Canada - day 3 - June 28, 2010

Monday was spent at Kira's lake. In Calgary they have a bunch of "Lake Districts". They dig a huge hole in the ground and pile all the dirt into a large hill nearby. They then make a tobogganing hill out of the pile of dirt and build a bunch of houses around the lake. The community that Kira lives in is called Auburn Bay. She has a very nice house right now but since Evan ill require some special consideration as he gets older they just bought a lot and will customize a new house. As you can imagine the houses that border the lake are very expensive but every once in a while they have a piece of beach that is shared by several houses. Due to some very fortunate circumstances (or as I believe, divine guidance) they were able to buy a lot that shares a beach. Since their house is the closes to the communal beach it is just as if they have their own private beach. Justin spent the morning working on everyones teeth (in case you didn't know he's a dentist) while the rest of the family spent the morning at the beach. He gave me a crown, Serene got a root canal, Alycia had her teeth cleaned and Brandon had a cleaning at Justin found seven cavities. Justin managed to fill three of the cavities but it looks like Brandon will be making another visit to Canada in the next few months. Just saved us several thousand dollars and while I know he is glad to contribute is own time he still has to pay his staff and buy supplies. He may have saved us thousands of dollars but this still had to cost him hundreds of dollars. Justin, you're a good man. Thanks again for this wonderful act of kindness.

Poor Justin missed out on all the beach activities. Brandon and I managed to get down there in time to get in a canoe ride around the lake. We gave Evan a ride and he was quite enjoying his Pirate Ship ride.

After Justin finished up everyone they took us all to show us their new lot. Right now it is just a dirt patch and in the picture you can see just how close it is to the lake. They can have their own canoe and stuff and in the winter they use a Zamboni to smooth out a path around the lake. In the picture after the dirt lot you can see the green space they have between the houses and the lake. This area is shared by the five or six houses that share the community dock. They certainly have a nice location.

After we all saw Kira's new lot we headed out to have dinner with Grandma Leavitt. Kira had made a pot roast that we took out so we didn't create too much work for Grandma but she still went ahead and made us a ton of home made donuts. Boy were they good. I ate way too many. We sat and visited for most of the evening and then took some pictures on her deck. She lives on top of this beautiful hill out in the country and the view she has is stunning. She also has a beautiful house. It was wonderful to spend this time with Grandma.

Kira's lot, see how close it is to the lake?

The green space between Kira's house and the lake. The fence behind the bench is Kira's yard. Pretty nice eh?

Grandma and her great grandchildren. We had to have the mothers in the picture or those kids would just scatter. It was very difficult to keep them in one place for more than a few seconds.

Lisa and I with Grandma Leavitt. After my mother passed away Dad married Maurine Williamson who had been widowed years earlier. Maurine was actually my mothers cousin, her mother was a Lybbert.

The kids and Lisa and I with Grandma.

Sarah in an old log cabin that is on the property.

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The average baby will cry 20 minutes before giving up and the average parent will last 13 minutes before giving in.

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