Bryner visit

My sister Liz came to visit from Saturday, July 13th until the following Saturday, July 20th with her 7 children, Anna, Paul, James, Garrett, Pierce, Ali and Ashley. Her husband Christian couldn't get away from work and we missed him, because he is so much fun and Rob really enjoys his company. I was so impressed with Liz for having the courage and strength to travel so far with all her kids. We were so happy to have them come. 

We had a great time together. From Monday to Thursday, her four boys and Preston were in the Danny Balderson Basketball Camp. They all walked over to the Magrath school at 9 each morning, came home for lunch at noon and went back from 1-3 pm. I could almost imagine they lived here and were all going to school together in the morning. They loved the camp, I think, though it was a little tiring for Preston and maybe the twins. It seemed to me that James couldn't get enough of it! While they were at camp each day, Alyssa was taking Bronze Cross (a lifeguarding course) at the Magrath pool. Having 6 kids

gone for a few hours each day, allowed Liz and I some time to visit, go for a couple of runs, and interact with the other kids. Anna got to play the piano (which she does beautifully).

When not at camp, the kids worked on creating a movie, played laser tag, and we watched a movie or two together. We even had family scriptures and FHE all together. On Tuesday night Anna, Paul and James went with Alyssa and Austin to the combined YM/YW activity which was a BBQ, night games and an outdoor movie. It went pretty late, but they seemed to like it. 

While they were here we went to St. Mary's reservoir three times. We set up a play area at Wally's beach and took turns taking people on tube rides and for pulls behind the boat. The first day we went was a little chilly, but the other days were warm and mostly calm, so we had a great time there. Liz and her 5 oldest kids either kneeboarded, wakeboarded or skiied behind the boat. Some did more than one. I think they all also got to go on tube rides. The younger kids especially loved playing in the sand.

I cried when after they left, Saturday morning. I love those guys and miss them so much!

Does writing "Hawaii" in the sand make it so?

Ali wore her water shirt under her swim suit because she didn't figure it was modest to have her shoulders showing. She has SO much personality!

Ali is very talented with the monkey bars. I took her and Mark to the park one morning while the boys were at camp and Liz was doing the books for the Law firm.

Ali is pushing Mark on the special swing

Playing at the beach

Ashely and Liz at the beach

Dress up for the movie. LOVE IT!

I believe this is Ali as the bad guy. She loved those gloves and wore them walking to the Blue Goose to get snow Bobs.

Beautiful cousins

This is the last afternoon of the basketball camp. Preston, Garrett and Pierce are doing a tournament. The twins are pretty good ball players.

This is all the kids from the camp at the end of the last afternoon when they were giving out awards. Amazingly, all 5 of our boys got awards--either for winning 3 on 3, or 5 on 5 tournaments, or in Preston's case for receiving the coach's award.

I was so glad Liz got a chance to kneeboard. I think she also got up on waterskis.

Paul skiing

Liz getting confident on the kneeboard

James on the kneeboard

Paul wakeboarding

Pierce (Correct me if I am wrong) on the kneeboard

Garrrett on the kneeboard. Garrett rode for a long time. I guess we didn't adequately teach him that he could let go when he was done. He didn't know how to end the ride. When he started a get a tear in his eye, the spotter caught on and killed the engine.

Anna on the kneeboard 

New Furniture

After many years of sitting on furniture someone else gave us when it was too worn out for them, we finally bought new furniture for our downstairs family room. We picked it up today. In anticipation of the new furniture, Alyssa and I painted the family room. So, here it is!

BEFORE (sorry it looks warped. I attempted a panarama shot and obviously didn't go it quite right)

AFTER

AFTER

Alyssa's JV and Varsity Basketball seasons

Alyssa had a great year in basketball. She played on both the JV and Varsity teams, so it was very intense and exhausting. She played in 28 of the 30 league games, 15 Varsity tournament games and 4 play off games, altogether 47 games between December 1 and March 9th. So if you consider she had 2 weeks off for Christmas and about 2 weeks off between first semester exams and the February break, she averaged nearly 5 games/week. Her JV team finished second of 11 teams in the league, but tragically lost their semi-final game to the #3 team. Overall, the JV Pandas were a really strong team. The Varsity team didn't do quite so well. In the league, they finished 8th of 11 teams. However, their league has both 3A and 4A teams, so for Zones, the Pandas played against only 3A teams. They won their quarter final game against Taber, but lost in the semi in a really close game to McCoy, who was the #2 ranked 3A team in the province. 

Alyssa is a really tough player and plays excellent defence. She is in the difficult position of playing post and being only 5'7". In the really tough games, she brings out a whole new level of intensity. Her best games of the season were probably the playoff games where she made a significant contribution both in points scored and in overall play. I was really proud of her for the amount of heart she put into her play.

It was a real highlight to have Granny and Grandpa and Monte and Sherylee, Brett and Mallori and Kayden there to see her 3A Zone quarter final game against Taber. It may have been her best game of the season. 

I really appreciate Alyssa's fantastic coaches for their unselfish service. They did a lot to teach her the game of basketball and to help her develop as a person.

For the last home game (Senior's Day), other students made posters for each player. Alyssa is pointing to her picture.

