Prete family portraits, part 2

Prete family portraits, part. 1

Doig Children Photo Shoot

Initial Ideas for the Prete Reunion

Schedule
These are my first thoughts on a schedule for our family reunion. Note nothing has been booked yet, this is just the idea stage. Please email or phone back with your suggestions, concerns, insights etc. (403)758-6525 rdoig@telus.net

Note: dad would like us to have family prayer everyday. Our family usually has family prayer and scriptures in the evening about 8:30 before the kids go to bed. Is that realistic for you, or should we just have family prayer with breakfast?

Thursday, July 17th:
Mom, Dad and Sarah already here
John arrive Calgary 11:23 am
Emma arrive Calgary 5:20
Mike & Annette and family arrive Calgary 7:10
Liz & Christian and family arrive in evening
Joe & Haylee and family arrive in evening?

Evening arrivals, visiting

Friday, July 18th: Daytime could be smaller group activities combined with some people staying at the house, esp. during nap times.
Golf at Magrath golf course
Afternoon swimming at Magrath pool
Fishing at the fishpond
Evening family pictures of individual families and whole group (Estimated cost $50.00/family group)

Saturday, July 19th:
10:30 temple session, Sarah’s endowment Try to arrange babysitting in Cardston. If babysitting can’t be arranged, perhaps only some of the adults would attend the temple. Kids can play at parks in Cardston during the morning?
1:00 picnic in Cardston or Waterton
Afternoon at Waterton (Cost $15.00/vehicle)
Evening, baths, Sunday preparations

Sunday, July 20th:

LDS Church 11-2, United and Lutheran churches also in town
Sunday dinner
Family Council.

Monday, July 21st:
Early am: Christian flies out
Afternoon slip n’ slide at Magrath Stake Campground (rental cost $50)

Evening, Cousin un-Birthday party for FHE

Tuesday, July 22nd:
John and Emma family fly out 12:25 (leave early a.m.)
Mike and Annette family fly out 11:35 p.m. (leave after supper? or spend day in Calgary?)

Meal ideas

Please add your ideas. Bear in mind that if the weather is hot, we will want to minimize cooking on the stove, as we do not have air conditioning. In hot weather, cooking can be done on the BBQ, crock pot (set outside), electric fry pan, etc. Some things could also be made before hand, such as beef for beef on a bun, taco meat, etc. Lasagne/Funeral potatoes could be baked from frozen if the weather is mild.

Breakfasts:
Muffins, yogurt, cold cereal and fruit
Pancakes, eggs and sausage
Pancakes, crepes, whipped cream and berries (raspberries should be in season)



Lunch meal ideas:
Sub sandwiches, chips and watermelon (Waterton) with juice or lemonade
Grilled cheese, apples and
Leftovers from dinner meals
Macaroni and cheese/ sandwiches and green salad


Supper meal ideas:
Lasagne/Caesar salad and garlic bread (only if cool weather)
Hamburgers and hotdogs with chips and watermelon
BBQ beef on a bun with green salad and funeral potatoes
Steak/chicken on BBQ baked potatoes cooked on BBQ Fresh garden veggies. (Sunday)
Taco salad/tacos

Accommodations

If everyone is able to come, there will be 31 people staying at our house. Although the house might be considered big for our family, it will be very full with 31 people. Therefore, bedroom priority is given to those with babies. Pitching a tent in our backyard is an option for anyone and may be necessary for some. We have 2 ½ bathrooms, so we will have to be very courteous in sharing those facilities.

Mark’s room: Rob and Becky and family, double bed foam

Preston’s room: John & Emma family. Double bed foam, play pen

Austin’s room: (Queen sized bed), floor space for kids, Liz and Christian

Laundry room: Mom and Dad, double bed mattress on floor, share with laundry

Rob and Becky’s room: (Queen sized bed, floor space for kids): Joe and Haylee

Alyssa’s room: bunk beds, floor space—Sarah, big girls

Paul and Sheron’s trailer: Mike & Annette and kids

We have one 6 man tent and maybe others (i.e. Sarah, Joe & Haylee and/or Liz and Christian) could bring tents. Some of the big kids might want to sleep in tents which would free up room inside for little kids to spread out rather than all sleeping in one room with parents.

