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Since coming back from China we have had forty (yes, 40) friends and family members sleep at our home. It started the day after our return. We got home around 11.30 pm on Friday, June 25. On Saturday, June 26 Irene and Gordon and the choir they are a part of had a gig in Ottawa and so crashed for the night with us - there were 19 of them. We were so jet lagged we hardly knew they were here. We were told there was a tent in the backyard where two friends slept and there was even some swimming at 3:00 am. We didn’t hear a thing. By the time we awoke, Irene had breakfast under control.

Next our friends Ginny and Terry came for a weekend in July. They had their friends from Florida with them, Terry and Janet. We had perfect weather and spent hours playing in the pool and eating.

In August Steve and Adrianne came for a visit with their three children. It was so nice to have children in the house. Steve and I have birthday’s two days apart so we celebrated together.

That same week Ron and Elaine dropped by for the night on their way back from a two-week road trip out east. This was actually their second visit for the summer. They were here in early June and again in August with their children.

And then the Freeman’s arrived with their three children. Our good weather didn’t last through their entire visit but that didn’t stop them from jumping in the pool. We had a blast with the kids.

Alice, Bob and Mahmah visited the last weekend in August. (Sadly, we forgot to take pictures.) I think this will be a summer to remember - China, Paul McCartney, a couple of trips to TO and most importantly, friends. What a blessing it is to have such wonderful people in our lives.

August 9, 2010. After 47 years I finally made it to a Paul McCartney concert.

Eddie and I drove to TO on the 8th and met the family for my birthday dinner. The next day (concert day) we spent walking around Eaton Center with Gord and Irene. I was getting pretty excited when I saw all the people - young and old - wearing their Beatles T-shirts in the mall.  Later on Jason joined us for dinner. I had downloaded the set list for the concert and asked Irene to pick the song she wanted to hear (I planned to phone her during the concert). She politely chose “Something”. When I gave Jason the set list so he could choose the song he wanted to hear, he looked at Irene with a sly grin on his face and said he had to tell us - they were going to the concert too. WOW - was I happy!! You see, not only did Eddie and I grow up with the Beatles but our kids did too. I didn’t know how I was going to enjoy Paul McCartney without them there with us and they knew that so decided to go at the last minute.

I have to say, guys, y’all really outdid yourselves this year with surprises. While our seats were absolutely amazing, their seats were about as far from the stage as you could go. Somehow though, with the help of binoculars and texting, we managed to spot each other - soooo much fun!

I could go on and on about the concert and the two T-shirts I bought, the program and key chain but I will stop here. I think if I ever had the chance to go to another PMC concert I’d go for sure but it would never be as exciting as this time. We made some pretty fun family memories and continue to talk about it from time to time. If I could change anything about that night it would be that Gordon would be sitting up with Jason and Irene and that my cousin Gus would be in the empty seat that was next to me.

Thanks again guys - it was so cool!

Eddie took some great videos of the concert. We juggled three cameras, used up one battery and filled an 8gig card plus some. He did have some challenges to deal with when people jumped up in excitement right in front of him but the videos are great. We’ve watched the concert over several times. I hope you enjoy this short video and if you want more just let me know.

On July 23 Eddie and I drove to TO to celebrate Jason’s 33rd birthday. We had a birthday dim sum lunch with the family on the 24th and then bought patio furniture for Jason’s balcony at his new apartment. We really appreciated Ronnie’s help with the truck. The five of us hung out at the apartment for a while and then Eddie and I drove back to Ottawa when Jason’s party started. Here is a short video of our family time. You’ll notice it’s not my usual format. While I usually use iMovie for my videos this one was made with Pinnacle Studio 12 which offers more fun features. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Birthday, Jason!

June 6 - 26 Alice, Mahmah, Eddie and I toured China for three weeks. It was a trip of a lifetime. We made new friends - Nicky & Dan, Barb & Rick and Betty & Dave and shared many experiences together. From Ottawa, Eddie and I flew to TO and met up with our group. From TO we flew straight to Shanghai where we had a seven-day trade tour by bus. A trade tour is where you get to see and experiences many different things and then you are given an opportunity to purchase them. Things like green tea, cultivated pearls, jade jewelry, specialty tea pots, silk, Chinese medicine and all kinds of souvenirs. After the tour we had three more days in Shanghai - a city of 24,000,000!  Some of us went to the World Expo for a day and we spent more time sight-seeing together. This is such a futuristic city with people, bicycles and motorcycles everywhere. A city I would love to visit again.

From there we flew to Xi’an (only 8,000,000 people) to see the terracotta soldier’s army. This was incredible. Three days later we flew to Beijing (18,000,000 people) and our first stop there was the Olympic Bird’s Nest. In Beijing we visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square along with more temples and palaces.

