Pool Time at Our Parents' House

THE 'HAMLET' OF CARON RED HAT SOCIETY FOR MEN


Our adopted parents, Don and Ann Parent, have a lovely B & B, as I said, and last night it was time for a pool party. Travis (their son and a good friend of ours) joined us for this momentous occasion. Don and Deb won the tournament, believe it or not. Probably because Doug and Trav had those crazy chicken hats on their heads.

Earlier in the day, after a humongous brunch, Doug and I took off in our Montana van to ride the Saskatchewan plains - flat, gravel roads out here. We traveled to Young Seeds, where Doug used to work while I was attending Briercrest Bible College (six years ago). Rene and Donna Young, proprietors and friends, invited us to lunch and then we had a tour of the plant where "The Doug" machine is housed. "The Doug," as they call it, is a seed processing machine that Doug built and installed. It has been working non-stop for five years, since Doug built it. They run every seed through Doug before it is shipped to market. It was neat to see Doug working out here while we live in New Brunswick.

Rene and Donna took us on a tour through more fields of green to a little community they are building for the Ukranian workers they have on staff. The Ukranian people are building a new life for themselves on the prairie. So neat to see.

After good-byes, we traveled back to our parents' place for dinner, then over to Shepherd's Gate, a ministry for children which Deb & Trav have. They take care of children on this ranch, which includes a llama named "Osama Bin Llama", four dogs (hey, Nat -- they have a Great Pyrenees dog which kept butting me (Jalene & Stefan used to have one of these); Big Al is his name), guinea hens, calves, a turkey, and a huge flock of sheep. I took a three minute video of the sheep all coming towards us, baaing in 40 part harmony. I said they sounded like old men pretending they were sheep. It was hilarious.

Deb & Trav have a unique ministry going on here, and we spent some time with a set of twins and a four year old girl they have. I played the guitar and made up a couple of songs. Sarah, one of the twins danced to my silly songs, and the four-year-old, Summer, played the harmonica. Deb & Trav adopted three boys as well, so there were six kids there last evening, but yesterday they had eleven children running around. Doug and I could see ourselves working there for a time in the future.

Well, today we are going on a riverboat tour in Moose Jaw -- Captain Jack is his name. Then on to Regina with Don & Ann, to meet Reg & Louise, who just moved there from Fredericton this month. Don & Ann are originally from Fredericton, so it will be an eastern reunion tonight. We head for home tomorrow morning. If I could, I'd head to Winnipeg and meet up with Josh & Natalie, who are taking Aiden for allergy testing tomorrow. We had a hard parting, as usual. But God will allow us to see each other again this year; He is good to us that way and seems to make a way where we think there is no way.

This morning at breakfast, Don and Doug started talking relatives and discovered that Doug and Don are second cousins once removed. Don said he knew that years ago, but we forgot. Imagine, just when you think your parents are your parents, now they are your cousins! Just like the Maritimes where everyone seems to be related to one another. And the standing joke in our family is that EVERYBODY seems to be Doug's cousin. Have a good day.