Merry Christmas One & All

As you can tell from the return address, we've returned to Pinawa from Deep River. Andrew drove Leslie and Meghan to Pinawa at the end of April and then returned to Deep River for a month to finish up. While sad to leave some good friends behind, we were very happy to be back in our own house. Living in a 2-bedroom apartment was getting a little claustrophobic, especially as Meghan grew and we collected more stuff. Having resettled into our house and renewed ties with all our Pinawa friends, our fifteen month sojourn in Ontario is beginning to feel like it never really happened, although Meghan still asks about her Deep River house and friends.

Early in the year, we took advantage of being close to Andrew's family to spend some time in Oakville visiting. One of the disadvantages of moving back to Manitoba is that we will no longer be able to pop down for a weekend visit, but we are once again within a drive of
Leslie's family. This summer Leslie really enjoyed having a garden again. She was in Pinawa for just a few days when she was off to the local nursery to get bedding plants and other gardening, paraphernalia. The flower beds and vegetable garden needed a lot of work, having been ignored for a year, but the summer proved to be a perfect one for plants. We must have half a freezer full of tomatoes. On her first excursion to the nursery, Leslie found more than just gardening necessities. The owner had a litter of kittens. Since Andrew had returned to Deep River, this was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up! Meghan and Leslie brought one home, promising to wash him frequently (and return him if necessary) so Andrew's allergies wouldn't be a problem. Well it's seven months later and the cat is still with us. He cleverly ingratiated himself with Andrew by catching a mouse that came into the house over the summer, and we have not seen another mouse since. Nor, we suspect, has anyone in the neighborhood. What is the cat's name you may ask? Well Meghan named him Mikey the first day he came home and it stuck. We're not sure if his namesake is one of Meghan's two uncle Michaels or the good friend, Michael that she had just left behind in Deep River.

Although much of the summer was given over to getting the house in order again, we did manage a week in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan with Leslie's parents. They were thrilled to spend time with their granddaughter. A good portion of the week was passed at the parental cottage on Lac la Ronge, a remote lake in Northern Saskatchewan. The weather was hot and sunny, so most of the time was spent outside playing games on the small beach, wading with Meghan or lying around with a drink and a good book.

Later in August, Andrew's parents spent a four-day weekend in Pinawa. Andrew's dad loves to keep busy, so he spent some of the time helping Leslie cleaning up some of the gardens. Leslie was glad of the help. She spent part of the summer providing day care for a friend's two toddlers, as well as keeping up with Meghan's demands, and found she had little time for the intensive weeding the beds all needed. And since she wasn't feeling her best...haven't we mentioned it already? Meghan is expecting a new baby brother or sister in February! We made it public in August, so this is probably an appropriate point in the letter to bring it up. Anyway, we had a relaxing four days with Andrew's parents. Andrew and his dad did some golfing, and Leslie and mom sat on the deck drinking lemonade and exchanging craft ideas.

In September, we decided that we needed another break so we spent a week car camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Black Hills are a good 2-day drive south and west of Pinawa. They include such tourist attractions of Mount Rushmore with its four U.S. presidents, the even more spectacular partially-completed sculpture of Crazy Horse, interesting caves, and lots of great scenery and wildlife. We had a wonderful time spending our days sightseeing and evenings by the campfire, cooking over a portable propane stove or barbeque and sleeping in a tent. The weather was really unseasonably warm with little rain. There were very few mosquitoes and few tourists because it was offseason.

Our break was timely. As soon as we got back, Andrew took on a new role in scouting. He is now Provincial Commissioner for Manitoba and is finding it to be a very challenging position. Scouting has reached the point where some significant new initiatives must be undertaken if it is remain an important part of our society. Andrew has been travelling to Winnipeg, a distance of 125 kilometers, on average twice a week for various meetings. Perhaps his greatest challenge to date occurred only a few weeks after being appointed. Andrew had to preside over a ceremony to present Chief Scout and Queen Venturer awards to youth members. This ceremony included the singing of "God Save the Queen" and "0h Canada", but Andrew wasn't worried having been promised that there would be a professional singer to lead the songs. Well the singer did not show up and Andrew had to give his best performance. He is very thankful that the television crews did not choose to include his singing in their newscasts,

Andrew's job in Pinawa is much the same as before. He is still doing materials research for CANDU reactors, with a focus on extending the life of aging components. Perhaps the biggest change is that he is now the leader of a group of twelve people, scientists and technologists, doing similar research.

Leslie has continued to keep busy. While she has spent only a little time renewing her sewing business, she still gets the odd customer, Leslie has also spent some time providing child care, first early in the summer and then more recently for a month or two this fall She is thankful that the latter commitment is finished, because she needs all her energy to care for Meghan and grow the new baby. Leslie has been very healthy and is feeling well.

As we enter December, we are looking forward to Christmas. We are planning to spend two weeks in Prince Albert with Leslie's family. Meghan is getting into the Christmas spirit this year, so it should be a lot of fun for us and the rest of the family. We hope that this letter finds you all well and wish you the best for the holidays and a prosperous New Year.