Valerie and Isabella made a special rice crispy cake, with a sand snowman, in honour of our celebrations .
In our family, it seems any excuse for a party is a good one. Due to the coronavirus, Betty & I were unable to return to Winnipeg from Vancouver Island for Christmas. We missed out on all the traditional family celebrations, and decided to replicate some of our usual dead-of-winter festivities in the heat of summer. I have to admit that a number of family members were disappointed that I didn’t replay the Queen’s annual Christmas message for them, but I guess I’ll just have to save that for another get-together. Lol. Here’s a few candid shots from the gathering at our current campsite in Manitoba.
In preparation for the big event, I completed a once annual wash and hand wax of our home on wheels. It’s still looking pretty good after all these years, and a recent professional appraisal puts it at a higher value than we thought. Not that we are planning on changing homes any time soon…A blue Christmas tree was added to our site, with the motorhome trimmed for the occasion. Charlie’s having a nap on the far left, before all the excitement began.Some of Betty’s seasonal quilts made an appearance, along with our Christmas lights & trim..Including a nativity scene for our trellis. Valerie came attired for the occasion with her favourite Christmas dress. She joined her brother, Andrew, who apparently took a wrong turn on the way to this week’s Calgary Stampede. lolAndrew’s friend, Annie, and her daughter, Aurora, were able to join us for the get-together. Hoping they weren’t overwhelmed by the experience! (Or if they were, hope it was in a good way – lol)James, Georgia, and Isabella (in the background) check out the Christmas candies we picked up in Banff on our way back to Manitoba. Lisa enjoys one of my world famous margaritas, while Adam and Betty look on.Kevin catches up with Andrew, Annie, and Aurora (the “A” Team) on the other side of the circle.Isabella hams it up for the camera on a hot and humid summer day.Her sister, Georgia, was all smiles as she prepared for an afternoon of slip-n-slide, to cool off from the current heat wave.As in much of western Canada and the U.S., Winnipeg has been experiencing record temperatures this summer. Here is the reading from our gauge a couple of weeks ago. Andrew cooked a delicious turkey for dinner, with everyone contributing extras. Btw, that’s Luke between Andrew & Betty. The photographer was between our two sons.No Christmas dinner would be complete without Mom’s famous trifle. In this case it’s a black forest trifle with fresh cherries on top. Yum!
It was great to have everyone together again, although it wasn’t until they all left that I realized we hadn’t updated the photo on the cover of this blog. Well I guess we now have another reason for a party, incorporating the Queen’s Christmas message, of course! Hope that, as we all transition from the effects of this long-lasting pandemic, you can all find the time to get together again with family and friends, celebrating whatever this life and times has in store.
The day before our Christmas in July, Betty & I were able to meet up with my grade 9 locker partner, Doug Firby, who is currently on a cross-Canada bicycle tour. You can follow his adventures at connectour.ca. Great to be able to catch up a little on a visit to The Forks!
