Some favorite moments of our trip to Canada

I realize it has been 10 days since my last posting on my blog. Sharron and I have just returned from a family trip to Canada to celebrate her dad’s 80th birthday! If you want to read a great blog post about the trip (including pictures) I recommend you take a moment to click on my daughter Stephanie’s blog. She has posted a great review of our trip.

Sharron and I had saved and planned for several months for our family to go to Canada to visit family and surprise her dad on his birthday. We arrived on Monday August 11th and enjoyed an evening with her dad and aunt. On Tuesday we began our travels to see family. We also wanted to make this a memorable experience for Josh and Alyse, since this was their first visit with our family to Canada. Here are some of my favorite moments of the trip:

Alyse travelled so well! As we boarded the plane Alyse was wide-eyed to see everything around her. She travelled from her mom's lap - to her dad's lap - to Papa's ( that's me) to Grammie's.
As air travel goes - it was normal. We had to travel south to Atlanta in order to travel north to Buffalo, NY. It was a long and tiring day.

We enjoyed being with dad on Tuesday for his birthday. He knew that we were going to visit family (this was part of the plan to keep the planned party for him a surprise) so he departed for a trip to visit his sisters. We departed to travel to Toronto to do some "tourist" stuff and had a full day. We spend the night at the home of Sharron's brother. His daughters Deanne and Courtney teach swimming lessons in their backyard pool. Josh and Alyse enjoyed a swim after the full day in Toronto and Alyse got a free swimming lesson from her second cousin Deanne.

One of my favorite places in all the world is the farm that Sharron's Auntie Elva lives on. This farm was established over 100 years ago when Sharron's great grandfather came from Wiltshire England to Dundalk Canada. Sharron's auntie Elva recently celebrated her 92nd birthday!

There is no Internet access at the farm. In fact, Elva still uses a rotary phone and her phone service is part of a party line. While there I heard the familiar two long rings and one short ring - then Elva picked up the receiver and began her conversations. She told us of the story several years ago when she was out in the barn. She fell and broke her hip. She was able to drag herself to the house, up the stairs and into the entry way. When she toppled over the phone stand - someone was on the line. Elva interrupted the conversation and asked for help. Within a few moments neighbors were there to help. She is not bothered by having no cell phone - no Internet - just a simple life with church, family and friends.

I love this picture of Sharron with her dad and her brother Les. Dad told me later that day that he was surprised by the party. Nearly 80 people came together for this day. Les and Anne did a great job in planning and holding this surprise birthday party. I think having our whole family there was truly special for dad.

I am also sure that Dad loved seeing his grand daughters ( Stephanie; Courtney; Deanne and Danielle)

We really enjoyed our trip to Canada. Sharron and I have have many great memories of our travels to Canada to be with family. I remember going to Canada to ask her dad for Sharron's hand in marriage. Sharron and I went to Niagara Falls on our honeymoon. We have many trips to Canada with our girls to visit family. Now - a special memory of our family going to celebrate the 80th birthday of Sharron's dad!