Nap

This was a cute pic of Madison, Emma, and Kaylie having a nap on the Dykes's couch so I thought I'd post it up. Since Tammy has started watching Madison during the days over at the Dykes's house, Emma gets to see Madison every day and Kaylie drops by for a visit every now and then. Somehow Tammy manages to get them to settle down and sleep for hours at a time. I think she drugs them with turkey pablum so she can play with their toys.

Quickie

I have a couple seconds for a few updates. Emma turns 6 months old today! She's a barrel of fun as she's now loving solid foods and growing a couple bottom teeth. School is out for Christmas break, I had all my finals last week and now I'm off until the 9th of January. We were pleasantly surprised by a couple scholarships I was granted over the past couple of weeks thanks to my brilliant performance in school last year. I'm now working full-time again for Dejong over the holidays and Tammy has taken up watching Madison during the day but we both get the week between Christmas and New Years off. Despite our busy schedules we managed to decorate our house over the past week or so, it actually looks lived in now. Everything is tickety-boo on our end and I'll post more as the holidays roll on.

4 of 9

Here are four of the nine great-grandchildren on the Bourne side, and their Mums. From left to right we have Emma with Tammy, Josh with Erica, Lucy with Heather, and Brian with Corinne. This picture was taken over at Graham and Leahs on Monday night when we crashed their place to see the Powells one last time before they went back to Utah.

Malauney and Woody

My cousin Malauney got married this past friday to her new husband Woody Crapo. The wedding and reception were held at the East Stake Center and the theme was a winter wonderland. It was exciting to see another one of the cousins take the plunge and it was great to see the family again. Congratulations Malauney and Woody, you're at the end of your troubles, I just don't know which end.

Hockey Night Reloaded

This past Friday I got to go to another Flames game, this time with Aaron, Iain, and Keegan. Jodie got the tickets from a client at work, they were second row right off the Flames blue line. It was pretty nifty being so close even though it was sometimes hard to see the action down at the other end of the ice. Probably the highlight of the night (since we lost 5 to 2 to Chicago) was when Darren McCarty skated over to where we were sitting and tossed a goal scoring puck over the glass to us. Aaron caught it and being a good uncle gave it to Keegan. The game went down hill from there but that made up for it. After the game we went to the Fan Attic and Iain bought a stand for the puck and I bought a little Flames t-shirt for Emma as she turned 5 months old yesterday. It was a great night and Jodie says she might be able to get those tickets again so perhaps we'll get to see a few more games. I took some pictures but my camera ran out of batteries before I could really get any good ones.

Woody's Bachelor Party

I don't know if I've mentioned it on the site yet but my cousin Malauney is getting married this month to her fiance who is Woody Crapo. This past Friday we had a Bachelor Party for him at Graham and Leah's place which included some food, folks, and fun. Malauney will be the 9th grandchild on the Bournes side to get married which will make the grandchildren count (including the in-laws) somewhere around 31. Out of those 31 grandchildren there are 9 great-grandchildren which brings my Gramma Bourne's posterity count (including her own 5 children and their spouses) to 50. Someone can correct me if my math is wrong or if I've forgotten anyone. 50 people and growing. I know some families have triple that but I still think it's an impressive show of force.

Homecoming Queen

Emma's Great Grandma Bourne returned from her mission in Salt Lake City over the weekend. She has been working in the Family History Center for the past year and a half and has had 5 great grandchildren born to her during that time. She is the last living Great Grandparent that Emma has, so we were glad they could finally meet. We had a big Family lunch over at my parents that most people were able to attend, and it was good. Later that night my cousin Malauney had her Bridal Shower there so the guys got kicked out. The Trevors and Tyler and I crashed the Jones's house and watched the Flames game as they beat Vancouver 1-0. Great Gramma Bourne will be staying at my parents for a while from what I know but she's never one to stay put too long. I think she already has plans for a road trip down to Florida with some mission buddies and she's talking about going on a third mission as well. We're glad to have her back though, even if it is temporarily.

Hockey Night

My mom surprised Tammy and I the other night with a pair of tickets to go see the Flames play the Minnesota Wild while she stayed at our place to watch Emma. It was the first time Tammy and I have gone out, just the two of us, since Emma was born. We had a ton of fun and the Flames won 3-0 so we couldn't ask for more. My Mom loves to play with her Grandchildren too so it was treat for her as well.

Halloween 2005

Halloween blew by us again this year. Tammy and I are yet to really celebrate a "decorating" holiday since we've been married. Last year at Christmas we set up our tree but didn't put any decorations on it. We're just always so busy and popular. This Halloween was no exception. We had no costumes, no decorations, and not enough candy. We got more kids this year than we expected since last year our neighbourhood was like a ghost town, and not in the good way. Iain stopped by with the kids and so did Aaron and Madison. We also had a friend I used to work with named Brandy stop by with her little girl Kay. Emma was too small for a costume this year but next year she'll be old enough to participate. I hope the weather is as good next year as it was this year. Kids have it easy these days, I remember when I was a kid, we trekked through mountains of snow in minus 20 degree weather while our plastic costumes splintered apart around us, and for a lot crummier candy than whats getting dished out in the neighbourhoods of today. Maybe I should have gone as a grouchy old man this year.

Breakfast of Champions

Monday morning was one of those rare occasions where Dave and Nathan and I all had nothing going on so we decided to get together for some breakfast over at the Walker's. We only had about an hour or two to catch-up but it was still worth it. I have a picture here and as you can see we're all twice the men we used to be, literally. Dave and I see each other almost daily now that we work together but we're lucky to see Nathan once a year. We made some plans to get together at his parents new place in Rocky Ridge sometime to check it out and we're hoping that we can catch a hockey game sometime this season too. Thanks Walker's for hosting the show and for all that food.

Thanksgiving 2005

My all-time favorite food is Thanksgiving dinner. Mexican food is a close second and Italian food is close behind that, but nothing beats the turkey dinner. This past weekend we had two turkey dinners, the first at the Mason's on Saturday and then the second at Heather and Tyler's new house out in Cochrane. Both were excellent and good times were had by all. Out at the Willaimsons we had an origional Nintendo set-up in the basement and we spent most of the evening re-mastering our techiques on games like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Silkworm, Contra, and the like. It was nice to have a long weekend too as life has gotten crazy busy these days. I'm still in school full-time and working every night and Saturdays at Dda. I also have Young Mens on Thursdays now too so it's getting harder and harder to budget time for family and getting stuff done around the house. It's good to be busy though, it makes rest times that much more appreciated.

