Happy 50th Anniversary!!!

A couple of weeks ago my Uncle Abe & Aunt Jess celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I remember when I was a little girl and people my grandparents age were having 50th anniversaries. They seemed SO old! Now my parents age people are having them, but they don't seem old enough. Man how time flies.

Anyways, I thought I'd post a few pics and videos from their celebration.

When you walked into the gym, you saw 10 wedding dresses hanging up. These 4 were Aunt Jess' on the far left, then my cousin Jan's, then Iris' who married my cousin Ken and on the far right is my cousin Carol's dress. On the other side of the stage were the 6 dresses from the grandkids who've gotten married so far, but I forgot to get a picture of them. It was neat to see how the styles had changed. These 4 all had sleeves (I like how they were all pinned together very prim and proper) and the other 6 all had either no sleeves or they were strapless.

Here's the happy couple.

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This is a video of their daugthers and their niece singing. I know it's a little on the old fashioned side, but isn't it beautiful? I love the harmony. The lighting was really bad in the gym, so, sorry about the quality of the videos and pictures.

Here's the whole family ... kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

My parents came out for it as well, so it was nice to see Mom and Dad again.

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God is so good. Simple song, yet so true. Can you hear my Mom singing beside me? She's so cute (and a good harmonizer, too).

Growing up at Froese family gatherings, we would always have a sing along with U. Abe & A. Jess and their kids up there leading us and it brought back so many memories to hear them sing again. They and their 3 kids (and their respective families) have lived next to each other for the past 29 years or so. I don't know too many families that could do that without killing each other, but they did it and have maintained a very close relationship. Saturday morning breakfasts together every week has also helped bring them very close. I applaude them for making it happen.

Congratulations U. Abe & A. Jess. I've seen your love for each other and your family over the years and it is truly something to aspire to.

Reason for being AWOL

Ok, I've been AWOL for the last week because the place I'm house sitting at has crappy wireless reception and my connection keeps cutting in and out which makes it very hard to download pictures and videos, so I had just given up. But yesterday I got a comment from "the Blog Police" wondering why I hadn't updated in awhile, so I thought I'd give it a try tonight.

I have been trying to post ONE story for the last hour and a half, but it's cut out on me THREE times, so I'm done for tonight. Sorry "Blog Police." You'll have to wait a bit longer.

Shoot!

I missed my one year anniversary of starting this blog. On July 31, 2006, I started this blog to supposedly keep my friends and family updated on my trip around the world. I now know that wasn't meant to be and have mostly accepted it. :) I continued on with my blog despite my travels not happening, and found that writing down my thoughts has been very therapeutic (is that how you spell that?) and rewarding in ways I never imagined.

What I really wanted to say was a big thank you to all who read and leave comments. I feel like I have a whole new group of friends who welcome and accept me and I love that. To those who blog stalk and have not "outed" yourselves, please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know you're there, if only just to say hi.

Although Facebook has come in and monopolized a lot of my time, I do still love updating my blog because I can tell more of the story here than on Facebook ... and we all know how I love to tell a story. I know I can be a little long and drawn out at times, so thanks for sticking with me. :)

Anyways, happy belated anniversary to Borne To Travel!

P.S. Did you see that it's only 16 days until JT? hee hee I'm so excited .. but first, next Sunday is the Daughtry concert and that'll be fun as well.

Whidbey Island - Part 2

So, where was I? Oh yeah, Friday morning after Colleen left, we went exploring on the beach and I of course had my camera in hand.

Bren was the bravest explorer of us all and walked aways out into the water. There was too much icky seaweed for my liking. She went much farther than this, but I liked this pic best with the birds flying behind her.

This was a funny one to set up and then try to run into without twisting my ankle on the rocks. It turned out nice, however, it looks a little like it could be our album cover if we were a band. Anyone have any ideas for a name for our "band"?

I saw a lady taking a picture of this little guy and was surprised how close she got to him. I thought, "Well, I must try to get a good shot of him, too." I kept getting closer and closer and he didn't budge. When I got this close, I realized that he had fishing line hanging out of his beak. You can kind of see it in this picture near his feet. This distressed Bren big time as we discussed the possibility of there being a hook at the end of that fishing line and maybe he's not feeling so good and that's why he's not flying away. We talked about going and helping him and trying to pull it out, but then figured that if it was hooked inside of him, we might do more damage, so we just left him. When we last say him he had friends with him, so hopefully they were there to comfort him. The next day when we went by the same spot, he was gone. One can only hope he's soaring with all the other seagulls again. ;)

I done not lurned real good spellin' skills.

This was about as wet as I got. I found this spot where there was no seaweed.

I hope it's not sacrilegious to take a black and white picture of the American flag. Tif, if you read this, I just thought it was a nice picture. No offense intended. :)

Aaaaaah, the sunsets were amazing.

On Saturday night, Lori came and joined us for some fun. First thing we did, roasted some marshmallows and sat around the fire.

