LyallFamily.com 2008

Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year 2009!

For those of you who may have been confused by our humour in past years, here are some ”humourless” thoughts for 2008.

We are going to send some of these letters via the internet just like those people who are “connected”….some, of course, will receive this by the method we all know and “understand”.

Noreen and I continue to look after our rental property and, now that we have turfed out the drug dealers and repaired the holes in the walls, things are pretty good! We both volunteer at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre where we are usually ushers but have done everything from loading in the shows, selling merchandise and running the spot lights. This year was also the Alberta Summer Games in Medicine Hat and we were the co-chairs of the Cultural Committee. The Games took place in August and were a big success. We had our last meeting (four years of meetings and planning is about three years too many!) and got to dole out the almost $500,000 left. The money will go to schools and sports teams throughout the city.

The year started off with our involvement in “Nunsensations – The Las Vegas Revue”. This was the latest in the series of Nunsense Shows that follow the crazy exploits of a group of nuns. Noreen was the choreographer and I was the backstage help and the sleazy announcer.

We had two great vacations courtesy of Barbara (Noreen’s cousin) and her husband Alan in Panorama for a winter get-a-way and then in the summer at Arrow Lake. Both were wonderful fun and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Richard had another tough year. He started college in January but after six weeks he had to withdraw as he broke his back just above the fusion. He ended up in a body cast, spent several weeks in the hospital, and recovered enough to start at MHC this fall. He has to have some spinal block injections sometime soon and this will, hopefully, help him with the pain in his lower back and legs. On a positive note, Richard is on the Students’ Association and is back working at Earl’s Restaurant as a waiter.

Alec graduated in June, however, in January he started working every afternoon at a local crane and hoisting company. Through his school, he was participating in a the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) and his time at work 4 hours/day was used as credit towards his high school diploma. He now has a full-time position and will go to school and work until he finishes this three year apprenticeship program. Alec (with a loan from the parents) bought a little Chevy truck and, between paying us back and keeping it on the road, his bank account seems to always be close to zero.

One big trip for us this year was a two month vacation from late September 20th to November 9th . We left the house and collecting the rent to Richard and Alec and nervously headed out to Vancouver Island. Here we had a great time visiting with Noreen’s relatives in Nanaimo, Courtney, Sidney, Metchosin and Victoria. It was all very interesting and even drove out to Tofino and Ucluelet. After the Island, we went back to Vancouver and Richmond and visited with my relatives and some more of Noreen’s before heading to the US. We visited and stayed with friends and relatives in Oregon and California before heading over to Mesa and getting Noreen’s Mom and Dad’s winter place set up. Noreen’s brother Hazzarriann and his girlfriend, Charlotte arrived from Kenya and we then drove to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and back to Mesa. Mom and Dad arrived on the 31th, Hazzarriann and Charlotte left the 4th and we headed home on the 6th. We had a great time and really enjoyed catching up with all the friends and relatives along the way….thank you!!!!!

For those of you who haven’t heard, Noreen’s second cousin, Joyce (Joy) Rose died in October. She was born with severe cerebral palsy and when her dad died in 1978 she moved into Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon. Joy was 80 when she died and was suffering with a large melanoma on her back. She probably was the longest surviving person in Canada with her level of Cerebral Palsy.

2008 QUOTES (Just couldn’t resist some REALITY NEWS)

Richard – “Do you know how expensive cheese is?”……. “Can I use your truck?”

Alec – “You are coming home WHEN? We have run out of milk and cheese! Please come home sooner.”

Noreen– “So sad (not!) to hear about the milk and cheese…. Ever thought of trying BEER on your cereal?!?!”

Don – “No, you cannot have our truck to drive just ‘cause you need gas!”

We are sure you are all wondering how our adult sons survived without their parents for 8 long weeks. We understand that extra people were a constant around #64 and the fridge was bare. Although milk was scarce, the bottles returned for recycle money produced a sizeable amount of cash. When we arrived home we were relieved to see our house was on the same side of the street (Noreen’s cousin said, consider yourselves lucky if your house is on the same side of the street when you get home!) The house was surprisingly tidy and most things still worked! Now we can report that the usual body count, when the lights go out each night, is 4 and there is plenty on milk and cheese for ALL!! None of us are looking forward to separation in the near future and it is great to be HOME!!

From all of us here we hope you have a great holiday season and terrific 2009.

Picture taken in May at Alec’ Graduation. MacKenzie Porter started kindergarten with Alec at Irvine … they attended Gr 9 grad together and agreed that they would go to High School Grad 2008 Richard Don Noreen MacKenzie Alec Norma Howard

 

Ready for the Playoffs

Go Stamps Go!

Mr. Big

Kenya Fashion

Church Fashion