Happy New Year!

Looking back at 2017 it was a great year.  In April I got the best invitation ever, an invite to Buckingham Palace for a Royal Garden Party on June 1st.  Jean and I had the best time ever.  Cec thought I was crazy to travel to the UK for tea but I didn't and I thoroughly enjoyed my week.

Back to the UK with our granddaughter Lexie in August.  We took the Eurostar to France.  It was Lexie's first trip overseas and we really enjoyed showing her all the sites.  Her best memories are Tracy's cats, the Eiffel Tower and Canada House in London.

October 29th, Cheryl hosted an afternoon for our family and friends to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  It was wonderful to get together.

November 4th we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary boarding the largest cruise ship, The Harmony of the Seas.  It was our first time in a suite and sharing the experience with the family made it very special.  We both agree it was our best cruise ever!

As we look forward to 2018, I have three trips planned.  In February I am going to the Dominican Republic with my sister's bests friend Jean!  It will be my first time at an all inclusive resort.  In April we are going on the Canada Post Heritage Club annual bus trip.  This year we are going to Santa Fe, New Mexico; Salt Lake City, the Grand Canyon and all points in between.  My cousins Nancy and Sharon are joining us so it should be a lot of fun!  In August we will board the Royal Princess to circumvent the British Isles.  It will be our first trip to Guernsey and Ireland.  We are taking Lexie with us.  While in Scotland, the Edinburgh Tattoo is on.  We have tickets for August 11th!  We also have a tour booked in France that focuses on the Canadian involvement in the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944.  We will visit Juno Beach and the Canadian Memorial.  Our longtime friends Margaret and Dave will join us along with my UK cousin Jean who will be Lexie's room mate!

It will be a quiet night for us as we will stay home.  Our health is still good and we continue to be blessed.  Happy New Year to all my family and friends!

Canadian weather

Watching the local news, weather across this country is horrible this winter.  Record cold temperatures almost everywhere. Some of the events planned for the New Year's Eve party on Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa - doubling as the ceremonial end to Canada's sesquicentennial celebrations have been cancelled due to extreme cold.  Public skating on the Canada 150 rink will go ahead but the musical events have been called off.

Calgary has cancelled all of their New Year's events.  Environment Canada says at 7 PM tonight it's -28 C but with the wind chill it feels like an unimaginable -38 C/-36.4 F.  Celsius and Fahrenheit meet at -40!

New Years festivities at Canada Place in Vancouver will go ahead as planned tomorrow night.  Translink is offering free bus/skytrain fares from 5 PM to 5 AM.  Let's hope everyone that drinks lets someone else drive or uses transit.  Taxi's will be very busy!

Yesterday in the lower mainland somehow, we escaped the horrible weather.  My cousin Sharon lives in Mission and they had an terrible freezing rain/ice storm.  Power was out at her house for 18 hours. In this cold weather your home gets very cold quickly.  Luckily her power is restored but people in Abbotsford are not as lucky and could be out for a couple more days.  Here are some pictures of communities around us!

Parksville, BC - my friend Margaret lives here.
Parksville is on the east coast of Vancouver Island

A little further east, UBC from Janice's apartment.
I could have taken a picture in Cloverdale, but Janice's picture is so nice I captured it from her blog
Our snow is gone and we only had rain yesterday, today was gorgeous!

Abbotsford, about a 45 minute drive from Cloverdale!
Freezing rain, ice weighing down hydro lines that snapped all over Abbotsford, Mission and other points east
BC Hydro is reporting tonight 109,000 people are still without power and most will not be restored for many hours!

Brad and Maria celebrate!

Last night Brad and Maria opened their home for a wonderful evening to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.  They are gracious hosts and everyone had a wonderful time!

This wasn't taken tonight but it's a great picture of both of them

Some of the great food

There were hot appies and sushi but I got too busy to take pictures

Phyllis posted this great picture on Facebook
Richard and Brad

Helping the homeless

I have had enough!!!! I'll never help anyone again......EVER!!  I'm too kindhearted, or I'm too stupid! Yesterday, it was so cold out that I took a man into my home out of the kindness of my heart. I felt so sorry for him. Poor man was frozen stiff in the cold. He couldn't even move. I helped him inside my place and gave him a space heater to warm him up.

