AUGUST 2003

EDITOR'S SOAPBOX

Welcome to the latest edition of the family newsletter. It really isn't that long since the last one but I seem to have enough news and pictures to make it worthwhile. Maybe this can help everyone get through the "dog days of summer". Although with the heat wave going on out west, I expect a lot of you don't have your computers on much anyway.

I will use this spot to let you all know that as I write this, Trevor is in Afghanistan as part of a very large multi-national peacekeeping contingent. He left immediately after the August long weekend and his stay there is expected to be 6 months, which means he will be away for important family holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. He won't have many luxuries there at all and would certainly appreciate hearing from any and all of you. One thing he will have regular access to is the mail. Please do drop him a line, a note, a postcard, a letter, whatever you can make the time for. I know he'd greatly appreciate it. His address while he is there is:

639, MCPL UHL TD, PARA COY, 3RCR, OP ATHENA, PO BOX 5006, STN FORCES, BELLEVILLE, ON, K8H 5W6.

It was wonderful to get a couple of good contributions from my faithful readers. Viola sent a very moving story about what she went through in the spring. It was a frightening time for her entire family and it sure did turn out well.

I also had a great contribution from Wayne. He wrote a very good article about the latest Bike Tour. It wasn't as long a tour as the last one, 4 years ago, but it certainly was a great time for them.

DAD & EVELYN

Dad & Evelyn had a small crowd for Easter dinner, mostly Evelyn's family this time.  Evelyn’s daughter, Sharon, was home from Winnipeg for a few days to attend a graduation in Bev’s family.  They had company in May when Roy & Jo-Anne came for a visit of several days.  Along with the other family members, they attended Larry & Sharon's pot-luck dinner on May 23rd.  Sadly, they had a couple of funerals to attend in June.  First it was Cory & Jess’s daughter, Carissa Ann, then Trudy’s Dad, Lyle Johnson. 

JIM & MARYANN BRANCH

Jim & Maryann went to Joy & Reg's for Easter dinner.  Jim & Maryann are still working at the same places, Maryann with Revenue Canada and Jim with his own business, which has been a bit slow of late. They are currently snooping around for another acreage and selling theirs.  Jim drove to Sask in May to attend the small family reunion.  He wasn’t there long but did attend the pot-luck dinner at Larry & Sharon’s. 

Joy, Reg and girls spent some time visiting Joy’s friend, Pam, at Sask Beach in July.   Joy sent me a picture of Andi from her June Grad.

Sonya, Nick, Steven & Meredith planned a weekend of camping for Easter weekend with  Steven trying to figure out how to cook cabbage rolls over an open fire.  Steven & Meredith paid a surprise visit to Jim & Maryann late in April.  They stayed for about 2 weeks so they were able to be there for Jim's birthday.  Meredith was laid off from her job and is seeking other employment.  Steven & Meredith hosted Chris & Shanin for a visit in May.  They all attended a Yanni concert together.  Steven & Meredith were again visiting the folks in Alberta late in July, planning to return to BC in time for Sonya’s 30th birthday celebration.  They brought Andrea with them on the most recent trip to Alberta.  Steven is considering the possibility of transferring to an Edmonton store at some point.  Sonya and Nick have had a busy summer with lots of barbecues, days at the beach, summer reading and hanging out with friends.  Nick’s younger brother, Dann, came out to stay with them for most of the month of May and they all enjoyed that very much.  Sonya & Nick were in Edmonton area from July 12-19th.  They spent the first part of their visit with Jim & Maryann, then headed to Sylvan Lake for Nick’s Mom’s family’s traditional get-together.  Nick picked out a new manx kitten when they were in Edmonton from the “new batch” and they hoped to have him ready to live with them by the time Sonya turned 30 in August. 

JEANNE & FRED BRANCH

Jeanne & Fred continue to be busy with all of their jobs and hobbies.   Jeanne became a mystery shopper in April for two of the companies that Jo-Anne also shops for.  She has been busy getting oil changes for several vehicles besides her own.  “Shopping” restaurants and gas stations is fun too.  She has been getting in a lot of hours at the two lottery booths where she works but has still found time to plant a large garden that is filled with flowers.  She and Fred went to Bill Armbrust’s auction sale, which was very well attended.  While out there they dropped in on Dad & Evelyn.  In early August Jeanne & Fred made a trip out to Dave & Nancy’s to check out the new house.  While there they had a wonderful trip down memory lane by wandering through the old farmhouse, which will be gone in October.  Dave & Nancy have graciously offered to let any of the family take a tour through it.  While they were there they also had a visit with Agnes & Ron and Patty & Art.  Elsie, Elinor, Ingolf and Wilf had all taken the tour the day before.  Jeanne & Fred went on to visit with Kathy Ferguson in Strasbourg for awhile, then they took their regular graveyard tour, and finished up by visiting Dad & Evelyn. 

