Wow, it's been a busy few weeks.

We started out the month with an overnight trip to Gambier Island. Our friends Scott and Sharon recently got a place over there and invited us up to visit. We had originally planned to go to Birkenhead Lake for the weekend but the highway to Whistler was closed due to a landslide and we had cancel that plan. We had a fun time up there and Allie got to have her first trip on a small boat, did some tubing and also some kayaking. The ride over to Gambier was about 30 minutes and Allie enjoyed the ride. I think she was getting a little naseous near the end but otherwise was fine. That afternoon, she also had her first tube ride. We buckled on a life jacket and she climbed onto the three person tube with Krista and Brianna. She enjoyed the ride for 10-15 minutes and wanted to go back for more. The kids also did some kayaking and running around enjoying themselves. We had lots of fun and look forward to going back again another time.

This past weekend, we had a weekend trip to Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We were going over with 2 vans full of people We left early Friday on the Ferry and had a leisurely drive across the island stopping at Coombs to visit the market and see the goats on the roof of the building. It's a bit of a tourist stop but it was a good place to have a break and get some fresh breads, pie and assorted goodies for the weekend. . We saw a bear on the way over and deer a couple times over the weekend as well. The bear was munching berries at the side of the road so we pulled over and had a look before it lumbered further into the bushes out of sight. Allie was very excited to see her first real bear! We stayed with Kathie's cousin Terry and Dave and they were great hosts. On Saturday everyone headed to the beach for some surfing and fun in the waves. We got Allie a wetsuit and she had a blast doing a little boogie boarding and surfing. Of course she wasn't in the deep water but in her mind she was surfing the big waves. She would stand on the board holding our hand while we pulled the board through the water. The weather was a bit rainy and overcast in the morning but did clear up later on in the afternoon. It was a nice change from the hot dry weather we've been having in Vancouver lately. Saturday night was Crab Feast night. We pilled into the vans and drove up to Tofino to get the crabs. A total of 22 crabs were cooked up for dinner and I'm told they were excellent. I don't care for crab myself so I had some of the steak that was left from the night before. Sunday was a little slower but we headed down to the docks to do a little fishing. Allie had wanted to try to catch something so we gave it a try. With Dave's secret bait Allie managed to pull in two little perches about 3-5 inches each. We had to leave from Ucluelet about noon so that we could be home and not miss the ferry ride back home. The ferries tend to be very busy on summer weekends so we had to be sure we wouldn't miss it.

This coming weekend we're heading down to Seattle for some shopping. The fall sales have started and it's a chance to get some good bargains.

In other news, we've had some good progress in the backyard. The old garage is down and the fence is almost complete. Now comes the big work of clean-up, and planning the new backyard and then putting that all together. Still lots of work ahead but some good progress so far. We have to thank our neighbors, Nicole and Jason for doing a good portion of the work and for all their help.

Kathie is continuing to do really well. She feels good and the luckily the chemo isn't taking to much out of her. It's usually the day after chemo that she feels a little tired but otherwise she's OK. She's about halfway now and should finish up in mid September.

Well, that's what's been going on lately. We're keeping busy and having some fun.

I wanted to encourage everyone visit the sites and blogs of various familes and kids that we have gotten to know and continue to follow and be in contact with. There have been some new angels over the last few months and some new kids that are fighting, www.icouldbeyourchild.org has all the links.

Lots of Love
Tore, Kathie, Allie and Beautiful Angel Hannah