MAY LONG WEEKEND

We enjoyed Nancy's comment with this picture of us relaxing in their backyard.  "This is how you party when you are 75!"

Alan's 75th birthday was on May 21 so we went on a road trip to celebrate with family.  We left on Wednesday, May 16 and drove to Frontier where we stayed with my brother Alan and his wife Judy over night.  They usually start the day out on the deck with their morning cups of coffee. It was so cosy sitting there watching the different species of spring birds showing up at their many feeders. 

Sandra and two little girls in Norsk bunads

On Thursday afternoon we headed to the Senior Centre where we enjoyed celebrating Norway's Independence Day, knows as "Syttende Mai" which translates to Seventeenth of May. Sandra was back as emcee and I had my accordion along and played along with their group.  We didn't have a parade as they do in Norway that day, but we did have a long table laden with traditional Norsk baking, which they don't have that day in Norway!  They are most likely to be eating hotdogs after watching the children's parade!  

We enjoyed meeting the mayor of Frontier, Brady Berg, the youngest mayor in SK!  His dad, Larry Berg, was a good friend of Alan's in school days.  Despite being born with problems in his legs, Larry played ball and curled for many years.  The highlight of their curling days was going to provincials in Regina with Alan's dad Walter as their chaperone. The other members of the team were Jerome Heggestad and my brother Mervin.  They made some great memories together!

Here are two pictures of our granddaughters in Norway taking part in the children's parade in Førde.  

Nora and Elly Clara enjoying the parade

Todd and Elly Clara taking part in the parade

 We spent Thursday night with Sandra and Merle and Alan enjoyed a favourite - pork rib supper! Jason and Marion joined us for breakfast and then we were on our way to Calgary.  The most challenging part of the trip was the four miles from Sanford's to #18 highway.  A quarter of an inch of rain was enough to have us sliding around with mud flying!  Not much gravel left on that section of road! We left a bit of mud in Alberta as it dried and fell off when we hit a bumpy stretch. 

We enjoyed a relaxing stay at Nancy and Trevor's as you can see by the picture up at the top.  On Saturday they took us along to Costco and I managed to help fill up their shopping cart with a couple light fixtures and a few other things that caught my eye - like Jarlsberg cheese from Norway.  I'm enjoying it on my flatbread. We enjoyed a shrimp dinner and a chocolate birthday cake.  Alan was born in Calgary so it was appropriate that he spend his 75th there too!

Happy 75th Alan

Nancy and her "kids" on Mothers Day - Holly and Bram

On Sunday Nancy went hiking with friends in Drumheller and Trevor went golfing so we enjoyed their cosy deck and Alan kept track of ball games and hockey games on TV.  We had planned to visit the Calgary Zoo that afternoon but the parking lot itself was a "zoo" so we left that event for another trip and went to the famous "Peter's Drive-In." We enjoyed their hamburgers, onion rings and chocolate milkshakes on the deck at Nancy and Trevor's. (Peter's was super busy too on this long weekend!) Holly was at her aunt's wedding in Brooks and Bram was working at "Rec Room" but we did get to visit with both of them when they were home.

On Monday after lunch we made our way to Derek and Jackie's.  Alan enjoyed a three generation game of "Stock Ticker" with Derek, JJ and Ben.  Grandpa ended up being the winner.  After a BBQ pork chop dinner and a DQ birthday cake we were off to watch Ben's ball game.  The players take turns at positions and it was Ben's turn to pitch the first three innings - a no hitter for him.

A game of "Stock Ticker"

DQ cake on May 21

Ben on the mound

On Tuesday morning we headed for Gull Lake for an overnight visit with Alan's sister, Donna and Cam Lock.   Donna had gotten a new car that day, a pretty blue Nissan.  She is quite short and had to find a car that she could see over the steering wheel without sitting on a cushion and this one filled the bill!  Cam has lung trouble and is on oxygen 24/7 so Donna can't depend on him to do all the driving anymore.  They are hoping to move to Saskatoon but are waiting to sell their home in Gull Lake.  Their son Daryl was home helping with yard work and other jobs that Cam can no longer do.  He is a good help in the kitchen too and we enjoyed the meal with BBQ's stuffed chicken breasts.

We headed for Weyburn on Wednesday morning and stopped for lunch at Joey's Only.  We were back home by 3:15 and thankful to have had a safe trip on a busy weekend with so many good visits along the way. Alan did most of the driving.  My job is to change the CDs!  We both like western music, especially from the 60's and 70's so we don't argue about which music to play.  We try to catch "Ones at One" on 620 whenever we can too.

Now we are back home with yard work and garden planting to do.  We had 2 tenths of an inch of rain here but some areas were blessed with up to an inch on Tuesday.  Showers can vary a lot in a short distance. ps And now we have had another 3/4 of an inch that came on Saturday night!  Clare finished seeding that day so now there's enough moisture to germinate those seeds.

It's Sunday evening and we just arrived home from Weyburn for the "Beauty and the Beast" drama production done by Weyburn Comprehensive School at the Cugnet Centre.  Abbey had a part in it and also sang in the chorus, as did two of her curling pals -Emily Haupstein and Emma Wiens.  Laurel and Ashley went on Thursday and loved it.  Here are a couple pictures taken after the Thursday show - Ashley with Abbey, and Ashley with Beauty and the Beast.

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Alan had never seen the movie so the story was new to him.  We were so impressed with the quality, hard to believe it was done by high school students!  The director, Colleen Weimer, is retiring from teaching so this was her last production and it was truly a "Last Hurrah".  It will be hard to top this fantastic high school musical.  Thanks Clare and Jodi for gifting us with tickets and for hosting a BBQ on your deck after this wonderful event.  Glad that Shauna, Lindsay and Jamie could join us too.  Here are the cousins enjoying spending time together on the deck on a perfect May evening with no mosquitoes!

And now it's past our bedtime for these seniors so I will say good-night. Enjoy these last May days and the new days to come.  ps  Just had to add these new pictures of camping in Norway not far from Førde.  Looks like a fun time and great weather!