More Grandma Camp fun

On Monday morning we shopped for groceries and we decorated our bears. They ended up with everything from earrings to Bat Man costumes. After that we went to the Dollar Store. The kids just thought that was the ultimate. Then we went to Cardston where we first went to the temple grounds to wait until it was time to go to the show at the Remington Theatre. We saw Calamity Jane!!

On Tuesday we went to Henderson Lake where we met a photographer and she spent all morning with us taking hundreds of pictures (literally). She will give us a CD on Thursday. Hopefully we will get lots of good pictures.

Today we planned to go to Park Lake to swim but it has been windy and cold and we decided that wouldn't be too good an idea. So we make cookies and pigs in a blanket, painted bird houses and little wooden airplanes and updated our books.

The Stewart Family Vacation

The Stewart Family Vacation.

Just before leaving Calgary. Garry and I had a new roof put on the house. It took them three days to finish. So, we couldn't get out of town till that was done. Then we just took an extra day around the house to prepare for the trip. And then we hit the road.

Every year we go out to Shuswap Lake where Roy has his Cabin.
We left here on July 13th. We got up very early and drove all morning to get there
by noon. We stayed out for two week. We had a great relaxing time.
We went to the beach every day. We went out for dinner one night.
We went mini golfing with the kids. We had great weather the whole time
we were out there, not too hot, just warm every day. So, it was nice to have a
cool dip in the lake. We have a new puppy. She is a golden retriever named Sierra. Sierra loved the dips in the lake. We all loved taking her for walks
every day down to the switch back and home. Thats the road that is as long
as our driveway and then back to the house. It is a good walk.

We were going to head home on Saturday July 26th, but Garry's Uncle Murray and Auntie Mary just got their boat fixed and asked if we would stay and extra day so, we could get a boat ride in for the kids and us. So, we did.

On sunday we headed out from the lake back for Calgary.
On the way we stopped and said our good byes to Mary and Murray, Lori and Guy - friends of theirs.

We stopped in sicamos to play at the beach waterfront and at the park. We all jumped out
of the van and headed out for our walk. As I had the dog on her leash walking the board walk a man approached me and said, "no dogs on the beach", so I head back to the van to wait for Garry and the kids. Two hours passed and they didn't come and didn't come. I couldn't go look for them, as the dog was not allowed and I could have been fined for having a dog at the beach.
I was sitting under the bridge waiting for them to come back to the van. I finally went in to look for them and said lets get going. Garry said to me, "Where were you.??" I told him. I was waiting on him to come back to the van so, we could get on the road and I couldn't have the doggie in the park. I was so, mad. He thought I took off shopping with the dog. Now, how do you go shopping with a dog and no wallet. I had no keys to even put the dog in the van so, I could go back and get garry and the kids. So, I sat and waited and waited. We got back on the roadarriving home to Calgary very late that night till 11pm. Garry had to work the
next morning and we still had to unload the van. Man, what a day!! I am glad that drive is over.

Roy and Bernice are doing well. They plan on going to Europe in Aug for 3 weeks.
Jeanne and Gerd have moved down to Cranbrook. So, we are traveling down there
Aug. long week end to go camping with them. Jeanne just had surgery. She is doing much better and is recovering well.

Christopher starts grade one and Ashley starts grade three on Aug. the 1st. Our kids are in year round school, so it back to school on Friday. For every holiday they get an extra week off.
So, at Thanks Giving instead of only one week. They will get two weeks. I am looking forward to them going back too. They are ready, as they haven't had time to be bored to tears yet. We only had a week after they finished school in June, then we went on our holidays, and now they will be back into school next Friday.

The Stewart Family.

The Third Day

Today we did everything from shopping for groceries, to decorating teddy bears (I think the coolest one is the bat man teddy by Jordan), to waiting on the grounds of the temple for our play at the Remington Centre, Calamity Jane, to start, to getting autographs and shapshots of the cast members, to producing our own light show in the park across the street with light sticks. It was a busy day. We all got to bed late and they are not allowed to get up tomorrow morning before 8:30 a.m. We will see how we do.

