Tea Party

I have always loved tea.

It makes me feel more grown up than a plain old cup of coffee,

and I am sure it's much better for me too!

And anyway...doesn't a Tea Party sound so much happier and fun than a Coffee Party?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A good friend of mine just came back a bit ago from a missions trip in Costa Rica. While she was there she met many people with different stories and many needs. Certain people who's life stories would make us want to reach out and help too.

Upon her return home, she told me about one mom who is in desperate need of help, not only for herself but for her own son, her sister's children whom she has taken in, and her mother. She works 10-12 hours a day to support all 5 of them, and can barely make enough to pay for housing, let alone food and clothing.

My friend and I decided to host 2 Mother's/Daughter/Ladies Teas in celebration of upcoming Mother's Day, but also as a fundraiser for this single mom who touched her heart while in Costa Rica.

For any of you who are reading this and live in Central Alberta....you are very welcome to attend our Tea Party. There are 2...one being held on Friday, May 7th and the other on the Saturday, May 8th. There is no charge, but any donations made will go towards this family.

If you are interested in celebrating Mother's Day and helping another mother out there, please feel free to e-mail me for more information.

I would love to have you to our Tea Party!

My e-mail is deejaylblue@hotmail.com and I will be happy to add you to our list of Tea Party People!

(Above photos can be found here)

Content-Regardless

I awoke this morning to a view I did not like.
It's white.
And blowing.
And blustery and gloomy.

It was a mere 2 days ago, and my kids were pulling me around the yard showing me blooms, bulbs, and shoots of green that were finally poking up through our dry dirt:

Now...here is where those new beauties lie:

What I need to concentrate on today:

"In whatever situation (or Province) I am in, therefore learn to be content (and not wish I was somewhere back in warmth)."

Guess we are all settling down with good books today:)

Hope you all have a wonderful day, whether you have sun ...or snow!!

Beautiful Beach Day

Sister Adventures

My sister and I took this trip out to the coast last year, and because we flew, we stayed right in Victoria and walked everywhere. This year we had more options in what and where to explore because we drove, so we decided to make our way up the east side of Vancouver Island.

After dropping my son off in Sidney for his Sailing Trip,    (http://www.bluewateradventures.ca/)

which is an amazing opportunity if you ever have the chance, we decided to try our hand at sailing ourselves. We came upon a one hour sailing "course" at the Marina and hopped onto a smaller (27 foot) sailboat (my son's was double that). We actually got to put the sails up and steer the boat. It made me want to go back and take a few sailing courses.

What a life that would be to be able to sail off whenever you needed to breathe! I think I could just sail away at times.....

We had lunch at our favorite cafe in Sidney (which we came upon last year).....

(http://www.sidneybusiness.com/directory/Red-Brick-Cafe.html)

Our favorite...Clam Chowder and The Salad.

After leaving Sidney we made our way up the Island, stopping at Rathtrevor Beach for the night. As funny as this may seem, I have never actually "watched the tide come in". I stood on rippled sand, watching the water come in quickly and filling the ripples up as the tide made its way to the exposed shore. I felt like a kid....watching something happen for the first time and wondering how it really does happen.

This was the first night we slept stretched out in sleeping bags in my van...listening to seals bark and different birds call out in the night. We awoke at 3am to lights shining into the van....a (friendly?) policeman wondering why someone from Alberta was parked oceanside. We slept til 6am and headed further up north to Qualicum.

My sister was my tour guide....and showed me an adorable place called Coombs, where we shopped here: http://www.oldcountrymarket.com/

That night we spent a bit and decided to stay in a seaside cottage....this was our view from the living room:

And this where we spent part of an afternoon, journalling, reading, and

thinking with our eyes closed;):

Hiking in Goldstream........

View from our van when we woke up and opened the back:

Meanwhile, my oldest was having a wonderful time sailing his boat and meeting a great group of friends. I think it was hard for us all to drive away from this beautiful part of our country.

One consolation...Adam wants to sail again next year.

We will go back.

Home again, home again....

Whew! What a month this April has been!
My family and I spontaneously took a 2 week holiday, we got home for a week and a bit, then I was back on the road again for another 8 days.
This last time I took my oldest out to the west coast for his own sailing-boat adventure, and my sister came along with me to keep me company while he was sailing around the sea.

What a wonderful 8 days these past have been.
There are many tales to tell, and some I shall keep to myself and my sister;)....but it was an absolute amazing time we had together.

While I try to reorganize things back at home now and find the "usual schedule of routine", I thought I would try to find the most favorite of all pictures I took.
(And for my fellow Albertans, spring actually DOES exist out there!)
While I go get this laundry and unpacking done, here is just some of the beauty that took my breath away....

      roadside color while we wandered through

                       local shops

hiking trails which led us to a new bloom every few feet

seaside homes which have these growing in front of picket fences

canopies of pink on the streets of Sidney

My biggest regret in seeing all of this, is envying it all for where I live.

I am sorry to say I wasn't able to bring any of this home with me!

Sights we Saw

one of my favorite sights

ben's bird in san diego

corben and the cactus in acapulco

ocean sunrises

busy streets of manzanilla

in the middle of no-where catus

colorful massive cargo ships

tree boats

magestic GRAND CANYON that pictures don't do justice

infamous route 66....

(the movie 'cars' made my kids insist this was Maynard!)

larger than i thought it would be- Hoover Dam

red rock mountains of Sedona, Arizona

Memory Pics

HELLO!

I wasn't planning to post for a bit yet...but, as our "Memory Making Time" took us in to places we never really planned on and resulted in almost 700 pictures- I couldn't let them go to waste!

Besides....as I won't be seeing some of you in the very near future...I thought I would share where our travels took us!

Soooo....for the brave, here's a VERY short version of our VERY spontaneous and truly Memorable time we had together:

Just some of the places we ventured.....

And then of course there were the people we shared this time with.....

And then there were some of the things we did:

Ocean Exploration

Lots (too much) eating....

Land and Water Sports

Well if you made it THIS far I am sure you need a break!

The sights we saw will have to wait for

another post.....if you dare come back to peek:)

I Hope your day is Happy today!

Can't wait to hear from all of you...it is good to be home where

heart and friends and (the rest of) family are!