Happy 19th

We recently celebrated Carolyn's 19th birthday - not an especially big deal unless you live in Ontario. The next time we go home together, Carolyn will be able to join in with a legal toast to our wonderful daughter.

Of course all her birthday's are a big deal to us! We love you, Carolyn.

Front walkway completed

Except for a few minor things, our front walkway is done. Don and I spent a little time this past weekend replacing our deer fence around our front garden and are pleased that it is all looking better than before. The dirt areas have been reseeded for grass and, in some areas, more pachysandra will be planted. 

New front porch and walkway

Toby is testing the walkway for its perchability.

It's coming along - day 2

Dusty progress today:

Walkway is looking good! Blue stone set in place.

Stone edge in place. Otherwise a mess!

My poor dusty pachysandra!

Summer project: Front walk

Our front walkway was crumbling away so we had to get it fixed. The work started today and of course I've decided to capture the day-by-day progress for no reason other than I'm usually blog-material starved, which is probably not a surprise to reader(s).


Here's how it originally looked (2006):

And here's how it looks after one day of men working:

They've extended the width and messed up our lawn.

They found stone to match the house. Don inspecting.

They removed the railway ties and added stone to steps.

Tomorrow "the craftsman" arrives to lay the blue stone. 

My mom's birthday

Me, Mom & Dad

Our main reason for going to Ontario a few weekends ago was to celebrate my Mom's birthday! She had one of those "special" birthdays. It was great to be able to be together to celebrate! However, we were not our usual diligent Fraser selves, recording every moment with a group shot. This is the best photo we have, taken by Bryan's cell, but it does show the beautiful birthday girl in front of her cake! The sparkler had just finished its sparkle as this picture was taken. But mom is still sparkling, as always! We love you so much, Mom! Cheers to many more birthdays! xoxo

Memorial Day weekend

We spent this Memorial Day weekend in Ontario visiting family and friends. The main purpose of our visit was to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday, which is officially tomorrow. (Wow!)

First we arrived in Ingersoll to visit Kathy who is just back from two weeks in Greece and Turkey. We spent the next two nights in downtown Toronto, staying near the Eaton Centre. It was a great location for shopping, walking and eating, and allowed the kids some freedom to enjoy Toronto on their own. We spent our last day visiting Barb & Doug and their boys - even caught a bit of both of the boys' ball hockey games. So fun to see them in action!

Carolyn and I on a Henry Moore at the AGO

Bryan outside Police Headquarters

We spent a lot of time in the car together and had time to discuss our third car situation. Our 2003 Passat has been running great until recently and was in need of a costly repair. Not wanting our kids to get stuck on a highway somewhere, we decided to trade it in. As soon as we got home Don and Carolyn went in search of hungry year-end car dealership negotiators. They found a deal they liked and came home a few hours later with a new Jetta. 

Our one-hour old Jetta

Now everyone is happy. And safe. And it gets good gas mileage!

I'm guessing this is the Easter photo

I LOVE this photo! Had to post. One of the sets of ears belongs to my friend, Col, who is sitting with the pink and purple side of her family. Precious!