Sue and Ralph made it to Penticton with a flight to Calgary (where they visited Ralph's younger sister) and used a rental car for a drive through the Rockies (they will visit Victoria afterwards and then take the Via Rail train back to Toronto - the very nice "slow travel" way to cross this huge country). Sue was there within 24 hours when Hilary was born in 1992, and now she had to cover a lot more distance so 5 days after Brooks' birth was not bad. Of course Brooks has no idea about all the commotion yet, but the Vandenboom clan is very excited to welcome a next generation in the family.
Together with Mary they went cycling along the lake and celebrated the family extension with a drink at a local micro brewery. It was too bad to miss that bike ride together with Sue and Ralph, but together with Mary I expect to make that ride several times during the coming weeks.
It always amazes me how close these two sisters are. Their growing up together on the hobby farm near St Thomas certainly contributed to that. They share experiences every day together and we live right around the corner from each other in Fonthill. When we looked for a place to buy in 1995 after I had started working at Niagara College, Mary dropped off flyers of our interest to buy a house in mailboxes of houses in the streets around the corner of the place of Sue & Ralph. More than 30 years later we all still live in the same houses. Last week the sisters took Brooks for a few walks and shared their joy.
Hilary and her little peanut. I will be there in a couple of days for a few weeks....