This morning, he had just vanished. Not a word...not even a goodbye or a thank you for sheltering him!! The last straw?!?!  When I realized he had peed all over the living room floor!!! That's the thank you I get for being good to people?!?!?!  He left his dirty scarf and hat, so I'm assuming he took some of my clothes.

Now I'm going to warn my friends to watch out for this man!  He is heavy set.  When I first saw him, he was wearing nothing but a scarf and, for some reason, a top hat.  He has a nose that looks like a carrot, two black eyes, and his arms are so skinny they look like sticks!!!  Don't bring him into your house!!  What a huge mess he made on the floor!!!

100 years of marriage!

This year, Brad & Maria; 25 years, Wayne and Chris; 25 years, Cec and Linda; 50 years.  We all went out to celebrate Boxing Day evening at The Keg!

Waiting for appies!   Escargot, Mushrooms Neptune, Scallops wrapped in bacon and Calamari!

Pistachio Crusted Salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and bacon sauteed Brussels sprouts with maple butter!
I'm trying to be healthy.  After all the appies, fish was my only option to stay within my Weight Watcher points!

Sirloin Oscar with shrimp, scallops, asparagus and Bearnaise sauce!

Steak and Lobster

Great supper with lots of laughs!  Congratulations Brad and Maria!!!  What an awesome night!

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary!

25 years ago today my nephew Brad married Maria.  They had a family business and the only days they were closed were Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Easter Sunday.  No minister will marry you at Christmas or Easter so they got married December 26, 1992.  They had a beautiful family wedding at Cargill Manor in South Surrey.  Brad purchased her engagement ring from a pawn shop!  Their honeymoon was at the Fairmont Vancouver because Brad won two nights at a golf tournament!

You've come a long way since then!   All the best to you both!

A gorgeous bride and a beautiful person inside!  Brad is one lucky fellow

The bridal party

The Newell Family

A wonderful Christmas day!

Cheryl and Dave hosted a family Christmas dinner.  It's always wonderful when we get together!

Ciara, Declan and Lexie opening presents

28 lb Turkey and a Ham - plenty of great food

Andrew, Tara, Ciara and Declan Irving

Tara, Maria, Doug, Adele and Andrew

After dinner Cheryl said, "we have some nicely decorated houses closeby", so we went for a walk!

The other side of the street!  Nice to have a small amount of snow. 
16500 block 63B Avenue, Surrey

Catherine posted these pictures on Facebook on December 24th at 11:45 PM! 

Jack and Sam camped out at the top of the stairs waiting for Santa

Great view

It appears they have the security cameras on the iPad so they don't miss him!  They are 8 and 6.
How precious is that!

Merry Christmas

May the spirit of Christmas bring peace in your heart as you celebrate Christmas with your families and loved ones

Jack Miles

Jack Miles was a Vice President at Pacific Western Airlines.  I didn't work with him but I remember him well.  He was well respected and well liked.  Jack retired in 1978.   I didn't hear anything about him until 2014 when Global TV reported his home in South Surrey was broken into.  He lost his gold watch, cuff links, a stash of cash, liquor and his war medals!

Jack was born in Argentina, the son of an Englishman, he grew up on a ranch outside Buenos Aries. When the war broke out in 1939 he went to England to volunteer with the Royal Air Force.  The medals he was awarded recognized Jacks' wartime service as a pilot and instructor, a stint in Burma helping repatriate former British POW's from what was then French Indo-China and helped the Dutch residents of Indonesia during uprisings after the war.  His medals included the 1939-45 Service Medal, the Defense Medal, the War Medal, the Burma Star and the Southeast Asia medal.  Next to them on his den was a framed letter from the British Air Ministry issued in 1946, commending him for his service.

The RCMP thoroughly searched his two acre property on Highway 10 hoping the intruder may have dropped them.  They found nothing!  Two weeks later the RCMP pulled over a van in Surrey and it lead them to a residence.  They found Jack's watch, cuff links but no war medals.

Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Jack Buis contacted the British Ministry of Defense and asked if they would replace Jack's medals.  They were received this week!  There is a law enforcement officer that went above and beyond the call of duty.  What a great Christmas present!

'Twas the Night Before the Night Before Christmas

Today was why I love this city.  The weather was cold and very sunny!   It's 0 C right now but it's going down to -4 C.  Snow is on the way!

We decided to go to Canada Place.  They have a wonderful Christmas display along with Fly Over Canada that takes you on a journey to the North Pole!  On our way through Delta there were snow geese grazing on the farms.  This is the 30th annual Christmas at Canada Place presented by the Port of Vancouver.  If you sailed on a cruise ship from Vancouver, you would have departed from Canada Place.

We went inside to warm up!

This moose lights up at night.  There are thousands of lights that turn on at dusk!

Anyone living in Vancouver from 1902 to 1993 would go to the famous Toy Department to visit Santa
It was in downtown Vancouver at Hastings and Abbott.

The wonderful Woodward's window displays are shown every year at Canada Place

All the displays were awesome and brought back many memories

A Christmas Poem

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

This poem was written by a Marine. 

Surrey's most wanted - Update!

Erin Norman was wanted for failure to comply with a probation officer. He has a lengthy criminal history that includes assault, robbery and weapons charges.

Last week I posted a copy of the RCMP's Surrey's Most Wanted list. No. 1 on the list was Erin Norman who was located and arrested on the weekend. Yesterday he was released from custody and he's back in the community!  Why do they release these criminals? Something is wrong with the Canadian Criminal Justice system!  Time to write my MP.  This is so frustrating!!!

Reindeer are female! Who knew?

Reindeer walk across a road in Suomussalmi, Finland in a July 13, 2009 file photo. 

I loved this article in the Huffington Post:

The first written account of Santa Claus having reindeer was in 1821, and since then most people have assumed the reindeer were male — but a scientist says those people would be wrong.

Andrew Hebda, a zoologist at the Nova Scotia Museum, says while both male and female reindeer have antlers, only the females have their antlers during the winter months.  "Being members of the deer family, the males grow their antlers a little bit earlier and just after mating season, which is just about finished now, they drop off. So over a winter you'll never see a male with antlers," Hebda said.

Pregnant females use their antlers to dig through the snow in search for food, and lose them just before giving birth, he said.  It's most likely, he said, that Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen are all female.  "Any reindeer right now with antlers is a girl," he said.  New focus has been placed on their gender in part because of a New York City Twitter user's assertion this month they are "a team of strong, powerful, underrated women."

The tweet, relying entirely on the antler theory of gender, proved very popular — it has garnered more than 680,000 likes and more than 200,000 retweets.

A Chicago Zoological Society blog post echoes the contention that the antlers tell the tale.  "This isn't to say Santa only had female reindeer, but the nine flyers were girls,'' it said. "Let's be honest, unlike Santa, reindeer don't live forever, so Santa needs both male and female reindeer, no?  Because boy reindeer don't give birth to future generations of magical flying reindeer."

Santa Letters are finished for 2017

Santa's elves have finished all the letters mailed to him.  Today all the volunteers showed up and we were able to finish them all!  On my way home it started snowing!  Looks like Christmas is here. I would like to thank all the volunteers very much for all their hard work.  It was a pleasure to work with you!  Today we got a thank you letter from a Kindergarden teacher at James Gilmour Elementary School in Richmond.  It makes it all worth while!

I've taken pictures of some of our favorite letters.  I've hidden last names and addresses.  The interesting bits are captured on the bottom of the picture in case you can't read the letters.

One of the neatest letters.  

Do you have a pack of Tums in your sleigh because you may need
them after all the milk and cookies you have every Christmas?

I have two sisters.  One is fat and the other is thin.
My mother and father are 40 years old!

This one is just creepy.  We think it came from Pennsylvania.

Emily drew an awesome picture of her school!

This letter was sent from three girls
It was written at one of the local Santa Claus parades
Maybe they will find a boyfriend on their new iPhones!

Still believes in Santa at 13!

