HOLIDAYS

On Tuesday, July 7th we started out for Sparwood, BC to visit Alan's sister, Glenda and Garry Marcinowski.  We went as far as Lethbridge that day and spent the night with my cousin, Arlene Erickson.

The view that we left behind, south-west of our farm-
  canola and flax in bloom on the flat prairie

On Wednesday morning we went to visit my cousin Ralph and Evelyn Olson, formerly of Climax, SK.  We enjoyed our visit over coffee and homemade cookies served on Royal Albert "Old Country Roses".  Ralph does all the cooking now and we enjoyed Evelyn's comment "Ralph loves to cook and I love to let him!"

Then we were on our way to Sparwood where Alan spent three years driving a 200 ton truck at the coal mine.  We stopped to view beautiful Lundbreck Falls before continuing on our way.  It reminded me of trips Dad took us on as youngsters, one summer to Glacier Park in Montana, the next to Banff, Alberta.  I remember looking forward to the first glimpse of the mountains.  Soon we were driving into them and arrived at Sparwood in the afternoon.

Glenda and Garry are a few years younger than I am so we had to get reacquainted after not seeing each other since school days- fifty-five years since I had graduated.  Age doesn't really matter when you are all senior citizens!  We had a lovely visit with them and their son Doug who was visiting from Vernon.  Their dogs are important members of the family too!  Here we are going for a walk, mostly up and down hill in this area.

The view as we went for a walk in Sparwood, BC -
Alan with his sister Glenda walking the dog

The view from the upstairs window at Glenda and Garry's

We spent three relaxing days with them - visiting, playing "Dirty Board", going for walks, enjoying Glenda's bountiful meals, watching the Stampede rodeo on TV.  Alan's favourite are the chuck wagon races.

All too soon it was time to pack up and leave for Fort Macleod on Saturday morning to attend a gathering to celebrate my Aunt Edith's life and to mourn her passing. Here is one view on our drive of the many windmills producing electricity in that area.

The view on our way to Fort Macleod

The gathering was at two so that gave us time to visit a former resident of Frontier and a neighbour of Alan's when he lived on the farm near Loomis.  Julia (Ham) Barsness was 100 years old last February and had a hundred people at her party!  She and Alan reminisced about square dancing at the Loomis Hall.  She has a wonderful memory!

Julia with her daughter Honey, aka Joyce

 Alan and Elaine with Julia

Aunt Edith was married to my mother's youngest brother, Herb Haaland, who was killed in a car accident in 1968. She later married Irving Kirk and had been a widow for many years.  It was wonderful to visit with her daughters, my cousins Cheryl from Calgary and Diana from Pincher Creek.  I have special memories of the six weeks I spent at Edith and Herb's in 1952 when Mom was in Regina Hospital after coming down with polio.  I enjoyed playing with little Cheryl who had just turned a year old.

Diana, Elaine, Cheryl

After visiting with family members and enjoying the luncheon, we drove back to Lethbridge and visited my cousin Helen (Olson) and Johnny Knox.  They are in the process of looking for a place to live where meals and other services are provided.  Helen's health in deteriorating and Johnny isn't able to do the cooking.  Both Joanne and Lorne, their two children, live in Clarsholm so it would be good if they could be close to them, the grandchildren and great grandchildren.

We came home via Frontier and spent a night at Alan and Judy's. Alan wasn't feeling well, had been in hospital at Regina with a diagnosis of a large kidney stone.  The next day Judy took him to Shaunavon and we visited him there on the way home on Monday. He was sent to Swift Current for an ultrasound.  I will check on his condition tonight.  Later: Alan is feeling much better today after his antibiotic was changed.  He is still in Shaunavon Hospital but it's good to hear him laughing again.

We drove out to Sandra's early Monday morning so we could visit with Merle, Rick and Mandy before they left for Medicine Hat. Fresh cinnamon rolls were the treat for getting up early!The Peakman's have their trailer parked beside Merle and Sandra's house for the summer.  Rick was flying back to Fort McMurray for his two weeks of work after having two weeks off. We were sorry to miss Marion, Rhett and Katie as they had gone back to the park for Katie's swimming lessons at 9:30.

We left for home after lunch, stopping to have a quick visit with Noreen (Thoring) Coakley at the Co-op.  Another stop at the Co-op gas station in Assiniboia and we were soon in Weyburn with a stop at Clare and Jodi's.  We had learned of the death of Jodi's mother, Gaby Kot, last Friday so wanted to see them before the service on Wednesday. ......... To be continued