Daniel passed grade 4 with flying colours and is looking forward to starting grade 5 in the  fall.  Terry, Judy & Daniel had a great vacation in July.  They headed to Toronto for a few days where they visited the CN Tower, and Hockey Hall of Fame. 

They got completely soaked on the “Maid of the Mist” tour at Niagara Falls, but enjoyed every moment of it.  They spent some time with Judy’s sister Ruby and her husband at their cottage about 250 kms north of Toronto.  From there they continued on to Nova Scotia.  They spent a couple of days with Roy and Jo-Anne, looking around Halifax area, then they picked up their rented motor home.  They got very lucky with a free upgrade to a much larger size.  They proceeded to travel completely around the entire outline of Nova Scotia.  Down south to Peggy’s Cove, through Yarmouth, whale watching at Digby, up through the Annapolis Valley, then scooting into New Brunswick.  They had a short visit at Moncton, then drove the fixed link (awesome) to PEI, headed straight through that province to the other side where they took the ferry to Pictou, N.S.  That was where they accidentally ended up in the middle of a lobster parade.  (I can think of worse places to be!)  They proceeded on up to Cape Breton where they found the Cabot Trail to be stunningly beautiful.  From there they went to the Fortress of Louisbourg and learned how things were done in the 1700’s in the completely restored fort and town.  After that it was down to Baddeck where they camped on the Bras D’Or Lakes.  The only bad memory they have of Cape Breton is Terry accidentally driving over an entire bag of gorgeous sea shells that Daniel had collected.  Terry’s name was “mud” for awhile after that.  Then they headed back to Halifax to spend a couple more days.  This time Alex joined them to spend time downtown, checking out the huge Titanic display at the museum, visiting Citadel Hill, taking a ride on the amphibious Harbour Hopper and generally just walking all over the place.  They got together with Susan and Rob as well and met up with Jo-Anne’s “fish guy” to arrange to take about a ton of fresh seafood back to Yellowknife.  Once at home they had a huge seafood feast with friends, then worked on installing a proper paved driveway.  Their next big excellent adventure is planned for the next ReUHLion in 2005 (hint, hint, hint).

LARRY & SHARON BRANCH

Larry & Sharon were in Saskatoon in April.  While there they dropped in to visit Carol & Kelsey at their new condo.  In May they hosted the family pot-luck supper when Roy & Jo-Anne were home.  There were over 60 people there for this one and a good time was had by all.  You could have fed a small army with the food.  Larry did a lot of the work to set up Dave & Nancy’s new modular home on the farm.  Joy and her girls dropped in on Larry and Sharon when they were in Sask for a visit in July.

Amber was home in May for awhile.  She has been working on her Level 3 riding level.  She is back in North Battleford now until the end of August, though she was home for a short break again at the end of July.  While home, she and a girlfriend went to the Chuckwagon Races at the Exhibition with Larry, Sharon & Allan.  She has spent some of her earnings on custom made saddle,  boots, chaps and gloves.  That stuff is hard to come by in her petite size. 

Dylan has been working full time at Crestview Chrysler with Sharon’s brother Dave.  He’s been working so hard there that he’s actually looking forward to school starting in the fall.  In the meantime he has injured his knee playing football so he’s having trouble with that again. 

He recently bought a 1972 Dodge Charger and is very much enjoying fixing it up, it’s a car he’s wanted for a long time and he’s very happy with it.

JO-ANNE & ROY BRANCH

Roy & Jo-Anne had Susan, Rob & kids over for Easter dinner on Saturday.  We spent Sunday Easter dinner with our friends, Michelle & Kim.  In May we flew home for a visit with the family for 9 days.  The pot-luck dinner that Larry & Sharon hosted went very well so we were able to see everyone.  We did a lot of running around while there and even managed a mini-reunion with Elinor Belcourt and Laura Yung.  Actually, Laura has a married name but I don’t know it and we all know her as being a “Yung” anyway.  It was the first time the 3 of us were together since grade 12, which is nearly 30 years ago!  We had a wonderful visit with Terry, Judy & “Doogie” in July and very much enjoyed showing them around, watching old home movies and talking about the “good old days”.  Business continues to be quite busy for us.  Between Roy’s software development, web-site hosting, various partnerships, Jo-Anne’s mystery shopping, data entry, managing our office, dental office work, and becoming a dealer for Grohmann knives, there is never a dull moment. We have taken a few brief "day trips" for vacation and plan on spending the Labour Day weekend at one of our favourite places, Liscomb Lodge, with a group of good friends.

