Sunday, June 26, 2011

Busy week - equally busy weekend!

White Rock beach - British Columbia
It has been a very busy week.  We had several appointments to take in, some home improvement projects, and, the most exciting of all, the arrival of our kids for the weekend.
Installed the new glass shower door in master bathroom.
We bought this shower door @ Lowe's in Bellingham, WA.  Thursday was the day for the install.  It went well but with 35 pages of directions, it took reading each page twice to avoid making serious mistakes.
Jeanette managed to get some of her pots planted and positioned in strategic locations around the house.
We had the pond and sprinkler system tech come over to teach us the ropes on this system.  We now have everything operating as it should, including the pond.

With some long delayed heat, the flowers have finally decided to bloom.
All of this work was waiting to be completed.  It felt good to complete the indoor and outdoor projects before our kids arrived for the weekend.

Following an early evening flight into Abbotsford Airport from Edmonton, Alberta, we prepared a salmon bar-b-q, rich desert and we celebrated a belated birthday and father's day for dad.





Deni, mom and Courtney.
Deni and Courtney left for her friend's home in Surrey to change and prepare to attend a friend's wedding.  Ginette and Trevor were attending the same wedding.
Mom hugging son, Deni.

Me, daughter Ginette and son-in-law, Trevor.
They were all dressed up and soon to leave for the wedding.  The kids were staying with other family and friends on Saturday night so Jeanette and I had the house to ourselves again, following the Friday night sleepover with all six of us in the house.  Felt nice to have a busy house again.

A beautiful and warm Sunday morning had us on the motorcycle heading to Fort Langley for breakfast.
 We rode along the Fraser River for several kilometres and this river is the highest it has ever been - according to all of those who were gawking at how high it had risen.  One long time resident of the Fort made clear that he had never witnessed a river so high in all of his years here.  Not for us to argue!!!
The photos tell a true story though.  Look at how high the river is to this bridge deck.  Yikes!!!

Zoomed in to these north shore mountains.

 We were early but there were several boaters on the river, including some wave runners.
 This made for an interesting shot.  These are float planes that can land on the river or on the runway.  We could not get a decent photo of it but there was a small private jet on one of the ramps along the runway.
At one of the regional parks in the eastern Fraser Valley.

This tree is soon to erode with the high water and likely fall into the river.

Two to three more feet of height and the park we were standing in would be washed out.

Some boaters who enjoyed powering up stream - shutting down - and slipping downstream with the current.  This boat did this twice while we were on the river bank.  They were clearly enjoying the nice temperatures.

Ginette enjoying a few hours of sun bathing in our back yard before the Sunday evening flight back to Edmonton.

Jeanette exchanging banter with our daughter.

Ginette, Jeanette and Trevor exchanging good bye hugs at the airport.
Ginette and Trevor returned to our home on Sunday mid-afternoon.  We  all took advantage to sit outdoors and visit.   A few hours later we enjoyed some wonderful baked chicken breast dinner that Jeanette had prepared. That done, it was soon off to the airport for their return flight to Edmonton.
Entering the airport
Jeanette and I waved our good byes - as did they - and we drove back home.  Deni and Courtney are spending this evening with Courtney's mom and brother.  Courtney had driven out from Edmonton mid week.  Deni flew in with Ginette an Trevor.  Deni and Courtney will leave early Monday morning for the return drive back to Edmonton.

There you have it!  That was how we lived our lives these past five days.

Thanks for dropping by.
One last shot from our Sunday morning ride.

6 comments:

  1. great weekend with your family!!..cannot believe how high the Fraser River is?..wow!..did you happen to go the Derby Reach Campground?..wonder if it is under water??

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  2. Is it Hell's Gate that is on the Fraser River? If so, the water must really be roaring through there right about now. Sure wished we had some scnenic snow capped mountains on our horizon here in Ontario like you guys got out there in BC.

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  3. Nice weekend when the kids come home for a visit. Enjoy the weather.

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  4. I know exactly what you mean about 'having the house full again' - it feels really good when that happens. Looks like a great family weekend for you and the smile on Jeanette's face says it all.

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  5. Sue & Doug:
    It does not appear that Derby Reach Campground was under water. Several RV's were seen leaving @ check out time on Sunday morning. The campground looked to be quite busy.

    Al:
    Hell's Gate is on the Fraser River - in the Fraser Canyon. I'm sure water is gushing at a hellish speed through there. I will be riding through there on or about the 7th of July. I'll stop in and see if I can get a photo and get it on the blog.

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  6. looks like you had a fine time with family....Priceless. I know you told them all you loved them very much,,,,,,,
    Neat pictures, make it easy to follow your blog...

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