Young Mens

A lot happened this past Thanksgiving weekend, too much to put in one entry so I'm breaking it up a bit. Last Sunday was our first Sunday in our newly formed Coventry Ward. There were some new faces, some old faces, and some ugly faces, but I think its all going to be fine. I was given a new calling as the First Councilor in the Young Men's Presidency. That puts me in charge of the Teachers Quorum. There are only 2 or 3 Teachers in the Quorum so I'm also the Advisor and an Assistant Venture Leader. Jodie's husband Aaron is the Second Councilor so he is over the Deacons and he's also the Scout Leader. There are 6 deacons in that Quorum and a couple of them will be moving up to Teachers early next year. I haven't been in the youth program of the Church since I was a youth so I'm excited to do it. It's going to be a bit different than when I was in Young Men's as we had some 20 or so members in our different Quorums at any given time but I guess that gives us an opportunity to try and grow. It'll be good to go camping again too, I haven't done that in ages.

175th Semi-Annual General Conference

We had another great weekend of General Conference a couple weeks ago and all the General Conference traditions were upheld. I went to the Saturday evening session with my Brother Trevor, My Dad, and Tammy's Dad, and then we hooked up with the Jones and went to Swiss Chalet for a man's dinner. Sunday morning Tammy and Emma and I watched the early session from home and then went over to my parents to watch the later session and to eat Cinnamon buns. I love Conference for the chance to hear talks from the General Authorities but I also love the traditions that our family has that go along with it.

Dda Grande Prix

Today the men of DeJong Design Associates were treated by Marvin to a lunch at Joey Tomatoes and 6 spins at the Go-Karts. The machines were a bit primitive but it was great fun. If I ever get a chance to go there again I'll have to remember to get car #66, it was the champions choice for speed. I've only been once before and it was at the same place so I'd like to try another place sometime that has better rides. It was a good way to end a pretty stressful week of school. This long-weekend is timely and the turkey dinners slated for Saturday and Monday are even more timely. Anyways, Thanks again to Marv for a great afternoon.

New Ward

This past Sunday we had one of those multi-ward-boundary-change meetings that have become so popular in Calgary lately. We found out that we now belong to the new Coventry Ward which is comprised of Coventry Hills, Country Hills, Harvest Hills, and a bit of Beddington. The other wards in the stake received some minor changes as well, but the big one was splitting up Coventry Hills and Panorama Hills. I'm just realizing that every community around us is named "something Hills", someone in the city planning department has a mad love for hills. We still go to our new building in Panorama Hills but we now meet at 1:00pm. Once the Airdrie Ward that's been meeting at our building goes back to their building we will probably be moved to 11:00am. Since it is a whole new Ward we all have been released from our callings so as of right now I'm no longer the Gospel Doctrine teacher and Tammy is no longer the Enrichment leader. We're both hoping they'll re-call us to the same callings again but you never know. Next week is General Conference so we might not find out for another week or so.

Dda Picnic in the Park

I stole some pictures off of Rhonda's website from the company picnic we had last Saturday at Bowness Park. It was a great time, I have lots of childhood memories from that park. We were there the week before for the Panorama Ward corn bust and both days the weather was great. Here's a pro looking photo of Dave and his kids that Rhonda took.

3 Months Old

Emma turned 3 months old yesterday so I thought I'd dust off my keyboard and make some entries. As an update on us, we're all happy and healthy and loving the family life. Emma is so much fun to have around, she's been laughing and smiling so much lately. I'm still at school full-time and working nights at Dejong Design Associates so I'm kept pretty busy. I do about three hours a night now and five hours on Saturday so I can make a twenty hour week. It'll be good when school is done so I can go back to a semi-normal schedule. I'm still the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward and I'm hoping it'll stay that way as we have one of those multi-ward boundary adjustment meetings this Sunday. We'll see I guess. Tammy would like to keep her position as enrichment leader too but you never know.

Part-Time Associate

Yesterday was my last day working on a full-time basis at DeJong Design Associates since I return to school on Monday. They would still like me to work there on a part-time basis as my schedule permits so I guess I'm not officially leaving. My school schedule keeps changing drastically and still isn't fully figured out so it's hard to say how many times a week I'll be able to go in to the office. I hope it works out because I really enjoy working there. The job is great and the people are great. I'm going to try and see if I can get any credit or anything for some of my classes since I've been working in the industry for the past four months and maybe that will lighten my schedule a bit. I am excited to go back to school but its a hard trade to go from working and making money to studying and doing homework. It's my last year though so I'll be back in the workforce before I know it. Thanks be to Dave for the hook-up and thanks be to Marvin for being so accommodating with my schedule during the past four months and now during school.

Baby Shots

Emma turned 2 months old yesterday and to celebrate Tammy took her to the doctor to get some needles! She had three shots in her legs and boy did she cry. I wasn't there but Tammy said she's never seen her cry like that before. I guess there is a burning sensation that comes along with the stabbing sensation. She's more than fine now though. I think it must take a special sort of someone to poke babies with needles all day for a living. Tammy drove me to work in the morning so she could have the car and we brought Emma in to show her to everyone in the office. We took her out of her car seat and discovered she had pooed all over herself and the seat. Not a big deal but it was green slimy stuff and there was a client meeting goin on and no place to really clean her up. We ended up cleaning her off in the gym next door on one of the mats. No one will be told. It took about 45 minutes to deal with but everyone at the office is pretty understanding as almost everyone there has young children of their own. They weighed Emma at her poke session and she's still only about 10 and a half pounds. Thats unusual for Tammy's side of the family and it puts Emma in the less than 50th percentile for weight but the 90th percentile for height. I have been noticing some chubb forming on her bones lately though so hopefully she starts filling out soon.

Grandpa Olsen's Birthday

Tammy's Dad turns 56 today so we wish him a happy one. The whole family minus Arlen went to the White Spot last night for dinner to celebrate. I had never been to a White Spot before. The food was ok but the menus had old dish rag stink all over them so it turned me off eating right from the get go. Besides that and almost hitting a hobo on the way home, we had a pretty fun night.

10 000 Days Old

I got my call from Dale Shoults this week infroming me that I turned 10 000 days old this past Tuesday. I'm glad he keeps track and lets people know because I sure wouldn't have realized on my own. Maybe he should take it one step further and start marketing some birthday cards for these kinds of occasions. Or maybe I should.

30th Anniversary

I'd like to wish my parents a very Happy Anniversary! They celebrated their 30th on July 11th. They were married back in 1975 in the Cardston Temple and 30 years, 5 children, and 4 grandchildren later, they're still together. They've set a great example for us kids and I know that if science made it possible they would someday celebrate their 100th Anniversary. Congratulations!

Beef and Barley Days 2005

It's Stampede time in Calgary right now but Tammy and I haven't made the trip down to the grounds this year to see it. We did however make it out to Carstairs yesterday for their annual Beef and Barley Days celebration. We were a bit late due to feedings so we missed the pancake breakfast and the better part of the parade but we did take the tour of the craft show and we watched a bit of the baseball tournament. We should have done more things like go to the car show that they have every year but I really wasn't feeling well yesterday. We ran into Bud and Julie Gustafson at the game and showed off babies and chatted for a while. Most of Tammy's family shows up for the celebration so we hung out at her parents house with them for most of the day eating Burger Baron. One of the more important parts of the trip was introducing Emma to Max, the Olsen's aged cat. He's been with their family for 16 years now but they have no idea how old he really is as he showed up full grown. We wanted them to meet because we don't know how much longer he'll be around but then again, people have been saying that as long as I've known him. It was a good fun, hopefully next year we'll be able to make it on time for the breakfast and the parade.