Susan & Rob had Terry, Judy, Danny, Roy & Jo-Anne over for dinner in July.  Rob is back at work again at the same place as before.  Business picked up so they re-opened and re-hired.  It must be going well because he was offered a substantial raise in July.  They built a large new deck on their house and bought a new vehicle in July, a 2003 Sante Fe, which they love. 

Susan, Rob and Alex all went to a Def Leppard concert early in August.  Alex is involved in baseball again this summer and Erica is very excited about starting school in the fall.

ALLAN & CAROL BRANCH

Allan is nearing the end of his project in Regina and is looking forward to spending more time in Saskatoon so that he can re-establish his real estate business there.  He has begun house hunting in Saskatoon.  He got a start on his furniture when he stumbled across an excellent deal on a 90 year old Singer sewing machine just like Mom’s. Early in August he was taking Chris with him to help him purchase a new computer for his home. He wouldn't consider making such a purchase without his family computer expert. He went to the Chuckwagon Races at the exhibition with Larry & Sharon. 

Trevor got through his long course in Wainwright. He learned a lot while there and was able to get a bit of R&R in Edmonton.  He particularly enjoyed firing the anti-tank missile system.  His team hit 3 out of 3 targets on that one.  Trev traveled to Sask at the beginning of July to spend a couple of weeks of vacation before heading off to Afghanistan for a 6 month tour. While in Sask he visited a lot of family members and  attended the big rock concert at Craven, July 10-13. 

Chris & Shanin flew out to Vancouver for a surprise visit with Steven & Meredith.  They all attended a Yanni concert and did some fun sightseeing.  Chris, Shanin and Kelsey all made it down to the Strasbourg area for the weekend when Larry & Sharon hosted the family pot-luck dinner in May. Chris attended the Craven rock concert with Trev in July. Chris and Shanin headed up to Waskesiu for some camping early in the summer.  (I don’t know, I just can’t see Chris in a tent and chopping firewood but I guess anything is possible)  They’re also planning a trip to Edmonton again at some point in the near future.

Kelsey has recently moved into an apartment with a friend.  It is close to Allan's place so she shouldn't have too much trouble raiding the fridge from time to time.  She has recently “switched gears” at work and is now selling knives.  You have anything you want to cut up, just call Kelsey. She planned on spending some time camping this summer as well.

MANITOBA UPDATE

Corey Legrand continues to be my source for news on the Manitoba front....

Johnny Uhl got out of hospital at the beginning of August after a couple of scary weeks where they didn’t know what was wrong with him.  They still don’t know what it was but it cleared up while in hospital so he’s back home again and all is fine.

Corey’s younger brother, Paul, graduated from high school this year and Al Kuly and his wife Vi came out from B.C. for the grad.  They had a wonderful visit with the family back in Manitoba.  Both of them are enjoying good health.  Paul is moving to Winnipeg in September where he plans to live with Corey and find work. 

Tim & Corey finished their first year of studies at U. of Manitoba and now they’re ready for year two, Tim in Education and Corey in Social Work.  Their folks, Cheryl & Don are moving from Beausejour to Pinawa, Manitoba, which is about 150 kms east of Winnipeg.  Their youngest child, Megan will be attending grade 10 in Pinawa.

GERMAN BRANCH

Axel & Petra  are very happy to announce that their son, Linus Maximilian Uhl, was born on June 23rd, 2003.

 

The birth went very well and they were home just a few hours later.  In July Petra gave Axel a wonderful gift of 2 tickets for the MotoGP (the “formula 1” of motorcycle racing) at the Sachsenring, a historic German race track.  Axel took a friend when Petra decided that it probably wasn’t a good place for Linus to be yet at his tender age. 

Click me for a larger picture

Axel also sent us a picture of him on his bike, enjoying the Hockenheim circuit.  Looks like fun!

IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE!

As I'm sure you all know, Viola went through a particularly difficult struggle this past spring. When Roy & I visited with her a couple of times in May, the line I used in the title above is what we heard her say most often. She shared her story with me in June and here it is, in her own words.......

Well, it's been a month and 8 days since my second chance at life and I'm feeling pretty good.  My hair isn't quite a half inch long.  Scabs are gone but there are a couple of hollows where the drain tubes were and I have an eye that doesn't want to open on it's own.  Thank you everyone for your thoughts, best wishes, prayers and phone calls.  It helps so much to know that people are there for you. Here's my story and I hope if anyone ever has a pain or a feeling that's different then what you're used to - CHECK IT OUT - it may save your life.

