December Greetings

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A Very Busy Autumn

Kim has had an extremely busy autumn. It began at the end of September with a trip back to Ontario, first to Hamilton for meetings with professors and some research, and then to Toronto for dissertation fieldwork. While she was in Ontario she stayed with her friends Alisha and Joe (thanks guys!!) and managed to fit in a gig with Swimming to Vegas (1 October, pictured above) as well as a visit with her sister, Hilary in Milton.

Next was a trip to Vancouver in mid October. In fact, Kim spent her birthday presenting a paper at a conference on Buddhism in Canada at the University of British Columbia (see this link: http://ubcbuddhism.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/901/ ). This was a fun conference for Kim because she got to spend time with her growing circle of friends and colleagues and meet more amazing people. Last was another conference trip to Atlanta, Georgia at the end of October/beginning of November for the American Academy of Religion. Kim presided over a panel of presenters (how's that for alliteration!) and met some amazing people, from publishers to highly esteemed professors. She also got a chance to hang out with her McMaster friends and go to the Coca-Cola headquarters and the Atlanta Aquarium (see pic).

In between all of Kim's travel, Dave was traveling too. He went back to Royal Military College for the Class of 1990 20th Reunion (1 - 3 October) and then a couple of weeks later he flew home to Ontario on a cross country trip with students to be with his brother Jay who turned the big 4-0. Dave is also continuously traveling to Winnipeg for work meetings, which makes for some interesting scheduling around all of our various activities.

**** Kim's autumn finished up with some great news . . . she has been awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship. A SSHRC is a Canadian scholarship at the federal government level that is extremely competitive and one of the best things to have on an academic curriculum vitae. Kim is thrilled to have been chosen as a SSHRC recipient! ****

Hero Shot

 Dave recently flew a cross country training trip back to Ontario to visit with his brother, who was turning 40.  When Dave arrived at the airport his friend Ken was there with his camera.  Ken is a fantastic photographer and snapped the "hero shot" below.  The picture was not only sent to me but printed and made its way through L3 Wescam where Dave worked before rejoining the Air Force and where Ken works now.  Apparently Dave is really missed there!

Alec is 12!

Somehow we missed getting pictures of Alec on his birthday.  He went out with his friends enjoying pizza at Pizza Hut, ice cream at Dairy Queen, and then swimming at the local pool. But just because we don't have pictorial evidence doesn't mean it didn't happen . . . yes, Alec is now 12. And he's such a great 'tween. He decided to ask for donations to the WWF instead of presents from his friends. Here is a photo montage of Alec this year. He is growing up too fast :)

The Duke

When we moved back to Moose Jaw we added a new family member. Meet Duke, the German Shepherd puppy who takes up a lot of space in our small military row house. Dave found him through a breeder in Stockholm, SK in early May. By the time we arrived in SK and finally got him, poor Duke had suffered an accident that caused hair line fractures to his right hip. We spent a lot of time rehabilitating him, because he couldn't play like a regular puppy.  But Kim walked him, and walked him, and walked him until the vet said that he was cleared to play as normal.  He's growing into such a beautiful big boy, and he has a wonderful temperament.  Woof!

The Move

On Canada Day we began our move from Hamilton, ON back to Moose Jaw, SK.  We spent the day at Dave's parents with family and then drove off in the evening toward the U.S.  This is posting number three to Moose Jaw - it's like coming home.

 We drove through the U.S. and stopped in to Chicago for some deep dish pizza and the great Lego Discovery Centre.  We stayed at the Drake Hotel, which was very nice.  We also stopped in at a water park in the Wisconsin Dells area along the way. It was a nice trip.

La Belle Vie

Dave and Kim celebrated their 20th anniversary by taking the kids on a trip to Paris, France. Kim is working on a digital photo album of the trip, which will be posted here when it is complete. There are so many pictures!!

Good-Bye Fluffy

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Happy 20th Anniversary!!

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Home Is Where Dave Is

I am not sure how many of you know this, but Dave has rejoined the Air Force! He rejoined in April, and we are posted back to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Dave is already out west and Alec and Dana and I will follow at the end of June when they are finished school. We are selling our big, beautiful home here and moving into a military house in Moose Jaw. What is especially ironic is that in a few days, May 12th to be precise, Dave and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. When we were first married we were posted to Moose Jaw, SK and we lived in a military house. It's as if we are starting all over again at 20 years of marriage. In fact, we are going to live only two doors down from our first "home." And you know what? That's just fine. Since I met Dave, home has never been any particular place - home is where Dave is. C'est la vie!! The kids and I miss him terribly, but on 15th May we will meet up with Dave at the airport in Toronto to catch our flights to. . . .PARIS! We will all spend ten days in Paris to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I will definitely write a long post with pictures from our trip.

Dana's 9th Birthday

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Springing Forward

Dave has traveled a lot this year already!  He has found his way to Ecuador and Columbia, the U.K. and the U.A.E., and as you can see from the picture to the left, he also made a trip to Rome, Italy.  It's a hard life!





Kim has only traveled to one place so far this year - Berkeley, California for a conference: http://www.shin-ibs.edu/eventreg/Berkeley2010.php?view=2&abstract=4 .  The conference was a wonderful experience for Kim and she made many new work acquaintances and a few new, fantastic friends.  Kim returned from the conference to find out that she has won an Ontario Graduate Scholarship this year, along with another scholarship associated with McMaster University, The Krishna Shivaraman Memorial Scholarship.  Yay Kim!

"Mini-Vacay" at Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls, Canada

On Friday, 5 Feb we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Canada for a mini-vacation. It was so nice to be in water and be warm in the middle of winter. The kids loved the arcade, the Bear Claw treats counter, and most of all, the water park!! The water park slides were some of the best we've been on. The kids even made quick friends of other kids on mini-vacations. It was a nice way to beat the February blahs.