dinner and then we take a break and they feed us. After that I think we play for about a half an hour and then break for 15 minutes while they do their presentation, then we are back at it for another half hour and it will continue like that until about 10 :00pm. Usually they pack it in about then and then we have to pack everything up and get out of there.
This is our Last gig with the Kompanions for the year and if I sell my house soon it might well be my very last gig with them. It has been lots of fun playing with Benny and Henk and I sure will miss them when I move. A couple of really neat guys. I am going to miss The Harmonica Rascals as well. I have been playing with them for the last 11 years. For sure I'll stay in touch and am hoping they can find a new lead player. Every time I am back in the city I'll have to stop in at The Golden Hour Clock shop and see my friends Ronnie and Hess. They are a couple of real nice people.
Well Wendy is back at work and I have to get things cleaned up around here just in case someone wants to show my house today. A lady called yesterday but we missed the call. sigh.

Saturday December 22,2007

Good morning everyone. Hope you are having a pleasant day today. Wendy is working and I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing. I'll let you guess. hahaha. well our house still hasn't sold so we are not sure what the Lord has in store for us. We just got word that the house we were hoping to buy in Picture Butte has an offer on it but I'm not sure how firm that is. I tried to call the Real Estate fellow that was showing us the house but he hasn't called back yet.
It is going to be a quiet Christmas around here for sure this year. Wendy is working on Christmas eve from 6:30pm to 6:30 am. so I believe she will be sleeping Christmas morning for a while. Then she will be off for 4 days so that is good. I guess I'll be going to the Christmas eve service by myself.
Well didn't finish this so might just as well add to it eh?
We had a kidless Christmas this year. sigh . Wendy slept until about 12:30 and then she went and picked up her sister and her 3 children. We had dinner about 4pm. Then played a few games and talked about a lot of nothing. just had a good old relaxing time. Wendy took them home about 11:30pm and that was our Christmas day. It was a good day and we had fun with the kids. I really missed all our kids but I guess that s life eh?

Monday Morning . Dec.17, 2007

Where has the year gone? Here it is only7 more days before Christmas. It will be the first year with out kids for Christmas.(sigh) Mandy and Jorge will be in Concepion Chile with Jorge family. Kristy and Bob will be in South Africa and Tanya and Tom and the kids are in Lethbridge.
Wendy has to work the night shift on the 24th so she will be home on Christmas day about 7:00am. Oh well I'm sure the Lord has it all planned out for us. We are still waiting for someone to make an offer on our beautiful little old house.
Today is going to be a busy one for me. I play with the Kompanions at the River Bend Nursing Home today at 2:00pm. so I have to get my amp, harmonicas and all the equipment ready and loaded in the car to go. I have to go to St Albert and pick up Henk and then we head to the south side to be there and set up about 1:00pm. It usually takes us about 3/4 of and hour to set all the amps and music stands and get everything wired in. It is usually a lot of fun and as long as the people enjoy it that will make our day worth while. Today we will do a lot of Christmas songs.
Well I should get ready so I won't be late. I pray that you will all have a great day.
God bless you all.

Saturday December 15th. 2007

Well here I am again and don't really have a lot to write about. Well that is probably not true there is a lot I could write about but just don't feel like it. I seem to have lost interest in a lot of things lately. Maybe just getting old or just plain stupid. Probably the later is more the truth who knows.
Well our house still hasn't sold and Wendy has a job in Lethbridge and who knows where that is going to lead us. I don't seem to have any control over it anyway so just go with the flow I guess.
Well anyway I finished painting the hall way that goes downstairs. I have been going to do that for a long time but just didn't have the energy. Well maybe tomorrow I'll give it a second coat and that should be the last thing that I do in this old house. If it sells. I guess the next guy will have to do the painting someday eh? I guess it's all in the Lords hands and he doesn't seem to be in any rush so guess I should just sit back and wait and see what he has planned for us.
Hope you all have a great day.

