Our 25th Wedding Anniversary

On August 26th, Rich and I had our 25th Wedding Anniversary!!!

25th anniversaries are great - I highly recommend them!

Earlier in the year we took a trip to Hawaii.  True, it wasn't our anniversary, but we needed a warm break in February, not August.

It was a most memorable and delightful trip together.

Our actual anniversary day was a Tuesday and Rich was out of town working.  The Friday before, we decided to have a nice date together by attending our local temple and then attending a community play of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" which was awesome.  Lovely date together.

On our actual anniversary, I opened this gift from mom and dad - perfect for our Silver Wedding Anniversary!  Thanks Mom!!!

When Rich came home on Saturday, he took me away on a camping trip to the mountains.

(Note:  Okay, I haven't posted anything in Delle Delight's for years and find this in my draft folder many years after it happened - so the rest of this post is the best I can remember from four years later!)

Attended church at the Waterton Chapel on Sunday.

Went to Cameron Lake for our Sunday afternoon picnic.  The wind was so cold coming off the lake that we had to eat in our sleeping bags!

A kind stranger took this  picture of our windy picnic for us. I love this one!!!

Exploring the marina and shores of Waterton Lake during our Sunday afternoon stroll.

Richard taught me how to longboard - can't believe I was able to keep my balance with four wheels underneath me!  This was along the bike trail that runs along beside the highway. 

And sadly enough, (since I am writing this four years after our 25th Anniversary) last year in Sept 2017, a big forest fire roared through Waterton Park and many of these trees along the highway are now destroyed.  Luckily the townsite was able to be saved, and the Prince of Wales hotel.

Cameron Falls - the most photographed spot in Waterton!

Richard arranged a surprise and on Labour Day Monday.  Grampa brought a bunch of our girls to come and be with us in Waterton for the day!  We took the pictures at Cameron Falls, which I guess was the pre-arranged meeting place at a certain time!  We finished taking the pictures and turned around and . . . 

. . . look, a bear!  After a little bit of time for bear photo ops, Richard chased it back into the trees by letting out his shrieking whistle and running towards it.  Such a hero!!!

I confess I don't even remember who these people are - I think they were some of Grampa's family?  They must have been special though because we got a picture together.

Picnic lunch time - Jordyn is sitting very carefully as her flipflops slipped on the Cameron Falls trail and she slid and landed on her hinder.  

After lunch, Carlee and Jenna took the long-boards out for a ride and we were planning to meet them at the playground.  Soon we got a text from Carlee saying that Jenna had hit gravel and wiped out and was hurt and needed us.  So we got to them and lots of other people had stopped too.  Someone called the ambulance.  They didn't want to move her until they had checked her out but it was mostly her knees and elbows and hands that were scrapped up, but Jenna can get pretty freaked out about blood and pain!  

It was starting to rain so they put her on the stretcher to get her patched up inside the ambulance.  Jordyn and Carlee were quite enchanted by the muscles on this paramedic!  Once we knew Jenna was okay beyond surface wounds, it was quite entertaining to listen to them!

Inside the ambulance for a little while, out of the rain, getting her wounds dressed.

 As we drove home, we kinda broke the law by letting Jordyn (with her sore hinder) and Jenna (with her scraped body) lay on the bed in the camper as we towed it home.  It was a much more comfortable trip home for them that way.

Apart from some drama at the end of the weekend, it was a lovely anniversay!  In fact, it's been the best anniversary I've ever had!  Love my Richard so much!!!

Now good luck at volleyball tryouts tomorrow Jenna - hope you can move!

(She made the team!)

Jasmine Prepares for her Mission

Preparing for a mission is actually a lot of work!  

During the last few months before she left, these are some things she did.

The first step Jasmine had to complete before going on her mission was turning 19 - she accomplished that feat very nicely!

Finding an appropriate missionary wardrobe - skirts had to be long enough to easily cover her knees when standing and sitting, and not so long that she would be tripping on the uneven sidewalks and stairs of Mexico City. 

Thrift stores were actually some of the best places to find the skirts.  Dresses on the left, skirts on the bottom and tops/cardigans at the top.  You want to be able to mix and match as much as possible, and change the look of the outfit with a different belt or scarf.

Taking a picture was a good plan - helped me remember what she had and what I could send to her that would work with what she already had, without sending duplicates.  Most of these clothes didn't come home with her - she left them in Mexico City for others.  She did bring home some things from other sisters though.

In November Jaime left on her mission.  This is a suitcase packing party at Jaime's house with friends Brooklyn (who was also leaving to serve the week after Jaime) and Kennidy.

The day before Jasmine's farewell at church, Dad decided to finish the rock on the fireplace while he could still have help from Jas.  We also had help from Logan, Kevin and Greg.  Mackenzie is the supervisor.

Got it finished and it looks beautiful!  It was my job to get the decorations back in place before the dinner after church the next day.

The Gates Family (decorating got finished!)

Jas's farewell was a few weeks before she left - November 24th.  It was nice to have it a few weeks early so we didn't need to think about it anymore during the final weeks of preparation.

Sisters are gonna miss their Jazzy!

We had a family dinner of Taco-in-a-Bag - seemed appropriate for someone heading to Mexico!  Why do the men folk always fall asleep after eating?

