Imogen's First Birthday Party -Dec. 15

Grandparents Sue and Rob,
Ruth and Ian attended as did Dallas and Andrew and of course Jennifer and John.



The special birthday cake for Imogen



Jessie's daughter Addyson and Imogen kissing.

Imogen Walking

This is Imogen walking on Saturday November 29, 2008 at our place.

An Honourable Calling

Imogen is a lively toddler now and although she only does two or three steps unaided, she does get around and can get into all sorts of things.



Tommy Douglas once said, "Politics is the honourablest of profession, the vilest of trade." I went to the book launch of Allan Blakeney's book of his political memoirs where former Premier Roy Romanow introduced the former Premier Allan Blakeney.

My granddaughter Imogen

You can just see the delightful playfulness on her face and in her sparkling eyes.

John and Jenn's new fence

John needed someone to help install his new fence so he choose someone with a strong back and weak . . . nevermind. Andrew, I, and his brother Jim helped with the fence and we had a cheering section made up of his sister-in-law Susan, Jennifer and, of course, Imogen. John rented a gas-powered auger and we were able to drill out the post holes with that.
It certainly looks better than the old fence which I don't have a picture of because it was taken down a few weeks ago.

Long weekend in Canmore

We left Saskatoon Friday Aug. 29 and stayed at Cathy Olson/Walter Ridgway's condo and woke up to a gorgeous day in Canmore. Andrew and his fiancée Andrea Hermann and her mother Madeleine Hermann, and Ruth and I, and Jennifer and John and Imogen Wallace all stayed at the condo. We played "Settlers of Catan" on Saturday and Andrew won. We drove to Johnston's Canyon and walked to the Upper falls. (The ink pots higher up was another two hours and we didn't go there.) The next day we were shocked when we woke up to see about 4 inches of snow (schnee! in German) everywhere. We had a worship service at the condo on Sunday morning. Then we went to meet Krista and Gary and Victoria at Beamer's Coffee Bar downtown. (Andrea, Andrew and Madeleine went to the Highland Games right away.) John stayed at Beamer's to watch a couple of quarters of the Regina/Winnipeg football game while the rest of us went to the Highland Games a couple of blocks away. It had stopped snowing and raining by then but was still cold and miserable. We just got there at the end of a dog and sheep demonstration and got to see how the dogs intimidated the sheep into jumping into the back of a half-ton. Then we watched the grand march of all of the pipe and drum bands which was quite impressive. We found a lady wearing a MacLeod dress tartan and Andrew got a picture with her. Andrew is thinking of getting married while wearing a tartan but is thinking that the hunting or working tartan would be nicer than the dress tartan. We left for home on Monday afternoon after spending the morning cleaning the place.
The last picture is one of all of Roland and Lois Olson's children, taken in Weyburn and I was the one who suggested that they all line up with National Geograph magazines to get a picture taken from the oldest to the youngest. [Cathy, Wilfred, Marjorie, Bernard, Sharon, Conrad, Stephanie]

Renovations Part II

The major summer renovations are finished. Not only did I redo the deck covering and the railings but I painted the walls in our master bedroom and redid the shelving in Ruth's walk-in closet. Now I can go back to work to recuperate!

This is a look from inside the closet and the next two pictures are of the new vinyl covering and the aluminum railings that I installed.

New decking and railings Part one

About 50 of the 150 posts that I installed about 22 years ago had deteriorated to the point that they would have to be replaced. Ruth wanted the same style of posts; unfortunately, no manufacturer could be located and the lathes that I found to make them myself were too small. These are the before pictures of the deconstruction. I'll show the reconstruction pictures of the after job later. This was a three week job.

Ruth's flower garden

Petunias and a few Marigolds













Lilies



Speedwell



more Lilies (She actually has 10 different types)



Gaillardia (Also called Oranges & Lemons)




The rose bush had twenty flowers open at once.

Family Reunion July 2008

Jennifer Wallace, Cayley MacLeod, Angela Baggett, Rhian Gittins, Sarah MacLeod, Amber MacLeod

Rhian's dog "Archie" insisted on being the centre of attention

Family Reunion July 2008

The July 1st long weekend was a reunion for the grandchildren of Hector and Signe MacLeod. Laveena's two children: Rhian and Sion; J Warren's two children: Sarah and Robin; Archie's Corey (Kelly and Krista did not attend; Ian's three children: Angela, Jennifer, and Andrew; and E. Peter's three children: Everett, Amber, and Cayley attended.
The first picture is (youngest to oldest) E. Peter MacLeod, Ian MacLeod and J Warren MacLeod. (Laveena passed on in July of 2006 and the third oldest Arden Archie was up at Lake Athabasca helping Americans fish>)

The second picture is of Andrew MacLeod, Corey MacLeod, Robin MacLeod and Sion Gittins.

The third is Cayley, Everett, Amber, Marj and Pete MacLeod

Father's day tribute

Ruth and I went to visit Bill Bell on June 14 and 14 to see how he is doing, and it happened to coincide with father's day. Here is a picture of Bill walking down the aisle with Ruth in 1971 (July 24 if you are wondering) and the next picture was taken in 2008 which would be almost 37 years later. (His daughter Reva from Ohio also had come to visit.)

Church Budget Committee at work

John, Ian, Roy, Lynn and Arlene who spent a couple of hours finalizing the church budget recommendations for next fall's meeting.

Theo had his 18th birthday and his mom gave him a trail bicycle . Glenda Orr put on a barbecue for him last Friday.











This last picture is of the three toys that Great Uncle Archie MacLeod made for Ivan. There is a car, a truck and a transport tractor with trailer. It is for his birthday in October so I'll have to figure out a way to get them to him before then. (I put my cell phone beside them to show you the size of them!)

An old-fashioned roof raising!

On May 24, 2008 Robert and Melissa Orr invited the church family to an old-fashioned roof raising at their house on St. Andrew's Avenue. About 40 people showed up (including women, children and babies) and we had a barbecue at lunchtime and pizza for supper. Andrew and I got there shortly after 9:00 AM and we didn't leave until about 9:30 With the two breaks for meals we probably put in at least 11 hours of work! There were others who probably did more than 12 hours namely Robert and his dad Harold. What a great time! Thank you Robert and Melissa (and Josiah) for letting us help out.

Birthday cellebration

Jennifer was born on May 5, so this was a belated birthday cake for her since it is the 10th already.
Imogen is almost 5 months old and one tooth on the bottom is starting to come through. I haven't taught her how to shoot baskets yet or even to play ping pong, but she is good at spitting! Also, she is pretty good at pulling my beard and knocking my glasses off. 'Tis a good thing that she coos and smiles while she does so.