Jan 04 – BC SCUBA trip

Byrn succumbs to Russell.  Bryn and I went out to Nanaimo for some SCUBA diving.  While at it we checked in on Luke and Tracy.  Bryn has since joined the Navy and he is in Esquimalt BC. His ship is the HMCS Calgary.

February – Fire wood

We went to Gord’s house to get wood.  This would seem rather routine but going to Gord’s is rarely routine.  This particular trip however, was very cold that even the Snowmobiles were not starting nevertheless we acquired a near truck load of fire wood.

March, - Dadye in Mexico

Dadye and Ron went to Mexico with Joe and Martha and for some reason I was at their house when they got back.  Sorry I must leave now and refill my glass because I cannot remember why I was there.  By the look of Dadye and Martha’s face neither could they.  Anyway we will take up the next frame which was a bunch of fun with Brett and the Japanese exchange students.

April – Japanese Exchange

After watching the movie Second Hand Lions we were inspired to get the shot guns out and do some targetry with our Japanese visitors.  We decided to give them the “Canadian Experience”.  In their very limited English they were saying “Fear! Fear!” but they soon caught on. Easter weekend was warm at Gords however, a few days later we were tobogganing and a few days after that playing golf.  They were not well prepared for our little burst of winter but we set them up.  Golf is not a game played much by the Japanese due to the cost in Japan.  We played 9 holes, I shot 46, Brett shot 54,  as for our Japanese visitors all I will say is that it took us 5 hours to complete 9 holes.  We had two students stay at our house, and they did all the other good tourist things such as the West Edmonton Mall and I took them for a little tour of the Base.

May – Hitting well.

It is seriously great to get together with a bunch of guys and go golfing for a week.  We hit a number of the premier golf courses through central BC.  We did two rounds a day for a week and stayed at a condo made for guys.  TV in every room and a pool table on the main floor.  What made it even better was hitting the ball well and winning a few of the “side bets”.

June – Longest Day of Golf (summer solstice)

About now I am really getting sick of work and doing my MBA plus it has been almost a month since the Golf Tour.  I talked to the boss and said “why don’t we do a 24hr round the clock golf event for charity. We could use glow balls at night” Considering all I wanted to do was play golf during work time it turned into a big event.  I collected $2400 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital and it was a really successful but very tiring event.

July – Brett goes to Japan

Brett went to Japan and upon his return all he could talk about were how nice the people were and what a great country it is. He mentioned how the trip went by so fast and that he wants to go back someday.  He spent two weeks at Kutaru’s place which was one of the students that was at our place in April.

What does, Earl, Bunny, Sheep and Dryden have in Common, August 04.  Bunny and Sheep are pets of Mikkies.  There are many more pets.  Apparently Mikkie got upset at Collin for not cutting the lawn around the septic tank so he brought home some sheep.  Also a neighbour asked when they were going to butcher the sheep but the sheep have names and you do not name food.  Notice the similarity in the eyes.  Camping was fun and we did manage to get a few golf games in.  Most of the family was there including Earl doing his muscle man on the wharf imitation.

Sept 04

What you see here is a galvanized fitting responsible for a complete basement flood.  At some point during the night of 8 Sep this fitting gave way on my main line causing a complete flood resulting in carpets, walls etc having to be replaced.  Sorry for the not so fun moment but this is what happened in Sep.  It is an insurance job and the basement is still under construction.

The MBA consumes most of my life at the moment.  In Oct I was on another residence course in Calgary.  Here I am with Cindy and Karen members of my cohort.  The Course was on Globalization.  The highlight however, had to be Moses from Kenya one of our course mates who had his first experience of snow.  It was fortunate he managed to see snow because it all melted a week later.

A quote from Moses “How long do I have to hold this snow, it is cold”.  The novelty wears off quickly.

November

He finally moves out!  Bryn moved back in temporarily bringing further truth that the first time they move out it is only a pump fake.  After his NAIT semester ended Bryn worked at Range Control on the Base.  He also had a brush with military discipline as he was late one day for his shift and he was given a number of extra duties.  The shift he was late for was an afternoon shift.  The reason he was late was that he slept in. Now he is firmly entrenched in the Navy.

What do Rye and Carrots have in common? A. This picture. The picture has nothing to do with December but it is December so all the pictures are not in yet.  This however, is one of those priceless moments that must be included.  In May we had just put the garden in and after a hard days work it was time to cool down with a few beverages.  The garden was being watered when Dad’s keen eye noticed one of the row stakes had fallen.  As he was replacing it his shoe got stuck in the mud and he slowly sank forward.  I thought he was having a heart attack and rushed to his aide.  No he had just had a bit much to drink and was going to lie in the mud for awhile.