OUR BLOG SITE HAS MOVED!!!

We ran out of space on this site and have had to create another site in order to keep all of our favourite memories.  You can find us at www.oliphants4-2.blogspot.com

Thank you for continuing to follow us and our journey!!

Remembrance Day 2012

We attended a lovely service at Trafalgar Memorial for Remembrance Day this morning.  There were probably over 200 people in attendance and the weather was amazing for the first time we can remember (+15).  There were some veterans and some who have recently served also in attendance.  In addition to our moment of silence and some speaches from our local MPs, there was a reading of In Flanders Fields and this poem below that we were all quite touched by.
Lest we not forget!

Why Wear a Poppy Poem by Don Crawford

“Please wear a Poppy”, the lady said and held one forth, but I shook my head, Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there, And her face was old and lined with care; But beneath the scars the years had made There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street, Bouncing along on carefree feet, His smile was full of joy and fun: “Lady”, said he, “May I have one”? When she pinned it on he turned to say, “Why do we wear a poppy today”?

The lady smiled in her wistful way, And answered, “This is Remembrance Day, And the poppy there is a symbol for The gallant men who died in war, And because they did, you and I are free, That’s why we wear the poppy, you see”.

I had a boy about your size, With golden hair and big blue eyes. He loved to play and jump and shout, Free as a bird he would race about. As the years went by he learned and grew, And became a man – as you will, too.

But the war went on and he had to stay, And all I could do was wait and pray. His letters told of the awful fight, (I can see it still in my dreams at night) With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire, and the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire.

“Till at last, at last, the war was won – And that’s why we wear a poppy, son.” The small boy turned as if to go, Then said, “Thanks lady, I’m glad to know, That sure did sound like an awful fight, But your son – did he come back all right?”

A tear rolled down each faded cheek: She shook her head but didn’t speak. I slunk away in a sort of shame, And if you were me you’d have done the same: For our thanks, in giving, is often delayed Through our freedom was bought And thousands paid.

And so when we see a poppy worn, Let us reflect on the burden borne, By those who gave their very all, When asked to answer their country’s call. That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy, Remember And give.

Happy 25th Anniversary - Wally & Lori

It is hard to believe our dear friends Wally and Lori have been married for 25 years!  Why you may ask?  It's hard to believe that Lori has put up with Wally for 25 years and they don't look a day over 30 :)

Their loving family and friends threw them a wonderful surpirse party (and yes we all managed to keep it a surprise).  The speeches were short but extremely touching and the love in the house was overwhelming.  Thanks so much for being part of our lives and we all are looking forward to the next 25 years!!

AAAAAARRRRRRRGOOOOOOS!

Would you believe we were given amazing tickets from Curtis' friend (Adam) to the game between the Toronto Argos & the Hamilton Tiger-Cats?!  It looked like the Argos were going to clean house but the Ti-Cats fought till the bitter end, just not hard enough. 

Unfortunately we missed the last 5 minutes in an effort to get home at a somewhat decent hour and to get a head start on the traffic. 

The score when we left the game

What a comeback for Hamilton.  They managed to tie it up with only a little over a minute left in the game but sadly the final score was 43-40.  Hamilton is now out of the playoffs.  Let's see if Saskatchewan can stay in it :)

Halloween 2012

Spooooooky!

It was a dark at somewhat rainy night but the boys and their friends (the Campbell's, the Sherren's and Curtis' classmate-Sam) still managed to find plenty of candy when they were out.  Our back yard was part swamp so our decorations were confined to indoors and a few blow-ups in the front of the house.  The boys even worked on a smaller version of a haunted house for their friends in the basement.

The trick-or-treaters we did have still seemed to appreciate it.  We heard comments of "We had to make sure we crossed the street to come to your house" or " We made a special trip just to come here"!  That made us feel good because we were dissapointed  we didn't get a chance to put up the haunted house due to Hurricane Sandy this year. 

We were very glad to get together with all of our friends once again this year and hoped everyone had as much fun as we did!!

Willy's B-day

It was a ghoulish birthday party at Willy's and the reptile guy was back!  No surprise to see Curtis at the front of the line when the animals were ready to be passed around (eeeew!)

Thanks for a great time Sherren Family!!!

Skating at Maple Leaf Gardens

My work put on a free skate and friendly hockey game between 4 teams internally.  The boys skated and we stayed behind to cheer on the hockey players during the mini-games. 

Curtis taking shots on Richard Schenker from Mom's office.



Spencer also taking shots



Too much fun in this historic place.  Hard to believe the Leafs used to play here!



Curtis helping June run the time clock, score board & buzz - buzz, buzzzzzzzer!



look who is up front & having soo much fun :)

We ended up winning a small prize for participating and that picture even made it in our daily newsletter.  What a great time was had.

Jays are Aces

We managed to score free tickets behind home plate from my boss to a Jays vs NY Rangers game.  What a game it was.  The Jays won 6-0, the boys got free t-shirts, the guy behind us caught a baseball and gave it to the boys and Ace came and sat with us for part of the game.  It was such a fun night!  The only downside was that no one from the Jays clubhouse would stay behind to sign the ball but who can complain?!

Spencer wasn't feeling great but wouldn't have missed this night for anything

Curtis was so happy he wasn't cruising the Rogers Centre this time...he missed the ball catch but was elated his brother is sharing it with him :)

Curtis Turns Double Digits

It was a nice family affair for our little man who turned a big 10 this year.  We went to his favourite restaurant - Montfort's and had a nice dinner.

How old are you?!

Are you sure?!

Oh that looks sooo good!

Careful not to drool on it :)

Hurry Curtis because we all want some - yummm!

Curtis got a really cool sport bike earlier on in the year as his birthday present so felt slightly let down when it came time to the present part of the evening but we had a fun time anyway.

 Hard to believe our little man is already 10!!

 Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

Happy Birthday Sherry!

It was so great to be invited to Sherry's b-day dinner this weekend.  We decided to go to King's Buffet so there was something for everyone to choose from and wasn't it great to have a magician there who also made balloon animals!  It was entertainment for all of us :)

This guy's tricks are great but the balloon animals are always a really big hit!

The birthday hat wasn't staying on so wouldn't you know Keith suggested a chin strap.  Doesn't Sherry look impressed!

So much so that she made sure we all got into the fun :)

We hope you had as much fun as we did Sherry.  Thanks for including us!!

Halloween In August at the Camp

We had an extremely spooky weekend at the camp again this year with our haunted house and won first prize for a second year in a row!!

Steve & Sherry did an amazing job with their decorating too and won 2nd prize.

Much fun was had with costumes and the parade.

Sarah won  a prize for her adorable puppy costume

Steve got tons of laughs with his great costume

Serina played along but was very glad she was a mouse and not a puppy :)

   Best of all was poking fun a Junior as he donned a respectable 3rd place for his decorating efforts!