Just One Little Chromosome

I'm pretty lucky. My Aunt works at EA Sports and she gets to do a lot of great things for kids who need it. And sometimes, I get to come along for the ride. She has spent years helping to grant wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, hosting kids with Muscular Dystrophy, and putting on events for the Special Olympics. She works with EA Outreach and gets paid to make a difference in people's lives. You might think I might be exaggerating her works, but I'm not. In fact, not too long ago, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her works! It is to "honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians". And she was most definitely worthy. Last weekend, she invited me to come out to a Special Olympics event she was putting on at EA Sports in Burnaby. I got to bring along my camera and capture some really special moments. I won't share a lot, but I'll share a few.

This fella had the most impressive grin!

 

Mastering some balancing skills

 

Making a new friend

 

This ball of energy loved to spin! Didn't matter who he was spinning with!

 

At the end of the day, I caught this volunteer signing "Thank You" to one of the participants

 

One of the things I love to do, is spend time with developmentally disabled folks, but most specifically, I love kids with down syndrome. They say the cause is just one extra chromosome. Just that one tiny little thing, adds loads and loads of love and gives them bigger hearts and souls than anyone who has the 'proper number' of their chromosomes. In fact, I have met some people in my life who could stand to gain a chromosome.  Maybe it would make them kinder! Ever heard the saying "Give a lot, Get a lot"? It's true. Live your life by seizing opportunities to help people. Give of yourself and you'll become a better person for it. I'm not going to use my blog to toot my own horn and list the things that I may or may not do. I'd just like to encourage you to give it a try for yourself!



Hiatus Over?

I have no idea why I just felt the urge to go and breathe life into my long since abandoned blog. Maybe I do. With more and more people using facebook or twitter as their own personal soap boxes that are infiltrating my newsfeed, and me trying to be less and less specific about my life on there, my old blog is starting to feel more welcoming. Maybe I'll use this space to get more personal, feel like I have more freedom with my thoughts and ideas. After all, a blog is something you can chose to read. Facebook and twitter are all up in your face.

Looking back on old blog posts, my theme is usually family, fun, photos, the occasional story. I have no idea if I'll keep the same flavor! I am, after all, much more mature 4 1/2 years later. (right?) In the meantime, if you were a regular follower, sorry I was gone so long! If you're new, welcome!

I'll breathe some new life into this ol' gal with some of my favorite collages I've created lately. I've got a bit of a sneaky/humorous streak. Take it or leave it!

 

A little failed help from big brother!

 

What's more fun that making boobs out of balls for 2 little boys?

 

Faces at the beach

 

Best. Halloween. Photo. EVER.

 

Big guy using little guy as a paintball shield!

Hope you enjoyed the preview! Stay tuned for more...

One Plunge = 2 Bum Feet!

Yep, it's that time of year again! The midnight "Widow Dip"! It has become tradition, now that we've done it 2 years in a row, to honor Dave, Karen's late husband who died tragically 2 years ago today. As Karen puts it, "What man wouldn't want to be remember by a bunch of naked women freezing their tushes off in the water??" We had 2 newbies on board this year, and found that the dock seemed smaller..hehe. So, below, we have the photo of the dunkees..from left to right, me (duh), Heather, Chelsea, Karen and Alanna. After a lovely photo shoot, we thought, how fun would it be to get a photo of us all standing with our backs to the camera while in the water? So, the 4 girls all lined up and waited for me while I set up the camera and tripod and set the timer. Once I pushed the shutter, I realized I had about 10 seconds to get to the group, so what did I do? I jumped off the dock. That's fast right? Well, since it was dark, and since I ignored the 1 warning I heard about not jumping in there, I had no idea it was so shallow. Only about 2 1/2 feet of water. So ya, I landed, hard, on both heels into the rocks. Lucky for the sub-zero temperatures, it was like instant ice packs on my feet. Anyhow, my brilliant plan back fired cuz now I have a photo of 4 ladies shoulder to shoulder, and then me, in the bottom corner, crunched up and holding my feet. Where did that make me end up? Well..scroll down...
Yep, the emergency room. A kazillion xrays on both feet later, I got the news that I DID NOT break either foot, but I did badly bruise both heels, and found out I had a bone spur in the left heel, which makes everything all the more painful. The nice doctor gave me some Advil, wrapped up my foot, told me to keep it elevated and said "You're gonna need crutches, but sorry we don't have any here". So, they sent me out the same way I came, attempting to walk on 2 very painful feet. I had to rent crutches the following day, but am still having to hobble. I walk on my tippie toes, with the majority of my weight on my right toes..but this awkward hobble (even with the crutches) causes major muscles cramps in both calves! So, needless to say, I can't stand for very long, and driving a stick sucks right now. Especially last night, when I had to drive 5km/hour through a construction zone in bumper to bumper traffic (at 10:45pm!) to get to work. I try not to use my clutch too much, but that was ridiculous! Yes, I will be taking the back roads to work from now on! And work, well that's just a whole new adventure, having to transfer the clients and stand at the counter to cook..nope, not working to well! At least they have an extra wheel chair if I need it!

