Hey Everyone!! It’s Laura, finally!!!

�It’s been pretty crazy around this house lately. My bestest friend Melissa got married yesterday and I was her matron of honour so it was a great but busy month with showers, last minute planning and preparation!! It went absolutely perfect though. We were worried about the weather as it was calling for a really rainy weekend and the ceremony was supposed to be outside on the beach at the camp where they met, Moorelands Camp. The weather was even more of a concern because the camp is on an island so all 130 guests needed to be transported by boat over. We were prepared for rain, and Melissa was totally trusting that no matter what, God had bigger plans for the day. No matter what, the important thing was that they were getting married. That’s such a good attitude. Why stress over what you don’t have control over…. actually why stress at all!? After a certain point, there’s nothing you can do, you just have to sit back and enjoy the day. Anyway, a bunch of us went up on Friday morning to get the camp cleaned up a bit, decorate and have the rehearsal. It was a long day, but we got most of it done… I was awake on Saturday morning at around 6:30 to feed Kylah, and to finish off my speech for the reception. It was pouring rain, and the sky was sooo dark. We had decided the night before that the final decision about if the ceremony was going to be on the beach, or inside the rec hall at 10:00. To be honest, when I woke up and saw that weather I was really disappointed and I just started praying as hard as I possibly could for the weather to change. By the time everyone else was awake, it was still cloudy and dark, but it wasn’t raining. By 10:00, it wasn’t raining so, the decision was made… it was gonna be on the beach!! It was still a risk…. but oh well!! The rain held off for the whole day… To start off the ceremony they had decided that they really wanted a time of singing and worship. During that time, the sun started shining. It was so emotional for me… I just knew that was God totally blessing the day. The rest of the day went absolutely amazing. It was so beautiful. Melissa was gorgeous, everyone else looked gorgeous… and Aaron (the groom)�looked alright too! What’s really unbelievable, once the very last boat went over to drop people off to their cars, it started raining…. pouring rain. Isn’t God good!?

Here are some pictures from the wedding!

Ok…. so now about my trip to Montreal! For those of you who have just started reading our website, I went to Montreal August 16th-18th with my parents (and Kylah came too!). My dad had business there so my mom and I decided to tag along. Seemed crazy because it’s a 7 or 8 hour car ride (with a 5 month old baby!!!) but at least it gave me something to do!! Plus, Montreal is fun! Anyway, we had to stop in Belleville enroute so my mom and I went to the good ol’ Belleville Mall for a while. At least they had a Toys�R Us which ended up having a sale on the playpen that I was wanting… $100 off the original price…sweet!!�So after my dads meeting, we started on our way again. I have to say, I was�incredibly proud of little Kylah. She barely made a peep! She was absolutely amazing. She slept quite a bit, but even when she was awake, she was�very content. So we�found our hotel,�The Four Points by Sheraton – right on Sherbrooke, and my parents had to rush to get ready for a fancy dinner with the guy my dad was meeting with and his wife. It was nice to just have my time to settle in the room and�Kylah and I�made our way down to a cafe to grab some supper. It was quite hilarious actually because the guy working at this cafe was originally from Mississauga and he ended up coming over and sitting down to chat for a while. There wasn’t anyone in there and I guess he had nothing else to do. I know what you’re thinking…. creepy right? Actually, it wasn’t. He was probably about 20 years old,�kinda geeky and awkward and a student at McGill. Oh well, I just did what Josh always tells me – “people like talking about themselves” so I just asked as many questions I could think of for him to talk about himself… haha.