Great Great Great Aunt

We found out that shortly after Emma was born that her Grandpa Olsen's Great Aunt passed away. She was over 100 years old when she died. I thought it was quite amazing that Emma's Great Great Great Aunt was still alive when she was born. I wish we could have gotten a picture of the two of them together. We also then realized that my Grandma Bourne is the last living Great Grandparent that Emma has out of the possible 8 from both sides of the family. Great Grandma Bourne comes home from her mission down in Salt Lake later in the year so I'm looking forward to introducing them to eachother.

The Birth Story

It was Friday morning and I was still in bed getting ready to get ready for work when Tammy tells me she thinks her water has broken. She wasn't having contractions so I was a bit skeptical but Tammy insisted that the trickling she felt running down her leg wasn't the usual trickling so we took some last pictures of her as a pregnant lady and headed for the hospital. On the way I called work to tell them I probably wouldn't be in and Tammy called her Sisters and both our Mom's. When we got to the hospital they didn't have any room left in triage so they put us in the ultrasound room and there they did the tests to see if Tammy's membrane had indeed ruptured. The results were negative although Tammy was starting to feel some contractions. We were laughed out of the hospital. No that's not the case, we were sent down south to go for Tammy's 41 week ultrasound and there we got to see our not so little baby on the monitor. They were estimating her weight at about 8lbs which made Tammy nervous but the technician pointed out that the baby seemed to have a lot of hair on its head which made Tammy very excited. We left there and came home feeling a bit like the day would never come when we would see our darling child yet Tammy's minor contractions continued. We decided to go to Market Mall to walk around and hopefully get things going but we had to drive through a rain storm that had people gathering animals two by two to get there. We walked around a bit, ate dinner at Ricky's, and then we ran into Kevin and Elise and their two boys in the food court. We hadn't seen them since Porter was born so it was a serendipitous chance to catch up, see little Porter, and watch Mason gag himself on his carseat strap. What kids wont do for a laugh. Anyways, the mall closed and we heard that people were heading over to Kristie and Iain's to watch a movie so we decided to join them. We stayed up talking way later than we should have as the events of the next day would soon teach.

We got home from the Mason's about 1:30am and soon settled into bed under the assumption that we would be sleeping in the next morning as per the usual Saturday routine. We were wrong of course, Tammy woke me up around 6:00am to tell me that she had been up since about 4:00am counting contractions and that her water had definately broken. We headed for the hospital again at about 7:00am and they put us in triage with about half a dozen other couples. I've always been a bit leary of hospitals but this time I felt at ease and completely confident about what was going to happen. They did the same membrane test and it came back positive so all we were waiting for now was an available delivery room. We waited there with occasional visits from nurses until almost 6:00pm before we were taken to a delivery room. It was a long wait and I was thankful for the change because I was starting to get uncomfortable with all the moanings and far off screams that we were hearing all day. It felt like we were in a Civil War hospital full of people getting their amputations. Once we were in the delivery room they gave Tammy a drip in her IV that would help induce labour. Predictions from doctors and nurses had us beleiving that we would be having the baby sometime that evening so we were getting pretty excited. Tammy's Mom, Jodie and Aaron and Madison, and Kelly and Kimberly came by for some visiting and it really helped take the edge off of waiting. We were all having a really good time and the excitement level was high even though we we're so tired. I'd like to thank Tammy's Mom especially for being there. She ended up staying through the whole ordeal and both Tammy and I are so glad she did because it was great to have another family member around as things started to get more and more intense.

The nurses continued to up the dosage of the inducing juice and Tammy soon found herself dealing with some real contractions. She handled them so well, I was amazed. She had this incredible ninja-like focus with her breathing and everything, even the nurses were surprised. The contractions didn't seem to last long enough though and they were happening almost one right on top of the other. The baby's heartbeat was getting speratic too so the nurse backed off on the juice a bit to help calm things down. It gets a bit blurry after this as we were both getting so extremely tired. What I do remember is that around 10:00pm or so, the doctor tried to help spur things along by breaking the rest of Tammy's water and all heck broke loose. Seems the baby didn't respond to that very well and her little heartbeat dropped to the point where they couldn't find it anymore. They were flipping Tammy over all sorts of ways to try and get the baby to respond and they became very frantic. They put her on oxygen and an emergency team of doctors came bursting in and I became very worried. I tried to keep talking to Tammy to keep her calm but no one had told us what was going on so inside I was coming apart. Finally they fixed the problem and the heartbeat returned to normal but I dont think mine will ever be the same. They decided to back her off the juice entirely and just let her body take over instead. The doctor told us that Tammy was only dialated about 2 or 3 cm so now the predictions were looking more like 3:00am to 4:00am. The contractions started getting more spread out and Tammy kept her focus during all of them. It continued like that until about 3:00am when the pain started really getting intense and Tammy was becoming over exausted. It was then that something magical occured. It's called an epideral. A very large man with a red handlebar mustache came in with some needles and with him came sweet relief. It's a tricky thing to inject something into someones spinal column without doing any damage, especially when that someone is having contractions, but despite Tammy's inabilty to remain still and the nurse's inabilty to remain out of the way, the doctor did a fantastic job. Within 15 minutes Tammy was pain free and we were all told to get some rest. I just couldn't beleive it at first. We were actually going to sleep for the first time in almost 24 hours! The BYU t-shirt I borrowed from Aaron led us to find out that "Big Red" is a member of the Church down in south Calgary so we chatted for a bit and he was on his way. Two of the chairs in the delivery room were converted into beds so Tammy's Mom and I could sleep too, and that we did. The three of us went down at about 4:00am, not really knowing what was going to happen in the morning, but we were so tired I dont think any of us bothered to ask.