Around the time of Uncle John Bakken's funeral, the end of March, some of you will remember I didn't feel that great.  I had a headache at two spots in the left temple area and felt like I was either getting a cold or a bad allergy attack.  It was different then any headache I've had and I've had many of all kinds.  The headache never went away but varied from 1 to 10 in pain. I began to notice my left eyelid was starting to droop a little and I'd have a bit of double vision now and then.  Finally, on April 15 I went to see my doctor because I kept having to hand the keys and driving rights to Ross!!!! The doctor sent me to the General Hospital ER to see a neurologist,  Dr. Kaliszky.  Of course, I'm hoping it's nerves or even more simple but thinking a tumor.  The doctor had a lot of ideas - Bell's Palsy, MS, stroke, tumor and a few others I've lost track of.  He booked me a room, then started tests - CT Scan, Echo (heart), 2 different sonograms, an MRI and an appointment with an eye surgeon.  Nothing really showed up and I'm bugging about getting out for Easter, so on Good Friday, he sent me home.

The next Tuesday my left eye was nearly closed and double vision was a real problem.  So.....back to my doctor, who got an immediate appointment with the eye surgeon and Dr. Kaliszky. When I walked into the ER door Dr. Kaliszky walked over to me and said I was being booked back into this "hotel" and not leaving until he found out what was wrong. I didn't argue. Another CT scan, two MRI's and finally they decided an angiogram was necessary.  As they were getting me ready I said I bet they would decide it was damaged nerves, not an aneurysm, as the dye was shot into the left side of my head they told me I had lost my bet - not a good feeling.

Dr. Ekong, neurosurgeon, came to tell me he'd operate the next Friday, May 2,2003.  My first thoughts were if the aneurysm seemed to come on so quickly, what could happen in another whole week.  They said it wasn't leaking which meant it wasn't as much of an emergency as a leaking one would be.  That was supposed to make me feel better.  So I spent the longest week in a long time, but I did have something else to think about.  I was told Dr. Ekong insists on the half of the head being operated on to be shaved and that most people decide to do the whole head. What did I want??  Well, on the evening of June1 in came the "barber" nurse and all my hair ended up on the floor.

The other things I had to think about during the week was the possible complications this operation could cause, such as memory loss, speech problems and mobility problems.  It was a great feeling to wake up after my brain had been worked on to realize that I knew exactly where and why I was where I was and when I saw Ross I was able to say "Hi".  Jos had said before the operation that if I said she looked good in her jeans she'd know there was a problem.  I told her how bad she looked, which brought a relieved laugh from her.

The eye is slow in letting us know how well it will come back to normal but the doctors are feeling there's still lots of improvement to come as there's still a bit of swelling and I can open it a bit now and then. The other slow problem is my slow-growing hair, I can't put it into a pony tail yet.  Come to think of it I haven't worn a pony tail in years so I guess that's not a big problem after all.

Mainly I'm just happy to be here to tell you about all the fun.

MYSTERY TIME

These aren't exactly mystery shots, but I have a few oldies but goodies here. Everyone remembers the old Public School in Strasbourg.

I'm also including a shot that I got from Wes some time back. I'm pretty sure we're all recognizable and that it was taken in the mid-70's at Mom & Dad's. Not sure about the little guy in the background, possibly Trevor.

Click me for a larger picture

Thanks to Brian I also have another old picture of Strasbourg. And I mean, REALLY OLD! It was taken in 1959. I have no idea who any of the people are in the picture. It sure is funny to see the old drugstore in the background. That was back when Mr. James ran the drugstore and his very young assistant was Clarence Biller.

DON & TRUDY BRANCH

Don & Trudy were happy to have their whole family together at Easter when Danielle came home for a visit. They all went to Saskatoon for a car show.  They visited with Allan while there.  Their entire family was together again in May when Larry & Sharon hosted a pot luck dinner at their home, which was attended by over 60 members of the family and close friends. 

On June 20th Trudy heard the sad news that her Dad, Lyle Johnson, had died suddenly of a heart attack on the farm, at the age of 78.  They immediately went to Pangman to spend some time with Ady and help make all the funeral arrangements. They were grateful to see so many family members and friends at the funeral.