No. 12  Life long supply of Chocolate Cheesecake
My kind of girl

This guy has been very busy but Santa answered his letter in time for Christmas

Donald is 75 years old and in a wheel chair.
The elf that got this letter sent an awesome response!

Our greediest, 47 items
Last year we had 64!

Our favorite!  No list, no letter but a very important message
His name was on the envelope so we were able to send a reply

Dr. Jack Taunton

In 1998, I was sent to the UBC Sports Medicine Clinic for my knee pain.  Dr. Jack Taunton was my doctor.  I worked for his father at Kelly Douglas years before.  Jack worked at the same time for the same company when he was going through university!  We didn't remember each other but I told him how great his dad was as my boss.  He was a wonderful doctor and directed me to the type of specialist I needed for my knees. 

Mike Hamill is a good friend of my nephew Brad.  I remember Brad telling me of his accident when it happened. 

What a wonderful gift they have given our community!

Here is the article published in The Vancouver Sun:

While healing from more than 70 broken bones sustained in a whale-on-boat accident, Mike Hamill helped secure cash and exercise machines worth $200,000 to equip a gym for cancer patients.

Longtime friend Man in Motion Rick Hansen urged Hamill — a former bodybuilding, powerlifting and wrestling champion — to use his months-long recovery to take on the project.

Hamill’s 61-year-old body took a terrible beating last June when a humpback whale breached and smashed into a guided fishing boat he was on near Haida Gwaii. The accident broke his back in three places and left him a paraplegic. 

“Nearly all my ribs were broken and my pelvis was smashed,” he said. 

Sports medicine icon Jack Taunton — B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inductee and co-founder of SportMedBC — asked Hamill to help furnish the gym at UBC’s Allan McGavin Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre and kept him focused on the project during his recovery.

“Before he died, I promised my former mentor (Fitness World founder) Henry Polessky I would do something in his memory,” said Hamill, founder of Olympic Gyms and now a fitness equipment dealer. Polessky died of cancer in 2014.

Hamill got to work on his phone and raised the money he needed from Polessky’s friends and family, while other donations were secured by Taunton and Andy Nemeth, of Robbins Sports Flooring.

“Every second day Jack would be at my bed asking how Henry’s gym was coming along,” he said. “I’d tell him I was nearly dead, but he just said ‘You can do it; I’ll be back Wednesday for an update.’”

Taunton — chief medical officer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games — had already hit up the Jack and Darlene Poole Foundation for $1 million to build the cancer gym, which is just now open to patients in the newly opened Chan Gunn Pavilion at UBC.

Jack Poole led the successful bid for the 2010 Games, but died of pancreatic cancer a day after the Olympic torch was lit in Greece on its way to Vancouver.

“I looked after Jack during the four-and-a-half years of preparation for 2010 Winter Olympics, and I’ve know him and Darlene for a long time,” said Taunton.

Taunton had worked with Hamill to install gyms for the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies and for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

“Mike was a pioneering strength and conditioning coach who had worked with Clint Eastwood and lots of others,” he said.

Hamill himself donated equipment for the gym — including two $20,000 treadmills — contributed several new machines financed by donations and secured equipment donated by local gyms.

“My guys (at Lifestyle Equipment) spent the summer rebuilding the treadmills to help me fulfil this dream,” he said.

Hamill has spent nearly six months in hospitals from Vancouver General Hospital to GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre and, finally, extended care at UBC Hospital, where he resides today while his condo is renovated by friends to accommodate his wheelchair.

The Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence and Teaching Excellence in STEM.

If you know of a teacher or early educator that has "gone above or beyond" or something wonderful, please nominate them for this honour. 

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/home.nsf/html/pma_site-select-eng.html

Jennifer Johnson-George is the daughter of my former boss, Don Johnson at Pacific Western Airlines.  When Don moved to Calgary in the 1980's, I would take Cheryl to play with Jennifer when I had a meeting at Head Office.  Sadly, Don passed away shortly after Jennifer won the award, but he went to Ottawa to see Jennifer get this awesome recognition. 

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/pmate-ppmee.nsf/eng/wz01405.html

Jennifer Johnson-George receiving her award at Rideau Hall in 2006