summer visitors

 already this summer we have had many visitors, but none for long enough.  kylie's dad greg flew in to admire his new grandson and play with his old grandson.

 we got outside every day despite the rainy weather.  at some point in the day the sun would peek out and we would be off.  one day greg and ty and i were out for a walk in the forest behind our house when kylie texted me "better get home, people are talking online about a crazy storm in abbotsford and cultus lake."  we turned around and doubletimed it home, with greg occasionally having to jog in order to keep up to ty.  in the last few minutes of our walk the wind really started howling, and a large branch fell from the canopy and landed about 2 meters from greg.  with a timely warning we made it home dry and safe.

 our visits with greg are always too fast.  he is an easy guest and he loves all the same things we do, including hiking, drinking beer in the evening and ty.

 next up was my sister shareen.  her arrival from victoria was timed during a heavy work load for me.  not only did shareen help with the basics, she came armed with art projects and the will and energy to make a nice batch of strawberry jam with kylie.  ty loves shareen.  we could have used her around my entire block, but alas she had her own weekday duties to attend to.

two days after shareen left our good friend steve rolled in.  we dont get to see him much as he is currently teaching english literature at the university of the gambia.  he stayed for a night, which was much too short.  conversation with steve is typically fast, occasionally arresting, and always interesting.  i really have to be careful regarding the positions i take as steve has been known to recall, reiterate and refute assertions made 2 or 3 years earlier.  he treats debate like a long distance chess match and i love it.

 another good friend from university, heidi d, was passing through the fraser valley and stopped in to say hello.  we met her boyfriend jon who i am happy to report is a good CRC boy and a snappy dresser to boot.  an athlete and a gentleman.  we have only seen heidi once since staying with her in thailand.  half a day was too short.  after catching up in our kitchen, i took heidi and jon out to harrison lake where we perused native holy sites in the kayak and heidi bought pottery (not holy pottery).

the end of the visitors brings us almost up to current.  next post: camping with the vks at cultus.  but it might not be for a while b/c tomorrow we're off to go camping on harrison lake again.  big bessie is treating us great.  zeke is sleeping well.  making the most of this beautiful weather!