Danielle was able to make it home for her Grandpa Johnson’s funeral.  When she went back to Calgary, Justin went with her.  He stayed for just over a week and they had a great time together.  They went to the zoo, out to Banff on Canada Day, then to “The Vans Warped” concert tour.  Danielle has finished her Accredited Pharmacy Technician course and passed it so she was very happy when that earned her a raise. One of Danielle’s friends and her husband came from Regina for a few days visit, then Nicole was there while playing rugby. On the long August weekend her plan was to do some hiking in Banff with friends, then start her vacation time. She will be headed to Sask for vacation, first Regina, then to Saskatoon for the Fringe Festival. For a change she will just be a spectator at the Fringe, she usually works there.  She plans to visit with all of her family around Strasbourg & Pangman, then head out to Winnipeg to cheer on Nicole when she represents Saskatchewan at the National Rugby Tournament.

Nicole has been very busy with her rugby.  She was in Calgary for a meet in July where they played Alberta and BC. They won some and lost some, which is as to be expected. She will be playing in Winnipeg for the Nationals from Aug. 8-18.  She had a job at Chappy’s restaurant and lounge in Regina but they weren’t very accommodating about her rugby commitments so she has left them. She’s on Team Saskatchewan and has to attend the games. Nicole has moved back home for a couple of months to save some money for when she goes to Australia in October for a month or so.

JACKIE & WAYNE BRANCH

Jackie & Wayne arranged their Easter meal for Saturday when Wayne would be home.  He was driving all of the other days. Wayne had hernia surgery late in July and will continue to recover from that until around Labour Day. Wayne, Jackie, Craig, Brandy & friend Ken were on a motorbike tour in July.  See the separate article further below.

Cory is back to work.  He is now with the Steel Workers Union of Saskatchewan as a “steel pounder”, thanks in part to his good friend Tom. 

 

Their son Taiva is involved in the Summer Friends Program and enjoys all their outings.  Cairo is a typical 2 year old, into everything and keeping everyone around her running.  Jess is off work until the end of August, goes back to work as an LPN for a month, then goes back to university where she hopes to eventually get her Bachelor’s Degree and go into social work.  Cory & Jess dealt with a very sad event on June 8th.  Their daughter, Carissa Ann was born very early and never took a breath.  They held a moving funeral for her just a few days later.  Carissa had a rare and fatal chromosome disorder called Trisomy 10.  They donated samples from her for research at the Vancouver Cyto-Genetics Lab in the hope that it will prevent this disorder in the future.  It was the first sample the lab received in 11 years, which shows how rare the disorder is.  Cory & Jess have a few words of thanks they wish to share with you all:  “We do want to thank everybody so much for their help, not only financially but emotionally, when we lost our precious angel.  It meant a great deal to know that we were truly thought of.  Even though there have been many ups and downs in the past its great to know that no matter what, everybody just pulls together to help each other out.  Thank you to everyone for the flowers, cards and donations as well as the words of comfort.  We were truly touched.”

Brandy & Craig decided to replace their living room carpet, but one thing led to another and they’ve darn near gutted their entire house, replacing wiring, insulation, etc. That one little carpet replacement turned into a huge renovating monster that they hadn't planned for. They've gotten a great deal of helpful advice and materials from Wayne.

Denise & Tessa moved in with Jackie and Wayne in May.  Tessa is growing like a weed and I’ve included a picture here that was taken when she was 5 months old.  Denise plans on going back to school for some upgrading in the fall.  She spent a weekend in Katepwa camping with friends in July.

 

 

DIANE & GERRY BRANCH

Diane & Gerry went to Ida's for Easter weekend and spent time with her and visiting Dad & Evelyn on the way home.  They moved into their new home in late June.  Their new address is:  15 Acaster St., Regina, S4R 6E8.  They are loving their new place and have settled in very quickly.  Diane had a bit of an “argument” with the new air conditioning system when it had a chemical leak.  She lost the argument because she ended up flat on her back for a few hours dealing with vertigo symptoms. She was all better a day or two later though.  Her new job has been working out very well.  For those who have trouble keeping up with Diane’s ever evolving career, she is now a Marketing Manager for Mac’s stores, responsible for all the Regina and Moose Jaw stores.  This job has many challenges to keep her interested and offers great pay and benefits.  For her initial orientation they sent her to Fairmont Hot Springs where they worked on a lot of team building exercises, which really just sounded like a pile of fun.  She feels she has finally found the career that was made for her and expects to be there for a very long time. 

Niki was on the honour roll for having 7 A’s and a high overall average.  She and her friend, Morgan, were at YAS basketball camp in July and Niki received another medallion in that.  She had been working at Western Pizza for on Tuesdays but quit in August. She plans to work for one of her Mom’s Mac stores once she turns 16. 

