Special times with family and friends...

Here's a mix of pictures from the past month or so. Things have been busy. It doesn't feel like we've been home much the past couple of weeks. Clara's feeling feverish and tired the last few days from a vaccine she had last week (at least that's what I'm hoping it's from!). It was a lovely HOT day here today. Last night we went camping overnight with some friends from church. Yes, we are nuts...it rained cats and dogs all day yesterday and finally dwindled down to a drizzly mist around 9pm when we set up the tents. Thankfully it didn't rain overnight, but the fog didn't burn off until we were driving out of the campground this morning. Nevertheless it was a great time! We had a nice campfire last night and ate sausages and smores. Yum!!!
















John and Clint with Clara and Owen. It was so nice to have Clint and Karen and Owen Langelaar here to visit the end of June from Saskatchewan. These pictures were taken one HOT, HOT June afternoon at Greenwich National Park. It was the perfect beach day, but the hike over the dunes to get to the beach sure wore me out!































Clara didn't quite know what to make of the sand. It was a little difficult for her to keep her balance.
















Clara with her new buddy Owen. I think she's going to make a great big sister. She was so gentle with baby Owen.

Clara saw her first fireworks on July 1st. We went with a group of friends from church down to the waterfront to see them. Clara did so well. She was exhausted, but she managed to stay awake, sucking her thumb, head resting on daddy's shoulder while she watched the fireworks. Here's our little Canadian girl!















Waiting for the show to start...






























We've been able to spend some time with relatives on my Mom's side of the family over the last week. My aunt and her husband from Ontario are here visiting. Last Sunday after church Mom and Carl and John and Clara and I and my grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousin all went out for lunch and then took a drive to the Dunk River to sprinkle my great uncle Ivan's ashes. He passed away recently in Ontario and it was his wish to have his ashes sprinkled in the Dunk River where he loved to fish as a young man. It was a special afternoon together as family. I wish I had some of his poetry to post on here. He was quite the poet. Anyone who ever met Uncle Ivan will always remember him as a fun, loving, unique man who had quite the adventures during the war. His diaries should really be preserved somehow for future generations! It's hard to believe he's gone. I would love for him to have met Clara. He would have loved the sparkle in her eyes...a sparkle he shared too!