All in all, we made some memories, bonded like naked women do (very carefully, hehe) and shared many laughs. Until next September...WE LOVE YA DAVE!!

Danger Zone?

This upcoming weekend is the Abbotsford Air Show..a HUGE event where people travel all around to come and see! Abbotsford since $1, 000,000 into the event and it's quite something. I happen to live close to the airport and get to "enjoy" the airshow from the moment that the planes start arriving. Not exactly prime sleeping conditions for a night shifter like me! Today was the day when a whole bunch of them decided it'd be a great day for practicing, and after realizing that it was pointless to try and sleep anymore, I grabbed my camera and hung out on my balcony for the fly bys! I sure was hoping to catch a glimpse of Maverick and Goose, but I don't think they were on the planes! ;-) They did, however, fly close enough for me to actually SEE the pilots! Insane! Anyhow, hope you enjoy the photos..a small fraction of what I actually took! I think these are my best! Almost all of them are the USAF (United States Air Force) with the last one being some vintage planes in formation. Too bad I'm busy all weekend, I'm not sure I'll actually get another chance like this.

Brigade Days

I had the privilege of paddling from Abbotsford to Fort Langley (approx. 20+km) this past Sunday for a re-enactment of the fur traders arriving in the Fort for BC's 150th birthday, along with 3 of my fellow dragon boat team mates, Carrie, Corinne and Christelle. (good thing my name is spelled with a K!) What a great experience! We paddled for 4 hours in the gorgeous sun on the murky Fraser River. Here are a few photos from that day:

A view of the Mission Bridge with a couple of the voyageur canoes we paddled in.

Getting ready to go!
A view from behind our boat of most of the voyageurs
Me! Our lunch break at Crescent Island..we didn't stay long, since every mosquito in the world seemed to make their home there! Our boat is the one to my left, with the otter pelt under the green flag. We stopped at the harbour airport just outside of Fort Langley to get into our costumes..Carrie was trying to find the "right" hat, and found road kill instead! Corinne thought it was hilarious! (as did I!)
Leaving the airport in full costume!

From left to right, Joel (Christelle's husband), Carrie in lead stroke, and Christelle. Matching red "Where's Waldo" hats!

Me! I chose a head band..after all it was about 30 degrees out! Who wants to wear a wool hat?

The "Gov'nah" in his boatGetting into formation as we approach the beachI bought this photo from the newspaper, it made the "archives" section! hehe Well, we thought it was great! We approached to hundreds of onlookers and paparazzi!The "Gov'nah" making his way off the boatSome more of the costumes
Us! From left, Corinne, Carrie, me and Christelle posing in front of the map. Some paddlers actually paddled the voyageurs all the way from Fort St. James, BC (10 day trip) and camped their whole way down. Dedication! No showers, no toilets..NO WAY! Sir Simon Fraser and I!

Harlow family makes International News!

Nicole heard something interesting on the news the other day, and decided to give it a closer listen...little did she know, it was a story about a cousin of ours from Indiana! He's a pastor in Kokomo, IN, who used a motorcycle in his sermon for a prop...but his sermon didn't exactly start off as planned! Read the story here for a good laugh! And yes..we really are related..

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8717453&nav=menu188_2

Really LONG overdue!

So sorry about the very long pause between updates! My life has been crazy busy! I just got home last week from a 2 1/2 holiday in Devon, and as you can imagine, I came home with plenty of photos! I got there just in time for Kennedy's 1st birthday, on June 28. She sure loved her cake!

And Grammama brought her a tiara to go with her cake! She kept it on for quite sometime!

Grammama poses with her 3 great grandchildren! 4 generations!We spent tonnes of time out at Tammy and Dallas' farm south west of Calmar. We ALWAYS come back with funny stories and photos! Here, Nicole tackled one of Dallas' prized grain bins. That's as high as she would go!
Poor Riley did a face plant into a mud puddle! And being the caring and concerned Auntie that I am, I turned and ran for my camera first, Riley second! Playing in the canola fields...Riley too!One of my favorite photos of Kennedy. So precious! Kennedy and I posing in front of the field..she was more interested in the dog!My hottie sister! I swear, Nicole should be a model! She's disgustingly photogenic! Forget this nurse business! Go pose for photos for a living!
This photo just HAD to be included! Nice timing, hey? I was taking a nice shot of Nicole, and just as I clicked, our stinker nephew Ben whipped a koosh ball at her head..it was so perfect! Again..my hottie sister!July 9 would have been James' 7 birthday, so I went out to the cemetery for a quick visit. Jen, Stephen and kids went out later and brought James a cupcake and sang happy birthday, a yearly tradition.I had to get a shot of this..since our beloved Patti is buried just behind James..she's watching over him for us!
Of course, Menna and I get together and cameras are constantly going!I wish we had a stick with a bag tied on the end..cuz I coulda taken a great shot of Menna looking like a hobo!Looking over the city. Always have to have a night shot!One of my favorite pics! Ben does the splits on the trampoline!Our cutie pie Riley! The kids and I.Nic and the kidletsNic and the boys (since Kennedy got tired of posing!) My mommy and daddy!