Frank took a summer course at Winston Knoll school in biology and passed with a final mark of 80%. That will qualify him for the university courses he plans on taking.  There was great excitement in his household when his room-mate and best friend, Eric, found out that his older brother, Jesse Schultz, was signed by the Vancouver Canucks.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING

Brian & Heather had some company from England at the end of June. One of Heather’s aunts and another in-law came to visit Canada for a few weeks. Many members of Heather’s family got together (including Brian & Heather) for a family event in Banff. Heather & Corbin followed the relatives to visit Heather’s folks in mid-July. At the same time Adam & Brian went to Lethbridge for a car show which they had done a lot of things to help organize. While all of this was going on, Jenifer was in Penhold for Air Cadet Camp. She has been taking a lot of leadership courses and is enjoying the cadets very much. When she had her graduation she and Heather had a visit with Reinhold & Grace as well.  I’m including a picture taken of Jenifer and her little cousin Morgan.  Corbin has been taking pottery classes and is taking Hapkido again.  Adam is still very involved in his on-line work and is part of a very large community that works on many on-line projects. Adam, Jenifer and Corbin all were involved in some Cartooning and Comics classes. Brian went to the airport to meet up with Terry, Judy and Danny when they were on their way to Ontario and Nova Scotia in July. Due to security restrictions Terry & Brian had to visit each other through a glass wall, but they had their cell phones so they were able to talk. 

Michele & Steve went to Strasbourg to attend Michele’s 25th high school reunion at the end of June.  She sent me a picture of  the teachers who showed up Click me for a larger picture

and I think some of you would know many of them. More than half of her class showed up so it was a pretty good turnout. “Boo, hiss” to the local ones who didn’t bother.  While there they dropped in to the old farm to take a trip down memory lane and get some pictures of the house while it’s still there. They got together with Don, Trudy, Dave, Nancy and Amy for a meal. On the way back from Strasbourg they went to Innisfail to visit with Reinhold & Grace for a couple of days. They left Brendan with Kristina and Ted in Edmonton to visit for a few days. At the end of July Michele went to Edmonton to help Kristina, Ted and Emma with their move to Moose Jaw for a year.  Kristina has enrolled there in a hairdressing/cosmetology course. They will live with Kristina’s Dad while there. At the end of September Michele and Steve plan a visit to Ontario to visit Steve’s parents. While there they hope to take in a Blue Jays game and take Brendan to Ottawa to show him some of Canada’s history. Most of the rest of the summer has been taken up with home renovations and decorating.

Wendy, Dick and Chris are all happy and healthy. It’s a particularly busy summer this year for Dick’s park. Wendy still works at the same place. They were off to Emma Lake to spend the first two weeks of August. Dick’s sister is going to become a grandmother soon. [The noise you all just heard was Dick’s sigh of relief that he’s not a grandparent yet.] :-)  Chris is living in Saskatoon, working the evening shift at VCom. He recently bought himself a ’99 Grand Am, which he is very happy with.

All is well with Wes & Karen in Calgary. Wes is still with the City and not long ago was promoted to team lead of the Microsoft Server Support system. That keeps him very busy, particularly with meetings. Karen & Kim both have new jobs.  Karen has been working at a clothing store called Tabi and has been having great fun using Ebay to help her get rid of all sorts of unwanted “stuff” they’ve accumulated over the years. Kim is about to start her new job as Assistant Manager of a Laura Secord outlet. Kim and her boyfriend, Doug, have been an item for over a year now. She’s been working on upgrading some of her high school via correspondence.

Elinor & Ingolf are doing well, planning on celebrating their 50th anniversary this October 5th. Ingolf still walks about 2 km every day and meets Wilf every morning for coffee. Elinor was recently aggravated when her brand new bird bath was tipped over and broken. Must have been some huge bird and I wouldn’t want to be that bird if she tracks it down.

Erwin has been attending all sorts of Women’s softball events, as usual. He was happy to be at the Canada Cup in July. He and several other “regulars” have been attending these events for years and always sit together to renew their friendships. This year he was joined by Brook for a couple of games. He is very pleased that Canada will be represented at the 2004 summer Olympics in women’s softball. Joan spent a few weeks with their daughter Robyn and her family this summer. Robyn’s husband, Tim, headed up to the Yukon for several weeks of work and Joan decided to help out with the children part of the time he was gone. All of Robyn’s kids had birthdays in July: Levi is 6, Summer is 4 and Cleary is 1. Bridget’s 4 year old daughter, Aurora, spent some time with Erwin & Joan when Bridget came down to be matron of honour at a Big Fat Greek wedding.