We have one play pen (pack ‘n play). If you need one, but can’t bring it from home, please let me know and I’ll see if I can borrow enough.

Helping Out

If my calculations are right, we will be eating at least 12 meals together. I will buy all the necessary food ahead of time and do any advance preparations needed. I will also be available to help navigate the kitchen as needed. I thought if each family took about 2 turns to cook and clean up meals, the burden of cooking and cleaning would be evenly shared and everyone would be free to have fun most of the time. If you have a special meal you want to make when it is your turn, please advise.

For example:

Friday breakfast: Rob and Becky

Friday lunch: Joe and Haylee

Friday Supper: Liz and Christian and Sarah

Saturday breakfast: Mike and Annette

Saturday lunch at Waterton (prepare, pack and clean up) Roy and Carma

Saturday Supper: Joe and Haylee

Sunday Brunch: John and Emma

Sunday after church snacks: Sarah

Sunday Dinner and dessert: Rob and Becky

Monday Breakfast: Liz and Sarah

Monday Lunch: John and Emma

Monday Supper: Mike and Annette

Tuesday Breakfast: Roy and Carma

It would be nice if everyone could pitch in each night to clean up toys and on Saturday evening to clean up in preparation for Sunday.

Seating options for meals:
Kitchen table 7
Dining room table 8
Breakfast bar: 3? Or use breakfast bar as buffet
Little tykes picnic table: 4 small kids
Camp picnic table: 4 large kids
Round table on balcony 8

This winter I built an ice rink in our backyard. It makes me really happy to see the kids playing outside with a bunch of friends on winter days after school. One of the kids' friends told me she hoped the groundhog would see his shadow so that winter would last longer. How often do you hear that wish expressed? I think I'll have to buy hot chocolate and animal crackers in bulk though, because the kids do need to warm up once in a while.
We had some extreme cold for about 3 days the first part of last week. With the windchill it was as cold as -43 here on Monday and only marginally better on Tuesday. Amazingly, Thursday was above freezing. School was cancelled on Monday so the kids and I hibernated for the day, but had a fun time doing "home school." The kids did math, reading. piano, gym, art, home ec., and even a very interesting science experiment. We put out three containers with one cup of water in each container. In one we also added 1/4 salt and in another 1/4 cup sugar. We observed the containers every 15 minutes. After 2 hours, the water was frozen, the sugar-water was slurpie consistency and the salt-water was still entirely liquid, but very cold.
Tonight I was very brave and gave all three of my boys haircuts even though I was home alone (with Rob and Alyssa at a basketball game). Though the ordeal involved many tears (none from me, I'm pleased to say), the haircuts turned out well. The best part is I cut the hair short so we don't have to go through this again for a while!