Moving on… We woke up at around 8:30 the next morning. My mom and I grabbed some�breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then started walking to Old Montreal. On the way there, we noticed there was a outside Chinese market so we checked it out for a bit. I ended up getting some really really great sunglasses for $5.00!!�I also bought an umbrella for $3.00 for the purpose of sheilding the sun�from Kylah in the stroller.�It was a really�hot day and the sun was beaming down like mad. So, that market was pretty fun. And then we got to Old�Montreal and saw all the beautiful little shops with cobblestone roads.�After sitting down for a little (and I mean REALLLLY little) scoop of Ben and Jerry’s, we noticed a double decker bus drive past us. We thought we’d check out to see how much it cost to do that tour because it was really hot, and walking around was getting a little difficult with Kylah. I know, it’s soooo touristy which I hate, but after I got over that, it was a good idea. Plus, we were only gonna be in Montreal for one day and wanted to see as much as we could and the bus seemed like the best way to accomplish that. Notice how I’m still justifying it in my mind… ya, I’m not quite over it. It ended up being $35 each for a 2 hour tour which may be a bit expensive but we decided to go for it anyway. So we headed down by the science centre which was about a 10 minute walk and that’s where we were told we could purchase the tickets. Well…. we literally walked around for an hour trying to find the friggin’ desk to buy them. We almost gave up, but we persisted. Finally this girl came out onto the side walk and the double decker bus pulled up. I guess she was the sales lady for the tour… no wonder we couldn’t find where we had to go…. ugh. That bus was getting too full so we just decided to wait for the next bus to come. 30 minutes later, the lady came out of no where again to sell the tickets and then the bus showed up. Of course, they only took cash and it ended up that my mom didn’t have any and I only had $65.00 (I needed $70 for the both of us). The sales lady was nice enough to give my mom the “senior” rate… haha… as long as we didn’t tell anyone…. who would we tell?! So, both of our expectations for this tour was that it was going to be a nice little slow drive through Montreal, they’d stop to see all the key sites… we thought it was going to be very relaxing and so of course we wanted to sit on the top of the double decker. Well….. let me tell you, it was the complete opposite of relaxing. First off, the�bus�driver�obviously thought that we were a regular�car or something.�We were driving at regular speeds… and if you�have ever been in Montreal, the people�there aren’t exactly known for�calm driving.�Remember, we were on the top of the bus, in the open air, in the hot sun with a BABY!!! My mom and I originally thought it would be perfect because�we had the umbrella to cover Kylah from the sun but after a couple of minutes, we realized that there was absolutely no way the umbrella could be used because of the super fast driving… it kept almost�turning inside out and blowing away. haha… and to try and coordinate holding that along with holding Kylah, impossible. So out came the Hooter Hider (yes, that’s the real name… check it out to see what it is. http://www.hooterhiders.com/why.html) to block the sun. Ok so we realized�that it wasn’t really going to be the most relaxing thing we’ve ever done…. but then to top�it off, we started driving on the highway, yes, that’s right… the highway… it wasn’t just a nice jot over to get to a different�site seeing spot, it was I would say for 70% of the trip. And I will mention again, we were on the top, in the open air with a baby. hahahaha…�oh brother. My poor�mom was�holding onto�Kylah for dear life. I kept�offering to take her�but Kylah had actually fallen asleep in her arms so the transfer would’ve woken her up… So, you’d think that would be all right? Well, at one point, my mom got whacked in the face by a tree branch as we were driving along and she couldn’t even defend herself because she was holding the baby… all I could hear was “WHAT was THAT?!!” and I look over and her cheek is red from the branch… hahaha… anyway, in spite of all that it was a pretty good trip and it ended up that the last stop was�pretty much right by our hotel so at least we didn’t have to walk there!!!�It was an experience, that’s for sure.

Here’s a clip for you of us on the bus, on the highway, with Kylah… this captures the moment perfectly.

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After, the bus trip we made our way back to the hotel and met up with my dad for dinner. And then the next morning, we packed up and left for our drive home! Kylah again was amazing in the car… she only had a couple�of times where she was fussy but that’s only because I was really really stretching out the time between feeding her. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but lots of fun… and now I have funny stories to tell!

Here are some pictures for you of us in Montreal…

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Wow when it’s put all right next to each other in the subject line like that, it’s amazing to think that it all happened in a couple short weeks.

