July ~ the good ole summertime

Let me start with the last hurrah of July...

before reviewing the rest of the month.

 Since today is our 51st wedding anniversary...

and we celebrated with a mountaintop getaway...

I will post a few pic's of Whistler.

We rode every gondola and chairlift...

hiked the alpine meadows...

...and cooled off in the snow.

Whistler village was experiencing the same heat wave we were having at home...

but it was somewhat cooler on the mountaintop with a refreshing breeze.

A new-to-us experience was crossing the new Cloudraker Skybridge...

a suspension bridge with an amazing views from Whistler Peak. 

So thankful for the journey together and all the adventures along the way!

Now...back to the beginning of the month.

Lucy had a birthday...

which we marked with an outing to Tapins golf course and a birthday cookie pizza at the lake a day or two early.

Lucy was thrilled to beat Maggie at golf...

since Maggie always plays to win.

Lucy actually spent her birthday in Kamloops...

cheering on her sister from the grandstands at the BC Athletics Championships.

Maggie brought home the gold....

and it was such fun to be there to watch her race.

From Kamloops...

it was on the Scotch Creek and a few days at the 'Baerg cabin' at Shuswap Lake with my sisters.

We had a few relaxing days at the lake...

and a good time with family.

Last week Maggie competed at the B.C. Summer Games in Prince George...

and again had amazing runs.

...bringing home a gold and two silver medals.

For the first time in several years we had an extended family get-together...

a pool party where cousins and second cousins and uncles and aunts could meet up.

Time hurries on...

and the littles aren't so little anymore.

It was good to be together!

Though we thought summer may pass us by this year...

it arrived with a vengeance in July!

We had DQ and Mighty Moose ice-cream outings with the grands last week.

We are thankful for the AC...

and finding it hard to keep all the thirsty plants watered.

And so ends July 2022.

The months and the years are slipping by.

We have no idea what tomorrow may hold...

but know God will be faithful.

June ~ As it Happened

Now that the sun has set on June...

let me share a few of the month's happenings.

We had a lot of rain and cool weather...

and wondered if summer would ever arrive.

It did...just this past week.

And with that...

the heavy snow pack is melting and finding its way down the Fraser River. 

Who knows what that could look like in the week to come?

We took a chance on the weather forecast and packed up the RV to spend a few nights in Fort Langley earlier this month.

We had the motorhome all packed when we got notice that our campsite reservation at Edgewater Bar was cancelled due to the rising waters of the Fraser.

Luckily, we managed to get a spot at Brae Island Campsite. 

It was great...and we even had some sunshine!  

And we found friends who were staying at the same campground...

and enjoyed lunch together at the Blacksmith Bakery Cafe.

Our  granddaughter Maggie was competing in the B.C. High School Track and Field meet in Langley that same week...

so we went to cheer her on.

She took first place in both 1500m and the 800m...

making her the provincial champion for her age.

She takes it all in stride!

Ranen studies violin with Abbotsford's best...Dr. Calvin Dyck.  She finished the year well, receiving several trophies for outstanding performance.  She plays with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra...and we so enjoyed their season finale.

Every event planned for outdoors this month...

was moved inside due to the weather.

Who said one can only have an ice-cream sundae bar on a hot summer day?

We spent last week in the Cariboo Chilcotin portion of our province...

visiting places we had never been before.

Our first stop was Green Lake...

where all was quiet, calm and beautiful...

except for the mosquitoes.

Then we camped for one night at Riske Creek...

our home base for exploring Farwell Canyon.

We had a few crazy thunder storms while we were there...

with amazing skyscapes.

Farwell Canyon is 20 kilometers off the highway.

On our way there we passed through Junction Sheep Provincial Park...

home to some 500 bighorn sheep.

We came across several herds right on the roadway.

The steep, meandering gravel road was quite something...

...but the scenic views at Farwell Canyon made the drive worthwhile!

The Chilcotin River has carved out an impressive valley with steep, sandy cliffs on both sides.

We camped further upstream on the Chilcotin River that night.

And then...

on to our final destination.

We had been invited by Marg and John to visit them at their property on Pyper Lake for a few days.

What a beautiful spot they have...

and how fun to have Lovella and Terry join us up there as well!

We all squeezed into Terry's truck and went sight-seeing...

exploring abandoned farms and sawmills.

Thanks to Lovella (who is very good at propping up her phone to capture photos)...

we even have a group shot!

Terry took his very nice pick-up truck down a bumpy 4x4 road...

and we found our way to a gem of a lake.

Paradise Lake...

known only by the locals.

Who knew we had white sand beaches and turquoise water in B.C.?

Our next day's adventure was a flight-seeing tour from Nimpo Lake...

on a float plane over the Coastal Range of Tweedsmuir Park.

Such beauty!

We landed at Turner Lake (which has no road access)...

and hiked to Hunlen Falls.

 It happens to be Canada's highest free-falling waterfall and very few people have ever heard of it.

Supernatural British Columbia!

So thankful for the opportunity to see another piece of it.

Our flag is flying and the sun is shining.

It's apparently the perfect day to be harvesting grass here on the farm.

What could be more Canadian?

I am grateful to call this big and beautiful country my home!

Happy Canada Day to all!