the mini cooper!!

when debbi & i were in vancouver this past july, we went shopping for an afternoon in gastown.....the oldest part of vancouver city.

in 1867 gastown was born....1886, a brush fire cleared out all but 2 of vancouver's 400 buildings.
into the 1920's gastown prospered, but during the depression years it fell into hard times.

jump to 1971 when it was declared an historic area to preserve it's victorian architecture, cobbled streets, tangled mews and passages & replica antique gaslights.


the founder of gastown, 'gassy jack'


gastown's flatiron building








there are amazing little shops on water street & the architecture was just beautiful( i love architecture pics anyway:)!)
if one needs to decorate a house, one can do it from top to bottom just from the amazing designer stores here.

one store we went into was....

great treasures to be found here....including this little mini cooper

this cute car is my aunt's dream!
she sees herself driving one all the time & would love to get one!
well,
this store had a contest to WIN this little number, so of course my sister & i wanted to fill in a ballot.
as it turns out the contest was only open to residents of bc & alberta...bummer;(
aunt jeanette & michelle filled in ballots & we left the store( wishful thinking!)

we did some more souvenir shopping @ this store....


now the exciting part of the story....
michelle calls me last night from vancouver & it went something like this....
hi brenda, it's michelle

hi!!! good to hear your voice...what's up?

well, you remember that mini cooper that mom & i put are names in the draw for....they called me & told me i won the car!!

GET OUT OF TOWN!!!! that is soooo cool!! i'm sooo happy for you....what's your mom gonna say?

i don't know....they are in scotland & england till the end of august, so she doesn't know yet. i just wanted to call you & deb to tell you guys!!

that is so amazing that you won... you have to pick your mom up from the airport with it...it'll surprise the daylights out of her!!

good idea!


ya, so then we talked a bit more & i gave her my sister's phone # so she could tell her too.
with in 10 min deb calls me.
how cool is that?!?

congrats girl....you deserve it!!!

blast from the past...

the other day i was looking for some pictures and i came across this one....


this is me, my cousin michelle from vancouver & my sister debbi
i just howled when i saw this!
this was taken @ my uncle's farm(note the corn stalks in the background & the big farm dog!!) on a sunday afternoon....thus our pretty outfits(check out the knee socks!!)
i remember this dress....my mom made it:)!
i think i must have been about 8 or 9 years old here, when we did this photo op with our family visiting from the west.
michelle tells me that she remembers that visit well & having that picture taken:)
good times!!

in the garden

working in the garden one sees many of the little critters that God created.
while digging out a window well, we came across this little guy.....
...a little salamander




mika was curious about him, but wisely left him alone


i was trimming some branches off of a tree in the front yard when i spied this little guy camouflaged in the branches...

notice he only has one back leg....i think that was my fault :(
...oops, i honestly didn't see him until the very last second!

it always just amazes me that when i see these little guys, i think of how they were all on the ark with noah....
~ gen 7:8&9....of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with noah, as God commanded noah.

evening @ the pier

it was a beautiful summer evening, so we decided to go for a walk along the pier in port del housie.
the kids wanted to take mika, so i thought...why not~a good way for her to get some exercise & let out some energy.



dani tries to get mika in the water....nothing do'n~mika's not a fan:(
i think dani hoped that mika would take to the water like a lab or retriever....
dan, she's a boxer & they're not big 'water' dogs!
she's a bit afraid of the waves rolling in....

with gentle coaxing, dani gets her in


levi, jordyn & roni jump the waves....




it was a great time to run on the beach with the dog too....well at least dani thought so!






beautiful sky

we all got some exercise, & the kidos slept good that night:)
....so did the dog!!

my 'bling' baby

this little girl LOVES her 'bling'!!
she's always been a 'girly~girl'
that's my jordyn ;)!


she found these cute shoes @ the outlet mall in niagara falls last week....her new shoes for school.
well, she won't be missed wearing them that's for sure!




how cute does she look in these shoes~eh?!?
they totally suit her personality ;)