These lanterns were very cool. They LOOK like candles, however, they are solar powered lights that flicker to create the illusion of a candle. Very pretty. I think they got them at Target or Walmart. Don't you hate that the American Walmart has different stuff than our Walmarts?

On Sunday we headed into a neighbouring town called Langley and did a little shopping where I found a cute little quilt shop and bought some new material to make another quilt. This will be my winter project when the weather keeps me inside. I think everyone found some cute little finds.

Lori also made a friend while there. Whatcha talking 'bout, Lori?

And then we made a fire again with the help of our 89 year old cute neighbour named Harold (I'm not sure if he was 89, but he was around there somewhere). He lent us some lighter fluid. Worked like a charm! Thanks Harold. Then we went a little camera happy, so I thought I'd make a collage. :)

It was a wonderful weekend away. I hope we go back soon. I will leave you with my favorite picture of the weekend. Even just looking at this view now relaxes me. How can you NOT love a view like that?

Whidbey Island ... Part 1

Back in March, Bren and I went to my friend Tiffany's in-law's cabin/cottage on Whidbey Island for the first time and it was awesome. We got to go back over the August long weekend, and this time we took a few more friends. Colleen took her own vehicle because she could only stay one night, so I drove down with her. Last time we went, it took Bren and I about 2 hours to get there. This time ... not so lucky. Colleen and I got to the US border at 12:30 pm on a Thursday afternoon, crossed the border at 1:30, drove down the I-5 to the Everett exit (approximately 3:00), past Boeing (very cool, by the way) and proceeded to sit in line at the Whidbey Island ferry terminal ... and wait, and wait and wait. See picture below.


Here we are finally on the ferry (about 4:45). We were enjoying that it was sunny, but not enjoying that our day had been spent travelling. Colleen had to leave the next day, so we wanted to get a bit of suntanning in. We made a quick stop at the local grocery store and by the time we got to the cabin, it was 5:30! It took us 5 hours to get there. I know that long weekends can be crazy, but I didn't think it would start on a Thursday already. What do I know?

We quickly headed down to the beach for a bit of a stroll before the other girls joined us for supper (they stopped at the outlets). If you want to see what the cabin/cottage looks like, please click here. I didn't take any pictures of it this time as I already had pics from my last trip. But I finally found my black and white setting on my camera, so you'll have to indulge me. :)


Isn't this the cutest picture of Colleen strolling on the beach? I just love it. She's beautiful inside and out and I'm SO glad she could join us ... if only for one night.

This was a house on the beach not too far from our place. Not too shabby, hey?

I took this picture because you could see Mount Rainier in the background ... don't know if you can see it all too well through the smog. :(

The sunsets are AMAZING!

Natasha, Carmen and Bren joined us and made us a wonderful steak dinner. Mmm, mmm, mmmmmmm. Not a bad place to eat all our meals.

We then retired inside the cabin so that I could partake of the yummy lemon poppy seed cake Colleen made for my birthday and so that I could open all my presents! Who doesn't love eating dessert and opening presents? I didn't put up too much of a fight. With my birthday being on a long weekend in the summer, it's hard to find any friends that aren't on holidays (completely understandable), so this was a nice surprise to be together with great friends on my actual birthday. And boy did I get some goooooood loot!

Top left: Bren got me a mug from Harrods (yes, the department store in London ... she was just there, I don't know if you knew that :). This mug was designed by Coldplay (our second favorite band) and the money goes to a charity of their choice. Very fun and unique gift. She also got me a shirt from American Eagle that I have gotten many compliments on and have worn almost every day this week AAAAAAND a gift certificate from the outlet mall AAAAAAAND two great nail polish colors (pink and silver). Thanks Bren!

Top right: Natasha and Carmen got me a spa pedicure from Wild Orange!!! Yippeeee! Who doesn't love going to the spa? They also got me some yummy smelling lotion AAAAAND some mento's and bubble gum. :) Thanks for the soothing, calming gifts, Tosh and Carmen!

Bottom left: Karen (even though she was in Portugal) sent along these slipper/flip flops that she found for me back in March while she was in Palm Springs on Spring Break. Don't you feel special when someone sees something and thinks of you and buys it for you on the spot? I do. It means that they were listening when I talk about silly things I want/need like specific slippers ... and I appreciate that. Thanks SO much, Karen!

Bottom right: Steve gets an honourable mention on the gift giving. He got me a Rolling Stone magazine from 2005 that he took from his school library because he heard me say that I liked Orlando Bloom (who, btw, Karen and Bren saw in London this summer! Yes, up close and personal. Very fun for them.). He got me a magnet in the shape of the letter F and a card that has a picture of a regular breakfast (bacon, eggs, hash browns and orange juice) and on the inside it says, "Helloooooooo, seniors discount." Not sure how I should take that, but thanks, I think. :P

Thank you all for a wonderful birthday. I really did feel spoiled.

