April

April of 2026 turned out to be the driest in the last 147 years, with only 18 mm of rain...

and there wasn't much of a snowpack on Mt. Cheam.

Artemis 11 launched on April 1st and returned to earth 10 days later. It was the first lunar mission in over 50 years.  One of the four crew members was a Canadian, so it was fun to follow.   We remember the July 1969 mission to the moon well.  Where have the years gone?

 

On Easter Sunday we stopped by Little Mountain Cemetery and visited Hannah's grave. 

She would have been 18 years old now.

The whole gang came for dinner later that day and I forgot to take a photo once they were here.

For the first time since we had grands, I never hid eggs or baskets.  Each grand got a Lindt bunny and a gift card to Starbucks or Subway.

We celebrated Mavis and Irene's birthdays with a luncheon at Irene's. 

On April 12th we did our annual bike ride through the blossom trail at Luckakuck Creek.

Ranen played in the year-end concert with UBC symphony orchestra at the Chan Center.

It was bittersweet for her since it may have been her last concert ever.

Majoring in science and finding time to play in the orchestra is not easy!

It seemed most days this month were busy days on the farm!

On Sundays Elmer found time to do something besides work.

Kevin and Linda spent one afternoon with us.

We went for a walk at the top of  Nixon Hill and then at the Wetlands...

before dinner on the patio at the Wildcat Grill.

I became a great-aunt to two new wee ones this month.

David and Kiley had a little boy named Johan...their first. 

He was born in Iowa but he will be living on the Baja Peninsula. 

Closer to home my nephew and his wife welcomed Baby Maxine...

her two older brothers are thrilled.

Last Sunday afternoon we cycled the dike trail along the Fraser River...

...where there are few people and beautiful views!

That evening we had dinner with Allan and Darlene at the new Italian restaurant downtown.

Amata Trattoria is in the historic Skelton Building, built in 1930...

the home to Gord-Ray Menswear as long as I remember. 

On April 29th the first fifty acres of corn got planted...including a strip of corn around Emme and Jaden's wedding venue.

Good-bye April!

March

We spent the beginning of the month at our favorite spot in the desert of California...

...the Worldmark resort in Indio.

 
Usually we are here with friends or family...

or have friends staying nearby that we meet up with.

But this time it was just the two of us...

enjoying the sunshine and floating down the lazy river with our e-readers.

One day we followed the road to Anzo-Borrego Desert State Park...

...to check out the flowers blooming in the desert.

We were apparently a week too late to see them in their prime...

since the temperatures had been near 100F (38C) for the past week...

but it was still quite spectacular to see!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park and then headed back...

with a stop at the Salton Sea.

Elmer had intentions of sticking his toes into the water but suddenly found his shoes sinking into the quagmire and made a run for higher ground.

Friday night is vintage car night at El Paseo.

We went for the parade at four o'clock and then had dinner on the patio of The Daily Grill.

One day we watched tennis at the PBA open in Indian Wells.

Amazing tennis and so fun to watch...

though it was a little too warm to be sitting on the bleachers in the sun!

On Sunday we again drove to Indian Wells...

but this time it was for the morning church service.

We have attended Southwest Church many times when we are in the Palm Springs area...

but it now has a new name.

They have five services on the weekend...

and we chose the 11:00 am outdoor service.

Always a blessing!

The other Sunday we checked out Garden Fellowship church on Jefferson...

another large and growing church with many snowbirds in attendance.

Soon it was time to say good-bye once again.

Allegiant Air had us back n Bellingham in a few hours time!

We stopped at the Olive Garden for their soup, salad and breadsticks special...

a tradition on the way home.

A special invitation arrived 'in the mail' this month.  Who knew invitations no longer come in the mail?

Emme and Jaden are getting married in July!

Just so we couldn't say we never had any snow this winter...

we woke up to a dusting of snow on March 13th.

It didn't stick around for long!

There was an 'atmospheric river' heading our way once again.

Just before the rain arrived... I took this photo from our back patio, of a pink halo over the greenhouses on Prest Road.

Spring break happened mid-month and most of the grands had a getaway or two.

Tim and Heidi and girls flew to NYC for a week...where they saw the sites and Maggie ran in a track meet.

 Dylan went on a one week missions trip to Belize. 

Kris and Lina and the rest of their gang went skiing at Sun Peaks.

Spring has sprung!

February

 How did February play out over here?

It was mostly mild and often sunny...

perfect for walks along the Rosedale dyke.

When I walked from home...

these two eagles sat perched in a tree and kept an eye on me.

Early in the month we went to Harrison Hot springs resort...

with John and Marg and Ron and Ruth.

Marg and I have fond memories of celebrating our birthdays together here over the years.

A beautiful spot anytime of the year!

John and Ron both had birthdays while we were there.

We found a fire pit and laid out charcuterie and had a wee party.

Jamison was nominated for a Juno award...

and he was congratulated by the city of Chilliwack on the billboard at Heritage Park.

His nomination is for 'electronic dance single of the year'...

under the alias Pacific Coliseum.

Then came the winter Olympics in Milano.

Countless hours were spent watching Canadians compete...

...and doing a very hard jigsaw puzzle.

Jeremy and Broni were there in person...

with tickets to four amazing hockey games.

Sorry that Canada had to settle for silver in both the men's and women's hockey final...

but they were great games.

What a surprise to to see them on our TV screen before the men's semi-final game.

CBC found them at the 'unofficial Canada House' restaurant prior to the game. 

I took aunt Maggie to her doctor's appointment...

and then we had dinner out and dessert at their place.

She always makes it special!

We spent many evenings at a gym...

cheering on Micah with his Sardis Falcons junior team or Lucy with the grade 9 GW Graham team.

So much fun and such great basketball!

Lucy's team went on to win the provincial tournament...

the first girls basketball team to bring home a gold for GW Graham. 

While we are enjoying the simple pleasures of life...

horrible things are happening not too far away.

Leo sent us pictures from his neighbourhood near Guadalajara...

where they are in the middle of a cartel war.

He and his family are not feeling safe these days.

As the month nears the end...

we are getting ready to go south for 10 days.