Costa Rica

Mary loves playing scrabble on the internet; here even while in the pool at a resort in Costa Rica where she has been this week with Hilary. The two of them also went on a guided drive in an ATV along the beach to see a bit on the environment.

A good week of relaxation and natural vitamin D through sunshine away from the cold of Canada for Hilary and Mary. On their way home again tomorrow.

Start of a new year

Hilary and Mary are a week in Costa Rica as Mary's present to Hilary for completing her Master Degree in Nursing last year. They picked a good week because here it is a pretty cold and snowy period. They have nice weather and relax in the sunshine plus enjoy the beautiful sunsets over the pacific Ocean....

And while they are entertained by the pre-historic Iguanas eating food of guests from the resort, Poncho and I are in Fonthill real lazy but comfortable buddies.....

End of the year

Hilary and Shayd were over again in Ontario to celebrate Christmas with the family, while Wil went to BC to visit his brother Parker who had to work on the CN trains. They enjoyed skiing in the Rockies these weeks. Fiona had a break from her teaching work in Korea and visited friends in Thailand for a week. At home in Fonthill we had the pleasure of Hilary and Shayd making nice meals, for example this lasagna...

Hilary and Mary made a big snowman in the field across the street with solar powered lights and it gave folks in our neighbourhood a good chuckle, specially at night... Happy New Year to all...

Towards the seventies

Hilary and Shayd moved from Vancouver to Penticton, about four hours to the east inland in British Columbia. Their place overlooks one of the lakes in that region. It is a trial period to see if this suits them better for the coming years while renting out their condo in Vancouver.

And now Hilary joined us a for a few weeks in Fonthill with Shayd coming for a shorter period. Together we went to a theatre Christmas show in Niagara-on-the-Lake on my 69th birthday....

Hilary & Shayd engaged

Shayd asked Hilary to marry him this weekend and she said "yes". What a year this is after Mark asked Carly to marry him in May. Carly and Mark are planning a family-only wedding weekend in May 2025. It is so good to see them all happy with each other.

Elsewhere in the world we have Marcy & Joe visiting Thailand. Together with their oldest son Spencer and two of his friends they are in this photo in a tuk-tuk in Bangkok. Their second son Parker is also somewhere in Thailand and their youngest is home in Sarnia working and looking after the dog Rufus.

In Holland a few weeks ago my oldest sister Ger celebrated her 80th birthday with her three kids and two (of the nine) grandkids. She is planning a big party in late May, so I'll have to travel again... :-)

Three weeks ago I started a 1,500 piece puzzle. The sorting of all the pieces took about three days. And today I completed this work of brain training. It was a second hand so sometimes a few pieces are missing in these situations. This time I had again two missing pieces, but also two left-over pieces who did not fit the empty spots. I checked over and over again, but I could not find whether I made a mistake somewhere. So I am sticking with the theory of two misplaced pieces.... :-)

Canadian Thanksgiving 2024

October 12 was chosen by Susan, Mary and Joe for the funeral of their father. It was also this year's annual Thanksgiving Day, a fine day to celebrate the life of Jos Vandenboom. He was buried next to his wife Marie Vandenbogaard, who passed away 8 years ago in St Thomas where they lived for the best part of their lives and where their three kids grew up. All kids, spouses and grandkids were present with the exception of Fiona who is working a year in South Korea (but she had recorded a wonderful message which her mother Susan played as the kick-off for everybody to say a few words). It was a brief ceremony for Jos just the way he would have liked it....

Afterwards we visited the hobby farm where Sue, Mary and Joe grew up with their parents and Greta. The house was bought by a couple who immigrated from Cambodia about 20 years ago when Jos & Marie moved to a house in St Thomas town. The new owners welcomed us with open arms and let us walk around the property bringing up old memories. Afterwards our group went for a walk in a nearby conservation area where Joe, Mary and Sue spent much time as children swimming and playing. The day ended with a nice dinner in nearby Port Stanley, a place where Mary spent a lot of time windsurfing during the years between our first meeting in India (1982) and our wedding (1990). A nice day together with the Vandenboom-Laird-Nolle gang!

Josephus Vandenboom 1930

It will be something to get used to. He had a long and full life and looked sometimes like he would be around forever. The last few months he became a bit weaker, but his passing on September 30 was still a bit unexpected. We will miss having him around here in Fonthill....

At the farm in Sparta (just outside St Thomas) Joe was a fun Opa for little Hilary and Mark. And he was happiest with the whole family around him for example at the cottage during many of the summers...

His three kids stood by him intensively during the past five years when he lived in Short Hills, the retirement home nearby in Fonthill. Joe came as often as he could from Sarnia for short visits. Susan and Mary were both spending a few hours with him every day, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening. Yesterday they organized a cake and coffee event at Short Hills for the other residents there...

Hilary came over from Vancouver and Mark & Carly helped out during the first few days after Opa passed away, being a great help for Mary. This weekend they decided that it was time for some pumpkin carving. Family time well spend with some good laughs in memory of Opa...