December 1,2007

So where did the months go. Boy it has been a while since I blogged eh? Well I have to tell you all that I am finally feeling better. It has been a long 4 months. I still don't have all my energy back but it is coming slow but sure. I had a bladder infection that set me back a few weeks but I am over that now. It has taken a lot longer than I expected. I go for another PSA test on Dec. 14th. I have been staying pretty close to home since the operation. Wendy was waiting on me a lot and I kind of liked that but I think it has stopped a bit lately. Wendy has her name on the list for a new hip so when that happens I hope I can do lots for her until she is healed. She has been my strength through all of this. Thanks sweetie.
Well lets see what can I write about. I put a new set of kitchen faucets in our kitchen yesterday. I had to put new drains in our sinks as they were pretty old and when I put a little pressure on the pipe yesterday one broke and while repairing that one the other broke. sigh I think I went to Canadian Tire yesterday 4 times for parts. I think it would have been cheaper and a lot easier to call a plumber. In fact I did call one but he didn't seem to be to anxious to come over but did give me instruction on how to shut the water off . Thursday evening while finishing up the dishes about 9:30 pm. I went to shut the hot water off and it would not stop running. Something happen to the cartriage and it wouldn't shut off. I quickly ran down stairs to shut the water off in the house and the handle on the valve broke in my hand. Guess its been a long time since we shut the water off eh? I went back up stairs and got a pair of vice grips and tried to use them but it wouldn't even move so I went back up stairs and fooled around with the hot water tap and finally got it shut off. I thought good I'll wait until morning and call my plumber friend Ray. Well when I called him at 8 am. he suggested that I try again to shut the water off and told me how to do it and it worked.
Today Wendy and I spent about 3 hours looking at houses on the internet. Sure is a lot of houses for sale. Tonight we are going out to dinner with some friends and then I have to go to the Dutch Club and help them with their Christmas dance.
I have been practicing my harmonica a lot lately just maybe I get good eh? I think we have a few gigs this month and then we play on New Years Eve. If I sell my house and move I think the one thing that I'll miss the most is playing with the guys. For a bunch of old farts they are the greatest and for sure I will miss playing the gigs and practicing with them. I have been playing with them for the last 10 or 11 years now. I'm sure they will find someone to replace me.
Anyway I am feeling better and I think I'll be getting out a bit more now. Christmas is coming and I'm getting fat. Got to get out and do a lot more walking and maybe volunteering at the Church again eh? Staying home to much makes me grumpy as if I need and excuse eh?
Well we started our Mens group up again last Wednesday and that was great. There were 8 of us. Well I think thats about all I can think of to write about right now. I pray that you'll all have a great day and that God will bless each one of you reading this. Oh I am going to post a picture on this to show you how dangerous it is living with Wendy. Ha ha

Friday evening November16,2007

Well as you can see I'm not a very good blogger. Sometimes I blog and sometimes I don't. I guess you could call me a hit and miss blogger eh? Well for the last few weeks I haven't felt very good and find it kind of hard to blog. Today I feel pretty good so here goes.
This morning I got up and went to the old computer and talked to my daughter Kristy, who is in South Africa. I also talked to Mandy who is in Chile and Tanya who is in Lethbridge for a few minutes. In fact we were all on line at once for a while. Then I went out and put some stuff in the shed for the winter. Should have been done a few weeks back but no snow so no rush eh? Then at 11am. I went bowling at ED's at the Mall. Didn't do great but you can't be good all the time I guess. 192, 210 214 and then 140 sigh. Then I came home got something to eat and headed over to Superior Lumber where I used to work and bought a hand rail for downstairs. Came home and put that up and then baked a cake. Wendy got home about 4:30pm. I had supper and here I am blogging . So when I finish I will put the frosting on the cake and if any of you guys want some come on over. I can put a pot of tea or coffee on and it won't take long to make. It's a yellow cake and I think I'll put a white or Chocolate icing on it not sure which one you like. haha Well I think I have blogged enough so I am going up stairs and watch a little NCIS season 3, I think. Have a great evening and God Bless you all.

