In Ucluelet ... Fishing ...

September 12, 2016

We arrived in Ucluelet around noon ...

and were out on the water ... shortly after ...

It was a beautiful day ... calm waters in the bay ...

and a few waves out on the ocean ...

Mike and Ron set up all the gear and we were fishing ...

Once again ... I caught the first fish ...

a 30lb (13.7kg) Halibut ...

it took me awhile to bring it into the boat ... the guys did not believe me that I had caught one ...

Mike had to help me hold the rod ... so that I could reel it in ...

We were surprised to find out that the fish was caught in the line of the bait box ...

so I was reeling it in as well ...

Finally the Halibut was in the boat ...

Apparently the halibut fishing was slow in the area ...

so Ron decided that we would head back and fish for salmon ...

Yup ... I caught a 20lb (9.1k) Spring Salmon as well ...

Mike wasn't so lucky this day ...

Perhaps tomorrow will be better for him ...

Back on shore ... the guys cleaned the fish at the cleaning station ...

After taking pictures ... I went into town to pick up a few groceries ...

Mike and Ron had taken the fish back to the Inn ...

cut ... wrapped and sealed the fish ... ready to be put into the freezer ...

A beautiful piece of fresh salmon was kept out ...

to be BBQ'd for out dinner this evening ...

It was absolutely ... scrumptiously delicious ... !!!

 

Visiting with Ian ...

July 16, 2016

We traveled to Alberta ...

taking the grandchildren home ...

then continued on our way to meet up with Ian in Leduc ... for the weekend ...

We were so excited to see him ... it had been a long time since we last saw him ...
He had travelled back to Canada for a couple weeks ...
to do some work in the Oilfield ...

We had a great time ... catching up and visiting ...
On Sunday we spent the day with Lorraine and Barry ... (Kendall's parents) ...
We also went out for dinner to the famous Sawmill Restaurant ...
enjoying a delicious meal ... their speciality of Prime Rib ... !!!

We were so happy to have spent this time with Ian ...
and hoping to see the whole family soon ...
Perhaps they'll be coming home for Christmas ... !!!

 

Our Last Day to Visit ...

May 30, 2016

Today we spent the morning visiting with Klaus and Resi ...

then getting some of our packing done as we were leaving for Canada the next day ...

After breakfast ... Klaus was busy drawing out the roads travelled ...

on our holiday ...

some of the routes drawn in blue were when Mike went with Klaus's on his work route ...

Resi was busy in the kitchen preparing a special lunch ...

We were going for the afternoon ...

to go visit with Tanya (Regina's daughter) and her family ...

in Vorchdorf ...

Before we left to go see Tanya ...

Resi gave me this handmade gift ... painting on the flowers ... then crocheting the lace trim ...

I can appreciate the time and love put into this towel ...

"In many kitchens in Austria ... this shelf would be hung in the kitchen ...

the used tea towels would be hung up on the hooks ...

and the long towel would be drawn in front to hide them" ...

I plan on using mine as a wall hanging ...

Tanya and Hans run the original four-corner farm ...

Hans and Tanya live on the upper storey ... of the farmhouse ...

and Hans's parents live on the main floor ...

It is a large pig farm ... that is totally automated now for feeding ...

even though it is ....

it still takes a lot of work to manage it ...

This cute little guy is Tanya and Hans's son Emil ...

he is 4 years old and full of energy ...

We were there in time to have a coffee break ... and cake ... at least the women did ...

the guys had a beer break ...

When we left the farm ... Klaus took us on a tour to Messenbach ...

showing us the house that mom (Oma) was raised in from the age of 1-13 ...

She would have to walk a few mile on the backroad ...

to get milk for the family ...

there were no other house around ... and no streetlights ...

Oma said it was scary at night when she walked those roads ...

we saw quite a bit of the countryside ... that Oma would ride her bike or walk ...

Klaus then drove back to Tante Paula's house ...

this was our last day to be visit here ...

We went back to the Seyr household ...

and enjoyed a lovely evening with some of the family that came by ...

to bid us farewell ...

It has been an extraordinary adventure ...

it's hard to believe the time had gone by so quickly ...

Hoping that we will be able to return again ... next time for a few more weeks ...

This holiday brought our family closer together ...

and a better understanding of the history ...

 

A Day with Opa's Family ...

May 22, 2016

After our lunch at Gasthof Engelhof ...

we went on a road trip ... touring on our way to Steinbach ...

to meet with our cousins from Dad's family ...

It was an absolutely beautiful place ... you could see the Attersee from the house ...

The surroundings were spectacular ...

It was wonderful to meet the family ... Erni is my dad's first cousin ...

her father and my Opa were brothers ...

