HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!

Four of the five Johnson girl cousins - Ashley, Abbey, Lindsay and Jamie

 September 7 is special with three family birthdays on that date.  Twelve members of the Johnson family gathered at the farm to celebrate with Abbey on Saturday.  We sang Happy Birthday to her at 1:50, the time of her arrival in 2001.  She went home from the hospital on September 11, a day that has become known as 9 /11.  Most of us can recall where we were when we heard the news of the attack on the twin towers in New York that infamous day.

Combining with Dad on her birthday

 Rain on Sat. afternoon put a damper on harvest here, but it did allow Clare to join us for the afternoon and evening as we enjoyed family time together.  Dawson stayed home to help Greg and they were still combining when Laurel, Eric and Ashley got back that night. Kirk, Shauna, Carter, Lindsay and Jamie also made it to the farm for the day.

The six grandkids had a great time together.  Jamie and Ashley had fun with my dress-up trunk of clothes.  Here they are modelling for you.

"Twins" sharing a pair of gloves and two pair of shoes

The DQ cake that Jodi and Abbey brought was a BIG hit.  It was especially made for Abbey as she was given a Blizzard containing nuts after specifically ordering a nut free one because of her peanut allergies.  Fortunately, Abbey realized something was wrong when she detected chunks in the ice cream.  She always carries an epi pen and took Benadryl right away.   She suffered no after affects but it was a serious mistake and the manager made her a special Oreo/mint blizzard cake to express their regrets.  Peanut allergies can be deadly!

Abbey and her special DQ cake

Corn on the cob from Carlyle, thanks to Kirk - yummy!

It was exciting to Facetime Nora in Norway on her first birthday and to see the special video on youtube that Todd and Kristy made of her first year.  She flew to Mexico, Canada and Sweden, all before  turning one!  She had pancakes for breakfast, a mini slushburger, chips and dip, and two birthday cupcakes at the party!!

 Here's a link to that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3GCaRKZ6GU&feature=em-share_video_user

The weekend wasn't the best for Clare and Greg - they both lost their iPhones!  Both of them were in the field when they missed their phones.  We spent some time on Saturday afternoon walking in the field where Clare had been working but had no luck.  We couldn't phone it either as the battery was dead.  Farmers get very dependent on those phones these days, even take pictures of machinery parts that are needed and email them to machine dealers.

Several of us visited via phone with Ardis, who also celebrated her birthday on the 7th.  She is busy tutoring students in their after school hours and also helps Kris and Stacy with yard work as well as enjoying time with her grandchildren.  Kris works for Canada Post and Stacy is a teacher so it is a busy household with Samuel in grade four and Ava in grade two.

I spent a quiet day at home after attending worship services at Trinity this morning.  There was a large group for coffee fellowship as there were several members of the Daae family who had come for Patrica and Jeff's daughter Chantelle's wedding yesterday at Wayne and Kathy's farm.  The wedding was scheduled for two, but they switched things around when it was raining at that time.  They visited over coffee and goodies until the rain stopped and the outdoor wedding could go ahead at four.

I caught up with some visiting via phone this afternoon, instead of watching the Rider game. It was good to touch base with you, Lyla and Marvin. Tonight I plan to watch a new series on PBS at nine, "Last Tango in Halifax".  Two high school sweethearts, now both widowed and in their 70's, get together again, thanks to the internet.

Have a wonderful week.  I hope the guys can get back in the field in a couple days.  There's a good crop out there to get in the bins!  I'll add a picture of six of the grandchildren when someone sends one this way. (Thanks, Shauna)