You all must have decided that I have completely forgotten about this blog. If that was true, I’d actually have a good excuse for not updating. But I didn’t and now I have the daunting task of filling you all in with what had been happening during my absence. Although that is a lot, I will begin!

So on November 7 we left for Calgary. Mama had two checkups but they were not on the same day, so we decided to make it a overnight family getaway. Best decision ever :)! After the first appointment we went to downtown Calgary to eat lunch. I think that’s where I took the most pictures. Not nearly all of them turned out, due mostly to the fact that I insist on taking them while we’re driving. Hey, they do turn out sometimes 🙂 All those buildings and busy streets fascinate me!

I found this very neat! If only I could draw like that…

This tower has probably been shot to death already, but I always have to get at least one picture every time we go to Calgary.

And this was the motel we stayed at. Actually it was two motels joined together. They were right across from the airport, so that provided us with some entertainment. A casual observer would have thought we had never seen a plane before, much less seen one land or take off:) It was quite fascinating.

This was the view from our window

The next day, we oldest four had a good time at the mall while the rest went to Mama’s other appointment. There, they were confirmed of the fact that all is well, for this we praise God!

The most daunting thing to write about is the passing away of my uncle Peter. He and his family, a wife and two daughters, lived in Seminole, TX. He had been on his way to work when they got hit from behind by another car that hadn’t noticed they wanted to make a left turn. We were in shock! He wasn’t that old and this was so quick. So final. We spent the rest of the day packing and figuring out who would take care of out acreage while we were gone. Thankfully, we do have the best family ever, who graciously offered to do our chores and more. Thank you all so much! It was such a relief knowing our animals were in excellent hands. That same evening we left for Texas. Jon & Yesenia joined us, which was really nice. The roads on the way there were not the smoothest, which really slowed our progress. But we arrived safely on Wednesday evening. It was definitely with mixed feelings that we met our family, at least for us children. I mean, it was a very sad occasion, but we were also very excited to see our cousins from down south. The last time we had seen a lot of them was the wedding in June and for some it was even longer. The emotions were very conflicting

We cousins spent a lot of time in the gym at the church where the family had gathered. I did not join in with the sports but sure took my share of pictures. Here are some of them.

Condie on the right (Peter’s oldest daughter) with her cousin Haley and photo-bomber-cousin Jonathan

Playing tag football

Gathering for a meeting

Tired after playing so hard, they looked at pictures

This was the best I could do when it came to getting a picture of all the guys. Age difference was not a problem, which I found really sweet.

This little guy got his share of attention:)

I honestly do not know how to describe the funeral. I was never close to my uncle Peter and didn’t see him very often, so the funeral was not such a big deal to me as it should have been. I think I was more sad when I thought of the family he had left behind. Your continued prayers for them would be very much appreciated.

A few days later we spent the afternoon at Beverly’s house. We spent a lot of time outside. Leslie and Condy got a hold of the camera, and I was warned I might never get it back again. This did not bother me, as I Love it when others get a passion for photography. Here are some pictures from that afternoon. All the following pictures were taken by the girls. For beginning photographers, I thought they did very well.

Chilling inside before the game…

…which of course was tag football! Whenever we cousins get together, we seem to have a theme game which we play (almost) nonstop. Once it was capture the flag, another time it was ultimate frisbee, and now it was tag football.

Watching the game

This little girl was so adorable!

I know that this isn’t very clear, but I think that it was the best group picture we had of all of us cousins

Condie (above) decided she was the photographer (pronounced with the accent on the first syllable just to be unique,) and Leslie (below) chose to be the model. Though this worked quite well, I think they would’ve had better results had they traded professions.

Waffles for breakfast the next morning

The following pictures were taken later on in the day at one of my aunt’s house.

Love that combination of colours

Not sure what the point was of this picture, but you get the idea. Just hanging out and talking. Best times ever:)!

Monday morning we left for home. Though we had come to TX for a very sad occasion we still had a good time together. I felt that through this time we cousins had bonded a lot closer for which I was very thankful. It was hard to leave the grieving family alone down there, but home was calling with all its tasks and comforts!

These last pictures were taken on the way home.

I guess that finishes it up for now. You all have a great weekend,

Bianca

P.S.  This post would have been published a bit sooner had not our computer decided that it needed a break for once. Thankfully Yesenia got it to work again, but only after a lot of hard work. Thanks a lot Yesenia!

P.P.S. Another big thank you to Yesenia as she edited this post and got the words flowing smoothly! Sisters are the best:)