Brook sent me some pictures that were taken when she was home last Christmas. Even though that is one entire newsletter ago, I decided to put them in this one anyway.  Brook recently applied to the Graphic Design program at Langara College in Vancouver. She was thrilled when they accepted her. This particular program is apparently very well respected in design circles and should provide just the right technical expertise to go with her theoretical education at SFU. When Brook was home to Moose Jaw in April she and Helen had to take their cat, Baby, to the vet.  Turns out Baby is diabetic so Helen is now giving him insulin shots every day. Happy to report that Baby is now healthy and happy. (Well, probably not so happy when he sees the needle.)

Agnes is very happy to announce her engagement to Ron Morton. Dave & Nancy sold their house in Regina and moved to the farm in August.  Aunt Elsie went to Alberta in May to visit the relatives out there. 

Cousin Lorrie and her husband Garnet lost their house earlier this summer.  They were having central air conditioning installed when something went wrong and it blew up.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Viola was very happy to have her entire family with her in June when she gratefuly celebrated her birthday.

On the Ebenal side of the family there was some rather scary news. Ken had to have major heart bypass surgery and it came up very suddenly. His arteries were almost completely closed. He had the surgery at the beginning of June. 

Janette, Gerry and John all flew up from B.C. to spend time with him before and during the surgery. Donna was there for a few days after to help care for him. Not surprisingly, Ken made a much better and faster recovery than any of the doctors expected.

BIKE TOUR 2003

As mentioned earlier, Jackie, Wayne, Brandy, Craig and friend Ken were on a bike tour in July. I have Wayne to thank for the following contribution:

We left here on the Friday morning, June 27. This time there were three bikes, five people. Wayne, Jackie, Craig and Brandy rode together, and a friend of Craig & Brandy’s,  Ken, came along on his brand spankin’ new 100th anniversary Sportster.

FIRST DAY... When we left home it was a cool morning but sunny. BIG TIME prairie wind though, from the NW to boot, so we fought that all the way to Brooks, Alta. before it died down . So the ride into Drumheller was somewhat more enjoyable than the earlier part of the day.  Note: When you leave late, you arrive late.  Got stuck in hotel for the night, but you split the cost five ways and it's no worse than three campsites.

DAY TWO... After we somehow bullied our way into the restaurant for breakfast we all toured the museum with Craig’s aunt who just-by-chance used to be a tour guide at the museum.  Cool, makes things a little more interesting and faster, because you can easily spend the entire day there. The afternoon ride took us into Calgary and another hotel, this one was a tad more fancy than the last.  This was to be home for a couple of days. BOOOO....no mountains, not for awhile yet.  Went for supper at The Outback Steakhouse, man did we eat!  20oz Porterhouse steaks done just-so. Jackie, believe it or not finished hers first, couldn't believe it myself,.....but it happened.  I could not get over the amount of food and drink they supply for you. If I could have lifted my arms after we ate, they'd get 2 thumbs up,...I'm going back, don't know when but I'm going back!!!!!

DAY THREE...We awoke to a glorious morning, blue skies, no wind, and hot. So off to the zoo we go. Kinda cool little day trip, its not kept up as well as I remembered from a previous visit, but it was nice to see some different critters for a change. Was going to play a joke on Brandy but could not find a security guard at the gate to frisk her for any animals she may have collected along the way.  That evening Brandy and Craig attended his cousin’s wedding, the reason we all used to put together a bike trip, yeah right, like I need a reason.   Ken and I spent the evening in the hotel garage tinkering with the bikes, oiling chains, cleaning windshields; nothing serious, just tinkering. 

DAY FOUR...Again, no mountains....we can see them, but we just can't get to them.  So we toured the town for the day. Neither Craig or Ken have been to the top of the tower so off we go. Nice clear day so we can see for miles. Took Ken's bike into Kane’s Harley-Davidson for his 4000 km warranty check-up. They spilled oil all over the engine, made a hell of a mess. To say he was upset with their performance would be an understatement. More bike shops, malls and a wholesale sporting goods place that I could call home, and they had the gear to make it happen. Since we were in the S.E. part of town I knew of a little place to go for wings and a cold beer. Done deal! Back to the hotel to pack our crap and get ready for the ride outta town, yeah.....by the way, if you look out our hotel window you can see Olympic park, straight across the road from us. The guys that do the ski jumping,....MORE BALLS THAN BRAINS and that's a big 10-4 for sure!!!