At about 7:30am I woke up to nurses rushing around the room again with Tammy back in the position they put her in when the baby's heart rate dropped. Her epidural had worn off and she was feeling some major contractions again. The heart rate of the baby was looking pretty jumpy again too. They called in the epidural guy again and they decided to give her a stronger mix. They gave her the stuff that they give women who are about to have a c-section and it seemed to take pretty well. After everything started calming down again, they decided to get the doctor to check how much Tammy was now dilated. The doctor came in around 10:00am and found that she was only dilated 5cm. I didn't know how much more I could take of this and I couldn't imagine how Tammy was feeling. Not only was Tammy not dilated much but the baby wasn't descending so they started talking c-section. The surgeon who would perform the operation came in and told us we had two options: have a c-section now or wait to see how things progress and have a c-section in 4 hours. We decided to get it done now. I had a few questions about it and I was not a little nervous to tell the truth. The doctor explained everything really well and all the nurses reassured us that he was the best there was at this sort of thing. Within 20 minutes or so I was dressed in the surgery garb and we were wheeling down the hall to the operating room. I was really glad that Aaron and Jodie were there as Aaron was able to assist me in giving Tammy a blessing before she went in. I started getting pretty emotional at that point as I was trying to balance the excitement of the baby finally arriving with my worries about the operation. They wheeled Tammy in to prep her for the surgery and I waited outside with Tammy's Mom and her two older Sisters, Kristie and Jodie. They were going to be watching the operation from an observation room and I was to go in once they were ready to go. I took the time to eat something and call my family to let them know what was going on. After about 20 minutes they brought me in to the room and sat me down up by Tammy's head. She was visibly shaking and pretty out of it so I did my best to keep her mind occupied. They started by saying she was going to feel a bit of pressure and within minutes I was standing up watching them bring the baby out. I was once worried about seeing it all happen but the miracle of seeing the baby for the first time after such a wait was a beautiful thing. I was surprised at how good she looked and how little amounts of cleaning she needed. They cut the cord as I was spatially restricted from doing so myself and they brought her over to the cleaning table. I thought I had caught a glimpse of something male so I was announcing that it was a boy to everyone but the nurse soon corrected us all and pronounced that it was a girl! I went over to the table and helped clean her off and held her little hand for the first time and I felt an instant attachment to her like I've never felt with anyone before. We wrapped her up and I brought her over to Tammy and laid her on her chest so she could see her little face for the first time. I got pretty emotional at that point and one of the nurses said "Happy Father's Day" and the tears started flowing. Tammy was still in the midst of being stitched up and she was still heavily under the influence of the drugs so unfortunately she couldn't fully enjoy the moment. However, I think we'll both always remember the way Emma's little tongue was going a mile a minute like a lizard on a Popsicle. They say that’s common for c-section babies because the drugs mess with their coordination a bit. Within 20 minutes of the baby arriving they had Tammy stitched up and brought to a recovery room where we would spend the better part of the day. Emma was born at 11:23am on June 19th, 2005 and when they weighed her she was 8lbs 4oz and she measured 21.5 inches long. Tammy's family all had a chance to come in and visit for a bit and to hold the new baby but after they left it was Dad's turn and I held her for hours as the nurses continued to help Tammy through the recovery process and as she got some much needed rest. Those hours were some of the most precious I have ever spent, it was a fantastic way to celebrate my first Father's Day.

Emma Renae Bourne

By way of announcement, Tammy and I are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl! Her name is Emma Renae Bourne, she was 8 lbs 4 oz at birth and 21.5 inches long. She was born on Father's Day (Sunday, June 19th) at 11:23am! She has the cutest face I have ever seen and She and Tammy are both doing well. I'll report the full story when I find another moment but here is the first picture of our new Bourne.

The Walkers

Since Dave and I work together now, Tammy and I have been spending a lot more time with the Walkers renewing our past alliance as friends. Out of all my fellow friends I've always thought that Dave and I share the most in common; our love for drawing and Hillary Duff movies topping the list. I am starting to feel a bit like the Dave of two years ago, reincarnated as an older, funnier, better-looking man as I'm now working at Dejong Design Associates, awaiting the arrival of my first born child, and struggling with a weight problem. I was honored to participate in the blessing of their new baby girl Saydee this past Sunday and then honored again to join in the family karaoke party afterwards. Dave you're a true friend and I love that we get to work together and that our wives semi-like eachother...cut to slideshow.

New Chapel

Last week was our first week in our new Chapel up in Panorama Hills. It's beautifully done with lots of high-tech extras and the best part is it's not even 5 minutes away! There were a lot of people who turned out including some non-members from the community as the missionaries had passed out some flyers advertising its opening. The landscaping is yet to be done so the open house wont be until next month and hopefully that will bring out even more people. We only had Sacrament Meeting as the plumbing is still not in working order and the only other restroom was the construction outhouse. The Stake Presidency spoke and they talked a lot about the construction of the building and its features. We're super excited about it but punctuality will now be a challenge as our ward now starts at 9:00am instead of the 1:00pm start we had grown accustomed to. Actually, punctuality has always been our challenge.

4 Years

Without getting too gushy, I want to tell Tammy how much I love her as we recently celebrated our 4th anniversary on June 2nd. I can't beleive it's been 4 years already though in some ways it feels like we've been togetether for so much longer....and by some ways I mean the good ways. We went to the Olive Garden for dinner that night and I ordered the "Tour of Italy". So much food, I still haven't finished it. We've wanted to go see a movie together but we've yet to really find a free night when we've both felt up to it. We better make it happen soon though, free nights are about to become as rare as seeing Cobra Commanders face. Anyways, I'm an extremely lucky guy to have such a wonderful, beautiful wife that I'm still so deeply in love with...cut to slideshow of romantic pics of us while a romantic song plays in the background. I kid. I have no slideshow skills.

Tammy's 29th Birthday

Tammy is 29 years old as of May 28th! It seems old but everybody older than 29 seems to always wish they were 29 so there must be something good about it. We went out for dinner for her Birthday to the Sante Fe Grill with her family. We shared this platter with tacos, enchiladas, quesidillas, and a plethora of other sides on it and it was delicious. I think that's Tammy's favorite restaurant. I wanted to surprise her with her present this year and I have to thank my Mom for being the champion of the cause. I wanted to get her a nice rocking chair for when the baby comes but no one was selling the glider kind anywhere. My mom searched high and low and finally found one the day before her birthday at a garage sale. I've never had a strong testimony of garage sales but this one saved the day. It was the exact kind we were looking for and it was still in primo condition. My mom bought it right out from under another ladies nose and at a fraction of the cost we would have spent on a new one. Needless to say it went over well with Tammy as she had always been wanting one but never thought we would ever get one. It was a total surprise for her too. Happy Birthday Tammy!

Josh's First Birthday

Joe and Erica's little guy turned one on May 24th and they had a party for him on the 28th over at Graham and Leah's place. As most first grandchildren on both sides of the family, he got a whack of presents, but none more transfixing than the Darth Vader piggy bank his dad got him. Evreytime you put a coin in it moves around and starts in with some classic Vader lines. He was mesmerized by it as though his path in life was suddenly made clear. Good luck Joe and Erica and Happy Birthday Josh!

Family Updates

I thought I would make an update about the goings on in our respective families. I'll start with my side:

The Bournes
Mom and Dad are enjoying an emptier house these days as Heather and Tyler have moved out of the basement and into an apartment down in south Calgary somewhere. My brother Trevor moved down there for a bit too but I think he's moved back to my parents now as he missed them too much to live without their food and car. Trevor and Tyler are working together selling alarm systems around Calgary as VISA situations prevented them from selling them down in San Diego for the summer. I hear it's going really well for them. We're all glad they stayed because now Lucy gets to stay. She's over a month old now and so cute. Sam is still being 15 and growing like a mutant bamboo. As far as I know, Alison and her family are still forging a life for themselves on the frontiers of Turner Valley. Maybe they'll invite us down there sometime.

