We used to do it all the time. When my maternal grandmother was alive, the family would get together at least once a month, sometimes two or three times a month. We would all bring lots of food to share, and the kids would usually be pretty busy finding things to do, be it swimming, chasing each other around, or just hanging out with each other, and the adults. Even at Christmas, all of my mom's family, and my dad's family were invited to come together in one place to share a meal, and a few holiday related activities and such. It was always fun.

Lately, though, we have not all gotten together. It's been quite sometime. This last weekend, we finally got together with my mom's older sister and her family. Our Aunt Diane was the one who organized it, and set it up. Her two oldest boys work at the same place, and for once in a very long time, this was their first weekend off together, so it became the perfect time for a get together. We all got together at Lake George in New Brunswick, where the kids and many of the adults enjoyed the late for swimming. It was a lovely day, not too hot, not too chilly, just right. The rain held off for us, and we all had a great time, with promises to get together again sooner rather than later.

Since we were all together, I took the time to get some lovely family photos.

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The lovely husband and I.
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My brother and his beautiful girls.
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Aunt Diane, Adam, Lorne, Grant, Justin, Sarah & April. The fun Rediker family... We missed you Cody & Tasha!
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The Prosser family and friends... Joyce, Steven, Justin, Mike, Cookie, Sarah, Joe & Zachary.
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I love these two.. and even the silly dog. Mom & Dad, looking as fantastic as ever!
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Big lake.. and even bigger sky!
Awesome day, with superb family... we shall be sure to do it again. Thank you for joining us through this post!
 
I just thought I'd share a few of my latest Instagram photos!
 
Not too long ago I stumbled upon this little gem, hosted by A Haven For Vee, and decided I wanted to join! You can read up about the link up party on her site, as well as the rules. Here are my four photos that I've chosen for July.
What a lovely idea! If you'd like to join up, you can visit the party here.
 

We are not entirely sure why it never occurs to us, but we still have not taken the time to purchase any fans, and we definitely do not have air conditioning. So, it's quite hot in our apartment. There is often a nice breeze that may blow through the apartment, when all of the windows are open, but this night is so still, there are not even any little wisps of fresh air. I'll stop whining though. This winter I will be complaining about the cold. I should really just be grateful that we have a place to call home, windows that overlook a beautiful river and a pretty comfortable bed to lay our heads on.

So, it's hot... How do you deal with this heat? Do you enjoy it?

 
Travel. That's what I like. However, now, with life happening, finding a job that I absolutely love, a home that is not so bad, and being busy and involved with our church, travel is not really something that's going to happen so often in my life anymore. I'm okay with that. I guess earlier in my life I always thought every other place that I went was more beautiful. Korea had lots of beauty, each spring there were Cherry Blossoms, and roses and all of that. Thailand, what can you say, the beaches, the people, just beautiful.

New Brunswick, though, wow. I can't believe I missed the beauty in this place up until now. I must have noticed, but not all that much, I guess. When I was younger I'd watch the sky as the sun set and marvel at how amazing it looked. I always compared it to the ocean, and little clumps of pink and purple clouds like big stones on the beach. It was mesmerizing. Even now, like tonight, driving home, I was just so distracted by the gorgeous sky. It's not so good. I should just give in, pull over, and take some pictures of it, it would be safer than going off the road.

I also really enjoy my driver to and from work in the full daylight. The rolling hills, the greenery, fields of different crops that are growing, it's wonderful.

New Brunswick is a beautiful province, and I'm going to be sure not to forget the gift God has given me to enjoy each day here. I do plan on making more of an effort to stop and take some photos from now on, and to share them with you.

In the mean time, here is another website with some spectacular photos of this lovely province. And here are some random photos that I've taken over the little while since we've been back from Korea!

 
In March of this year I began a new job. I went from a job of working with my mother and my husband to working a completely opposite shift of both of them, and not seeing too much of either of them, most certainly not enough. I miss my daily conversations with my mother, but at least she's a texter, and we can usually stay in touch via messages. My husband, though, is not really much of a texter, or a phone conversationalist, so I really do miss him.