Friday Afternoon November 10,2007

Well here it is November already. Boy where did the summer go. How times flies even if you aren't having fun. sigh. Today I feel pretty good. Yesterday was a bad day and we won't go into that. Sure is taking a long time to heal. Hope those doctors know what they are talking about. They say it is normal for this type of operation. I sometime wonder. Oh well nothing I can do about it except gripe eh?Yesterday I think I slept most of the day away. I did a small job on Tuesday and I think that did me in. Yesterday every bone in my body seem to ache. I just felt lousy. I didn't bowl today as I really didn't feel up to it so just hanging out with Wendy and went shopping at Superstore and then we went to Sears and then to the south side to another store. We bought a pressure cooker. Now all we have to do is learn how to use it eh? Wendy went to a cooking class last night and that got us started.
Our daughter Tanya and her husband Tom and our grandchildren are on their way from Lethbridge. It will be fun having them for the weekend. Tom got off early today so they are on their way. We went shopping this morning to stock the cupboards. They are going to th Fort Sunday to see Tom's parents. Sounds like a fun week end with lots of little feet running around.
Papa sure does love them little ones. Wendy is off work today and tomorrow so that will be good. Well I was going to bake a cake but Wendy is baking cookies so guess I'll wait on the cake thing.
Got a news letter from my friend Bill Pendergast and he is doing better and thanks everyone for their prayers.
Well thats all I have to say for right now so have a great day and God Bless you all.

Monday Afternoon

Well I guess it about time I updated this silly old blog eh? Life hasn't been too exciting so not much to blog about. So far we have had lots of people looking at our house but no one has been interested enough to make an offer. Sigh.I have had a couple of bad days but today I feel a bit better. Sure seems to be taking a long time to heal but that the way it goes I guess. I just don't seem to have the energy that I used to have and I sure get tired a whole lot quicker. Maybe I'm just getting old.(Ya think?)
Well I went for breakfast with the Seniors at A & W this morning and then after that I went bowling. Didn't do very well. Just didn't feeling like throwing that stupid old bowling ball to hard.For some reason I just didn't enjoy it to much today. Of course when you don't bowl good it doesn't help either. Wendy is working the late shift tonight and I have to go practice at the Dutch Club with the Harmonika Rascals.
Tomorrow I plan to do a little job that needs to be finished so maybe I'll feel better doing something.
have a great day and God Bless you all.

Today is Bobs birthday

Today is Bobs birthday

Happy Birthday to Bob. I'm not sure he'll read this blog but I am wishing him a happy birthday anyway. Sure do miss you Bob. I hope and pray that you will have a very happy birthday today. I'm sure they will make a fuss over you there if they know that today is your birthday. I'm thinking that Kristy will tell everyone. We already celibrated your birthday once eh? Lets see if the people that read this know just how old Bob is.
Bob if you were here I'd bye you a great big steak. Well I think I'll bye you one anyway but I guess I'll have to eat it eh?? SIGH. I pray that you will have a great day.

Love you lots Bob
Dad

Saturday evening Oct.27,2007

Well on Thursday some friends of our invited us over to their house on Friday evening for desert and to play games. I'm not really a game player but I did enjoy it. We played 2 different games and I'm not sure what the real name of the games were.They invited another couple to come and play as well. Would you believe Wendy knew the couple from back in the 70's in Yellow knife and Bible school. They were chatting about old time all night. We didn't get home until about 11:30pm. Way past my bed time. Ha ha. Oh we had cake and tea for desert. Really good. I'm thinking maybe we should play games more often. Friday I bowled at Red in West Edmonton Mall. Did really good for an old fellow. We bowled 4 games and I had 203, 183, 212 and 139. I should have quit after 3 games. The last one was bad. It's always fun to bowl with the guys. They are a super bunch of guys and we always have a lots of good laughs.
Today Wendy went to take her sister shopping on the south side and I guess the traffic was just terrible. I'm glad I didn't have to go out. I stayed and home and made some labels for a few of the CD's that I recorded from practice tapes. If anyone is interested send me your address and I will mail you one. If I was smart enough and if I knew how I think I could e-mail some songs but I'm not sure how that is done. Maybe I should ask Tom eh? It would probably take up a lot of space on you computer too. Tomorrow I have to take Mrs. and Mr. Mulbier to church and then I have and interview at 9:30 for a gal that is getting baptised. They are showing our house again from 2 to 4 pm. so guess we'll have to find something to do for a few hours.
Oh here is a picture fo the couple that invited us over. Allen and Susan Powles. Guess I caught him with his mouth open eh?? Sorry Allen.