The Olsens
Everybody is doing well, Ma and Pa Olsen are still in Carstairs with Kimberly and Max and they're all just waiting for school to let out. Kaylie is learning to walk and Madison is becoming more animated all the time. Amanda moved out of her little Chernoble apartment and into a new place that she loves. Kelly just bought a new laptop and is working full-time at Simo now to pay for it. Jodie and Aaron bought a new Saturn minivan and then it got keyed. We've been told and have reason to beleive that Arlen is alive and still around somewhere.

Both families are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest edition, whatever it may be.

The Main Event

It's been a month since I've written anything substantial but it's not for lack of any substantial happenings in our lives. It's been a busy time for us and I suppose it will only be getting busier very soon. By that I mean the baby is coming. It's officially due tomorrow but so far there has been little sign of it wanting to be on time. Tammy and I are getting very excited and both our families can hardly stand the wait. We've set up the baby's room and packed everything for the trip to the hospital so now we're just playing the waiting game, aka-the most boring game of all time. We had our baby classes a while ago and, despite the horrific videos they make you watch, I learned a lot. I especially enjoyed the newborn class. I can't wait to find out if it is a boy or a girl and to see who it looks like and all those exciting bits. Tammy is excited to get her normal body back. She's had it pretty good with this pregnancy, no morning sickness, no stretch marks, and no weird cravings. It's just been the past couple weeks where she's been having some carpul-tunnel symptoms and some guiness-book-of-records-size swelling in her feet. We'd like to say thanks for everyones excitement and to all the loyal readers, I will be posting news and pics as soon as the baby arrives.

Dejong Design Associates

This week was my first week back to work since I left Encana. I'm now employed as a summer student at Dejong Design Associates. They're an architectural office located on the barracks just off Crowchild Trail. So far it's going fairly smoothly, I spend most of my time using a program called "Sketchup" to build 3D models on the computer. Unlike most of the jobs I've had (and I've had not a few), I didn't win this one with my good-looks and charm. My good friend Dave Walker happens to work there too and he's pretty much responsible for setting the whole thing up. I'd like to thank him publicly for getting me this job, but I wont. No, I think he's the type who would appreciate a personal thank-you, in the form of a lifetime of friendship, and by friendship I mean casual greetings in the hallway and a yearly Christmas card.

Lucy Jane Williamson

Last Tuesday, May 3rd, Heather and Tyler had a beautiful baby girl! Her name is Lucy and she was 7 pounds and 4 ounces. Both mother and baby are doing great and everything went pretty smoothly. It's their first child, my parent's third grandchild, and Tyler's parent's first grandchild. Tammy and I now have 2 nephews and 5 nieces between both our families and our baby is next on deck. We're excited that our baby will be so close in age to a bunch of its cousins and that they'll all be living so close. Congratulations Heather and Tyler you're going to make great parents!

Stake Conferance Broadcast

Today was the Stake Conferance broadcast featuring President Monson, Elder Bednar, and Elder Jensen of the Seventy. I really enjoyed the talks given by all the bretheren and their wives. I love hearing President Monson talk about his time as a Mission President in Canada as I served in some of the places he talks about. My first Mission President was an AP under President Monson and my second one was an AP under Elder Ballard when he served as Mission President there. I also served as a District Leader for seven months in a town called Branford Ontario (known to most as the home of Wayne Gretzky) and our area included the town of Mount Pleasant where Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon came and baptized a congregation of people which I beleive included John Taylor. Everytime I hear talk of that area it makes me want to go back and visit. I loved it out there. Maybe sometime in the future we'll have to take the kids down to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, tour all the church history sites, and make some stops in Ontario on the way back.

Blood Dungeon and The Ramblin' Ambassadors

Last night I went down to the Night Gallery with some friends from school to celebrate the end of the school year and to see a couple bands play. I've never been to the Night Gallery before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a pretty decent spot. I felt like I was in the Mos Eisley Cantina with the hodge-podge of characters roaming around inside. There were some fifties biker-greasers in one corner, some goth-punk kids in another, a few cowboys, and a lone rastafarian just to name a few. It wasn't crowded at all either. We went there because we know a couple of the guys in the second band that played.

The first band was called "Blood Dungeon" which is awesome because they play folk music. They had a couple guitars, a fiddler, and a drummer playing a stand-up snare with an old suitcase for a kick drum. The music was not really my thing but I was impressed with the four-part harmony.

The second band was an instrumental band called "The Ramblin' Ambassadors". They play a type of music that reminded me a lot of "Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet". The great thing was they had a guy playing the tambourine like I've never seen one played before and a lightning fast upright bass player. They were super good and I'd like to see them again sometime. The third band turned out to be those fifties greasers but we didn't stay for them because we were all zombified from working all night on our final projects the night before. It was a good time and I'm going to miss hanging with the dudes from class over the next few months.

Retired

This past Friday (April 29) was my last day working at Simo Corporation. I've been working on and off there as a receptionist for the past 5 years and I can't believe that I won't be working there anymore! They're a smaller company that manufactures office furniture and I had really enjoyed working with the people there. My original plan was to start my maternity leave a few weeks from now - on May 13th - but I discovered that transportation to and from work would be a little complicated considering Mike starts a new job way across town this Monday and my sister Kelly, who will be replacing me at Simo, won't be starting full-time until after I leave, so I wouldn't even be able to catch a ride with her. Anyways, it all works out because there is about a thousand things that I still need to do before our baby arrives, so this will give me a chance to get them done (like prepare the baby's room for one!)

I am so grateful to my brother-in-law, Iain, for getting me the job in the first place (he is Simo's Marketing Manager) and to everyone there for liking me enough to let me return after I no longer wanted to work as a massage therapist full-time. This was a job where I didn't dread Sunday nights when a work-week was about to start because I enjoyed working with the people there and dealing with certain customers on the phone - the weeks just flew by for me. Kelly is already looking forward to working there more often because she loves the environment and the people there. I'm just glad that I will always be able to go back and visit, and I'm hoping to crash a few of their upcoming parties - like their Stampede BBQ this summer.

Out for Summer

Today was my last day of school for this semester. Actually last Friday was my last day of classes and this week was all exams and all final projects. Everything is done and I'm pretty sure my exams went really well. It feels good. Now I have a 4 month summer until we start up again at the end of August. No big vacation plans though, I'll be starting work on monday and the baby should arrive within the next 6 weeks. We're hoping to get a fence up and a deck/patio built this summer too. Sounds like we'll be busy and broke.

Farewell Party

This past Thursday night we spent over at the Gilchrist's house at a farewell party for Jeff and Jen Whitehead who are moving to Lethbridge next month. Jeff is going to school down there to get his psychology degree. It's sad to see them go but we joked about how we never really see each other anyways so it's no big deal. It was good to see their new son Griffin for the first time and also to see the Walker's newest edition, Saydee, who was born just two days before. Curtis Wood and his Wife were there too, as well as some of the younger Gilchrist boys and a bevy of 17th ward youth alumni. We wish the Whiteheads well and hope to see them back in Calgary soon.