To waiting on the temple grounds before it was time for our play, Calamity Jane at the Remington Theatre.

Here we are. I think we did it.

The first one is them all in their new PJs and the next one is just before we left for church.

Grandma Camp Photos

I don't know why but when I try to upload the photos all I get is a bunch of typed gobble de gook. I will try again another time.
LA

Grandma Camp Has Started

We started Grandma Camp yesterday. The kids all arrived by about 3:30 and we did some planning and then all went for Dinner at Tony Roma's. We celebrated birthdays for Taylor and Jill. The cutest comment of the night was Peirce who decided that he wouldn't have ribs because he was a vegetarian. When I asked him what he wanted instead, he said he would have a hamburger. Today after church we had lunch which took until 3:00 and then did crafts. The theme of Grandma Camp this year is President Hinckley's 6 B's. They made shrink art of the 6 Bees. They are Bee Clean, Bee Grateful, Bee Humble, Be Prayerful, Be smart, Bee True. They made necklaces and earrings and had a ball playing with the beads. Jordan wasn't too into the beading. He said that was a "girly" thing but when he saw how much fun the others were having he joined in. Tonight we watched the Pioneer Special for the 24th of July on the BYU Channel. They featured the Osmonds as they are celebrating their 50th year in the entertainment business. Jordan asked if they were older than the Beetles and when I told him they were, he couldn't believe it. I guess he thinks the Beetles are the oldest singers in the world. After the show, Taylor set the example for all the rest by cleaning the family room in order for them all to get ready for bed. She did an excellent job there and then came upstairs and did the same in the kitchen. What a great kid she is!!

Tonight I had them all get into the new PJ's I made for them and we took pictures of them all and then they went straight to bed. By 10:30 the house was quiet. How did I do that you may ask? Well I could say that Grandma's have the touch but really I bribed them. I told them that if they went to bed good tonight and I didn't have to speak to them once about making noise, we would go into the park tomorrow night after it gets dark and play light tag light sticks. They must have taken me seriously as they all went right to sleep. It is great.

So Grandma camp is going swimmingly.

I will include a couple of photos and if I have time, report again in a couple of days.

Love to you all.
LA/Mom, Aunt Nan, etc.

PS for some reason I can't get the pictures to attach so I will post this and do another one with the them.

The following is an email that I received from Ardell's son, my step-son, Jules Wilson. As some of you may or may not know, Jules has some real good goals in his life. I want you to all watch the video on You Tube. Just scroll down his email and click on the link to You Tube to watch his video. He is actually the person narrating the video and the pictures are all of him training for his tri-athelon in Victoria, Saanich BC on July 13th. This is his 4th consective year and each year he places in the top of all the athletes. The video is of him actually training for the race and all the money he raises goes towards his own personal goal and the donations are made to the Victoria Women's Sexual Assult Centre in Victoria. In the video you will see a portion of him winning Mr. Black BC 2006 contest. The two pictures of him just before the presentation of 1st place is of him modelling and reciting his self-written poetry.

Ardell and I are so proud of this young man. I am very proud to have such a step-son. Jules works as a counsellor for troubled teens and does very well at his job. He is a part time youth pastor at his church, and is a very faithful Alcoholic Annonymous Member, who on June 16th, celebrated his third year of sobriety. We were in Vancouver to support him in his feit and celebration of his Cake. Jules lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Then of course his sister is pretty precious to us as well. Melanie works for a government department in Victoria, is very athletic herself and loves to make home made greeting cards. Her greeting card company is called Ladybug cards. They feature her very own photography and designs. Whenever she sends us a greeting card, it always has such appropriate wording for the occasion. Ardell and I think the world of her also.

