254 Bord - Still alive and well...

Something that’s unique about my husband is that all of his best friends live in Texas; including his brother! They are all originally Saskatchewan boys, but they felt the call to move south when they met their dream girls in the US of A. I’m so thankful that Mitch didn’t join their ranks in that regard!!!

About 15 years ago, one of Mitch’s close friends, Brian Larson worked at a sports and adventure camp in Arkansas called camp Ozark, and he recruited Mitch and several other guys to come and join the Ozark lake crew. The guys had the incredibly burdensome task of driving new nautique boats on the beautiful lake Ouachita for 3 months each summer.

 

(Jeff, Mitch and Brian on the bottom, Karin is 2nd row on the left.)

Mitch, Brian, Jeff (Larson), Mark (Zacharias), and Carson (Schultz) enjoyed several summers at camp Ozark together. There, Brian, Jeff, Mark and Carson all met their wives and they’ve lived in Texas ever since. I know that Mitch wishes he could see these guys much more than he does, especially since he’s not a big phone talker or letter writer. We do, however, enjoy our annual visits down south; especially to reunites and catch up with old friends.

254 Bord is a waterski club that the guys started back when they were in highschool. They used to spend much time on the lake each summer; especially, at places like camp Kadesh and other lakes around Saskatchewan. Over the years, 254 Bord has stayed alive but mostly as a good excuse to get together and have a party. 254 comes from the first three numbers that are apart of every Dalmeny phone number. All the original members of 254 Bord had some sort of connection to Dalmeny. As each of the 254 Bord members got married, the guys enjoyed having official induction ceremonies at the weddings to welcome the wives into the clubs. When Mitch and I were married, the joke was that he and I were the only ones to actually marry for love because I already had a 254 phone number and therefore could have qualified to join the club without having to be married in. Mark Zacharias is the President of the club and he awarded me with an “official” plaque welcoming me to the club on our wedding day,

Left to Right: Brian, Carson, Mitch, Mark, and Jeff on our wedding day.

Last year, when Mitch, Jett and I went to Texas, we travelled up to Frisco, Texas (near Dallas) for a 254 Bord reunion hosted by Ryan and Karin Files. (Karin was a Larson and also an original 254 Bord member :). We had a great time there as we interacted with the many children that have now entered the picture.

We had t-shirts made to commemorate the event. (thanks Desi) - Jett was 6 months old here.

This year, in Galveston at that wonderful beach house I talked about in my last post, 254 Bord had another gathering. 5 original members in attendance: Mitch, Carson, Mark, Brian and Jeff as well as all of their wives and children, of course. It was a fun time as all five families, including 9 children, stayed in the house for a night. We sure are thankful for good friends.

Mesmerized by Curious George. Apparently Cooper and Jett aren't his only fans!

The guys and the kids: hanging out in the hot tub and pool.

Brian, with his daughter Lucy, enjoying some paddle surfing. 

Mitch did this too (without Jett) but we didn't get a picture.

A couple of family pics, courtesy of our own photographer, uncle Carson!

Probably one of the best Cooper/Jett pics!

...AND this wouldn't be a proper blog post if I didn't include a video, right? :) Here's one more of Cooper and Jett as they play together really well.

TEXAS in Oct. 2011

The bad thing about having family that lives far away is that you don't get to see them enough. The great thing is that you get to go on vacation to visit them. Mitch's brother, Carson, his sweet wife, Hilary, and their precious son, Cooper (who is 2 months older than Jett), live in Houston, Texas. We love them very much and we try to visit them yearly. This year is especially fun as we watch these two energetic cousins become good buddies. They are hilarious.

The boys share a common love for Curious George. This is a great way to wind down at the end of the day.

Carson & Hilary have some incredible connections to generous families who have blessed greatly during this trip. We are spending the majority of our week in Texas in Galveston, a city on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We are staying in an AMAZING beach house owned by friends of Carson & Hilary.

To say that this beach house is the perfect location for us to hang out with our busy boys is an understatement. As you look at the following pictures, I'm sure you'll understand what I mean!

This is the beautiful master suite that Carson & Hilary insisted we stay in. What you can't see is the large walk-in closet (where Jett sleeps in a Pack-n-Play) and the massive tile bathroom with a 3-foot deep tub, duel shower head shower, and "his and her" sinks. It's been a rough week.... ;)

There are inlets off of the Gulf that many beach houses have been built around. This is the view from our Master Suite window.

This deck is perfect for the boys to run and play on. It's also a great place to eat, nap, visit and lay in the sun.... did I mention it's about 25 degrees here???

I love this section of the deck. Directly below this area of the deck is the speed boat and a couple of kayaks.... of course, right? ;)

The best part of this trip (and there are MANY great parts) is watching these cousins interact. They love each other and they feed off of each other's silliness. We are constantly entertained.

This is the pool/hot tub that overlooks the bay. The boys love splashing around in the water.

Just a few minutes down the road is miles and miles of gorgeous sandy beach. This was Jett's first time setting foot in an ocean. He has seen the Pacific (In Vancouver) but this was his first experience in Atlantic waters. The water is surprisingly warm and Jett took to it like a fish. As soon as his feet hit the sand, he booked it for the water and went straight in. Mitch was hurrying behind him.

After playing in the ocean, you want to get that salty water off of your skin and what better way could there be than a bath with your cousin?!

This is the "Sea Wall" that goes along the Gulf coast for several miles. This is truly a beautiful city.

 Carson and Hilary put Jett to bed for us yesterday evening so that Mitch and I could have a nice dinner date together. (Muchly appreciated) We wanted some fresh seafood so we went to a popular place that is located right on the water. It's right beside a port where all the cruise ships come through. We had some incredible shrimp, crab and tilapia as we sat out on the deck, over the water and watched the sun set. We actually had a dolphin come swim close enough that we could watch it jump and play as we finished our dinner.

From the restaurant, you can see this view. These are oil rigs from out in the ocean. The one on the left is one that they are taking apart to "retire" and the one that is lit up on the right is being repaired and will be returned out to sea in a week or so.

These last two pics were taken by Carson on his new iphone 4.... they're pretty great. They add to my thoughts that an iphone may be in my future...

And, of course, a video. The boys are little movie stars and so much fun to catch on video. Many great memories already and the week is not over!