DAY FIVE ... JULY 1st..."Canada Day"    We’re off, BANFF, ready-or-not here we come! We arrive at the gate only to find out that its a freebee for the day, Cool.  Kenny gets a picture of the pretty little French girl at the gate, name too, thought he was going to ask her to marry him, but he chickened out. Into town we go, quick little sight seeing trip, Cave and basin, the Hotel, Hoodoos and we’re gone. Took the scenic tour up to Lake Louise, an eventful little ride that the kids thought they could knock-off in under an hour,...not! Too much to look at, missed out on some elk, that were sparring with each other, by about five minutes. Damn, don't often get a chance to see that. But we got a couple of quick pics of them resting in the meadows. One of the other tourists had about 20 min. of these two elk scrapping away and was showing both Craig and Ken what he had on tape. A little further down the road the kids took off on a 1/2mile hike for some pictures of a waterfall. This gave Jackie and myself awhile to rest under some tall timber, a quiet moment in our day. A short time later, our little buddy Ken fell down off his bike and nearly became Wolf food. He tumbled into the ditch trying to stop short to get pictures of this big-ass wolf having a nice light snack, only to draw attention to himself. By the time we all stopped, picked him and his bike up, brushed both of them off, checked the Sporty out for any damage, ole Mr. Wolf  took his little rabbit and went elsewhere for lunch. After a few pics up at the lake we topped up the gas tanks and roared off to the ice fields. Too cold to camp so we checked into yet another hotel. This was the hotel Brandy was to go work at a few years ago. It was a small room but warm. Good eats, close to the ice field, easy for a quick get away in the morning.

DAY SIX...Cold, cloudy, bikes hard to start but they ran. Away we go: beautiful scenery, traffic light, easy going if it weren't snowing. It was only a couple of flakes and the roads were dry so we took it slow, stopped for pics along the way. Once at the ice field we took the snow coach up onto the glacier or just the “toe” of it as they call it.  The real glacier is at the top of the horizon and goes back about 27 km, this I did not know. As we get off the snow coach, it starts snowing hard, real hard. Almost too hard to see. But we meandered around on the ice for 20 minutes. We drank water from the stream up top. They tell us this water we’re drinking fell as precipitation about 150 years ago. Cool. Clean, tasty, it’s what water should taste like. After our visit we cruised into Jasper to set up camp in the same location we did a couple of years ago when Axle and Petra were here. Into town we go. Supper: roast lamb, salads breads - ate like kings. Picked up some supplies for the campsite, called it a day.

DAY SEVEN...Toured the back country, Medicine Lake, Malinge Canyon and Malinge Lake. When at Malinge Canyon, Craig found himself a little birthday gift. A beautiful Bald Eagle statue, only $35,000.00 U.S., not bad for a little bobble you put on your mantel. So, Jackie and Brandy are showing me this trinket and I got my fat ass stuck out towards some sort of a carving of a polar bear, made of green marbled jade, DIG THIS....$800,000.00 U.S.  Question ...Why do they keep a $29.00 glass gizmo in a jewelry case and stuff you can't ever possibly pay for out in the open???.... "Only in Canada eh". Once back at camp we settled in for the evening: B.B.Q. smokies on an open fire and talked with some other campers, just relaxed.

DAY EIGHT...As Ken broke down his tent we got ready to head for the tramway, this was the last excursion for the five of us. We took pics from on top of the mountain. We all said our good-byes to Kenny in the parking-lot. As he roared off to Edmonton to visit old friends, we strolled about Jasper looked through the shops, did up some laundry, prepared to ride in the morning. That night we had B.B.Q. steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob, some salads a few cold wobbly pops, kicked back and enjoyed the campfire. Once in bed it began to rain, the only night it rained while we camped.

DAY NINE... After we broke camp we went into town for breakfast. Brandy and Craig had decided earlier they were going to tough it out and go back through the Ice Fields and down to Radium Hot Springs for a day and then make their way home casually from there. As for Jackie and myself, we stuck to the game plan. Jasper to Edmonton to visit with a cousin of my dads, and Jim and Maryann the next morning. Two hours west of Edmonton it starts, RAIN, 40 kms, hail, more rain. In all, a poor day to travel. But the evening clears and we had a great visit with cousin Steve and his lady friend.

DAY TEN... Awoke to more rain, so we dressed for discomfort and headed off to Jim's for a quick coffee. From the time we left Jim's to North Battleford, 33mm's of rain fell, Jackie says enough.... SO one more hotel, and one more day on the road, but that's OK with me too.

DAY ELEVEN..."OUR LAST".... Awoke, thank God, more fog, but no rain. It was cool only 7 Celsius, but we rode anyway. Stopped in Saskatoon for dinner &gas and hooked her home from there. We arrived home early afternoon, about one or two hours before Brandy and Craig.

"THAT"S IT"    A day by day blow for blow account of our holiday 2003. Once again we found ourselves fortunate enough to travel with safe and competent riders like Craig, Brandy and Kenny, for their first time out on tour, THEY DONE GOOD.