I hope all our family can meet Jules and Melanie soon. They are exceptional kids and we love them dearly.

Just wanted to share this video with you for now. Hope you all are not drowning in this rain and hail storms. Even the worms in Calgary are drowning, we have had so much rain, and it is still raining and just won't seem to stop. It is pretty bad when just this morning, I said to Ardell on the way to work at 5 am this morning, it is something when you have to have the heater in the van on in the middle of July to drive to work. Ardell starts work at 6 am, so I drive him downtown every morning at 5 am for work. I come home and have a little nap before I leave for work at 6:45 and rush to get to work for 7 am. But then, I am off at 2:45 pm, and Ardell is usually home by C-Train by 4:30 pm and I meet him at the train to bring him home. Consequently we are usually in bed pretty early on week days. Now it is late and I should go to bed myself. Just wanted to share this video with you. If you would like to donate next year, please let me know and I can forward any donations on to Jules for his worthy cause.

Jules Email:

Good Morning My Friend,

I wanted to take the time to thank you for your support and/or generous donation to the Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Centre's (VWSAC) Triathlon of Compassion. As of Sunday July 13th, the event had raised approximately $16,000. Of that total, approximately $2,500 or 13% came from your generosity. The volunteers, staff members and recipients of services at the event were all ecstatic about our efforts again this year! I have no way of truly expressing their level of thanks and well wishes for your contributions.
Over the past three years, we have been able to raise over $10,000 through your contributions alone to help VWSAC provide programs and services to women and children who have experienced sexualized violence. That is an amazing and unsurpassed fundraising total for this event. Each year, we add to our legacy of support, understanding and caring.

RACE DAY
As for the race itself it was challenging but very picturesque. This year they changed the swimming venue and the run route. The 5K run was done out along the ocean and posted a magnificent view and a welcomed ocean breeze on a hot summer's day! As per usual the participants were very supportive of each other and laughter was at an all time high. Our excitement continued to grow and no participant finished the race without being greeted by a chorus of cheers and applause for their efforts. The finished line was well populated with massage tables, an espresso bar and great music from a local radio station. A-Channel news was also on hand to interview many of the race participants.

We continued the after party by handing out awards for race times, team spirit and fundraising totals. I am very proud to say that for the 3rd year in the row we were amongst the top 3 fundraisers for the event and twice, including this year, we finished number 1!!!

THANK YOU CORPORATE SPONSORS
At this time I would like to thank my two corporate sponsors this year: Isaac Payne who trained me at Drive Fitness Gym in Richmond (www.drivefitness.ca) and DJ Hunt of www.hunt.fm Canada's new leading source for hip hop and RnB, who provided a shout out for my fundraising efforts on his weekly national podcast. Finally I can't say enough about Andrey Carey who coordinated the race again this year and the folks at VWSAC especially Tracy Lubick who have been strong supporters of our efforts over the years.

NEXT YEAR
This year we changed up our approach to fundraising with a promotional video which was posted on You Tube. No doubt others will try this tactic next year after the rave reviews it received. That said, I look forward to re-eventing the fundraising game again next year and promise to be in even better shape for the triathlon.

Feel free to share with your friends news of this event and if they haven't watched it yet, ask them to watch my You Tube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boJyvHtygBI) so that more people can be aware of the issue of sexualized violence and become aware of a great organization that is available to support them if they need it. Remember, the stats are pretty clear, 1 in 3 women at some point in their lives will experience sexualized violence. Every year that we support VWSAC through our fundraising efforts we also extend our presence of caring to the community and let victims of sexualized violence know that they are supported and they are not alone.

Until next year I wish you all the best in your adventures.

Jules

PS - There will be a tribute video posted shortly online for you to view some of the activities that went on during the Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Centre's Triathlon of Compassion. This video will include a special thanks from Andrea and Tracy two people instrumental in ensuring this event occurs annually and that the message of help, healing, and hope gets carried on.