So that time of year has come again – and once again it seem like we’re running late. The pace of things seems to continue to escalate, and this has been a hectic and hard year.

We spent much of March packing up Pat’s mom apartment – as she had decided that there was a new two bedroom apartment with a balcony – in an addition to the senior complex that she was in – that she had to have. The plans for this had been over a year in the making – as mom’s had been the corner suite, she’d lost a window – and probably had the most disruptions due to the construction and noise.

Mom was able to enjoy her new suite for about a week – before Deb admitted her to hospital. Mom was losing mobility, sensation and had significant visual distortions – to which they could find no preliminary cause. Later tests revealed that she had a series of strokes – once in the hospital. She had another large stroke, which significantly impaired her speech and resulted in left sided paralysis although she was still very aware of what was going on. Mom remained in hospital for almost a month before she passed away on May 5th. She was buried next to Dad in Creston – just as all the orchard blossoms were coming into bloom.

Although Mom’s presence in our lives continues to be deeply missed – the family seems to be coping with the loss. The boys have held up well through this – but miss Grandma coming over for weekends. Christmas may be a bit hard for us but we will work through it. Pat continues to deal with the lawyers, accountants and banks – in regard to the estate – all of which he finds very slow, time consuming and frustrating.

Spring also resulted in us having to put Sabre (our lab/collie cross) down. He was getting old and was losing muscle control over his hips and hind end. He struggled to make it in and out of the dog door – although was still insistent on going for walks (limping all the way) and swimming as much as he could. Pat misses having him lay at his feet while he works on the computer at night.

At the beginning of the summer, we sold the Volkswagen van and bought a good used tent trailer. As our inaugural trip, we went out to Bella Coola to visit some friends. This was the first time that Deb had driven this road – but had heard all of the stories about “The Hill”. The Hill is about 25 kilometers long down a steep rock embankment on gravel roads with grades of up to 18%. At times it is single lane – and has a series of switch back corners. Deb – being a true “flatlander” – was very quiet on the drive down – but did a minor version of what might be considered hyperventilating. We had a wonderful time – and our friends had arranged for a native guide to show us a series of rock carvings – complete with stories, songs and drumming. It was truly magical. The only down side to the trip – was that we succeeded in blowing both tires on the tent trailer within a few miles on the return trip. Unfortunately this was about 4 hours away from a major town – and even then we had to wait an additional day for the tires to be delivered.   When the tires did come in – Deb and the boys were not too keen on traveling with Pat to get the trailer – so he saw that section of road 4 times in less than a week.

With the summer came the annual migration that Deb and the boys do to family and beach in northern Saskatchewan. The highlights for the boys included playing with their cousins, tubing behind a boat and flying through the air as Keelan purposely caused his tube to bounce very fast. They also went to another lake with the cousins – and between them all caught close to 50 fish. Despite having to remove all the bones each time we serve it – the boys still look forward to the meals and trying to determine which are the fish that they caught.

August brought the series of the firestorms to BC. In the middle of the month we received an evacuation notice at the cabin at Moyie. We took the very few valuables that are at the cabin and moved them into town. Fire fighting personnel put sprinklers on all the building, which they kept operating for most of the daylight hours. This was far moister that we ever see out there. Deb took advantage of the situation to move some ground cover plants from home to the cabin – where they got well established. As time went on parts of Cranbrook were under evacuation alert – and Pat was heavily involved in the Emergency Operation Center. On the Monday before the Labour Day long weekend Moyie went to a full evacuation order – and residents were only allowed back in by escorted bus – for an hour at a time – to remove any valuables that they had not originally been able to take out. The only thing that Pat could think of to go in and get was his summer supply of home-made beer and wine coolers where were at the cabin – but Deb talked him out of going figuring that the damage it would do to his reputation (the only thing valuable was booze) would not be worth it. When it was all over – no one lost any buildings in the area – although a couple of docks were destroyed. The fire got to about ½ a mile of the cabin – and almost surrounded the other lake behind the cabin.

In mid-October we took the tent trailer down through Yellowstone, the Black Hills and back via Regina to see Sam (Pat’s cousin’s new baby). The boys had a wonderful time seeing all the hot springs and geysers – and even did presentations to their classes on everything that they had learned. Deb and I struggle to remember what hot pools were where and the boys can not only tell you their names but also where they were located and what they looked and smelled like. Their favorites include Dragon’s Mouth Hot Spring (aka The Belching Hot Spring), Needle Geyser and the mud pots. In the Black Hills we saw Mount Rushmore, pictures simply do not do this amazing feat justice, Beautiful Mount Rushmore Cave (no bats unfortunately but lots of features including ‘cave bacon’), Cosmos (where the laws of gravity are challenged) and because we have boys, Reptile Gardens.

Keelan is now in grade one and although he has “the strictest teacher in the school” she’s also “FANTASTIC” (his words). He is quickly learning reading skills and his writing improves weekly. He began piano lessons this year and is really enjoying it. The only problem he has is typical of his nature – he tries to do everything very fast. His latest song is We Three Kings and the way he plays it they got to Bethlehem in less than a day. He is a very social child and loves playing with his buddies, which includes everyone he meets. At gymnastics Keelan is learning how to climb the rope and is nearly half way to the ceiling.   Keelan also developed an interest in watching football this year and was really enjoying the semi-finals – including wanting snacking foods – etc. However when Saskatchewan lost to Edmonton – he lost all interest in the Grey Cup – I am sure this was a direct result of Deb’s genetic bias to the Rough Riders.

Mickey is in grade three and has the same teacher as last year. He excels at reading and continues to love science and reptiles. He has finally learned how to cope with paper mache (can you believe he found it too yucky!); a pair of rubber gloves did the trick, now the whole class wants them. He continues to enjoy his piano and the songs that he plays now challenge mom. He is starting to play duets with Keelan and will also help with his practices (now if we can only teach him to be as instructive with himself as he is with Keelan). Mickey has been enjoying gymnastics again this year and does very well especially on the rings.

So far this year we have had a considerable amount of snow – but it keeps raining or melting in between – so have only been able to go out cross country skiing once so far. Hopefully the conditions will improve and we can get out more. The roads have been bad enough that Pat has been delayed a couple of times on his trips to Kelowna and Kamloops for work – and was even stranded for a night at the top of the Roger’s Pass.

Work continues for both Pat and Deb – however with all of the budget, staff and service cuts – it continues to be a challenge to stay optimistic. However to date both still have jobs and have not “snapped” – although Pat gets close at times.

Hope this letter finds you all well. Take care and stay healthy. Seasons Greetings from – Pat, Deb, Mick and Keelan.