Andy and Gerry's

Photos - Andy, Miranda, Erith, baby Neveah and Mickey the dog, Gerry with his new toy, Ed with his (and Miranda's) beautiful baby, and Erith and I about to take Gerry's toy out for a play.

Marcus says:

I can't believe that I didn't take any proper family photos! I don't even have one with Sean and Leah! If anyone in Sylvan sees this, kindly put me out of my embarrassment by sending me a decent shot of everyone to post here. Okay, so I'm hopeless at this stuff - I doubt if that's news to anyone...

Anyway, for background, Andy (Andrea) is Lizzie's sister, Gerry is her husband of nearly 25 years, Sean (wife Leah) and Ed (wife Miranda, daughter Neveah) are their kids and extended family. They live in Sylvan Lake, a small but growing town about 20 minutes drive from Red Deer.

We had a blast at Sylvan - I can't believe how much some things have changed and others have remained the same. Andy is exactly the same as she was when we first met about 23 years ago - it's kind of uncanny. Gerry is pretty much the same, although he's mellowed a bit over the years - no doubt the inevitable result of time and the added kick of becoming a grandfather. Either way, it's a hat that he wears well.

Sean seems to have his fingers in a few pies, mainly related to starting businesses and developing existing ones with a couple of partners. Ed has a web design company, but is understandably finding it to be tough sledding in Central Alberta. Leah is working in insurance and Miranda is busy looking after Neveah and working part time.

We got to Sylvan on Erith's birthday, so it was nice for her to have some family around. It was a stinking hot day and in the afternoon we went to the home of a friend of Andy and Gerry's for a barbeque. He had a hot tub that Erith spent a fair bit of time in just because it was water, then we got the hose out and started drenching each other and anyone else brave enough to get on the lawn with us. It was a lot of fun and was followed by a display of Gerry's considerable barbeque ability. Alberta beef - there's nothing like it...

The next morning Erith and I went out for a spin on Gerry's new Triumph. I hadn't been on a street bike for a while, so it was a blast to go for a little spin. I kept it pretty short for a couple of reasons, not the least being the fact that I have a lot of trouble remembering which side of the road to drive on. In a car, I remember to keep the driver closest to the centre line, but on a bike I didn't have that - I had to keep checking which direction cars were parked in. We went out to the highway for a quick run, but kept it pretty short.

That afternoon, Erith and I went to the waterslide with Ed and his friend Anthony and has a great time. It looked like rain and they told us that they would shut it without refund if lightning started, but of course that didn't happen. The crowds fled at about 3:00 pm, when we arrived, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. Perfect - it was cloudy, but not cold at all.

The next morning we went for a bush walk to Jarvis Bay - it was very peaceful and hot again, so we found a small, secluded access to the lake and spent a while with our feet in the water. Later in the day, Erith and I went for a swim in the lake. Erith had been dying to get in the water (is she amphibious?) so we played silly games for a couple of hours while the others watched from shore. It was a lot of fun, but left us exhausted and in bed earlier than usual. (It was hard to get Erith to bed at a decent hour, as it was still light until after 10:00 pm.)

We had a lot fun in Sylvan and Erith really loved meeting new family. I asked her if she was happy to be on the road as we were leaving and she burst into tears - she got very attached very quickly. Thanks to all for a really fantastic time - we can't leave it so long before we get together again.