With a day to put in before Anna comes home from the hospital, Poppa gets a workout with the boys!



Must have played hard, because Ben had a great nap in the afternoon... nothing bothering him.




Then the star of the show appeared and everyone wanted to hold her, kiss her, and read her books!



A little time for everyone to see, hear, touch and generally begin the effort to add one more little being to the pack.



Then comes time for Poppa to hold her. What a fun thing to do... only yesterday she was brandnew!! Today, she is just one of the boys... well not really, but she does look alot like them!
Don't tell them we said that.....

What more needs to be said?? The boys will look after her, or toughen her up, maybe both!!

So, sometimes life just kinda grabs you around the neck.... and in this case that is a good thing!! Here she is, Anna Ruth... and she is not going to get away from Dr. Starck!!


It was an exciting day for the Smith's and the Buehrle's yesterday. Baby Anna Ruth was born at 5:16pm. She weighed in at 8lb.11oz and is 20 inches tall!


Naomi is doing just fine and they are expected home from hospital today if everything goes to plan!



The boys were very excited to meet their new sister!! They were, just a Poppa & Grandma, in awe of this new little life! What a treat to be able to share the time with them as Anna begins her new life with her brothers!
There will be more picture coming.... of that I am sure!

So the excitement for today was the celebration of Ben's birthday.... candles, cake, pizza, and presents! Lot's of those.... including a sleeping bag back pack. Should be able to take that to the quinzhee for a nap!


With food, tattoo band-aids, and assorted treats in his new lunch bag Ben was off to see the rest of the celebration!





Meanwhile, Naomi just waits patiently for the baby to emerge!




Ben is somewhat concerned about the fact that McQueen, Miss Sally, Doc and Mater are having to hand on their sides for supper!


So... one more shot of the snowhouse ... the joint effort! Tomorrow will no doubt require much attention to the activities in the quinzhee!!

Well the grass is still green in Ohio.... at least the stuff that is growing on Santa's head !! In the house on the counter!!



While outside, the snow has arrived and with a little effort a quinzhee has appeared in the backyard of Matt and Naomi's house!



The boys were very excited about the potential to have naps, sleepovers, treats and a variety of other activities in the "tunnel" as Ben like to call it!

Christmas in Ohio.
Green grass, walking with the boys and watching the motorcycles, scooters and assorted other forms of wheeled entertainment... all are a part of the Christmas season in Ohio this year. With Dad no longer in SSM, the need to be in the north for the holidays was replaced with a need to be with Matt, Naomi and the boys.

There will be pictures to post, and more storied to write, but for now, the saga will continue here with sunny days and walks with the super stroller!



Don't be too discouraged about the weather, this shot was taken on Labour Day weekend, not this past week!! Although, when it hit 60F it felt like this day all over!



And why put this shot in... just 'cuz it is from the lake, and I like the colour and smooth lines on the water! No hidden meanings, nothing more complicated than .... I like it!

The truck arrives, the stakes are in the ground and before the day is done, there is a hole in the ground with boards ready to hold the concrete footings in place! The house has been started!




The next thing you know we are filling in around the walls and ready to start nailing boards together.



And before long, but not without some long hours of hard work... there is a shell of a house! More yet to do, however, it is closed in and ready for the inner workings to be installed!
The project started in September, continued through October and was closed in and ready for winter by mid-November!! Not bad for a small crew!

So when Auntie Heidi takes the boys to the parade... they are serious about gathering candy. Ben looked after his little satchel all night long! Nobody was to mess with that bag. He was one of the more serious parade watchers in Desbarats!



We are not in on the conversation around these two pics...and we are not sure whether it is Mom's comments or Grandma's ... that draw the second "look" out of the two models!! Luke & Heidi were obviously both impressed by something!!



Do you really need words to go with 2 boys and a pond!! I think not !

Not all visitors are quite so bold... like these two. They will suddenly appear in the pond... and just as quickly they move silently off into the cover of the trees. They do seem to enjoy the vegetation in the pond and with those long legs they seem to be able to move in and out of the water with ease! - and speed if required!

So ... what do you do with a bag of dirt... well if you are a bear... you might move it around the yard and get your paws all dirty!!




Then you might come up on the deck and check out all the windows... with muddy paws... so people can see where you have been!!




These were the paw prints left by our latest black bear visitor!
It was Eddie who sounded the alarm as the screen rip on our bedroom window! This guy is getting a little toooo familiar!!

So this guys big brother came back the other night.... left foot prints on all the windows... and ripped the screen on the bedroom window!! Eddie made a big fuss about 5 am and he left the window and wandered off the deck!! No pictures... too dark!!





The other visitor was the calf and cow moose ... Mom is not very far awa and you can just see he shoulder on the right!!

You know your in the north when the visitor on the deck .... is looking for snacks at 7:00 am in the morning!!
... Oh, sorry .... I put them all away.... but try again tomorrow!

The posting has been very slow lately... but maybe in the next day or two I'll be able to catch up!!

Gnite for now!

We spent the day driving to the farm... wandering around .... and watching the water flow out the drain... it was making a neat water fan that was fun to watch.



The fan would move.... but it looked amazing as it just kept splashing off the rocks.


Dad enjoyed the time with Eddie, although Eddie still is not keen about cameras!! Oh well!

Well , even though the weather remains cool.... the flowers are blooming and in fact the wild flower garden in the back of Dad's house has trillium's, tulips, blue bells.... and a multitude of other colourful flowers.

The good news... the house has been sold... the down side is of course that Dad's retreat centre will be gone.... not an easy thing to do... 'cuz it signals a new era!!


We spent a day down at the farm... with Dad being able to wander around and check out the pond.... I think he enjoyed the day.



Of course Eddie was around... but was not keen on having his picture taken!!
A good day was had be all.

So for the quick news.... we left the country for a couple weeks and enjoyed a cruise in the Caribbean aboard the Westerdam. Big boat.... not a big as some... and I have a ton of pictures.... that I won't post.... 'cuz I just don't have the space. I filled 3 cds with no room to spare...!!! 2,000 plus comes to mind! Glad they are digital!!


This flower was at Lois Hardie's condo in Florida. The latter part of the trip was more down to earth .... so to speak... it worked on Eienstein's theory of relativity.... and I might say it was much more cost effective ... and no less enjoyable!!


A final shot as we depart for the north.... little did we know that there would be yet another snow storm in April!!! We were already in summer time mode!




The sunsets are nice from the beach... but the sunrises .... are great from the deck of a ship.

And speaking of decks... well this is our deck here in the north on April 12th!! Yes, that is fresh white snow... and lots of it!

More to come .... as time allows!