July 6th - Letters To Eachother

Arnold's email - July 6th:

We left the house today around 7:15 and drove to Edmonton, straight to Capilano mall. We found Alberts and sat down. Jesse and Kaylee arrived a little while later and we chatted and had a nice little breakfast. We took the kids to the bathroom and then we walked down the mall to Walmart where we parted ways. Kyler got along pretty good with Kaylee but she was struggling with a bit of a selfish streak, They played on some of the coin-op toys in the mall and Jesse even threw a loonie in one.

We went and walked through Walmart, they have changed it to a super center, so that was interesting. I saw about 8 people I knew and said hi. Doesn't sound like much has changed, same complaints around the building.

After Walmart we drove past the old house and I pointed out Kyler's old window. He was pretty excited. Nothing in the rental park has really changed, but the shopping center next door has really been developed and looks really good.

then we Drove over to Kings. We talked to the caretaker right away, he was out on the lawn mower and I had worked with him for a while. He let us into the rez tower and I was able to show Kyler the rooms that we lived in when we met. Then we went downstairs and looked at the cafeteria and a classroom or two, basically we walked the whole of the old building. then we went through the SAC for a minute and then went to the registry where Glen Keeler is still working, he taught intro computing and we had a good long chat. We walked around a little more and then we were ready to go. I called Mrs Shen and asked if the school was open, she said it was not but if I called when I was close she'd drive over and open it for us, she also told me Alisa was at work and that I should go and say hello.

So we drove to St. Albert, not alot has changed, but if you remember the open field between Edmonton and St. Abert... they are building a ring road highway through that corridor now. Alisa is working in the Pharmacy at the Safeway on the edge of St. Albert closest to Morninville, so we stopped there for a few minutes, but Alisa was not very social, it's her last day of work before she leaves on a missions trip to Uganda.

So we drove the rest of the way to Morinville and I called Mrs. Shen to get the school open, we arrived at nearly the same time. She gave me the tour, They completely redid the school a couple of years back. Then she and I chatted for a bit while Kyler played with one of those sit-on-bouncy-balls. She caught me up on a few of the people I remember and told me about some of the plans for the school.

Kyler had been good all morning and I had not been able to get ahold of the Verhulsts, so we went around back of the school and there is a city splash park. we changed him into his pajamas that he wore to the car in the morning and he went splashing commando and got totally soaked. He had a great time playing with some other kids and splashing around. We left after probably 30-45 minutes of play (I lay down for a bit nearby) then we took K and got him dry and back into some dry cloths.

We drove across the road and pulled up just as Mr. Verhulst climbed out of his truck, he invited us in. Mrs. Verhulst turned on chuggington and gave kyler some gummies, and then the two of them and I sat down for a chat, we talked probably for nearly an hour together, it was really good. Then Kyler started bugging me asking to go to the playground he had seen next to the splash park.we were starting to run short on time, but I agreed if it was a short visit. So we crossed the road again and went to the park. We spent maybe ten minutes there and then I said it was time to go.

On the way out of Morinville I decided to go look at the old honey farm. When we pulled onto the yard, my two second cousins were there so we talked for a bit, and I took Kyer and showed him how the honey extractor works and they had a live hive that we went and looked at from a distance.

We were running late for the Havemans, so I gave them a call to let them know our ETA. We drove for a bit and suddenly I noticed K had fallen asleep, so I left him alone while we drove. When we arrived at the Haveman's house Kyler responded with "this isn't Grandma's house" I guess he understood that we were going to go back to grandma's for supper. This was a big problem and he broke down in tears, poor guy is getting tired. I calmed him a bit and went to the door with him still sobbing a little. He sat with me in a chair and pouted while Micah rambled on about everything he could (I think he could out talk Quinton) eventually he mentioned that he had just received a gift of a new kitchen... This perked K's ears right up and we encouraged Micah to take Kyler to the play room to show him the kitchen. From that point the boys struck it off pretty good. after a bit we sat down for some fajitas. Kyler only wanted the corn chips and salsa with cheese, and I had no problem with that. Then we helped clear the table and K and Micah got back into the toys for a while and I visited with Brad and Jana for a while. Jana eventually served us some ice cream and then we realized it was already 9:00 so we said our farewells and hopped back in the car. I told Kyler if he slept the way home, he could play some games when we got to grandmas, so that's what he's doing now, he slept a good hour in the car, and I figure he'll be dead when we are on the plane and will watch take off (we have window seats this time) and then sleep and then watch landing.

Miranda's email - July 6th:

hehe! I didn't write one! July 6th we headed out from mom and dad's house. We got home had a quick lunch and then went to Rona. We picked up paint, brushes, ect and went to the church. We started painting the nursery and did that until about 5:30pm. Then home and chilled out!