CRHBA Design Competition 2005

This past Thursday was the deadline for the CRHBA house design competition. It's a competition for all the first year AT students at SAIT (there's about 100) in which we were to design a house and a site plan for a predetermined site out in the Springbank area. Our presentation had to include floor plans, 4 elevations, and a site plan, all at specified scales. We could also include a perspective view if space permitted. Our boards went up on Thursday and the judging took place that afternoon. I found out today that I tied for first place in the presentation category! It's exciting because there is scholarship money that is part of the reward. I have to thank Dave Walker and his boss Marvin DeJong for letting me use there office computers and printers to complete the project. Dave was a huge help as he taught me how to use a 3D rendering program called Sketch-up that we used for most of the project, and he probably put just as many hours into it as I did. I'm really happy with the finished product and I'm grateful for all the training I received in the process.

Here is a picture of the Cardston Temple that I drew for a project earlier in the year. I finally have the ability to scan images into the computer so I thought I would add it here.

Jarett Leighton Bourne

Congratulations to the Utah Bournes who are celebrating the arrival of their newest edition! Jarrett is Christopher and Krista's sixth child and second son. He was born on March 30th at 7:44am and weighed 7 pounds and 9.6 ounces at birth. We are all excited for them and hope everybody is happy and healthy down there!

175th Annual General Conference

This past weekend was General Conference. It's a special year for conference this year as it was the 175th annual session and it is also the 200th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Smith. I always enjoy a good conference or any time we get to hear President Hinckley and the General Authorities speak. The guys in my family have a tradition every conference of going to Priesthood session together and then going out for dinner afterwards. This year, not as many of us could get together, so instead we went back to my parents place and ate pizza. Sunday, Tammy and I watched the morning session at home and then the afternoon session at my parents house while eating cinnamon buns, also a tradition.

Easter 2005

It's been a nice break this past long weekend. I finished school on thursday at 1:00pm and didn't have to go back until 2:00pm today. It was great. Most of the weekend was spent relaxing, hanging out with family, and eating fantastic amounts of turkey dinner. In my book of meals there is none ranked higher than the turkey dinner.

We had the Olsen family dinner on Saturday at the Masons house and the Bourne family dinner on Sunday at my parents house. Both were great. It's getting to be quite an ordeal to feed our growing families but the people who prepare the meals always come through.

The rest of the weekend was pretty fun-filled as well. Thursday night Tammy went out to dinner at Tony Roma's with the girls in my family while I went out to do some home teaching. I spent Friday morning helping Iain pick up some office furniture from Simo and then we all went to Airdrie to go see that Robots movie with the kids. Kimberly and Kelly came too. That night we hung out at the Masons house and played Scene-it and Cranium along with Philip Rowling and his girlfriend. Philip is one of Tammy and Iain's co-workers at Simo who is leaving to go back to England soon. Saturday I had a primary party in the morning and then we had the Olsen family Easter dinner that afternoon. That night we went over to my Uncle Grahams house to watch The Return of the King extended edition on the big screen. My brother Trevor hadn't seen it yet so he wanted to make a night of it. You really have to make a night of it because the movie is over 4 hours long. My cousins Joe, Steve, and Chris were there too. We ordered pizza but Tammy and I were still pretty stuffed from the turkey dinner we ate earlier. Sunday we had church and then the Bourne family Easter dinner. We ended up staying at my parents house pretty late, as we always do, but Tammy falls asleep on their couch every time we're there anyways so it's no big deal. Tammy was back to work on Monday and I spent the better part of the day doing all the homework I had avoided doing earlier in the weekend.

Life seems so busy these days. Even our holiday weekend seemed jam packed now that I've written it all out. I'm sure once the baby arrives it will all slow down....

Belly-up

Heather and Tammy took the time this weekend to compare their respective girth. Heather is due April 28th and Tammy isn't due untill June 10th, but I think Tammy might be the one winning the circumferance trophy.

Soon after Heather and Tyler's baby is born they are heading down to San Diego with my brother Trevor to work for the summer. I hope everything goes well for them down there with having a newborn and all. I think it will be hardest on the grandparents, not seeing the baby for the first few months of its life, but I'm sure it will go by quickly. It just means more attention for our little one. Tammy and I are not too particular about whether or not we have a boy or a girl, but we think it will be awesome if both Heather and Tyler's baby and our baby are the same gender, since they'll be so close in age. I'm sure they'll get along great either way though.

New Calling

This past Sunday I was released as a primary teacher in our ward. I believe I have been in the primary since we moved into the ward 2 years ago. I was first teaching the 11 and 12 year old class and then I was teaching the 9 and 10 year old class. I really enjoyed my time there and I'm going to miss the primary and the kids that I've built friendships with.

My new calling is as the Gospel Doctrine teacher. I'm excited about it but also a bit nervous. I think I can count on my hand the number of times I've been able to go to a Gospel Doctrine class let alone teach it. I'm sure it will be a great experience for me, and it will give me a chance to really get back to thorough study of the gospel. I've been reading the Doctrine and Covenants again this year but I've never read it along with any other resource materials like the Gospel Doctrine manual or the Institute manual, so I'm sure to get even more out of it this time.

Arlen's Birthday

Just over a week ago, on March 19th, was my brother's 26th birthday. He had a lot of plans for the day, but I managed to get a hold of him at 11:30 at night to wish him a "Happy Birthday" and to find out how his day went. I really enjoy talking to him, and even more so - seeing him - because it seems like the older we both get the less we see each other. Hopefully that will change someday soon. We didn't end up doing something specifically for his birthday, but at least our whole family was able to attend an Easter dinner at Kristie's house the weekend after his birthday. It was a lot of fun! It's amazing how fast time flies sometimes. It seems like only a few years ago that we were playing baseball together in our parents' back yard, or playing card games with our younger sister Amanda and always kicking her butt because she was so young. Good times...good times. He turned out pretty good considering the 6 to 1 ratio of girls to boys in our family. Happy Birthday Arlen!

3 to 30

This past Thursday, March 10th, was my 27th birthday. It seems so weird to say that. I'm not going to go as far as to say that 27 is old, but it just feels a bit odd to be in my late twenties already.

I spent most of the day on Thursday in school and then at home working on a couple of assignments. There wasn't much time to celebrate; however, some friends from school took me out for some food, folks, and fun after class. We went to Classic Jacks down on 17th Avenue. Although we couldn't stay long (because we all had a lot of work to do on some projects due the next day) we had a good time, and I'm glad that they wanted to do that for me.

