July ~ as it happened

It was summertime at its finest...

a month of sunshine. 

And as I look back through the snapshots...

there were many reasons to smile.

We had a family picnic/birthday party at Greenpoint on Harrison Lake at the beginning of the month.

Canada celebrated 150 years since confederation.

Lucy turned six.

How can that be? 

Oh, and her dad and uncle also had a birthday...

so we had one big party at the lake!

The birthday girl unwraps her gifts...

and the rest gather around for the show and tell.

There's a reason we prefer not to be on Highway 1 on the holiday Monday of a long weekend.

Check out the traffic through Chilliwack at the end of the Canada Day long weekend! 

We took three of the grands camping for a few days early in the month.

It's so easy now that they are all older!

They had a lot of fun.

So did we.

Ladder golf.

Pre-bedtime game.

We figured out that we had to keep moving to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

They were bad!

Somewhere up there beneath the falls are the three grands.

iPhone cameras are great...

but 'zoomless'!

Is that a word? 

My sister and I took in the annual Rotary garden tour earlier in the month.

It gives us license to snoop through some of the most beautiful yards in our community.

It's always inspiring.

July is blueberry month around here...

and we have been enjoying them daily!

Love the colours in this rural scene in Agassiz.

We joined friends for a bike ride to Harrison Hot Springs one Sunday afternoon...

meandering down country roads and stopping for ice-cream along the way.

Another night we were invited to have dinner with friends in their backyard dining tent.

It was a wonderful evening... 

summertime at its finest!

Ranen and Micah were away on vacation for the first half of the month.

Once they were back home,

we had a DQ ice-cream run with all the grands. 

We loaded five of them into the old Monarch...

and headed to DQ.

Emme and Spencer were working that night...

and served us up special treats.

Then they took turns having their break...

...and joined the grand ice-cream party!

What fun!

We may not have trampolines or swimming pools...

ATV's or video games to keep the grands entertained at our place.

But we have swings.

It seems that's all they need!

Timeless fun!

Herb and Anneliese are both having a milestone birthday this summer...

and threw a 70's birthday celebration at their cabin on Hatzic Lake.

We all arrived in our retro finest...

and enjoyed a walk down memory lane with Herb and Anneliese. 

From the music, to the decor, to the fabulous food reminiscent of 1970's fare,

and even the games...

every detail was a reminder of  the 'good ole days'.

What a fun way to usher in a milestone birthday!

We ended the month as we always do...
by celebrating our anniversary.

46 years of marriage is not so common anymore...
and definitely a milestone to mark.

We are grateful to God that we have been blessed to do this journey together!

 

So what did we do on July 31st, 2017?
We went on a helicopter 'backcountry tour'.
It was amazing to see 'our back yard' from that perspective!
The helicopter ride was a Christmas gift from the kids...
that we decided to save for our anniversary.

We left the hanger in Pitt Meadows, with the option of doing a city tour...
(that would be Vancouver that you see in the distance)
...or the back-country tour.

No contest!
We chose the mountains.

We flew along the Pitt River and out to the hills.
 

How's that for a panorama?

We could almost touch the turquoise  ponds around the glaciers.

It was the perfect day for a heli-tour...

with just a wee bit of forest fire smog in the distance.

Today would not have been good...

as our valley is blanketed in smoke.

The tour was over far too soon...

and we landed back in Pitt Meadows.

Thank-you, Steve...our awesome pilot.

Thanks to our family for the awesome gift.

There were also 'lowlights' of the month...

friends and family who went through difficult times. 

Continuing to trust God in all those situations.

And that was the month of July...

with its brilliant sunsets fueled by wildfire smoke. 

Thanks to all of you who continue to read my blog updates 

...when everyone seems to have given up blogging.

Wishing you all a wonderful month of August!