Doig Family Newsletter
14 Centennial Pl., Box 987, Magrath, AB T0K 1J0 rdoig@telus.net Issue 10, December 2007
December 2007 finds our family in a much different place than January 2007. As the year began, we were experiencing another winter in Rocky Mountain House with Rob busy coaching Senior Boys’ basketball and being Vice Principal at West Central High School. Alyssa and Austin were attending French Immersion and participating in piano and a few after school sports. Mark was transitioning from a home program to being at school three mornings per week with limited integration into a Kindergarten classroom. Becky was busying herself with the family, friends, exercise, and serving as primary president in the church.
It was a hard winter, though, in some ways. Mark does not tolerate being outside his familiar environment at home, and will frequently cry when he is taken other places, including church, shopping, other people’s houses, public places, etc. A labor shortage in our area meant that we had trouble getting evening caregivers for Mark and with Rob gone most evenings, Becky and the kids were perpetually stuck at home. This was especially noxious when simple things like attending parent-teacher interviews or a church activity, or getting Alyssa’s flyer route delivered seemed like insurmountable obstacles.
When Rob’s parents came to visit in February, Becky took the opportunity to cry on Sheron’s shoulder. That night Sheron decided and became determined that we needed to move to Southern Alberta so that they could help us. And she knows how to get what she wants!
About a month later, she called to tell us about a position for an administrator at Cardston Elementary School. Though administrative positions rarely come open in Westwind School Division (which encompasses several LDS communities in Southern Alberta where many LDS teachers would love to work), we had to tell her that one was no good for us, because Rob has no Elementary experience. She was not to be deterred. In early April, she advised us that positions had come available for a Vice Principal at Cardston Junior High and a Principal at Magrath Jr/Sr High and this time we decided to apply. We thought Rob would be a good candidate for the VP position, but he received an interview instead for the principal position in Magrath.
After what he thought was a terrible interview, Rob got a call on his way home to be offered the job. He nearly drove off the road! It took a day of hard soul searching to decide to accept the job. We had been very settled and happy in Rocky Mountain House and had no intention of ever leaving. Yet, the change felt right, and felt very much like a blessing from heaven so we decided to take the leap of faith and uproot our family to start a new life. Miracle, after miracle seemed to follow the decision. We were able to sell our house very quickly and for a good price and to buy a very nice home in Magrath which accommodates Mark’s needs and gives us lots of space both inside and out. The move went very smoothly, and our friends in Rocky were supportive of our accepting the new opportunity.
We moved at the end of June and spent a large part of the summer doing work on our new house. We also enjoyed a trip to Utah to see some of Becky’s family as well as Rob’s family get together in Wasa, B.C. It was also very nice to have Becky’s parents visit for a week in August.
We have now had four months of life in school in Magrath. Rob seems to be enjoying his job, though he has had a steep learning curve. He has also been doing courses for his MBA from the University of Phoenix. He has done five courses this year, and has had to submit papers at some of the most awkward times, including the weekends of the job interview, house-hunting trip and move. He is coaching the grade 8 boys’ basketball team, and while he misses working with the older boys, we all agreed it was for the best to coach at a lower level, with less time commitment.
Alyssa and Austin are now in a regular English stream of school (no French available here), and are both adjusting and making new friends. Alyssa has been involved in the school choir and Austin has been enjoying cubs. The town is so small and safe that the kids have new independence. They can walk or ride bikes to school, the library, church, their friend’s houses and any activities they attend.
I should `mention that we were very proud of Austin who decided to be baptized in May. Our family has also started attending events sponsored by the Association of Little People of Alberta. Austin really loves having the chance to be with other little people, and has even met an LP boy almost his age.
Mark has had some difficult times this fall—he had bilateral hip reconstruction surgery in November, and had to have further surgery for a bowel obstruction after the hip surgery. He is recovering well now.
Surgery aside, for Mark, the move to Magrath has been the best thing ever. He attends full days at school now and has great educational assistants working with him. The school has been supportive in continuing his neuro-developmental program and the therapy support services here are exceptional. Mark also now has great evening caregivers every weekday. We love you Shari and Brad! The rest of us are now able to attend sporting events, Christmas concerts, and church activities and even spend some evenings shopping or having fun together in Lethbridge. It feels like we have our family back! It will probably take a long time to make friends like we had in Rocky Mountain House, but we feel good (right) about being here and are learning to appreciate the advantages of being close to family and of living in a community with many members of our faith.
We hope you enjoy a happy holiday season. We love you all.
The Doigs

Mark's second surgery in a week

Thursday night I had to take Mark in to Emergency in Lethbridge. Mark's constipation had become severe. His stomach was very distended and when I fed him he wretched. He was not responding to any treatments.
After waiting half the night in Emergency, we found out Mark had a bowel obstruction--which, untreated could be life-threatening. The next day they did surgery on him to remove the blockage. He is o.k. now and came home from his second hospital stay this afternoon.
We think the narcotics (constipating), the surgery (causing a lot of soreness in the groin area) and the lack of mobility he has, combined with his diet (no fiber) created a perfect storm for his bowels.
I am on my way to sleep in my own bed, for the first time in 9 days! Let's hope I have spent my last night in a hospital cot or emergency room chair for a while!
--Becky