The Masters Four performed again at MBC – every year they do this and have the families out for a nice time away. We joined them for the concert on Labour Day Weekend, and the Sunday Brunch – that was a great meal. Anyway, I caught Steve on video doing a solo [shameless M4 plug coming up]… so visit www.masters4.com and buy their cds!! They have a new album coming out very soon, so check back for it. Here is Steve breaking it down:

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Well camp ended and the summer was over! It’s so hard to believe that it’s over! I keep shaking my head because it seems like the summer just FLEW by – wow! Anyway, we stayed up at the trailer for a few extra days. It was nice and quiet and relaxing until we had to pack! We offered to take Lorna and her luggage to the city (Hi Lornie!!!) which limited our packing space in the van. I wish I had taken a photo of the final product because I swear there was no space unfilled – it may have been the tightest packing job ever! I think I even put some eggs and creamers in the glove compartment!

So, home sweet home. Everything was in order, except we got a notice for the length of our weeds (check out the photo album below for before and after photos of the weeds). Haha I guess that’s what happens when you’re away for the summer. I thought I arranged with the neighbours to knock down the weeds every so often but I guess not. Oops I bought a weed whacker and some weed killer/fertilizer, so it’s not looking too bad right now. It would be nice to put a garden in one of these days – maybe once spring hits.

We got busy right away getting the house in order for a shower Laura was putting on for her friend Mel who is getting married next weekend! I think the party was a success, but I was a little upset because there were no leftovers for me when I got back. Oh well that’s okay because the NEXT day, my buddy Phil invited us to go to RIBFEST 2006 in Oshawa! It sounds exactly like what it is It was a lot of fun. We went out and walked around Ribfest with Phil & Bonnie (Phil’s wife) and their little daughter Violet (she is 10 weeks older than Kylah). They were really cute together. We all know Kylah can’t stop smiling as it is, but looking at Violet it seemed like the size of her smile went to new levels! Too cute. Anyway, at Ribfest we got a Bloomin’ Onion, which is basically a deep fried onion that has been pulled apart to look like a bloom and battered, and Laura got a corn on the cob while Phil and I got a full rack of ribs from two different booths. So good! I wish I were eating those ribs right now… mmmmmmm. Oh and we also got a big mug of rootbeer. It was probably the best rootbeer I have had. I also wish I had that rootbeer now….

Ribfest was the last free night before heading back to work. I’m back to a 9 to 5 routine now, which is good – it’s nice to have that set schedule as opposed to the chaos in the summer. The office is back up and running now. I changed offices (again), so I’m still getting settled, but it’s in the west wing which is a great place to be. My office in the west wing. Sounds good. Anyway, here’s a compilation of photos. Enjoy!

This past Wednesday Laura and I celebrated our anniversary (2 months later) by going to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Thank you Noonie for Kylah sitting so we could go out! Steve, Dave, and Steph (Laura’s dad and siblings) were also came to the concert, as did my friends Craig and Taylor who obviously have great taste in music! My goodness those Flecktones are amazing. They are on a whole different level. Seriously, if you don’t know who they are, you need to find out and catch their next concert. It’s just four guys: Bela Fleck (banjo & electric banjo), Future Man (seriously that is his name… Laura’s sister called him ‘Pirate Man’ because of his hat… he plays percussion and I think you would say they are electric drums he has made in the shape of a guitar… very weird but amazing), Jeff Coffin (Soprano, Alto, and Tenor Saxophone sometimes simultaneously… also flute, piccolo, penny whistle, and probably many others), and last but not least VICTOR WOOTEN on Bass. Ah Victor. This guy is a phenomenon. Seriously. He came out for an encore solo and ended up playing for 15 minutes or so – basically a mini-concert. I can’t describe to you the things he can do with a bass guitar. It prompted Steve Holt to say as we left Massey Hall, “It’s hard to believe they put on their pants one leg at a time like the rest of us.” Hahahaha that says it all! Here’s some photos and a few videos. They totally don’t do it justice! In case you’re wondering about that first video, yes he is playing 2 saxophones at the same time.

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Well, that’s it for now – I’m still after Laura to write about Montreal because there is a really funny video of her, Vicki, and Kylah on the bus.