The varsity team. Back Row, L-R: Jamie Cook, Skyler Riggen, Elizabeth Charlesworth, Tana Stewart, Baylee Hoy, Amber Low, Shelby Broadhead, Alyssa Doig, Shelby Russel. Front Row L-R Jocelyn Maxwell, Megan Anderson, Kassi Bodgan, Kassy Cook and Teesh Olsen. Across the Front: Kim Bogdan

With coaches Brad Olson, Kristyn Barfuss, Janene Ward and Deanna Dypolt.

Preston's first Kub Kar Rally: The Pencil

Preston was invited to participate in the Kub Kar Rally on March 16th, even though it was a few days before his birthday. Preston decided he wanted his Kar to be a pencil. He and Rob went over to the shop at the school to cut it out. Later Preston and I did the painting. He named the Kar "Sharpy." It turned out to be a really fast car and won almost all of its races. It was fun to see Preston so excited!

Preston with "Sharpy" after the races. His leaders gave him the brown stand to store his Kar on. He has great leaders.

Preston with the group--trying to get the hang of the grand howl.

Preston's baptism and birthday

Preston turned 8 on March 22, 2013 and was baptized the following day, Saturday, March 23 at 4:00 pm. Both my parents and Rob's parents were there for both events. My mom and dad flew here on March 20th and stayed until the 26th, so they got to be part of several special moments for our family. Preston patiently waited until mid afternoon on his birthday to open his gifts. He got lots of fun things including a crystal growing kit from Grandma and Grandpa Prete which Granny (Sheron) helped him do after his baptism. At his baptism, both his grandmothers spoke and it was awesome. Granny shared an object lesson. She had an opaque white plastic container and put a rock in it. When the container is empty you can hear the rock moving around very clearly. When the container is full of dirt, you can't hear the rock. Similarly, when our lives are full of sin, we can't hear the spirit as we can when we are clean. While demontrating this, she asked for examples of sins people commit to fill their jars. After a few random suggestions, young Paul said, "You could lie about your age..." All the family who knows that granny insists she is 20 all burst into laughter with everyone else wondering what was going on. It was pretty funny. Anyway, the baptism was great, even though I had to drug Preston so he could get through it--he had a cold and was acting quite draggy before the baptism. Everyone came over to our house after for Tacos--Preston's favorite, and ice cream cake, thanks to Granny and Grandpa. Thank you to Ken and Tracy and their family, Grandma and Grandpa Doig and grandma Berry for coming over, as well as my mom and dad.

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Kilroy Was Here: Austin's school play

On March 19-22, Austin performed in his school play, Kilroy Was Here. He played the part of the Western Union Messenger. It was a small part, but he did a great job. All in all the play was excellent. The music was well done and so catchy. Austin had a great time participating in the play. He loved going to rehearsals, getting to know other dramatic and creative kids from other grades and everything about it. I am so grateful to Magrath Cultural Arts and the high school for providing this opportunity. It was great that my parents were visiting while the play was showing so they could see Austin perform--twice!

Saturday, April 6th: The Last Hurrah

Saturday, April 6th, our last morning in Hawaii had a magical quality about it. It was a beautiful day and the beach was quiet. We were all trying to treasure and soak in the sand and the sun and the time together as a family. We all played in the water. I snorkelled one more time. We made sand creations, and we took Mark in the water. He was so happy in the water and stayed in for at least 45 minutes. 

At 10:30, I was so sad when I had to leave the beach to go get showered so we could be ready to leave. We staggered our return to the room so that everyone could have maximal beach time. We checked out of our room at noon, had one last lunch at the foodcourt and headed back to the airport.

Everything went fine at the airport, except Mark had a huge blowout. I won't go into details, but let's just say, he left his mark on the Honolulu airport! Rob's family friends, the Selks, were on our flight to Vancouver. One of the in-laws in that group is a collegue of Rob's--Marlin Hogg a Principal in Raymond. The flight went fine, but our flight schedule was really rough. We arrived in Vancouver after midnight. As usual (and necessary) we were the last ones off the plane. By the time we went through customs, retrieved our luggage and took a shuttle (taxi for Mark and I) to the hotel, it was nearly 2 am. We then had to get up at 4:40 to quickly put clothes on and leave by 5 to be at the airport in just enough time for our 7 am flight. When we touched down in Calgary I nearly cried as there was snow on the ground.  Unfortunately, our van was broken into at the airport. All they stole, as far as we can tell, was our parking pass. So, when we left, it cost us $130! However, thanks to the generous allocation of spending money, we had enough to cover all our expenses including that and including our purchases at Ross. We went straight to Granny's where she had turkey dinner ready between conference sessions. We listened to half the morning session via 3G internet on the drive and mostly slept through the afternoon session. Gradually we are trying to catch some of the conference that we missed.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, a treasure to remember for a lifetime! I am so grateful that Mark was happy and slept well and enjoyed the trip. He has had some hip problems lately so I was really worried that he would have a tough time. What a great blessing that he did so well!

Our trusty beach sheet. Alyssa is making that special face on purpose!

The last snorkel!

Giant sea turtle

Preston just loving the sand.

Austin is a "m-ark" a man-shark.

The family in the water.

Mark loving the water with his Dad.

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The family at the beach

Diamond head crater in the background of this shot.