Happy New Year!

So here I find myself on the last day of 2015.  It has been quite the year in our house.  We had so many wonderful adventures, and so many ordinary days that make up all the memories of a not so ordinary life. 

Although we love travelling in our fifth, the days spent with each other at home, at the rink with the grandchildren, watching them swimming, babysitting, taking to and fro school, and especially camping are special memories that we cherish everyday.  We find conversation often leads back to a moment when one of us will say "Remember when Mason did this or that", "Did you hear what Em said?", etc.   Everyone of those 5 kids are so precious to us.  And again I cannot say how fabulous it is to have the Stecyks in Edmonton.

You can review this blog for the last year to read what we have done. That's my easy way out!

Where will the new year find us?  Who knows so why predict. We will continue our quest for a healthier lifestyle, continue enjoying our camping and RV trips, and continue kissing those five sweet faces every chance we can. 

2015 reminded us not to take ourselves for granted and to appreciate every day. 

Here is a Flipagram of our year. Hopefully the link opens for you!

https://flipagram.com/f/i0lX6p2nua

All the best to all our readers. Happy New Year and make the best of 2016!!

Driving Mr Don

December started the same way as most Decembers do. Getting some work in, making sure the house, presents and food for Christmas were ready, and planning for the annual DWS party. As of December 12 all was in order and normal. That afternoon we went to Blake's hockey game in St Albert. And bam life changed. Over the course of that evening Don had a heart attack, followed by surgery and we began to think in terms of before and after. 

The most important things to remember are that he is feeling great, and that timing was on our side.  Not just ok or fine but great. He had 3 blockages and 2 procedures to insert stents, one on Saturday night and one on Wednesday afternoon. Discharge was Thursday and we have quietly slipped into a new and improved life. 

We have both been working hard at improving our diet and fitness lifestyle, and this is a bit more motivation. 

I don't mean to make light of this as it was shattering and terrifying. But with our love and support for each other, the love and support of our daughters and their families, and all our family and friends that have sent wishes and visited, it has been a great holiday season. 

For Don driving has been put on hold for a month, medications have increased, and he is working extra hard at recovery. 

We hope you have had a great holiday season. I will update the blog another day with our holiday activities and leave you with this special photo. 

November Already!

Well November has settled into a routine that we are enjoying.  Last month I didn't say much about Don's work, but although he isn't in the field too often, he has certainly had a lot of office work, which keeps him just as busy.

We are still attending hockey, ringette and swimming lessons whenever possible.  I don't have any swimming photos as cameras are not allowed, but those boys are so cute and enjoying themselves immensely!

Cutest school photos ever!

And my favorite from thanksgiving and family dinners. Mason is such a little sweetie. 

Tracy celebrated a birthday this month.  Lindsay and I took her to a Wynona concert and dinner, and it was fantastic.  Then on Sunday Don went to their house for dinner and cake.

I spent 3 days at a Co-op conference in Edmonton, which was a good learning experience as always.

And Reese turned 5!!  How is that possible?  It's a big year for Reese. Kindergarten, music, ringette, swimming and a day home. She's come through with flying colours!

A few more work opportunities for both of us, the start of Christmas baking, etc.  And the month rolls to a close again!

Talk to you later. 

October Full of Color and Life

When I warned you not to expect too many posts through the fall I never expected to be this weak at blogging.  Sometimes though a blogger just can't find the initiative.  It doesn't mean you don't care about the blog, or sharing.  Sometimes I blame all the other social media opportunities we have, especially Instagram.  Being able to post those special moments without any real thought for the word content is kind of easy sometimes.  You can always join us on Instagram - we have many accounts; drivingmissdonna, donnasmith62, and dwsaggregates...

At any rate October was one of our busier months.  I had several presentations to complete, both for myself and on behalf of Volunteer Alberta.  One of my favorite ones was presenting at the Senior's Conference in Spruce Grove.  I am so blessed to have this job of mine as I love it dearly.

I wish I could just copy our calendar here and be done.  LOL  From hockey and ringette with the Camerons, to babysitting Reese on Mondays for music class and getting to know this little sweetheart on a one on one basis, to spending Thursdays with Connor and /or Mason as Connor had extra school classes or both boys attended swimming lessons; this month has flown by.