Our next and last stop was Hong Kong (7,000,000 on a tiny island). This city is breathtaking. Skyscrapers everywhere and like Eddie says, roads running through them. We were able to visit with some of Eddie’s friends. Some he hadn’t seen since high school more than 40 years ago. This was a highlight for us. We also had a nice dinner visit with some family members who live in HK.

Many people have asked me to name the one thing that I loved the most about our trip.  On our bus tour we stopped at a full-size movie studio. This is where we dressed Eddie’s mom up as an empress of the Ching Dynasty. She looked so regal in the costume that every time I see the pictures I am moved.

Another highlight was the Forbidden City. I was completely blown away by the magnitude of this city. It was the city that the emperor lived in with his wife, concubines and servants. I cannot even begin to describe just how grand it was. Of course, being on the Great Wall was another amazing experience. You can see from the photos that there were many people there. The weather that day was very hot and humid. It made climbing the steep stairs hard work and that combined with the uneven height of the steps was just too much for me. I only went up about 60 - 70 steps then stopped and went back down to join Eddie’s mom. One couple in our group, Nicky and Dan, actually made it to the top. Congratulations, guys!

My video is about 9 minutes long. It was a brutal task reducing three weeks to 9 minutes. I took the highlights of the highlights and then kept cutting in order to keep it short.  Eddie worked at least 60 hours on a one-hour DVD. If anyone out there would like to see it just send us an email and we’d be happy to send you one. Meanwhile, here are some pics for you to enjoy and experience a taste of China. Let me know what you think . . .

I usually post things in chronological order. This really comes in handy when I am trying to remember what and when we did something. So - that would mean that my next post would be about our amazing three-week trip to China June 6 - 26. However, I am very excited about a gift that Jason, Irene and Gordon gave me and Eddie for our up-coming birthdays. It’s a gift that I have wanted for forty-seven (yes 47) years. Here is what they got us - and you can be SURE I”ll be posting about this after August 9. Thank you, guys - This is the best gift ever ! ! !

On May 15 we drove to TO to celebrate our Irene’s 30 Birthday! Alice’s birthday is also in May so we had a double celebration. It was a week after Mother’s Day so we figured - why not celebrate that as well? As usual, we met in our favorite restaurant to have a great meal and then brought attention to our table by singing not once but three times! Chu’s really now how to have fun. Before dinner Irene, Gord and I went shopping for a new set of pots and pans. This was a getting-married gift from my sister and brother-in-law, Thea Nancy and Uncle George. They now have a great new set of Revere Ware.

We enjoyed family time and then came home the next day. Irene is 30 - can’t believe it. 2010 is her year! Enjoy the pics.

A few days after returning from Florida Eddie and I drove to Toronto to celebrate Peter’s birthday. We had a lovely meal at the home of friends, enjoyed cake and then drove back to Ottawa. It was a long day and we were so glad we were able to celebrate Peter’s birthday with the family.

Then on May 1 we attended a Michael W Smith concert at Woodvale Pentecostal Church which is not far from our home. To my surprise we were allowed to take photos (no flash) and videos. I’ve uploaded a few of my favorite songs and you can see them HERE.

Yikes! Life is travelling at break-neck speed. Here it is JULY and I’m still needing to post April. SO much has happened that I sort of get overwhelmed with documenting it all. I try to keep this blog as my personal photo journal and sometimes the time needed to keep things up-to-date just isn’t there. Whew - so here I go all the way back to my trip to Florida which was April 7 - 16. I always try to go “home” for my mother’s birthday. This year she turned 84 and at present is happy and healthy. I was also able to see my sister and brother-in-law who were there for two months. The week went by so quickly. We celebrated mom’s birthday with lots of family. Nancy made an amazing cake for the occasion. Other highlights included a reunion with some of my cousins and an awesome show from the manatees. Nance and I were off for a walk around the bayou and saw seven of them! You can click HERE to see a bit of what we saw and HERE to see pics of the week.

On Good Friday, April 2, Eddie and I drove to Toronto in time for nephew Geoffrey’s Birthday BBQ. Most of the family was there along with friends and four dogs! Alice worked very hard to feed us - thanks again Alice. Geoff is now 32 and it was fun being together to celebrate. At one point during the evening those of us with iPhones or iPods put them all together for some photos. I think there were eight in total - crazy.

Our newlyweds were there and received some wedding presents. You can see Irene and Gordon looking at the beautiful crochet queen-size bedspread made by Auntie Pauline and sent all the way from Australia. I’m pretty sure this is only the beginning guys. I am updating this post from Florida and will be bringing more gifts back with me from down south.

On Saturday we had dim sum with family and then went to the grave site of Eddie’s dad. We always have such a good time when we go to Toronto and come back tired from all the rushing, visiting and shopping.

Here are our pics of our visit.

Believe it or not we had a tulip bloom today - March 31! The Ottawa Tulip Festival doesn’t officially start until May 7th.

We plan to drive to TO Friday and come back Saturday. I need to give a mom-hug to my daughter, the bride, and to my son-in-law. Photos will follow for sure.