Monday, July 2

Chris and Dave and the boys left Tuesday evening at 6:30 and arived at their new home in "Es-cat-chew-juan" early Thursday morning. They were packed to the max - every tiny space was filled in the trailer and both vehicles. Kyle and Evan had their Etch-a-sketch books to entertain them (grandma's "something new for the journey" gift) and were very excited to finally be on their way. We moved the last item the day after they left - the piano which we were taking home - and hauled away a few last things to the Sally Ann. It was quite something to see the house empty and diminished by their leaving.

We spent yesterday and today on Long Island in Harrison Lake at our friends' cabin. The weather was lovely (finally!) and it was so relaxing and enjoyable to spend time hanging out with our friends. People came and went but we were 4 or 5 couples at any given time - we read, kayaked (I took an involuntary swim while trying to get into the kayak from the dock) did a little helping with a room they were adding on, ate great meals and had stimulating conversation. It was so beautiful sitting on the deck overlooking the lake - incredibly quiet and peaceful. Harv and I even got to spend the night on Reg's new boat as there were more people than beds. We were the only ones who weren't afraid of the rocking boat so we had a lovely night out on the water.

Now it's back to getting as much done as possible in the next couple of days as we are leaving for a 2 week holiday on Friday. We are hosting Harv's 40th high school reunion here on the long weekend in August and would like to get a number of things done before we leave so that we're not panicing when we get back. We do a motorbike trip with friends from Vernon each summer and this year's trip will take us to Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Our friend Don does all the planning and all we do is go along and enjoy ourselves. He does a great job and we always have a fun and relaxing holiday with them. We will be 3 bikes traveling together this time and we're really looking forward to it.

I was hoping to post a few pictures but they are still in the camera. Maybe later. I'm not too confident downloading pictures yet. Hopefully these attempts at blogging will teach this old dog a few new tricks!

I Can do This

I've been insipred by my daughter and her friends to start this blog. I am not very computer literate - that is I can do my office work on it and type but the set-up, the layout, the design business is all Greek to me. Give me paper, pencil, brush or even a stamp or two and I am empowered to come up with something great but this intimidates me and until I learn the tools of the blog, this is going to be pretty basic.

I've named this blog Kaleidoscopes because lately it feels and looks that way around here. A Myriad of colours and patterns spinning and constantly making new patterns. Each time I think life has settled into a pattern or routine, something occurs to send it spinning again.

We've had alot of events and changes here at the Klassen household and more on the way. Where it will all end - or if it will - I certainly can't predict at this point.

Dave and Chris and Evan and Kyle are moving this week. Dave arrived back in BC yesterday and they will pack up the rest of the household - lock, stock and kid's bikes and be on their way to their new home in Waldheim, SK by the middle of this week. We will sure miss them all. We've missed Dave keenly in the office here and although we support them in their decision and fully agree and understand their reasons for moving, we still regret it. Life certainly will be quieter here without (almost) 5 year old Evan and 3 year old Kyle. We will be back to intermittant visits and marveling at how much they have grown between visits. There were alot of things we'd hoped to do while they were living here which we somehow never had a chance to do. However we are grateful for the many fun times we have had and for the opportunity to be a daily part of our grandboys' lives.

We had a very fun day with Chris and the boys last weekend when she surprised us with a trip on the skytrain to watch the dragonboats in Vancouver for Father's Day. I'll try to attach some pictures.

There is alot to do in the next 2 weeks - mostly on the yard in preparation for Harv's 40th high school reunion on the first weekend in August which will be held in our yard and shop. Also Harv wants to pour a cement pad in front of the shop before then and then do a general clean up so that it is ready for the dinner dance. To complicate matters, we have a motorcylce trip planned with friends for the middle two weeks in July. So we are going to have to get everything ready before that.

Well enough for this posting. I am still learning and hope to show you all some progress in the coming weeks. Thanks to Chris for helping me get this far.