Last night, after I got home from school and Tammy got home from work, we got a call from Heather and Tyler and we all decided to go out for dinner. It was getting later in the evening by the time everyone was ready to go, so we decided that Swiss Chalet would probably be the quietest and easiest place for family and pregnant people to eat on a friday night. I enjoyed my half chicken meal with mashed potatoes, but I think there were a couple people who ended up not being satisfied with their food. Most of my family was there: Mom and Dad, Heather and Tyler, Trevor and Stephanie (his girlfriend), and Sam. Tammy's sister Kelly was over at our house when we made the plans so she decided to come too. Afterwards we went back to my parents place and hung out there untill it was time to go home. It was low key but a fun night with a lot of laughs.

All in all, I'd say it was a great way to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the end of the dark times.

Belly +

Tammy had one of her doctors appointments today where they measure her tummy to see how things are "sizing up". She measured in at a healthy size for 31 weeks. The thing is, she is only 26 weeks along! The doctor reassured her that it's not because the baby is big, but that there is just a lot of amniotic fluid. When she told me tonight, I had to snap a picture and post it up. I think she looks great, and most importantly, she feels great. She feels lucky that she hasn't really put on any weight anywhere but the tummy region, and so far, no stretch marks. The baby has been kicking a lot lately too, probably because it has all that room to swim around. I'm getting more and more excited about the arrival and I love Tammy for being so amazing during this whole process. She is going to make an excellent mother.

Sam's B-day

Yesterday, the 28th of February, was my youngest sister Samantha's 15th birthday. We had a pretty casual family dinner over at my parents but not a real "party" by any teenagers standards. Sam is quite a few years younger than the rest of us so I don't think she would want to boogey with a bunch of tired adults anyways. She had a real party with all her friends on Saturday night and then they all went to the youth dance afterwards. I remember the early teenage years being the beginning of some pretty fun times, and I hope Sam has the best of times this year. Happy Birthday Sam!

Encana

Last night was my last night working for Encana. It's kind of a bitter-sweet ending to my illustrious career there because money may be tight for the next while, but it will also be nice to be able to focus more on school and to somewhat have a life again.

The event passed with little fanfare but on Thursday, one of the guys on the dayshift, who is a baker, made an amazing cake for me and for Lana, who is also leaving. Last night, Lana and I and my friend Emmanuel, who also works there, went out for dinner to sort of say our goodbyes. The three of us had a lot of fun working together and I think Emmanuel is some choked about us leaving him. He and I have been good friends since before high school and it's been great to be able to hang out almost every night, make nonsense jokes, talk about old times, and come up with projects we want to colaborate on in the future.

I worked for Encana for about three years I think, and while it wasn't always the most exciting or fulfilling job, I am very greatful to them for employing me. They have been very flexible with my school schedule and working there has helped Tammy and I be able to buy our home, stay out of debt, and pay for tuition. Hopefully we can hold out for the rest of the semester and until I can start working a summer job....or until we can win some money.

Julie and Phillipa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go into Carstairs to watch a basketball tournament and meet up with two of my close high school friends, Julie and Phillipa. The three of us planned our 10-year high school reunion late last year, so we've definitely been keeping in touch more often since then. It's been great. Both of them are married and they each have a child - Julie's boy, Hunter, will be 2 years old in May and Phillipa's girl, Amalie, will be 1 year old at the end of April. Julie's expecting again, her baby's due the middle of March. Julie, Phillipa and I - along with our other good friend, Corrie, were quite the bunch back in school; always having a great time together, and always laughing. Ahhh....those were the days.....Now I've got Mike to keep me chuckling, whether he does it on purpose or not.

Big News

It's almost old news now but when Tammy and I announced to her family that we were having a baby we managed to get a picture of all their reactions. It was an idea we stole from Heather and Tyler when they told our family a few weeks before that they were expecting. Tammy's family has a tradition of taking a picture of everyone whenever the whole family gets together. I volunteered to take a picture of all the Olsens (of course having a crafty plan in mind all along). I told them to all say "cheese" and took a picture (the before shot) and then as I was taking the second picture (the after shot) I told them all to say "Tammy's Pregnant". At first they all laughed thinking it was just another one of my classic jokes, but when they looked at Tammy and realized that it was true, they exploded, and I snapped a picture to capture the moment. Thanks Heather and Tyler for the idea, it worked perfectly.

Happy Birthday Kelly

Last Monday (Feb 7th) was my sister Kelly's 19th birthday. I don't think the family ended up getting together to do anything for it, but she did get the chance to go spend the weekend in Edmonton with some friends. Kelly lives in Calgary now with one of my other sisters (Jodie) just down the street from us. She has some pretty big shoes to fill coming up soon as she will be taking over my job at Simo when I go on maternity leave in May. It's been a lot fun training her on the job over the past few weeks and it makes the days go by faster too. Despite what the rest of the family says, I think she's alright.

Two Weeks Notice

I was given my two weeks notice last night at work. I guess with how busy they are getting they need to hire some full-time night staff, so those of us who can only work part-time are no longer needed. It's kind of bad timing but I'm sure everything will work out. I'll probably write more on this in two weeks.

Churchill

Tammy and I just got back from watching her uncle Tom's grandson play in a basketball tournament at Sir Winston Churchill High School. He plays for the Cardston Cougars and they were here to play against the Churchill Bulldogs. Churchill ended up winning 83 to 71 but it was a close game throughout. It was a lot of fun to watch but the best part was being back at my old high school again. I think this was the first time I had been back since I graduated in 1996. Some of it has changed but a lot of it is exactly the same as it was almost 10 years ago. Churchill has some significance for Tammy as well because she worked there as a janitor while she was going to college. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) she didn't start there until the year after I had graduated. That would have been some kind of weird if we had met there; the old classic tale of a student falling in love with the janitor. We walked around for a bit after the game, took some pictures, and relived some memories. We saw the picture they have up of my graduating class and as I looked at all the faces and names I realized how many people I still hang around with that I became friends with (or became better friends with) in high school. In fact, almost everyone that I was pals with back then I still keep in touch with on some level. Excluding class time of course, I would say that those three years were some of the funnest years of my life. Next year will be my 10 year reunion so I'm hoping something will be organized to get the gang back together again.

The Lurgy

Everyone I know is sick, getting sick, or just getting over being sick, including me. Ever since I had my tonsils out a few years ago I've been able to avoid all the pox's, plagues, and bugs that seem to blow through town every time the wind changes. But not this time. I've come down with a full blown case of the vapours. I was beginning to think that my tonsils just may have been my one weakness and that having them removed had rendered me invincible, but alas, I'm just as human as the rest of you.

Dinner at the Walkers

Last night Dave and Cheryl Walker and their son Brayson had a mess of folks over for a dinner party at their home in Mackenzie Lake. The food was top drawer and it was great to catch up with friends we don't get to see very often. The company included Jeff and Jen Whitehead and their daughter Abbey, John and Jen Gilchrist and their daughter Mikayla, Kevin and Elise Wolff and their son Mason, and Tammy and I. This list doesn't include the 4 unborns that were there too as Tammy, Elise, Cheryl, and Jen Whitehead are all expecting. Thanks to Dave and Cheryl for putting on a great time and also a special thanks goes out to Zinedine Zidane and Zarley Zalapski for helping the guys win the game.