Wednesday evening

The Kompanions (Benny,Floyd and Hank)
The Harmonika Rascals (Hess, Nester, Hank, Floyd and Benny)
One of The Chromatic Harmonicas that I play

Well today was another busy day for me. It started this morning by bowling with the seniors league. I didn't do so well today but it is always good to meet and chat to a lot of the guys at the bowling alley. Surprisingly I am one of the younger ones. It seems they are all older than me. Well maybe not all but most of them are. Anyway after bowling I came home and worked on a puzzle that Wendy got out yesterday.
Then at 5:30 my friend Ron picked me up and we went to the men's meeting at the church. We used to have a meeting at my house but some of our guys signed up for the classes at the church so we decided to go check it out. It was good but there are a lot of guys and they are doing a video and working through a book. It is a good bible study. I think I will go again next week.

Well I have a friend that commented on my blog asking about my Harmonica's and how long I have been playing and what my favorite song is. Well lets see I started play the Harmonica when I was 5 years old. So I guess that makes it about 66 years. Boy that sounds like a long time eh? I used to play sometimes at school and then at dances. When people know you play they would often ask me to play a song with them. I have played with a few bands back in New York but nothing ever amounted to much. Then I sort of just played at home until 10 years ago. I found out that there was a group of Harmonica players here in Edmonton that practiced at The Dutch Canadian Club. The Harmonika Rascals. I went and listened to them and they were looking for a lead player because their lead player had passed away. It was a bit hard for me at first because I play by ear and they played a lot of Dutch music but I soon learned most of their song and became their lead Harmonica player. Then after playing with them for about a year we started a trio and called it The Kompanions. The three of us seem to click and we played a bit different music. A lot of the 50, 60 and 70's. Then Later on about 2 year ago another group called the Harmoniciares started. So now I play with 3 groups and play different type of music with each group. I really enjoy playing with the different groups and enjoy the variety of songs that we play. I think because of the different groups and different songs it has made me a better Harmonica player. The Harmonica is not and instrument that you hear a lots. I play what is called the Chromatic which is not as popular as the little Harmonica's that they play the Blues on. The Chromatic is a larger harmonica and you can play sharps and flats on.With the Chromatic you play all the notes and on the small Blues harmonica you can't play all the notes so you have to what they call bend some notes to make it sound right. I really enjoy playing the harmonica but I don't find many people playing it today. One of my favorite songs is ( I only have eyes for you). It is a song that was popular when I met Wendy and it was our favorite.
Well it is getting late and I have a busy day tomorrow. Love you all and God Bless you.

Tuesday evening

Well today was a busy one. I served at the church for the Senior's Luncheon. There were lots of them out today. They are always so pleasant and a lot of them were asking about Mandy and Jorge and Kristy and Bob. The crew that I work with is just a super bunch of people. It is a lot of fun and you got to love those Seniors. It is good to see so many get out every month. Not sure if I'll be that pleasant when I'm a Senior eh? ( wait I think I'm already there) sigh. Anyway after the lunch I came home and we talked to Kristy and Casandra on MSN for a while then Wendy went to meet some of her friends. I watched a little TV and checked my e-mail and then went down and played my Harmonica's for a while. I need the practice.
Tomorrow I'm off at 9 to the bowling lanes and then in the evening I'm back at the church for a meeting that they are having for the Men of the church. We used to have our Mens group on Wed. evening but because of the classes they are holding at the church and some of our guys signed up for it so I guess for now we are all or mostly all going to the classes for a while.
Well its time I hit the sack. It's getting late. God Bless you all.

Monday Afternoon and all is not well.

This morning I was up at 7:30 put out the dog and the garbage and then we were off to A&W for breakfast with the Seniors. (Me and Mattie) We got home and I went and bowled 3 games and did terrible. Then Wendy called and told me about our Saturn which we had towed to the garage this morning because it wouldn't start. Another $600.00. It just never ends. Guess I am going to have to get a full time job of some sort soon just to keep up the cars eh?
Oh well I hope and Pray that your day will be better than mine today. Mine could get better. I think I had better pray about this eh?