Erni has three sons ... unfortunately we were only able to meet two of them ...

the youngest son and his wife live in the home with Erni ...

the oldest son built a house across the street ...

The picture on the bottom righthand corner ...

is of my Opa when he was a young man ...

We had a wonderful time visiting ...

Wolfgang continued to tell us stories and history of our families ....

Our journey continued to our next destination ... driving by the countryside ...

thru tunnels to TraunKirchen ...

where the church was built high up onto a rock ...

Our dinner destination was at the "Landhotel Gruenberg am See"(Green Mountain Hotel by the lake) ...

it has a beautiful restaurant ...

We were delighted to see Franz and Karin waiting for us at our table ...

Franz had had a long day ... traveling back from Italy ...

We were grateful that we would be able to spend the evening with everyone ...

After our dinner ... Franz took me to meet Ingrid ... the owner and cook ...

I could have my choice of any dessert I wanted ...

it probably took me 15 minutes to decide ... there were so many to choose from ...

Ingrid also has written her own cookbooks and has a cooking school ...

We spent the evening ... talking ... laughing ... drinking ...

Hmmmm ... see that little hand make it's way to Mike's schnapps ...

(made from the Alpine Pine Tree) ...

Oma said she just wanted to smell it ... and then she couldn't resist and had to have a little taste ...

This seemed to be the ritual everytime Mike had an after dinner schnapps ....

The setting was incredible ... out on the deck ...

and then just as beautiful when the sun started to disappear ...

We spent the whole evening there ...

and as usual we were one of the last ones to leave ...

It was wonderful to speak with the owners and all the servers ... !!!

Franz & Ingrid are frequent visitors to Canada and they love our country ... !!!

 

For more info in English ... click here

 

 

The Traun Adventure ...

May 18, 2016

Today Klaus, Mike and I ... headed out on mission to check out the waters ...

along the Traun River ...

Our gift from Klaus and Resi ...

was a day of Fly-fishing on the Traun ...

Our trip started with checking out the old power plant from the bridge ...

Then making our way to the riverside ...

We were amazed by the very old fish ladder ...

with the pools that were carved into the rock ...

for the fish to travel above the dam ...

Next we drove to the park area by the power plant ... making our way along the path ...

The scenery was so beautiful ...

Oh my ... there has to be fish in those pools ... !!!

We stopped at the lookout for a perfect photo opportunity ...

The water was crystal clear ...

we could see the fish swimming in the water ...

Mike and I are so excited ... can hardly wait ...

Continued on our adventure ... with more on the Traun ... !!!

 

 

And They're Off ...

March 20, 2016

We spent this Sunday ... going for a hike around the area ...

along the path of the canals for the flood water ...

The flowers and cacti were beautiful ...

I was amazed by the tall cactus with all the holes ...

and watching the birds flying in and out ...

 

March 21, 2016

We were so excited when we found out that we were going to go to ...

The Turf Paradise Thoroughbred Horse Racetrack ...

This was the first time for us experience this special event ...

We had help from Terry ... and the rest of the gang giving us tips on betting ...

It was an amazing place ... nice and cool being inside ...

we also enjoyed the beverages and a lovely lunch while watching the races ...

It was so much fun ... !!!

We had gotten an invitation from the owner of the #2 Horse ...

to visit the winners circle to meet the trainer and the jockey ...

It was thrilling to watch ...

the trainer had raised this horse ...

We were given insight as to which horse we should bet on ...

#2 & #3 horses were sure to place ...

All of us placed different bets on these horses ...

and we were all fortunate to have won a bit on this race ...

with #2 horse coming in third ...

It was so exciting watching this race ...

We had an awesome time watching all eight races ... !!!

 

Back To Mexico ...

March 19, 2016

We ventured to Mexico this morning ... for the visitor appreciation day celebrations ...

touring around the town ...

and visiting a lot of the booths along the streets ...

While Dave was having dental work done ...

Mike ... Linda and I went to the little Mexican restaurant ...

across the street from the Dental Office ...

We had a great time and the food was delicious ...

With the weather hitting 97 F ... Mike and Linda enjoyed their Mexican beers ...

while I sipped on a large glass of fresh lemonade ...

We were grateful to have had air conditioning in the SUV ...

as we made our way back to Glendale, AZ.

We were back in time to head to the Westgate Entertainment Community again ...

to go watch the hockey game with a few of our friends from Ontario ...

who were also vacationing in Arizona ...

It was wonderful to meet up with them and enjoy the game ...

It was a busy day for all of us ... !!!

 

Celebrating My Birthday ...

I received my new iPad Pro early for my birthday ...

