Found it!

Here's the whole fam damily. Unfortunately it appears that we put ourselves under some shade. In any case- there stand/sit all my aunts & uncles, my Gran, a couple of cousins, my father's godmother & her family, as well as my new sister-in-law! YAY.

Here's my mom's side- I had to post it because it is such a rarity that all my mom's family would a) be looking at the camera with eyes OPEN, & b) not caught with a mouthful of food*muhahah*.

Trip home- Round 3- Family

I hadn't seen some of my family members for upwards of 5 years- how fortunate for me & Al that we were able to meet up with so many of them. And that's the beautiful thing about family, five years & it feels like I never left- thanks to each of you!!

Our welcoming committee when we hit the Motherland. My Aunt was such a gem- she drove us all over "Greater Toronto Area" for 2 days...Here she is with her daughter & granddaughters.















Auntie Nada took us to see my cousins & their families.
Danielle & her three babes (so good to catch up)!
















Me & Kane















Mel, JD & their girls- lovely to visit!















Cayley was Mel's only kid that liked either me or Al*hahaha* She reached out for Al so we all got excited, how silly is that?!















Next stop: Ottawa. Here are a few of our hosts- Aunt Monique (missing other half dear Uncle Emil), Marc (missing my cousin/ his wife Caro), Mate & Jen (missing their two daughters). I clearly did a TERRIBLE job with the camera in Ottawa. I think I was too excited- it was amazing to see everyone, & to see everyone looking so great!















"Ma-mere" aka. Grandma Cote (85-year old powerhouse) playing tennis with her great-granddaughter Justine (Marc & Caro's beautiful girl). I was so happy to be a part of that day!















We also high-tailed it to Saskatoon. Here we are in my Gran's new digs, with cousin Al's lovely daughter Katrina. The last time I saw Katrina she was a toddler- we had such a blast with her despite the fact that she beat me at Quiddler AND Scrabble. Here she is trying to teach my mom ballet, I nearly split my gut laughing.














Here's my beautiful Gran at my brother's wedding. She's such an incredible woman. (Thanks for letting me steal the photo Uncle Wal)*grin*














Me & my hubby at Toma's wedding.















Oh...and this was a quick stop on our way back home from Saskatoon- Alberta tourism at it's finest. Love it!














I'm looking everywhere for the photo of the whole family. It was the first time ever that my bro & I have had all our Aunts & Uncles together at the same time- & the blasted photo must be on my laptop somewhere. I will find it & post it proudly!! (Promise)

Round 2- Sports/ watching sports

Oh we Canadians love our sports, don’t we? Al & I had a blast catching (or participating in) several sporting events.

We had our first "Wii" experience (Thanks Tommy!) I'm about as good at Wii bowling as I am at real bowling- priceless.

Here I am on the Wii Fit trying to Hula Hoop, Al is heading the soccer balls.






























We travelled to Saskatoon to see my Gran's new abode and for the "boys" to go fishing...despite the cold weather the guys had a blast & literally caught buckets of fish (there are photos to prove it- no fisherman tales there). We had a delicious fish fry with loads of family after they spent the day on the lake. Here's my fisherman with my Grand-Uncle Neil.
















Catch of the day:-)















Dear Carly took us out for true blue Canadian Football!! Eskies versus Roughriders pre-season game- what a blast.












































Tom, Dev & Trevor decided an afternoon trip to the driving range would be a good idea. Fabulous fun I say. Here's our very own Zambian Tiger!
















Al's first love it basketball...he played every chance he had. I couldn't' help but giggle when he played with a sea of Asians (see photo below). Unfortunately I can't find the photos from the "International Basketball League" game we attended. It was actually really fun, those of you reading this from Edmonton should go out & support the "NRG"...Energy...

Friends from Lusaka

I'm going to try to post some more highlights from our trip back to the Motherland. In no specific order. Round 1.

Al & I had several mutual friends from our time here in Lusaka to catch up with back in Canada. Here are a few of the candids- we were so thrilled to be able to re-connect with such wonderful people!