We had a huge dump of snow just before leaving for the MTC.  Bug is jumping off the deck into a snowbank with Jasmine.  I suggested to Rich and Jas that they should shovel the sidewalks and they agreed and went out to tackle it.  They were almost finished when I frantically called them back in.  Jordyn had just gotten out of the shower and in the process of flipping her hair back to wrap it in a towel, she hit her head on the medicine cabinet and was bleeding profusely.  She yelled for me and I took one look at all the blood and said "Apply pressure to it with your towel." I don't do well with blood which is why I called in Rich and Jas.  They were taking care of things, but the bleeding just wasn't slowing down after quite a long time.  With her diabetes we didn't want to take any chances so called the ambulance.  Not one but two arrived - good thing the sidewalks had just been shoveled!

The ambulance dropped her at the Dahl Clinic and she got a few stitches.  Apparently the rumor going on around town was that Richard had had a heart attack.

So Jordyn was a bit of a mess with wet tangled hair caked with blood.  So while they watched a movie, Jas lovingly brushed out her hair and sponge washed all the blood out of it.  Last service for Jordyn before leaving for 18 months!

Jas was very organized, as usual - took care of all her packing of suitcases and packing up her room.  Dad's giving her a massage break from her work.  We had to provide her with enough toiletries for 18 months - that took a lot of space, and weight, but at least she didn't have to worry about searching for anything in Mexico City and had her favourite brands from home that she was comfortable with.

All packed - everything fits and came in under the allotted weight!  Big sigh of relief!!!

A few days before she left we all went out to a Mexican Restaurant to see what kind of food Jas would be eating for the next year and a half.  Good stuff!

Jas was set apart as a missionary on Thursday, December 5th by President Dudley.  From then on she had to have a companion with her, so a sister sleepover on her last night at home seemed like a great plan.

The next morning she said her good-byes to her beloved sisters and Richard and I started our trip to the Provo MTC with our Sister Jasmine Taylor.

This calendar posted on the mud room door shows some of the major events of the fall of 2013, before Jasmine left for the Mexico City Southeast Mission.

Poor Mom, Again!

Remember my mom was a pedestrian and was hit by a car back in September?  It was one of the first posts on my blog.  You can read about it here.  Anyway, her smashed knee/leg just wasn't healing properly and she was in constant pain.  So yesterday she had knee replacement surgery.  Once she was on the waiting list, they told her it could be up to four months before the surgery.  But they put her on a list to be moved up in case of cancellations, so she got it done within a month - yay!

We visited with her on our way home from Uncle Keith's graveside service.  She looked kind of yellow/pale and was trembling alot.  She says she feels very sleepy all the time - pain meds affecting her more than most people because her system is not used to drugs. 

But she was in good spirits and showed off . . .

. . . her lovely new scar!

This was a two-handed wave that looks like she's showing us that her fingers are still all there!!!  And that she has an IV.  She'll probably be going home on Thursday.

I delight in the medical technologies that make joint replacements possible for those who suffer.  Between Rich's and my parents, that four knees done, a hip and a shoulder.  Wow!  That sure has helped their quality of life - ain't that delightful?

Poor Mom

On Friday, September 24, 2010 at about 10:40am, my mom was hit by a car.  She was a pedestrian and was about five steps into the intersection when a dark coloured Chrysler Intrepid that was making a left turn, turned right (meaning precisely) into her, hitting her on the left leg in the knee area.  She bounced up onto the hood and then down into the road.  (I really don't like the image this gives me in my mind!)  There were lots of witnesses there and people to help mom as they waited for help to arrive.  She says it took forever to finally get in the ambulance because they were being so careful with her neck and back.  Fortunately, the only major injury turned out to be a broken leg that required surgery and pins and plates etc.  Not that a broken leg for mom is an easy thing, but when we think of how much worse it could have been, we are grateful that it's only a broken leg.  Her artificial hip was just fine and her back too.

These pictures were taken the day after the accident.  The only stitches mom needed (apart from the surgery) were these two little ones beside her eye.  Lots of bruising all over her face and most of the left side of her body too.

This pictures shows the big black velcro cast and part of the scraped up ankle.  I took a close up of the ankle just so mom could see what it looked like.

Chelle visiting Grandma and mom showing off her IV. 

No one in the family knew about the accident until hours after it happened.  Dad was vacationing with Uncle Ervin and mom gave the police her home phone number (but she thought she had given out dad's cell number - she was a little befuddled - understandably so!).  So it wasn't until much later that evening when the hospital phoned dad's cell that we got the news.  Rich and I had been on a date and were just about home when dad phoned us and told us the news and asked us to go check on mom.  So I quickly fed the baby and we headed back to town - about exactly 12 hours after the accident.  (What is that, a paradox - "about exactly"?).  Anyway we were able to see that although she was hurt and drugged, she still seemed normal and had a sense of humour.  She was able to use Rich's cell phone to talk to Bec and dad.  Bec was able to send out emails right away to let others know the details.  And I'm sure it was reassuring for dad to hear that she still sounded the same!

Flowers, chocolate, good reading - everything you need to make your hospital stay more pleasant!

Oh, and a poster to liven up the walls!

On Sunday evening we all went in as a family to visit Grandma.  She's getting better but now she is suffering from weak spells and bouts of vomitting.  My personal opinion is that she is suffering from effects of the pain medication.  She'll probably be in hospital for a while yet.  And now for my delights from this entry:  I have lots of them!!!  I delight in having a loving mother, I delight in the kindness shown by so many people, I delight in the medical technologies we have and I delight in the knowledge that Families are Forever.  So even if I had lost my mom from earth last Friday, I still have her for eternity!!!