God has been good to us, though. Over the course of the last month or so, Derek has been getting about one day off each week, and it usually tends to be the same day that I have off. It's been really nice. We have been able to spend some special time together, whether just relaxing, or going grocery shopping together.

Yesterday was another day that we both had off together. I had lots of ideas for what I was going to do. I wanted to go to the gym, and to hang out with Kirby, our pastor's lovely fat cat. I might have even considered doing some housework, and may have cooked a nice supper. Derek had another suggestion, though.


He wanted to go visit his hometown. This was new. Even though it's only about 30 - 40 minutes away, he is usually very reluctant to go there. So, the fact that he was interested in going was not something I wanted to argue with. I jumped on it right away, and off we went.

We first went to JR's Takeout. Derek has fond memories of that place, and how could he not? They have a Class of '98 burger on their menu, and that's the year Derek graduated, so it must have been a good year for the takeout. After lunch, we drove around town, and then spent some time at the local drug store. We needed to get some bug spray, for our plan to walk around the lake.

The lake. Yes, it's a nice place. We tried to walk around that lake about six years ago, but gave up because of the swarms of bugs and black flies, and mosquitoes that were driving us nuts. So, yes, bug spray was super important.

We sat at the picnic table for a little bit just enjoying the peace and quiet. I kept thinking that it sure looked like a very long walk around to the other side of the lake. It didn't matter, though, we weren't in any hurry.
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There were many stumps like this with big rocks piled on top of them. I'm not entirely sure why the rocks were on them, but I found them quite interesting. Then, we came across this other one.

We were going to take the red 2KM trail, but missed the turn, and so we ended up just going around the Village Walking Trail. It was nice, though, and I really enjoyed it. We both did.

After that walk, we went to Derek's old home, where he grew up. We don't go there often, but we need to soon go back and pack somethings up, before they get ruined, some old family heirlooms and things. As you can see, the grass and weeds and things are all growing up quite a bit.

There were even raspberries in the yard.

After we left there, we went to visit Derek's aunt really quickly. Aunt Mary is awesome, and it's always nice to visit with her. We had been told previously about Derek's Uncle Leonard, and that he was quite ill, but after talking with Mary, we decided to go visit him and his family, as well as Derek's other uncle and aunt who are visiting from BC. It was nice to meet more of Derek's relatives, and I found out that some people I went to school with are cousins of his. It sure is a small world. I haven't had an update on Uncle Leonard today, but if you think of him, please pray for him and his family. I believe Uncle Leonard is a man of faith, and this may make the loss less painful for the family when it comes, but regardless, a loss is a loss, and it's never easy.

After visiting with family, Derek and I went to Subway and had supper, courtesy of a gift card from his Mom. That was good, as always. Then, it was time for the drive home. I did finally find a canola field to take a photo of on the way home, though.

Canola fields are lovely this time of year. Actually, this country we live in is just beautiful all year round! The trees, the green, the potato fields, the big blue sky, lupines on the side of the road, wild flowers, it's just all amazing! I am truly blessed on my drive to work each day.

We ended our day with a quick visit with Kirby, making sure he was well fed, and although Derek told me it was going to rain, I still asked him to water the plants, and garden. He's such a good man, that husband of mine.

I'm not sure how much longer it will be before I get to working on a day shift and am able to spend more time with my Derek, but until then, I will try to enjoy these few days here and there that we get to spend together.

 
 

Well, I used to blog... .when we were in Korea. You can check out that blog here. I think I was good at it. But, then, we moved back to Canada... amid some drama, and things got a bit tense, and I kind of got out of the blogging thing, often thinking that there's really not a lot of very interesting stuff going on here in our small town, so it might be kind of boring. HOWEVER.... I have had a couple of people asking me about my blog... and so I think it's really time to get back at it! Blogging is fun. Sharing pictures that I take is fun, and I hope you enjoy my blog. 

Just as an introduction, it took quite a while before I got back on my feet, and got back to work. Then, for over a year, I worked at a potato packing place with my mother and husband. That was just lovely... well, not really. But, Praise the Lord, 2013 has been a great year of changes and challenges for me. I currently work at a huge transportation company, as a Truckload Specialist, and also volunteer as treasurer at our church, which I absolutely love. God has been good to us!