45th Wedding Anniversary

A few months ago John and I decided we should celebrate our 45th anniversary. At that time it was really hot and we don't have a lot of shade in our back yard so we ordered a tent so we would have some shade for people sitting on the lawn. So the following pictures you see the tent being put up.

We told no one that we were going to have this tent put up so it was fun just watching peoples faces as they came into the yard. We had asked everyone to bring lawn chairs and since the weather did not co-operate and it rained I think most of them thought they had to sit outside anyway. 30 people is a lot to have in a house.

We also had an awning installed on the house as well. Everyone was able to stay under cover and stay dry.

These are a few of our guests sitting around and socializing

I had set our wedding pictures out and they got a few chuckles out of it.

My grand daughter Amanda has turned into a good little baker. She asked if she could make cupcakes for that day and of course I said yes. She made a cupcake tree with handmade roses on the top. Well done Amanda. Thank you so much. I have saved some of the roses.

This is the cake my husband purchased and had it decorated. I left that job for him to do. Well done John.

Here we are cutting the cake like we did 45 yrs ago.

Ottawa

While we were in Ottawa we had to do the tourist thing as well. So we hopped onto a Gray Line Tour bus and sat at the top to get a good view of everything. We saw the Governor Generals home, Harper's home and a lot of others. That evening we sat on the lawn of Parliament Hill and watched a light show they put on, on the side of the building. Fantastic! I couldn't take pictures because I was to far away and the lights flashing was confusing my camera.

One of the places that really caught our eye was the By Ward Market. It had sidewalk cafe's all over the place. Street after street of them.

This area of the city was a really nice place to visit. Parking in Ottawa is really expensive as well.

Just a beautiful area to see.

This is Oscar Peterson done in bronze. This was dedicated just the week before we came to Ottawa.

Melissa and Nathaniel's Wedding

Presenting Mr. & Mrs Nathaniel Boisvenue (This picture was to appear at the end of my post, but it kept dropping the picture so I just put it at the top).

The week of Aug. 6th to Aug. 12th John and I traveled to Ottawa to attend the wedding of our niece Melissa. The day was perfect, the setting was perfect and the bride was beautiful. She was married at the Church of the Ascension which was built in the late 1800, if my memory serves me correctly.

This is Melissa and her Dad at the front of the church. He had just walked her down the aisle and he had just turned her veil back.

Here they are saying their vows before her father who is a Lutheran Pastor.

The exchanging of the wedding bands.

A wedding reception followed at a very nice venue.

Down Memory Lane

Today my dh and I went on a day trip back to were we used to live about thirty yrs. ago. We used to live in the old town of Markam. We liked Markham so much that when we moved away to Montreal and were transferred back to Toronto again we decided on Markam again. Oh my how it has changed. All for the better I suppose, but I would not want to live there now. Although we lived in Markam we went to church in Unionville. The old part of Unionvilles main street as we new it,always reminded me of St Jacobs so that is why we back today.



This is the start of the main street. Very pretty.

When we used to go here before, all these houses were all turned into shops, really nice ones. Now most of them are restaurants and the shop are almost all gone. Very disappointing

This is were we had a nice lunch.

Most of the houses along the main street look like this one.

I also had to take a picture of the church we used to go to. The parsonage that was beside the church is now gone and an addition was put on. This is also where my youngest daughter was baptized. We really enjoyed going to that church. We still talk about how friendly the people were and we even remembered some of their names after all this time.

It's nice to go done memory lane but it sure is nice to come back home to Kitchener.

Finally Finished

It's been awhile since I have done any cardmaking. I started these cards at the spring retreat and I never finished them until now. The one above is a digital image that was given to me. I like to put something on the insides of my cards if I am using a one line verse. That stamp is a Stamping Bella stamp.

This one is a Stamping Bella as well. As you can tell I like my new Martha Stewart punch.

The stamp on this one is a Close To My Heart stamp.

Vacation

It is called a vacation, but to get to that point it is a lot of work. Just getting the kids organized and packed is a real chore. At my age now I get brain overload real quick. You put something into my brain something else falls out. So we always forget something when we go camping.

This was only the second time this tent was put up and the first time was last year when it was bought to see what it looked like. Kevin and I did OK, in the extreme heat that day.

Marie is putting the final clips on the tent poles and it is finished. This tent got a lot of comments as no had seen this kind of tent before.

The one afternoon as I was sitting outside reading my book, I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought we where being invaded as there were 6 of these (people) coming down to the beach. As it turned out it is a popular place to go scuba diving.

Marie and Keven loved to have campfires every night. She is already in her PJ's and the marshmallow are there somewhere.

Every Friday night at Sherkston Shore they have fireworks out over the Quarry. Our campsite was at the edge of the quarry, so the kids could sit by the campfire and watch the fire works at the same time. It is really hard to take pictures of fireworks and have them turn out. I think I took about 15 to get 4.

After we were done at Sherkston we are home 2 days and we leave again for Port Elgin to join Tracy and Payton at their campground. The first 2 nights it was cold and the furnace came on then things heated up and we were wishing for some of that cool weather. Dh spends alot of his time reading when we are out camping.

Payton still has a smile for the camera after a full day of activities as we sit around the campfire that night.

Lentil Appetizer with Scoops

With all the hot weather we have had this past week it's time for outdoor entertaining. If you are doing the entertaining or being entertained it's always nice to have a cold and refreshing appetizer along with a tall cool drink of your choice. As it turns out John and I are being entertained twice this weekend and I always offer to take something to help out. I am taking this Lentil Appetizer to both as it makes a fair bit. Serve it with scoops . If you have the Lock n Lock containers to put it in your set to go. I will share the recipe with you. Thanks to my friend Carol.

Lentil Appetizer with Scoops

1 can lentils (drained and rinsed)

1/2 can kernel corn

1/4 cup fresh basil (leaves only)

2-3 chopped gr. onions

1/2 tsp oregano

1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (real lemon 3 tbsp)

3/4 cup feta cheese crumbled

1/8 tsp cumin

1/2 container cherry tomatoes quartered

Mix together. Can be made 1 day ahead

Serve with scoops.