Summer VACATION!

How do you spell vacation?



Ah yes. The cool water of the Shuswap lake. The beautiful lake that we grew up beside. The crisp refreshing waters we dove in to endure the heat of Salmon Arm summers. Well..Ruth dove in them. I never found Shuswap lake warm enough to actually get in. Our vacation last week was no different. Ruth ran into the water while I hung back and took pictures. WARNING: This post contains pictures of my glorious wife in a bikini.



We drove home on the coquihalla during the day. We make the drive in the night so often that I forget how beautiful it is.



I actually didn't take out my camera much while we were in Salmon Arm. We decided last minute to finish our week up at Nathan and Erin's ranch at Bridge Lake. It was kind of on our way home and we hadn't been there since they started managing it. It's a guest ranch out in the boonies. And when I say boonies, what I mean is free range cattle roaming the forest, dirt roads, mountain trails, secluded lakes. It was exactly what we needed.



Well you can only sit around and do absolutely nothing for so long. After that you need to find a brand new Polaris Ranger with nobby tires and four wheel drive.



Oh there's one!

Nate and Erin were kind enough to let us pack a lunch and head out to little tobe lake, using their ranch transportation. It was a short 20 minute ride in the ranger. But oh...was it a fun 20 minutes...



And that picture doesn't even show the mountain trail. It's like it was built for the ranger. Pot holes, dips, hills, rocks, roots, boulders. All we had to do was go fast!

And watch for the locals...


Watch out guys, get out of the way! We've gotta be at Tobe lake in 20 minutes! We're on vacation !!



We made it there on schedule. It was beautiful.



But I let Ruth drive the ranger home and I was afraid it would be the last beautiful lake I ever saw.



I nearly died that day. (just kidding babe)

Well in between our excursions in the woods, Nate and Erin cooked up some great meals. And we got to eat at a huge table with all the guests. Thanks guys!



Well after lunch it was back on the ranger and out into the woods again. This time we went to Montana lake where there was a rowboat tied to a dock. I asked out loud if anybody owned it and I was answered by a loon. So we took it for a spin.




That was very peaceful afternoon. I will remember it for a long time.




Well that was all anyone could ask for on vacation. But we couldn't leave without a trail ride the next morning. Nate and Erin I know you guys were busy but thanks so much for hosting us. We really had a great time and can't wait to come back.



But maybe next time we should set up a speed trap in the woods for Ruth?

Symphony of Fire

Technically it's called the "Celebration of Light". But since the sponsorship change I just haven't really adopted the new title.

So Ruth and I drove up to Vancouver for the weekend, mostly to visit with Uncle Elmer and auntie Marlene. But also to hook up with Loa on Saturday night. And we also had the pleasure of having dinner with our friends Jos and Nicola in Kitsilano.



We also spent a lot of Saturday downtown. Hanging around Granville Island, waiting for Loa's phone call and trying to decide where to eat.



Scooters have been catching my attention lately. I really want one, but my pride can't deal with the fact that I would ride a scooter to work as my little sister rides a street bike. My wife also wants a husband. Long term.



Yum. One of my favorite beers.

Well, we hit the beach at 10:00pm with Loa and her brother and some of their friends. We pulled out our cameras to capture the show.



Well, after a Sunday brunch we headed back home, taking drastic measures to avoid the 2 hour line up at the border. We took 'zero' ave which literally drives along the the 54-40 line, all the way to Aldergrove crossing. There was still a half hour wait at the border, but we had coffee...

WARNING MOM!

This is not the blog update you've been waiting for! You've been warned!

I had to go to the dump this last weekend, which meant that I had to pull all the old lumber out from under the deck. Well, you can imagine what I found...spiders. Freakin huge ones. My good buddy Bill, recently loaned me his macro lens to mess with.

Big spiders...macro lens. Mom: watch out!

I feel ducky!

Uh Oh...More Kids in the Tub!

Summer continues to be very busy and as a result our blog gets a little forgotten as we are out having too much fun! I think blogging is a good wintertime activity...but it's actually not to bad an activity for a 99F day like...TODAY! We've been going outside periodically trying to keep cool by hosing our heads off with the garden hose. Mmmm I'm about ready to go out again. Anyway...we were very glad to have the Dufresne's FINALLY come for a visit. Very fun to hang out with them all. I'm not sure that three children get wombs a fluttering the same way babies do...but they sure do make life exciting! If you think your life is dull invite a couple of kids over and the action doesn't stop! They too are especially cute in the tub. Apparently
Rylan isn't into soaking as much as his sisters Cherish and Olivia are. Typical boy:)



For those of you who haven't seen Alita in awhile...she remains her beautiful self. It is so fun to see her as a such a caring and loving mom, just like her mom was. It makes me sad that Rhonda isn't around to enjoy it all. Speaking of moms, the Dufrense's trip to Seattle was a pit stop on the way to Vancouver to celebrate the birth of Alita's nephew born at home on the fourth of July. Tenaisa I think that makes you a full blooded American now! Congratulations!



Olivia looking especially cute...



Rylan enjoying the patio door;)



The kids even enjoyed the back yard...the had lots of fun doing somersaults and rolling down the hill. I thought our yard was kind of lame for kids but I was glad when I saw that they found lots of ways to enjoy it. Oh to be like a child again and see the good side of everything...I guess that is in some way why Jesus yearns for us to be like children.



This last shot is of our good friend Charles. He owns Ace Window Cleaning and did a SPECTACULAR job cleaning our windows before our company arrived. They look great and we highly recommend him. Thanks Charles!