Mom's B-day

Last weekend the family gathered down at Alison's place for my Mom's birthday. She turned 51 this year but I don't think she's aged a day since I was a kid. It had been a while since I've been down to Turner Valley and I sure enjoyed it. On the drive down we had to stop to let three young deer cross the road, which was great to see because the only wildlife we seem to get at our place is rabbits. I love the scenery out there too and just the whole feeling of being away from the spaz of society. Tammy and I hope to someday move out to a small town somewhere to raise our children but we're not sure where or when just yet. Alison and Trevor have built themselves a really nice home there and they're currently developing their basement to finish it all off. So anywhoosh, thanks be to the Ganchars for having us all over, everyone enjoyed themselves and wished we could stay longer, and Happy Birthday Mom!

Scott's Wedding

This story comes from Carol Anderson who, along with her husband Jerry and their 8 children, have been friends of our family since the dark times (ie. before I was born). It's about her youngest son Scott and his new bride Ale on their reception night and I think it's classic.

Scott and Ale were married on a beautiful, sunny and warm day. Ale looked like something out of a fashion magazine. She was so gorgeous. After the wedding, we drove back to Coaldale and all met at the church for dinner. Ale called her parents and spoke to them (we just listened, not speaking Italian), and then Mitch read a letter that Ale's father wrote to be read on the wedding day. A companion of Ale's from the mission field translated it into English. It was very touching and it just broke my heart that they couldn't be there. I feel like we know them though.

There was one funny event I think you will like. Marin's husband, Michael, who has worked as a mechanic with his uncle, wired the car (it was Marin's car that they borrowed since they felt their car wouldn't make it to Edmonton and back) so that whenever he hit the brakes the horn would honk. When it was time for him and Ale to leave, all the siblings went outside to see them off...just waiting for him to put on the brakes. As he drove away down the alley behind the church toward the highway, they were rewarded at the end of the block when they heard the first, "BEEP". They figured that Scott would figure out that they did something and phone and Michael would tell him how to fix it (there was a little toggle switch that he only had to turn). Well, he called all right and said that as he pulled onto the highway there was a police Check Stop. He pulled to a stop..BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!...and the policeman came over livid.."What do you think you're doing?"

Poor Scott,..."It's not what you think, I don't know what's happening....I just came from my wedding and every time I hit the brakes, the horn goes off".

Police: "Let me see you hit the brakes".

Scott: Beep Beep.

The policeman glares at him and calls the other three policemen over to the car with poor Scott and Ale in her wedding dress, and tells the others about the situation, and they all start laughing their heads off. Apparently one of them collapsed on top of the car's hood with laughter. They let him go....and Michael did tell him how to fix it. What a story to tell the grandchildren.

Sait Christmas Party 2004

After exams were over, a bunch of the first and second year AT students got together for a Christmas dinner. Almost everyone from our class showed up; in fact, we made up about 75% of the attendance because a lot of the students in the other groups were no-shows. The food was ok (too many string beans for this cowboy), but it was a good way to celebrate the end of the first semester.

Christmas 2004

This year we spent most of our Christmas with the Bourne side of the family. We usually alternate families every year and it worked out well since Trevor came home on the 23rd. We spent the entire long weekend at my parents house along with Alison and her family and Heather and Tyler who currently live in my parents basement. I think that makes 12 people all together, not including the 2 zygotes.

We had to start Christmas day early because Trevor Ganchar (who works for the Calgary Fire Department) had to leave for work by 7:30am and we didn't want him to miss out. We got up at 5:30am to open presents, were done by 7:30am, and most people were asleep again by 8:00am. I think everyone was pretty happy with what Santa brought this year. Tammy and I decided to get ourselves a digital camera instead of buying gifts for each other. It was expensive but we wanted to treat ourselves for once and we're happy with the purchase. We also wanted to have one for when the baby arrives in June.

Boxing day was Trevor's "homecoming" at church and he gave a really great talk. He's done a lot of growing over the past two years and I think his mission experience has helped set him up to have a happy and productive life. After church we had a big dinner over at my parents house with all the extended family and some close friends. It's amazing to me how big our family circle has grown over the past few years with all the marriages and all the children being born.

We did get to spend some time with the Olsen side of the family as well. Jodie and Aaron were in Vancouver visiting with Aaron's family but everyone else was around at one time or another. We went out to Carstairs for a bit and we spent quite a few evenings in a row over at the Masons playing Mario tennis and a bevy of other games on their new game cube. Through and through I'd say its been a really great holiday.

Tammy made this Christmas tree ornament when she was in kindergarten and her family has hung it on the tree every year since. I think at one time it was supposed to be Big Bird but the years haven't been kind. It's probably one of the most disturbing looking decorations my eyes have ever seen. Long may it hang.


Over the holidays a bunch of the family went skating and played a little hockey over on some frozen pond in Rocky Ridge. I do alright with the game but I couldn't skate my way out of a wet paper bag. It was a lot of fun and I've made myself a goal to learn the art of the ice dance. But until then, I'll play net. The picture is the most dynamic snapshot Tammy managed to get of me. I've never felt so Brittish.

RM

My younger brother Trevor returned from serving a two year mission in Utah and Wyoming on December 23rd. We had quite a large group there at the airport waiting for him, including 20 or so members of the family, a friend of his (the rest are still serving missions), and a couple of guys from the Calgary Herald. I guess they were on the hunt for a Christmas scoop, so they did a story on the situation, took our picture, and put it in the paper the next day. It was a good article, I posted it below. It sure is good to have Trevor back, I missed him a lot and I'm looking forward to spending more time with him and re-establishing my dominance as his older brother.

Article:

The day before Christmas Eve is the day the Bourne family has been waiting for with bated breath.
They arrived at the Calgary International Airport half an hour early, just in case.More than 20 of them - aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers, sisters, mom and dad, best friend - line up outside the arrivals gate.
The flight is already late. But any minute now, 21-year-old Trevor Bourne will walk through the gate, and see his family for the first time in two years, their first family Christmas in 24 months.
"Our focus has been today, not Christmas," says mother Rosemary. "I've been counting, just counting the days. Two years felt like four for me."
For the Bournes, today is better than Christmas, the day 21-year-old Trevor comes home from a two-year mission in Salt Lake City for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
...Downstairs, the Bournes are getting more and more excited. They greet the flight crew with a loud "Merry Christmas," then greet every traveler who walks through the doors, each time glancing for a glimpse of Trevor...
...when Trevor Bourne finally walks through the sliding doors, the family explodes. Rosemary begins crying, dad Ken can't talk.
"I can't believe there are so many people here," says the bemused and slightly overwhelmed 21-year-old missionary.
"Everyone get over here."
Rosemary hugs her son, lets him hug everyone else, then hugs him again. Her Christmas is now complete.
"I'm shaking. He's just grown, his voice is different, he's so confident. You send him away as a boy...
"This is my Christmas gift, definitely."