The family arrives at The Bluffs 2013

On Sunday, August 11th the Bourque clan gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lincoln, to celebrate mass and dedicate a new stained glass window to the memory of their parents, Arthur and Anna. Father Monte asked Pat to explain the chosen theme, The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, noting the UNB colours on Simeon!
















That evening, we hosted the Fourth Annual Sushi Dinner as our family arrived for their holidays:








Family friend visiting the Edwards, Shelley, Jen, Louise, Ann:




Ann, Georgie, Peggy, Brian and Steph:




Stella:




The next morning, after a massive clean-up from dinner, we packed up the two trucks and met Brian at Nackawic to drive into the interior of N.B. to Mt. Carleton Provincial Park, where we stayed overnight in a cabin at Bathurst Lake and hiked to the highest peak in N.B. the following day for lunch. We had torrential rain as we arrived and again as we drove back home, but while there and during the hike, it was clear and beautiful!




We stayed in the middle cabin, with two rooms, sleeping about 10 people in bunk beds:








Elliott enjoying spaghetti for supper!




Setting out-Ben with Elliott, Kathie, Pat, Jen, Steph, Lou and Brian:




Steph and Lou on top of Mt. Carleton:




Steph, Lou, Jen and Elliott having lunch:




Overlooking central N.B.:

Location:Grand Lake, N.B.

More summer 2013 at The Bluffs

We ate a lot, it seemed! Celebrating July birthdays for Stella (one year) and her mother, Erika:




Grandma Georgie with Stella and Erika:




Stella and cousin Grace:




Erika and Stella:




Back at our house, Dad Timo taught Stella to play the piano:




Then there was Peggy's birthday:
Georgie:




Peter with Erika and Melanie:




Ryder, aged 3 1/2 years:




Peggy in the official birthday hat!




The first annual "Mini-Tibbits Hall Reunion" took place August 7th and what a lot of memories that invoked! We put on our Tibbits' sweaters and celebrated Chris' 60th birthday with a BBQ steak dinner, salads, great wine (The Show, a California Cabernet Sauvignon, thanks to Neil) and a carrot cake! Daughter Julie had sent the box full of 60+ letters written to Chris from friends and family and over the next few hours she read them all, sharing with us some of the more amusing anecdotes! We looked at old photo albums and after supper, watched slides of our years together in Tibbits (1971-76), wondering how on earth we ever could wear some of those get-ups! What a hoot! I can't wait for next year's get-together!
Kathie, Brenda, Chris and Kathy:




Kathy, Chris and Steve:




Brenda, Neil and Norm:




The girls: Brenda, Kathie, Chris and Kathy in our UNB finery:




Enter the boys-Pat and Steve in the back row:




Norm and Kathy:




Chris and Steve:




Pat and Kathie:




Brenda and Neil:

Location:Grand Lake, N.B.

Highlights Summer 2013

It has been a whirlwind summer and a long time since I last posted. I wrote several drafts of winter activities earlier this year, but for some reason have been unable to publish them online. I hope to have better luck this time around, otherwise I will have to give up blogging altogether...
I left Barcelona on June 21st and after one night with Jen, Ben and Elliott in Montreal, I rented a car and drove up to The Rouge (north of Hawkesbury, ON) to visit the Sannas for a few days and to celebrate Sil's 60th.
Melanie with Madison (3 yrs.), Sil and Stephen




Stephen's coffee for me on Sunday morning!




I returned to Montreal on June 26th to spend the week with Jen and Elliott while Ben attended a Math conference in Budapest. Elliott spent a lot of time wandering arund the house in my shoes:




His favourite mode of transportation to daycare this spring was by bike, wearing his "helmie":




On Canada Day we visited my old school friend, Barb, in Hudson Heights, then had lunch on the patio at The Willow. Here's Mama Bird feeding Baby Bird some spaghetti:




From Montreal I flew to Denver via St. Louis on July 5th to spend a week with Steph and Lou and to finally meet the Audie puppy!
Walking in the neighbourhood-this homeowner had a whole garden in his yard and on the grass between sidewalk and street! It was sunny and hot and I was continually thirsty and a bit breathless, given the altitude.








We walked by the East High School (circa 1875) on the way to the dog park and to the Sunday evening Jazz in the Park:












On Monday, we drove west into the Rockies to Glenwood Springs for the night, enjoying lunch in Vail:
















These statues on the park bench were reminiscent of ones we have seen in Santa Fe, NM:




We checked into our B&B Four Mile Creek then headed out for a pre-dinner hike to Hanging Lake. It was 93F when we started and I had finished my water bottle halfway to the top!
























Returning to Denver on July 9th, we stopped in Aspen, that other famous Colorado resort, picking up some T-shirts at Crazy Shirts:




Great front gardens:








The pass on the way back to Denver:




And the lake where we ate a picnic lunch:




And soon it was time to fly back to Montreal, this time via Detroit, where there was no time to grab lunch en route! One last night with Jen, Ben and Elliott then off to N.B. for two months!
Leaving Montreal:




Arriving Fredericton:




Keep tuned...more to come...

Location:Montreal, The Rouge, Denver, The Bluffs, Mt. Carleton, Bar Harbor, Ottawa