Have a good day
God Bless you all

Sunday morning an all is well

Well here I am blogging at some crazy hour in the morning. Just couldn't sleep. Was awake at 3am. but Wendy's blog and a few others kept me busy for a few minutes.
Well Yesterday 2 of my niece's and a nephew came to my house and stayed while Wendy and Pip went to the Women's Alive conference. We had supper and then headed out. I had to play at The Lynwood nursing home with The Harmonika Rascals and we had a showing of our house so I took both Andrew and Bethany with me. Samantha went to a youth meeting or something not sure what. I'm not sure they were impressed with our music but they sat and put up with our noise for an hour. It is always fun playing with those guys and I thought it went well. There was a lot of people there and they said they liked it. Our bass and cord player Henk was away so we had another fellow(Roger ) fill in for Henk. Then we had to do a Dairy Queen run . Not sure that was the best idea at that time of night but it was good. Of course it was all none fat stuff. Then Samantha got home after a long bus ride and we got her something to eat and then it was off to bed to get our beauty sleep. Not sure it did much for me. I am not sure why they call it beauty sleep because when I wake up I look terrible. I think I looked better before I went to bed. (sigh)
Then Saturday morning I was up early and off to the church where we served breakfast to 250 ladies at the church. It is always fun working with the group at the church and the ladies are always so pleasant. I had to leave about 11:30 and take the kids home and get the house ready for an open house from 1 to 4pm. When I got home the kids had the house all cleaned up dishes all done and beds all made. Maybe I should have them over more often eh? It was nice having the kids over, my house has been to quiet lately. I drove the kids home and stopped in to see my friend Hess and Ronnie. There is always a good cup of tea there when I go there and Hess always has a cookie hanging around.
Then I headed home and watched a little TV. Yes a little because I rested my eyes a little too. Well maybe quite a little. Then Wendy and Pip came home and we went to Church to the evening service. Well that's my story and I sticking to it.
I hope and pray that you all have a great day and may God Bless you all.

Friday Morning

Well lets see where do I start. Last night Wendy and I went to a concert at West Edmonton Christian Assembly. It was Paul Baloche and Robin Mark. They were really good and we enjoyed it. We got home a little late but it was fun. I didn't feel that great when we got there but felt better as the night went on . Wendy and I are sponsoring a little Compassion Child from Bolivia. Little Nelvy. What a cutie she is . If you look on Wendy's blog she posted a picture there of her. I am feeling a bit better today and hope I stay that way as I have a busy weekend coming up. Tonight I play with The Harmonika Rascals at The Lynwood Nursing Home from 7 to 8pm. Then Saturday morning I am working at the church serving at the Ladies Breakfast. I should clean my garage out but that might have to be another day who knows? I'm hoping that I will start feeling a lot better as I have a few little jobs to do but the compressor is still a bit heavy for me to be lifting up on the back of my truck. (Where is Jorge when I need him ) sigh. Sure do miss him. Well it is 9 am. and I should get going. Have a great day and may God bless you all.

Monday Morning . Monday Morning

Well yes it is Monday Morning and here I am at this dumb old computer. Couldn't sleep so thought that maybe I could write something on my outdated Blog. Not sure that is going to work just yet but we'll try. Funny before this operation I rarely woke up in the middle of the night. Now I'm up about every 2 to 3 hours.
I must be getting old as I sure don't have a lot of get up and go lately. I seem to be just dragging my feet all day long. I sleep in until 8 or later and then I just don't feel like doing much when I do get up. Maybe I should go see a doctor or something and get some get up and go pills. As if I need more pills eh? Well this morning I have to bowl at 9 and for some reason I'm not looking forward to that right now. Maybe I will feel better about it at 8 am. who knows. Yesterday all I did was sort out some bottles and cans to take to the bottle depot and then I routed a clock stand out for Hess at the Golden Hour Clock Shop.