Our dear friends Kel & Claire happen to be living just outside of Edmonton- & Claire just happened to have their first child while we were home! It was so exciting to seem them both & meet their beautiful baby Cruz.












































We passed through Ottawa on our way to Edmonton to catch up with family (they'll come in another post)*grin* & two of my former colleagues & dear friends.

There is nothing better than an ice cream date...















My generous cousins hosted a feast & welcomed Julie, her hubby (who's name escapes me at the moment...something terribly English. Jon I think) & Marilyne- again, completely overwhelming hospitality & love!
















We couldn't resist this one...
















Toronto (on both ends of our time in Edmonton). Sarah T baked her famous pineapple upside down cake for my spoiled husband (well...I suppose it was his birthday)*grin*
















Our good friend Kieran- who we got used to seeing in Lusaka about every six months- alas, now he is back to work in Toronto & we will have to steal time like we did en route back to London. We even had the chance to meet his lady friend Claire...















From left to right- Naomi (who I met my first year in Lusaka- we climbed Kilimanjaro together so it was a trip catching up with her after 4 years or so), then there's Mike who's Christine's boyfriend. Christine has come to Zambia a couple of times for research- we were lucky enough to befriend her, & see her in TO!















Christine actually introduced us to Emily (in Lusaka) who is also a star! We spent a lot of holidays together- like Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays- & our get togethers always included feasting & perhaps a little too much wine or sangria. Naomi again on the right.

One of my favourite holidays…

It’s Canada Day again! Weeeee. There’s nothing too exciting happening here, but I am looking forward to a pizza lunch with my workmates, and a game of Canadian Cranium!

Hope you all have a good one (even if you’re not Canadian)*grin*

Back in Lu...

I kept telling myself I’d update my blog nicely- with photos & tales in chronological order…but then I surely wouldn’t post anything. So let me start posting some of the highlights (with the fear that I may miss something, or offend someone who made time for us- horrors- along the way).

What a trip. We ran from the time we left Lusaka & I enjoyed every moment! I owe sincere thanks to so many people who hosted us, visited us, & went out of their way to ensure that we would enjoy our trip back to my Motherland.

My folks were gracious enough to host a BBQ for me one Saturday. Friends came from near














& far
















Gloria (above) & her hubby drove up from Vernon, & Marty (in photo below- far left) came up from Calgary).
















- many bearing gifts (yeah Anna!)- to catch up. Crazy to think that so many people freed up their Saturday to say ‘hello’: good friends came, former colleagues, even parents of my friends made time to pass through. It was a miserable day (see me & Al in a wet SNOW flurry...though you can't really tell)















but that certainly didn’t stop anyone from having fun. I’m so thankful that so many people were able to make a bit of time for us; I also have to apologize for not making time to see many of you again!! (Honestly, that was the fastest 3 weeks of my life)- but home is always home & we’ll be back again before anyone will notice that we’re gone.

And now, coming back home to Lusaka (yes, this will be confusing because I feel like I really have two homes now)…I had a little bit of a rude awakening.
It is cold season here- while everyone back in Canada is revving up to full-summer gear, it’s chilly in the mornings & evenings and the days are SHORT! (Oh what a change from the long summer days in Edmonton).
I splashed on my lip-screen before heading out the door to work Wednesday morning & had apparently forgotten about all the dust. When the wind blew a cloud of dust adhered to my shiny lips- nasty when I absent-mindedly licked them:-)
Otherwise, first meal back home was nshima & chicken & it was lovely! And the power cut this morning (which didn’t really faze me because I’d had my warm bath already)- but did distinctly remind me that we’re not in Canada anymore*grin*

Yay!

My brother got married- Weeeee!!

Congrats Tommy & Dev




































Cutting the cake at the after party in my parents backyard- it was a perfect day

Auntie Sarah

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee, Alvin's young brother & his partner Ethel had their baby girl on Saturday! We're all happy that both mum & baby are doing well. It is obvious that the baby has come from basektballers- she's got the longest baby fingers I've ever seen! I suppose it's either basketball or piano for this little tyke*grin*.

Here are a happy mum & dad

Our good friend Kolo came to visit the baby as well- clearly she's much more comfortable with newborns than Auntie Sarah...