A quick visit and a total blow-out

This past weekend  Grandpa Jim and Grandma Bunny stopped by on their way home from their 2 week tour of western Canada and Alaskan cruise. They had a blast and although Grandpa Jim had a cold, as well as half the crew on the ship, the trip was totally worth it. We had a technical issue trying to view the photos via electronics so when we get together at Christmas we can see the paper or as they say these day's 'the hard copy'.

The trip was full of many great experiences for them however, they said their trip via bus to deep into the Denali was the best part. I will let you hear from them as to their experiences. Suffice it to say they enjoyed themselves, which we are glad!

The weekend was fairly mundane as far as the Loudamericans go, neighborhood blow-out Friday night, where Tom was the guest Chef and deep fried a Turkey and a chicken, smoked two chickens and BBQed a couple of pounds of steak. I guess when the word is out that you are about to graduate from Chef school.. why cook yourself? Tracy asked why we weren't just hosting the party since we did all the cooking and tehn realized....clean up! Best of all worlds, make a messy yummy mess for 30 people in someone else house. Brilliant!  The kids had fun and young James (who is trying out for yet another baseball team) was a late arrival and unfortuantly did not make the team. But... what time does he have?! It's FOOTBALL SEASON, and fantasy football where he is competing with half of Target Canada and he is the one to beat, quite funny.

Billy is now deep into taekwondo training with two tournaments coming up.He is now training for 3 extra hours on Saturday and it's paying off! Kay is into 12 hours of gymnastics a week and was the center of attention when she pulled off some crazy move, that no other kid in the class can do! So much so that all the other coaches stopped their practice to come watch her and she was just ... "oh well that old move? "  Seoul Olympics here we come!

Sunday is football around here. Carb loading around 10:30, Gatorade around 11:00 and off to the field. Jimmy was given a talking to a couple weeks back and was almost placed on the bench for not being aggressive enough. We feel sorry for the other teams because since that talk he has been a beast. The game was against the Guelph Bears and they were supposed to be a good team with depth and speed. Well, without reliving the whole game, late in the third quarter we had to punt, Jimmy made a huge tackle and laid out the other kid, caused a fumble and we had the ball back on their 35. One play from scrimmage touchdown. The Grizzlies had only 8 offensive plays in the whole game, held the Bears to 2 first downs, scored 2 defensive touchdowns and won 55 to 0, against a team with depth and speed, the kids are playing out of their minds.

All good things must come to an end so Monday morning the kids headed off to school and Grandma and Grandpa headed home.  We will see them at Christmas and it was fun to have them see the kids in all their athletic glory!

Now it is our honor (and I must say privilege) to report a truly heartwarming story. I do not want to get into to many details of our friends personal lives as you never know who know what or what people want to be know about themselves. However since I received this in an e-mail I could not help but share:

"We are very proud to let you know that this morning, on September 19th, 2013, two new members of our family arrived!

Victor Ferraz entered the world at 8:39am, weighing 6 pounds and 9 ounces with a length of 19.5 inches.  Like the rest of the men in the family, he is handsome, strong and healthy.  Sofia Jeanne-Marie followed her brother a minute later at 8:40am, incredibly at the same weight, 6 pounds and 9 ounces, with a length of 20 inches.  She is a perfectly beautiful little girl.

Katie, our sister-in-law, has been our partner on this journey.  She did wonderfully throughout the pregnancy and the delivery, and this morning is recovering.  We feel amazingly blessed that Katie cared for & carried our babies so well the last nine months and gave them the best start they could ever have. We are filled with gratitude toward Katie and Mateus for their grace and generosity throughout this process.  

JoAnne and Lucas"

Miracles happen every day. Look around you:) Embrace them, and God Bless!!!