Almost there.....

This little dude we just don't get to see often enough....Love you Rudy!!

Rudy, Shawn & Teagan.....

Remembrance Day in White Rock

Trying to learn my Mom's secret fruit cake recipe.Remember, I said "trying" 

and most of my best efforts come with a glass of wine.

She's tiny but tough!!!

Can Christmas be far behind??

Who can resist a Jasper-Bat running back on the walk to bring 

Grandma the one last dandelion of the season.Of course it is my personal

 favourite flower, thus the reason one is tattooed on my arm.

Peace....

Thought for the Day....Dandelions. Nature's way of "flipping the bird" at  chemical fertilizers. They just crop up everywhere, no matter what. They are tough, they grow in cracks in cement and pavement. They are everywhere...love them!

A Birthday & Halloween

And we are nearly done!! 

First, Doug's Mom celebrated her 96th Birthday on October 12th. She is an amazing lady and we love her so much. Doesn't she look sharp!!??

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Then it was on to Halloween:

Rudy the skelo-kittie!!

All ready for Halloween!!!

Jasper the grey cat. 

Mom took care of all the particulars. 

Gus is a carnotaurus (dino). This costume was pretty neat as he planned 

exactly what he wanted. Mom also had to figure it all out! She's pretty smart!! 

Looks crooked but it's not. Bigfoot tucked 

away in his "garage" for the winter..... Boo hoo!!

...and we caught up with Kevin & Ruth for breakfast

 (of course there were mimosas)

Peace.....

Thought for the Day: In the end, people will judge you anyway so don’t live your life impressing others, live your life impressing yourself.

Thanksgiving Camping

Well, speed catch up. Here we are at Thanksgiving. It has become a tradition for us to go camping on this long weekend. We go to Golden Ears Provincial Park. It is located in Maple Ridge BC, about a 45 minutes drive from White Rock. Glorious. There is no cell coverage so when you go there, you really feel like you are "out of town". 

Of course, this area we live in is a very busy area and LOTS of people still go there, even on Thanksgiving. The first year we went, the park was more than half empty. Next time, we hardly got a spot even though the kids went up on the Thursday. this past year we towed our trailers up on TUESDAY!!! Yes, Tuesday before the long weekend so we could just get a double spot. Ridiculous, right? Of course, that means that you pay for 3 extra nights but at least you get your spot. The park is very safe as the park rangers are still there and they haven't ever had problems with theft. 

So, come and enjoy the turkey.....

The whole camping gang.....lots of fun.

Bike gang......look out!

Camping buddies....

Rudy didn't get to come but he was there in spirit!

18 lb de-boned turkey fits in our oven in the trailer.

We do a combo dinner with everyone chipping in.

It appears, once again, that there is never a shortage of food!!!

Beautiful Alloutte Lake behind this gorgeous Inukshuk

Time to go......whaaaaa!!

So, three great days camping and it didn't really rain much so it was great. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and yes, we are thankful for ALL that we have. Good health, beautiful family and wonderful friends. We are indeed very fortunate.

See you soon!!

Peace.

Thought for the Day: Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.... James Lane Allen

Still catching up!

So, I've really got to bring this up to date, once and for all.Super hard once you get behind and I hate myself for it. Again, it's so hard to post when you are working everyday but then if you don't share something you are missing out on the little things that actually make life fun. So, here we go on the next few blog posts with the "Coles Notes" or abbreviated version up to the years end. May take a few posts, but don't worry, we'll get there!! 

T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K!!!

Continuation of September holiday - Road trip to Alberta & Nelson: We pretty much just touched down from the cruise, slept in our own bed for one night and then headed out on a road trip to Alberta & Nelson.

Through our beautiful province of British Columbia on our way to Alberta.

Doug's Mom, Helen. Medicine Hat AB. 

She is looking awesome and she is 96 years strong!!

Now on our way to Nelson. Beautiful drive through the mountains.

Takes about 8 hours from Medicine Hat to Nelson.

Lunch at Jim Smith Lake in Cranbrook.....

Haven't we fallen a long way from the fancy cruise ship lunches???

Truth be known, we both like these better!! Shhh....don't tell Princess Cruises!!

Guess who we found? Rudy & Teagan!!!

Our hard-working son-in-law, Shawn. Proprietor and artist extraordinaire

 of Timber Tattoo in Nelson BC. 

Off to the local farmer's market in Nelson.....

We love this little boy SO much!!!

It had to happen....on our way back home!!

See you on the next awesome adventure!!

Meanwhile back at home, these two little dudes are heading 

off to preschool and Grade One!

Before we knew it, it was time for the harvest moon and fall 

was upon us.....but not without a surprise!

Guess who we found at the local RV show,just passin' through town?

The famous, Kevin & Ruth!!

Okay, that's it until Thanksgiving, which is just around the corner!!

Peace.....

Thought for the day: Everyone you meet knows something you don’t.