Well I guess we put our house up for sale about 6 months too late. There is just too many out there for sale right now and the prices are going down and down. For a while I wasn't really sure I wanted to move anyway but now I really would like to be closer to Tanya and Tom and the kids and now that I know they are going to stay in Lethbridge . I really don't like that drive for 5 or 6 hours each way. If I had to move now with my ambition down I'd have to hire a couple of you guys just to kick my butt first thing in the morning just to get me started. But guess we won't have a choice if this old house don't sell.
Wendy has a bad hip and I'm not sure that the long drive is good for her. If you read her blog I think she blogged about it. She is now on a list to get a hip replacement in the near future. They say about 5 to 6 months.
Well I guess no one is online at this hour so I might as well finish this stupid blog and go back to bed. I sure hope you all have a great day.God Bless you all.

Sunday afternoon Oct.7, 2007

Well after being away for the last 3 weeks it was back to church Sunday morning, seeing and chatting with all our friends and answering their many question about our kids. Then after a quick coffee it was off to the service. After service I had to help count. It was so good to be back with our group counting. What an awesome crew it is. Brenda, Vern, John, Darryl, and Carol who is fairly new with our group. Maybe not I think it was me who was fairly new. Haha. Well it was good to be back and see all their smiling faces and listen to what was happening is some of their lives and Vern's quick comments as we went along. He is quite a guy. Very witty and quite sharp for an old fellow.(zing) It was a very good morning and I really enjoyed being back with them. Then it was off to the bank and home for lunch which was quite early today for a change. Guess we were faster than we used to be eh? Anyway thanks guys for good work and thanks Darryl for the coffee. It was a pleasure and am looking forward to next month.

Saturday Afternoon. September 29th.2007

Well we have had a ball with 3 sometimes silly girls for a whole week. Only one more sleep and then our house will be back to it's quiet old self. Not sure I'm going to happy about that. It has been such fun listening to the girls chatter(like their Mum)and (their aunty's). It sure brought back some good old memories. Wendy a few times called them Tanya and Mandy but the girls got a laugh out of that. Adriana is 10 going on 15, Erilyn is 7 going on 12 and Amelie is 3 years and rules the roost or tries to anyway. They sure were good girls and we enjoyed them so much maybe we won't send them home. I think Papa 's candy box took a real beating and needs to be replenished. Not mush left in it now. One of the big things was when Papa said 2 pieces each there was always a little voice that said why only 2 papa what about maybe 4 pieces. I guess there was too much of a verity in there eh? All and all I think they had a great and Gram did a lot of things with them too. Today Gram took them to the Zoo as I had to go to St. Albert and play a gig with the Harmonika Rascals . It was a really good time there and the people just loved it. It was a fun raiser for the CNIB of St Albert. They had a really good turn out for this being their first year. Our Cord player Henk helped with all the setting up and organizing as he is a member of the CNIB. Wendy and the girls are over to Aunty C's right now and will be back later for supper. Well that's my story for today and I'm sticking to it. Love you all and May God Bless you all. If your reading our blog give us a comment or you can always e-mail us anytime . Would love to hear from you.

Good News this morning

This morning I went to the doctor at 9:15am. worried because I have not been feeling so well in the past week but God is good. The doctor came into the room and said he had some good news for me and then told me that my PSA was (zero). Sure took a load off my shoulders. He said that the things I have been feeling are normal and that made me feel better too. Why is it that we worry? God says trust in me. Guess I have to get back on my knees more often. Thank you Lord.
This morning after I came back from the doctors and went bowling. I bowled really good and felt good doing it. The first game was 223 then 244 and 171 and 179 . Not bad for an old man eh?? Well I feel so good I think I'll go do something other than play on this old computer. Have a great day.
May God Bless all of you .