Don worked a few jobs in between all that as well, and we continue to strive towards a healthier life style in both exercise and food.

Here are the highlights:
Chris deBurgh concert - Don and I have been waiting for this concert to come to Edmonton or even Alberta for YEARS!!  It was so fantastic!

Tracy and Cal celebrated 11 years of marriage!  Wow that went fast.

Lindsay and Jeremy hosted a fantastic family Thanksgiving dinner - thanks hosts!

Don and I worked the timebox at one of Lindsay's ringette games - so cool to be ringette parents again, but without all the volunteer work!

Don and I worked in the field together a couple of times.

DWS Aggregates had their external audit - it was a busy time and a little stressful.

I completed my Level I Co-op Director traning - 6 courses.

Don celebrated his 59th birthday in the ususal style - grandkids and carrot cake.

And Halloween!

Don and I are so proud of all our grandchildren. Blake who is playing Tier 2 Novice Rep hockey, Emerson and Reese playing ringette and giving it their all and Connor and Mason and their amazing efforts in swimming. And Connor in first year of preschool 100 voices!  And their parents for running around and still maintaining life while exhausted. 

Have a great November everyone!

And that's a Wrap

Well our September holiday has come to a close, but with a great ending. When we left Cape Lookout we headed to Seattle for an evening. Usually in the last day of vacation we pick a serviced site in order to clean, vacuum and whatever else the RV might need. But this time we accomplished all that and more in our state park site, even without services. So our evening in Seatlle was spent having a meal out, a bit of shopping and then a riveting game of Yahtzee!  

Thursday morning we leisurely hooked up and headed to Langley. Our weekend was being spent attending a wedding on the island at Merridale Cidery. This last wedding of the year for us was a special young man. Nathan Campbell is the son of Don's cousins Stewart, the same Stewart that I have referred to in previous posts. 

We were honoured to be invited, and it was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful location. The photo below was taken from the photographer's Facebook page. 

Alex was a glowing bride!

Once again Stewart and Susan treated us to a fabulous time. We walked, toured and ate our way through a few days. Sunday was time to head home, and back to reality!

I'm not sure what that means right now. We both have some work days to look forward to and are anxious to see our family. 

I'm sure my posts will be infrequent until our spring trip, but I'll try to touch base monthly.

Have a wonderful fall!

Leaving the Beach Behind

We spent the last of our ocean days at Cape Lookout State Park near Tillamook. In hindsight we should have spent more nights here and less around Astoria. The only reason being that this is the best walking beach, in our opinion. But it's a hard choice to make!  At any rate all the beaches have been near perfection and no regrets. 

Again this has been a relaxing stop with not much excitement to report. We made a visit to Mo's Restaurant to fulfill our clam chowder cravings.

This is a must stop if you are on the Oregon Coast. 

The weather here was outstanding and we had a great evening visiting our neighbour over the glow of the fire pit, sharing stories of American and Canadian health care and life. 

Look at some of the life we found on the beach. 

But as always the best part was being together and walking the ocean beaches. 

As always another great stop. 

Until next time. 

Back to a Favorite

When we decided to take mom on her trip then continue somewhere for 2 weeks it didn't take much consideration to know we were going to go back to the Oregon coast. With a limited time to travel we simply picked our "best of the best" state parks. That brought us to Cape Disappointment on the farthest south tip of Washington. This is the state park where can walk out behind the trailer and onto the beach. And it has great access to the peninsula and another favorite, Oysterville. After two nights here we moved across the state line to Fort Stevens park on the northern most tip of Oregon, Astoria. I total we have been here seven nights. Our days have been filled with beach walks, hikes, reading, Yahtzee and a few drives. It has been a wonderful slow pace and in that way a bit unusual for us. We did make an afternoon jaunt to Portland to visit a mall, but with our dollar the way it is, we didn't stay long. Also I see no sense in shopping at a store we have at home so that limits which ones I visit!  Which isn't a problem. LOL

The Astoria Bridge

A View of Astoria

We completed a 7 km hike around Leadbetter Point near Oysterville. The path went through both ocean shore and forest. Look who I saw on our hike!

And of course we had to stop in Ousterville for some seafood. 

Every morning we walked this beach. Today we are moving a bit farther south and will miss it!