Beginning of my deck!!!

After seeing 3 different contractors and in between all that rain we have received this month, my deck is finally under way. The wood I have chosen is called Eon composite wood from Home Depot - no maintenance!!! Which means I don't have to stain or paint the wood years down the line. That was one of the winning points for me, especially with working two jobs - my weekends are for relaxing and spending time with my friends. Right now, the deck will fill in the area of the L-shape and after speaking with Cameron, the contractor, with the way he has built the deck, it won't hurt the integrity of the current deck if I wish to extend the deck out pass the house. I had thought at one point that I had my city view blocked but I was wrong. So it is something to consider once I sit down and figure out my backyard landscaping (nothing will be thought of really until I get back from TB at the end of July.) Cameron was saying that the deck will be completed by Friday so I get to enjoy Canada Day on my new deck - pretty excited about that. My mom was asking for photos - so the top three photos were taken this evening and the bottom photo was taken Saturday morning before I went to Lacombe.

Ethan and Logan

Ethan giving Logan a hug as he laid on the blanket. What a precious moment that was.

Ethan and Logan having some guy bonding time on the blanket. From my seat, it was so adorable watching them interact with each other. The second photo of them hugging and the last photo with Logan smiling are probably my favourite of the four photos. Hey mom notice something familiar about the blanket? It was one of the blankets you made for us. It definitely came in handy as the grass was quite prickly and Logan did not like it at all.

Ethan at the Church Picnic

Sorry, don't have a clue what has Ethan's attention behind that rock.

Ethan running towards the other kids to join in the fun. They also had bubble makers which kept the kids happy too.

Ethan having a quiet moment on his rock holding mommy's car keys. He looks like he has a lot on her mind.

Mike and Megan came a little later so I held their son Logan while they ate. He gave plenty of smiles. He enjoys the car keys too. It must be a guy thing as Ethan attends to be drawn to other people's car keys too.

Flower Garden at Ellis Bird Farm

Near the barn was this flower pond garden. Thought it was beautiful with all the different colours.

These two photos I think are my favourite - their closeups turned out wonderful (Piscasa program helped with some fine tuning).

Come Baaaaack!!!

While I was taking photos of the flowers, you heard the sheep/lambs talking in the background. They seem to love the attention when I was taking photos of them. Ellis Bird Farm also has a teahouse - so after a nice drive in the country you will be able to stop in for a spot of tea too.

Going in for a close up

This last photo I believe the person told is one of the oldest tea flower found in Alberta.

More Flowers

Flowers of Ellis Bird Farm

Aside from the birdhouses and the obvious different birds using them, the grounds had many different gardens. I thought I would try a feature on my camera that had a flower on it. Here are some of the results. Sorry, I am not a green thumb so I have no clue the flowers names - all I know is that they are beautiful to look at and smell nice too.

Ellis Bird Farm

It was a beautiful day yesterday so instead of doing housework, I decided to go for a drive. I had seen on the internet this website about Ellis Bird Farm - 1.5 hours north of Calgary near Blackfials and Lacombe. That is the furthest north I have gone on Hwy 2, and most of the scenery is the open space of farm land and a couple of refineries as well. I think I have found a quicker route to Three Hills too by going down Hwy 27 east. I will have to try it out later. These are some photos of the birdhouses and some of the surroundings.

Eye on the Sky

Taken today (June 23) as I drove home from Three Hills. I got poured on as I got closer to Calgary. Top photo is along Hwy 21 and the 2nd photo is along Hwy 564

I had taken this a few weeks ago from my front door - a Calgary sunrise. I just love the sky when it has those sunlight streaks. Because of the pictures you see in church storybooks - I always that when I saw this, it was God saying Hi.

Have you googled your name lately?

I visited my friend Amy's blog site tonight and she had this cool entry. Have you ever googled your name? Try it - you would be amazed what comes up. What you do is go to Google search - type "your name likes to" and hit enter. Then pick the first 12 things that come up with your name. See if it fits your personality.

Here are my 12 things from Google:
Laura likes to:
1. eat cookies - yes esp with chocolate
2. watch movies with friends
3. draw on paper (not much of an artist - my brother is)
4. phones (well I do like staying in touch with people)
5. to go for holidays (so many places to visit - my list is so long)
6. drive fast (yes I have a heavy foot - I try not to go over 10 the speed limit)
7. Have fun with friends, relatives and colleagues - that is for sure
8. my new puppy??? Maybe they mean Jake (Manda's dog)
9. scissors to create cutouts - more like 2-page layouts for my scrapbooking albums
10. to challenge and find the answers on her own
11. spend time with family, friends (most definitely)
12. ride horses (that is new to me - they are beautiful but their power scares me).

Most things rang true with my personality - Of course with my name, I had a few references with "husband" in it - thanks to Laura Bush (the first lady of the US). Thanks for the game Amer!

Banff Hot Springs

What a wonderful day we had on our last day of our adventure of the Rockies. Beside the Banff Gondola is the Banff Upper Hot Springs. The water was beautiful -a balmy +39c! With the sun shining and relaxing in the water - how perfect is that! It was a great way to end our day in Banff. Will have to remember this spot for the future. Sandy was going into Timmy withdrawal (there is no Tim Horton's from Canmore to Jasper) so our first stop on our ride home to Calgary was a stop in Canmore for a Timmy's coffee and danish. When we got home and relaxed some more. Before going home, I dropped into Costco and got my 200+ photos developed so Sandy would have a copy for herself and I would have a copy to show others and see which ones I can use for my scrapbooking album. We went out for pizza and borrow's Jessica's Pirate of the Caribbean - Dead's Man Chest as we were going to see the third installment the next day.