News Update

Another week has passed and we have returned to the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. We left Fairmont, on the shore of the Columbia River, on Monday. We drove to Airdrie where we enjoyed a refreshing visit with David & Shirley. Thanks folks! We reminisced over many shared years and adventures—some of which we remembered, others we made up! It was good to see Shirley has been recovering well from her heart-event. On Tuesday we completed the trip to Regina, where Bern, Alicia and Dad are making us feel at home. The weather has been nice; we've enjoyed a few showers, but we still need much more rain. I've managed to get out and practice golf several times. The markets have continued to be terrible, and that has caught up to me as I dropped about three weeks worth of earnings with the TSX dropping for six straight days. Some holdings are just about down to my stops. The Open finished on Monday, with a three-man playoff, and as I said, Zack Johnson was my pick! (Zack-Dustin, what's in a name?!) The Riders continue their search for some consistent play, and the fans are putting pressure on management to demonstrate that they are doing something! They play again tomorrow; we'll be watching! Go Riders, Go! The Jays are playing about the same, and sitting just outside of playoff contention. 

Eric/A and Liam have returned to Prince Albert after enjoying the term of house-sitting in Saskatoon. Eric returned from his trip to Victoria and reported that his dad has improved, but is still not doing well. Eric is getting into his new job. He's enjoying it and doing well. He has been applying to a variety of insurance companies to get on the EAP provider lists. Liam has returned from Estonia and is working on a new project. He's making armour out of foam pads. He would also like to make a wooden sword, but has come up short in finding the necessary assistance—know anyone with a workshop?! His report card arrived this week. It is great to see that he is on the honour roll—way to go, Liam! Haaken continues to enjoy his courses at Capilano. He travelled over to the Island last weekend and enjoyed a visit with Eric and the Bailey family in Victoria. This weekend, they drove down to Regina to visit family and assist with Erin's move. 

Erin has been busily fretting and preparing for the big move to her new digs. Today, the crew ascended on her third floor walk-up, and packed most of her stuff into Bern's trailer. Now she will need to clean out the remainder and prepare the apartment for handover to Boardwalk. She gets possession of the new place on Monday, and we'll probably be moving all the stuff in there on Tuesday. Kristian was with us at Fairmont, and spent the days with us this week as well. He and Grandma continue to pursue academic studies and reading each day. 

Trav & Joanna continue to enjoy a busy summer in TBay. They have moved on from the Alumni event, and have begun a series of Training with a Pro events. This week the stars were Carter Hutton,  along with the pictured Burtozzo and Murray. 

Training with Pros
Todd Burtozzo, Matt Murray

Gemma and Andrew are visiting friends and relatives in southern Ontario. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed, but we are far from the middle of the prairie on the shore of the Columbia River in the shade of the Kootenays. We're enjoying our week at Fairmont Hot Springs. I have been able to get in some golf practice everyday. Kristian takes it easy on me some days with golf, but other days is running my legs off playing catch, or tennis. Admittedly, it doesn't take much to run my legs off these days! Wendy has come golfing with us twice, so that was a nice treat. They have one par-3 course here with the larger 8-inch holes—that makes putting out a lot easier! The weather has been great, with several nice showers we could wish for our friends and family back in Saskatchewan. I have continued to work the markets a bit each day, and finally managed to get another buy. It's been a good week of recovery in the wake of some resolution to the problems in Greece. The Riders have continued their losing way, dropping another game to BC last night. They did show some signs of defensive life in the 4th quarter, so if they can play that way all game long, they will enjoy some success yet—go Riders, go! The Jays have begun the second half, and will  also need an improved effort to move into playoff contention. This weekend, I'm enjoying watching a compelling Open from the Old Course, and cheering for Dustin Johnson. 

Eric's dad is having medical difficulties, so Eric has flown out to Victoria to be with him. Liam has returned from a great adventure and mission to Estonia. Welcome home! Haaken is doing well in his summer course at Capilano. 

Erin is busy packing up the apartment in preparation for her move. She has also purchased some new furniture for the new townhouse. It is exciting times for Erin and Kristian as they look forward to leaving the apartment and moving into their own home. 