(On an aside, Jennie wasn't able to come on our weekend away, but when I got home she had bought me ALL of the Robert Ludlum - Bourne books. I can't WAIT to start reading ... don't worry, I know they are very different from the movies.) Thanks Jennie! Next time I hope you're able to come.

Even though we were full from supper AND lemon poppy seed cake, Colleen introduced us to another little piece of heaven ... ladies and gentlemen, introducing ...

None of us had heard of these Tim Tam's, but were willing to give them a try. They are a cookie/wafer from Australia and there's a technique needed in mastering the art of eating a Tim Tam. The wafer is a rectangle, so first, you bite off two of the adjacent corners. Then, you get yourself a hot beverage and ...

dip one end into the beverage and suck through the other end. The hot beverage will make the inside of the wafer nice and melty and then you simply eat the wafer. Wow! It was YUMMY! I know some of my readers HATE mushy or soggy things, but I'm sorry, you're missing out on this one. Tim Tam's are apparently found in the Exotic/Ethnic foods section at Save On Foods. Let me know if you try them. I have yet to go down that aisle for fear of becoming addicted.

I don't know if it was because I was the birthday girl or because I smelled, but I got a room all to myself and had a wonderful sleep. In the morning, we woke up to this ...

Gooey, sticky cinnamon buns that Colleen had set out to rise the night before and then baked in the morning. I think I gained 10 pounds just in my first 24 hours away ... but it was worth it. :)

In the morning before Colleen left, we took a group picture. From left to right: Me, Carmen, Bren, Colleen and Natasha.

To be continued ...

The Fray concert

Concert #1 of the summer - complete! And what fun we had. The concert was held at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby and it was a gorgeous day which is great since it's an outdoor venue and the weatherman had called for showers. Silly weatherman. I have a hard time believing him anymore. We got a GREAT parking spot and didn't have to stand in line at all. I won't tell you HOW we got that great parking spot, but I will say right now, "Thanks Lori!" ;)


This is a view from the back of the field. We decided to sit over to the left side closer to the front about half way down.


Here we (Bren, Carmen and Lori) are sitting and waiting for the show to begin. Not bad seats, right?

Once the show began I took a few pictures using my zoom and then thought, "Hey, this is an outdoor concert and there's room to move around," so down to the front I went. Here I got quite a few better pictures.

I stayed down at the front until I got this video. A lot of people were asking me who The Fray were, so I thought I'd video their most famous song and jog a few memories. Do you recognize it?

Speaking of recognize, does anyone know this guy? He was flirting with someone who shall remain nameless (no, not me) and I thought I'd try to see if anyone knows him so we can make a loooooove connection. ha ha

About 20 minutes after we went back to our original seats, the lead singer pulled about 30 people on stage to play tambourine with them and he pulled them up from EXACTLY where we were standing! Doh! Oh well. It's not like it was Justin Timberlake. ha ha But it did look like they had a lot of fun. We had fun despite not getting on stage. They really do have great voices and the outdoor venue is really quite fun.

Only 17 more days until the Chris Daughtry concert and then of course only 27 more days until JUSTIN!!!

Fun with Friends - Part 2b

After Taste of the City, we headed downtown and parked in Yale Town. Now, if you know where Yale Town is, it's waaaaaaay far away from English Bay. Well, let's just say that one end of Davie St. is the ocean where the fireworks were, and the other end of Davie ends in Yale Town, but we were up for the walk. We needed to walk off all that yummy food from Taste of the City, remember? We started off at a good pace, looked in a few stores, walked a few more blocks, stopped in Starbucks to pee and then we sat down. That, was a mistake. It took us awhile to get going again because we were all feeling that, "if I were at home I'd be having a nap right now," feeling. It was only about 6:30 and the fireworks didn't start until 10:00. You know you're getting older when ...

But we pushed on and made it to our grassy spot where we've sat for the last couple of years. It's not down on the sand, but it's a clear view and isn't amongst all the crowds. Well, we sat here for awhile, got our Flying Wedge pizza for supper and played with the bubble blowing pens that HSBC was handing out and people watched. I love people watching. There are definitely some interesting people to watch in Vancouver.

We were probably amongst those interesting people for other people to watch us blowing these bubbles. We had a moment of youthfulness amidst our tired bodies.


This was just a random picture I snapped of Bren that I thought was beautiful, so I had to post it. Hopefully she won't kill me for doing so. :)

Good times, good friends.

After awhile, Bren and I decided to take a walk and see how things were going down on the sand. Yes, there were a LOT of people, but there were quite a few empty spots on the sand, so we decided to take a chance with the crowds, so we moved.

I know I inundated you with pictures from the Abbotsford - Canada Day fireworks, but I had to post these because they were QUITE a bit better.

Isn't that beautiful?

Well, I do have a Part 3 of Fun with Friends to post, but that will have to wait until next week. Tomorrow I'm off to a cabin in the States for the long weekend, so I hope everyone enjoys BC Day (that is what the Stat is on Monday, isn't it?).