Saturday evening in Lethbridge

Wow only one more sleep and we are headed back home. It sure has been fun with the grand kids. Well sometimes a little loud. Guess we are not used to having little ones around the house eh? Little Amelie is so excited about going home with us in Gramme's red car. She was ready and packed on Monday. Wendy and Tanya have been busy on their lap tops organizing their photo's of the kids. We have played a few games and watched a few Corner Gas season 4. and lots of Wiggles.
Little Isabella is getting so big or it seems that way. She sure is a little sweetheart. I think Kellen has grown since we got here too. He is one live wire. Kellen and Amelie are so full of energy. They keep everyone hopping. What a busy pair. We are not used to having a 2 year old and a 3 year old and a little 9 day old around. It has been good to spend some time with Tanya and Tom. Yesterday Tom and I went bowling but the alleys aren't the greatest but we had fun anyway. We are probably leaving fairly early tomorrow morning because Tom's Dad will bring Adriana and Erilyn to our house as soon as we get home. They have been up at John and Mary's since Sunday and will now spend a week with us. That will be fun for us having 3 little girls in our house for a week. That should bring back old time eh? Well Adriana is not so little anymore and if she heard me say she was little I would get the bad eye for sure. They sure are a pretty lot and Papa is proud of all of them.
Well the little ones are down and Wendy and Tanya are making cookies and we are getting ready to play another game tonight. Maybe I'll get lucky and win tonight eh? Not sure what we are going to be playing tonight. Normally I don't play board game but I am starting to enjoy them. Must be getting old eh? I had better get this posted and clear the table for the game . Good night and God Bless you all.

Tuesday morning.Sept.18th.

Well here I am in Lethbridge where I have been since Wednesday evening. Well actually I left Edmonton on Wed. but didn't get here until Thursday morning early(about 1:30am). I have another new grand baby. Little Isabella Blanch Lister. She sure is a pretty one and good size too. She was born about 2:21am. Check Wendy's blog. She has posted a few pictures of her. Thursday morning. Wendy was afraid that we wouldn't be here in Lethbridge to be with Tanya when the baby came but we were here about 1 hour before. God guided us safely here in plenty of time. She is a beautiful little (cookie cutter) Lister baby. She looks just like the rest of them. They would have no trouble picking her out of a crowd. Tanya is doing well but the 2 little ones seem to be wondering what all the fuss is about and why ain't Mum paying more attention to me?? Little Amelie(our 3 year old) want to hold her all the time(sigh). Things are slowly getting back to normal I think(not sure because I don't live here) ha ha. The two older girls went with their Grandfather and Grandmother (Toms Dad and Mom) to stay for a week and then they are going to stay at our house for another week. We are going to bring little Amelie with us when we come home. Going from 4 down to just a 2 year old and a baby might be a bit of an adjustment. I guess that will give Tanya and Tom a bit of a break but not sure they won't really miss them. Little Adriana is a lot of help to her Mum(she is 10 years old) but does lots of things to help Mum out with the babies.
Not sure what we are doing today but maybe it will be a good day for a long walk with the babies. Amelie and Kellen are so full of energy they tire me out just watching them. It is good that Wendy and I can be here to give them a little help. Hopefully they think it is good too eh?

We are waiting to hear from Kristy and Bob who are in Africa now. Last we heard they were in an airport in England. If you check Kristy blog I think she updated on Saturday telling about the fun time they were having at her uncle Pat and aunt Mary's. I think they have posted some pictures also. I was hoping that Mandy an Jorge would update their blog but they are really busy with the school starting and everything.

I haven't been feeling great but am feeling really good yesterday and today. I have to be back for a doctors appointment on Monday morning.
Well it is partly Sunny and only about 6 C. out right now but hopefully it will get nice and the temp will go up.
Well that's my story for today and I'm sticking to it. Have a great day and May God bless all of you.

Back from the airport.

Well we took Kristy and Bob to the airport and said our good by's. There were a few tears. It is hard to send your daughters off to another country so far away. Kristy always said she couldn't be more than 2 hours away from us but now she will be gone for 6 months. How will we survive? Sigh
God has been so good to us all and to see how He is working in their in the lives of our children just makes me praise Him more everyday. Thank you Lord for our children and thank you that they are following you. Help them to be your shining light. We are so proud of all of them.
Well now I guess we will be heading to Lethbridge soon . Can't wait.

Well that's all for today. Twice in one day that's a new record for me. eh???