Nathan picked it up from the Apple Store ...

and delivered it when he came for Oma's birthday party ... !!!

Yipeeeeee ... !!! So excited ... !!!

We travelled to Alberta on November 29th ...

to watch the Grey Cup game with the kids ...

Getting up early the next day to spend the day shopping ...

and meeting up with friends for lunch ...

then continued with more shopping ... !!

Finishing up just in time to go see Ella ...

perform in her Christmas Concert with the Okotoks Children's Choir ...

I was wonderful seeing and listening to her and the choir sing ...

It was a special evening ... !!!

After the concert ...

we went out for a late dinner ...

and I was surprised with my cards and gift from Nathan and the family ...

along with the singing of Happy Birthday ...

when receiving a large warm cookie topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce ...

I was grateful that everyone helped me out in devouring this dessert ...!!!

The next morning ... the day of birthday ...

Mike and I headed back into town to go to Cora's Breakfast restaurant ...

I ended up ordering and crepe filled with fruit and custard sauce for my breakfast ...

Oh boy was it yummy ... I ate the whole thing ... !!!

I was surprised to get a little swan carved out from an apple ...

and a rendition of Happy Birthday sung to me once again ...

A few others joined in as well ... !!!

After waddling out of the restaurant Mike and I still had a couple stores ...

to stop in before heading home ...

On our way home we decided to stop and visit friends in Lundbreck ...

we had not seen them in years ...

we had a great visit ... and hoping to get together more often in the future ...

As we drove thru the area back to the highway ...

Mike stopped at the Lundbreck Falls ...

It was a beautiful site ... seeing the frozen water over the falls ... !!!

Finally made our way home ...

I gathered up all my treasures ... I am so spoiled ... to take a few pictures ...

Thank you Mike for my new iPad and a few other goodies ...

Thank you to mom for the Poinsettia plant, her card and a little something inside ...

so I could pick up items for my new iPad ... (a Smart Cover and Decalgirl Skin) ...

and bringing lunch (thank you Joe) out to the house for a visit ...

Thank you to Dagmar, my dear friend for making a special cover (for travelling) ...

for my new iPad Pro ...

I was so thankful to have seen Ian and his family on Skype earlier in the week ...

and talking to them on my birthday ... !!!

I was thrilled to hear Daigen singing Happy Birthday to me ...

it meant so much ... !!!

It was Nixon's turn to say Happy Birthday ... it was so cute ...

but he said he wasn't going to sing ...

there's just something about talking on the phone with Grandma ...

that makes him go a little kooky ...

he just giggles and laughs and can hardly talk ... !!!

Thank you to all those that sent cards, emails and called for my special day ... !!!

It was great receiving a FaceTime call from my cousins ...

Klaus and Resi ... from Austria ... !!!

I am grateful for my family and friends ...

I am truly blessed ... !!!

 

A Vacation with Mom ...

July/August 2001

We took a camping trip to the West Kootenays with mom in 2001 ...

making our way to Halcyon Hot Springs ...

It was beautiful ... enjoying every moment ... visiting many of the little towns ...

along the way ... !!!

This was one of our wonderful memories ...

 

Mary Jane (Jean) Knight

December 15, 1924 - October 28, 2008

In our thoughts always ...

 

An Exciting Day ...

September 10, 2015

We were waiting for Oma and the cousins to arrive in the Motor Home ...

playing in the park ...

and working on the Rubiks Cube ...

We had a lovely Chinese Buffet Dinner ...

at the Big Rock Inn Restaurant ...

It was nice to hear about their travels ...

to the west coast and Alberta ...

We decided to walk the park route ...

back to the Motor Home ...

crossing the Sheep River Bridge ...

It was a beautiful evening ... and felt good to get some exercise ...

after our delicious meal ...

We left the park and made our way to Nathan's house ...

parking in the driveway ... well almost all the way in the driveway ...

for the night ...

as they were going to fly back to Austria the next day ...

The grandchildren had some pent up energy ...

wrestling around the lawn was a good way to get rid of it before bed ...

as long as no one got hurt ....

Craig, James and Ella enjoyed visiting with their (4th) cousins ...

showing them some of their crafts they had made ...

and James doing his magic tricks ...

Christian then showed James a couple more card tricks ...

that he should be able to learn ...

It was an early night for everyone ... they had had busy days travelling ...

and partying the night before with Oma, Mike and friends ...

September 11, 2015

An early morning breakfast ...

packing up and we were on our way ...

I guided them to the route they needed to take ...

to make their way into Calgary ...

to drop off the Motor Home and then make their way to the airport ... !!!

Even though we had a short visit ...

we had an awesome time ...

Hoping that we will see each other again ... soon ... !!!