Trav & Joanna are basking in the success of the hockey showcase—the pics have turned out great, and are being well-received. Otherwise, the summer-life is unfolding well on the shore of Lake Superior. They also enjoyed an outing down to Grand Marais. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. The weather has continued to be hot and very hot! I managed to get out for a round of golf with Dale on Tuesday, and another round with Eric and Steve on Thursday. The games were very enjoyable and the scores were close—on Thursday Steve had 86, while Eric and I both had 87! I have almost completed my errands here, so we're ready for a holiday! We plan to head out to Fairmont next week. The markets have continued to run in troubled fashion due to Greek and Chinese concerns. It now appears that both are heading toward resolution, so I'm hoping for better markets next week. TSX is down 1% this month which drops it to -1.5% for the year so far. I've been unable to find a buy signal since April, and since I've sold a few, I'm sitting well below my quota for investment. Still, I had another good week so I can't justifiably complain. Wendy has begun Kristian's summer series programming, and both appear to be enjoying it! They do Math, English, Science and Social Studies. I think Kristian is also enjoying his introduction to the Hardy Boys. The Jays made a good run, but are now faltering in the run up to the All-Star break. The Riders have started the season 0-3 thanks to two overtime losses this week, on Sunday to Toronto, and last night out in BC. All games could have easily been won, as they lost the three by a total of 6 points. 

Eric/A are house-sitting in Saskatoon, enjoying an air-conditioned abode which helps them avoid the heat and smoke since the forest fires in northern Saskatchewan continue to burn wildly. Thousands of people have been evacuated. Liam is enjoying the Young Friends mission to Estonia. Haaken is settling into his university work in Vancouver. 

Erin has been sick the last part of the week, but seems to be getting over that. She and Kristian are enjoying the weekend before he leaves with us next week. She has begun the packing process in view of the imminent move to her new place. 

Trav & Joanna have had a busy week. They were contracted for a big hockey event, the Thunder Bay Kings Alumni Showcase with four TBay NHLers including the Staal brothers. They needed some extra photographic equipment, so they flew in Joanna's sister to help with that. At the least, it was quite the recognition for the business! Here are Joanna, Andrew & Trav with some of the NHL stars in attendance. 

Puckshots scores with the Staals! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. We continue to suffer under the smoke as forest fires rage across northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. We understand the smoke has spread as far south as Nebraska. I've been able to get some golf practice in, but no games this week. Today, we celebrate our 45th Anniversary—quite an accomplishment for Wendy! It's been easy for me! Thank you, dear! The markets have continued their troubled ways exacerbated by the Grecian Flu! The TSX has been down 3 of the last 4 months and is red for the first half of the year. Canadian GDP has been in the red as well with the first 4 months now reporting. Some economists are saying that we are already in a recession thanks to the poor economic leadership we've been subjected to here. I haven't been able to do much trading as it's hard to find an uptrend when there's actually a downtrend! So, I am blessed to have finished June above quota, and also the first half of the year above quota. The Riders are rebuilding the offence around Kevin Glenn as Darian Durant is out for the year. They get back in action Sunday against Toronto—Go Riders! The Blue Jays have been teasing us with some good baseball and a challenge for first place in the division. It appears they still need stronger pitching to prevail; they score lots of runs, but often give up even more! 

Nothing has been happening in the Bailey household as the Baileys have been elsewhere! Liam and Erica took the long way back to Saskatchewan from Haaken's grad. They enjoyed Ainsworth Hot Springs, the Columbia Icefields, some mountain camping, and Jurassic World at the IMAX! Erica was back to work on Monday, while Liam completed preparations for Estonia. They drove down to Craik on Thursday where we met them, enjoyed a meal together (featuring Bison), and then we went our separate ways. Liam came with us to Regina to catch the flight early Friday morning. He is now in Estonia! We look forward to hearing about that adventure! Erica is housesitting in Saskatoon this week, enjoying the air conditioning, more so in light of the 30+ degree weather and smoke from the forest fires. Eric and Haaken visited at the BC Baileys all week and celebrated Grandma Sheena's birthday. On Friday, Eric and Haaken rode over to North Vancouver to set Haaken up for his summer course at Capilano University. Then, Eric turn his wheel eastward, riding the bike toward Saskatchewan. We expect him to arrive over the weekend. Then, Eric/A can continue their exploration of empty-nest hood! 

Kristian has been with us most of the week and we've enjoying that. We went out together to enjoy Canada Day fireworks. Last evening, Erin made a paid reservation for us at a nice bistro downtown, so we began an early celebration of our anniversary—thanks, Erin; it was great! Today was golf camp for Kristian; Erin and I enjoyed that with him! We started off under a thunderstorm, but that passed, and the sun quickly dried us off. 

Trav & Joanna keep in contact. They claim to really be enjoying the lawn mowing! They've been having enough rain and sun to keep the grass growing nicely. We're glad to have them taking care of things. 

And that's about it for this week.