September 11,2007

Wow how time just flies. Today Kristy and Bob are flying out this afternoon at 7pm. Where did the time go. We have been so busy lately running to Red Deer and Blackfalds and going to see people and having people over at our house. Guess things will slow down starting tomorrow. We are waiting for a phone call from Tanya now any time saying that little Bella is coming. It is a bit exciting to say the least.
Well let's see where do I start. Ok I am feeling pretty good and went and got a blood test yesterday. I have an appointment on Sept.24th to see Dr. Estay. Last Saturday we drove to Red Deer for a birthday Surprise birthday party for Bob. there were lots of people there and everything went well. We got a little rain half way through the party but it didn't last to long. Then on Sunday we drove to Blackfalds to Kentwood Alliance and went to service there. Everyone said good by to Kristy and Bob and after that we all went to a friend of Kristy and Bob's for a BBQ. There was lots of people there and it was so good to see their friends giving a them a send off so to speak. They sure will have lots of people praying for them after they go.
Their visa's came in at Blackfalds post office so Kristy and Bob had to drive back down there and pick them up. Another answer to pray eh?
it will be real hard for Wendy and Kristy to say good by this afternoon.
the Lord has been so good to them and just to watch Him work in their live is so exciting. Thank you Lord. We sill for sure miss them as they will be gone for 6 months and who knows where the Lord will take them from there. I'm tough so it won't bother me me. LOL
I think both Wendy and Kristy will be basket cases for a few hours after we leave the airport. They are flying to London for 5 day so that will be fun and they will get to see some of Kristy's relatives. Then they are meeting some friends from Blackfalds and spend a day with them before they fly out to Africa. God has answered so many of their prayers and I'm sure he has a lot more in store for them as they go to the DTS. I know God will continually Bless them on their journey. It has to be so exciting for both of them and it will be a big adjustment for them also.
We will be praying for them every day.Now we have one daughter and son in-law in Chile and will have a daughter and his schooling.Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
I hope and pray that he will find a job close by but who knows where God will send them. Guess I had better learn to like traveling eh? hahaha and I do. Well I have lot s of things to do and not much time to do them so I am going to end this blog and get started doing things. I have to mow the lawn for sure as it is still growing and need cutting.
Until next time have a Blessed day. God bless you all.

1. 
   

Monday Sept.3, 2007

Well here it is Sept. 3rd. already. Where does the time go? It has been a while since I blogged so I hope I haven't forgot how? haha . I have been feeling really good and today I think I am going to go try to bowl a couple of games just to see if I remember how and see if I can do it. I am not going to bowl more than 2 games because I don't want to over do it. Who knows maybe I can only bowl 1. Well on Saturday we went to Beth and Scott's wedding at Beulah. Then at 6 in the evening we went to the reception dinner at the Day's Inn. She sure looked pretty. Then on Sunday we went to lunch with Ed and Betty and Wade and Charlene at Moxie's. I think we ate for an hour and talked for 2hours. Have to do that more often. This morning we all went to the A&W for breakfast with the Seniors. Had a great time. They were all interested in Kristy and Bob and what they are doing and where they are going. They sure are a great bunch of people. They really are a bunch of LOVING and CARING people. I guess I am kind of proud of all of them. God knows we need friends like them. Thank You Lord. Well one of these days soon I have to go out to the lake and check on our trailer. We haven't been out there in a while. Seems like we just have so much to do and now Kristy and Bob are getting ready to fly out on the 11th. of Sept. to Africa. We are waiting for the phone call that will take us to Lethbridge to see our new little granddaughter coming any time now. We are planing a big dinner for Kristy and Bob on Monday because they won't be here for Christmas this year Kristy and Bob want me to cook a turkey dinner for them with all the trimmings. Why not eh? I always cook turkey for Christmas so guess I have one in Sept and one in Lethbridge December. This year we are going to Lethbridge for Christmas if they are still there. Just talked to Mandy on MSN. They are doing fine and said to say HI to all the Seniors. (So Hi All You Seniors) from Mandy and Jorge and don't forget to tell Irene , Vern. Ha haha
Well got to go so I pray you will all have a great day and enjoy the Holiday.