We're enjoying the lazy days of summer. And while I might have more time in which I could actually blog, I just tend to spend it doing other fun stuff. Like hanging out at the park or going on long walks or picking Saskatoons in Nipawin or gathering and throwing rocks in puddles or napping...

But back to our other vacation of the summer. Our camping trip.

I guess Dan already gave you a little sneak peek of me chowing down on a huge bag of chips... 

In fairness to me, he had the bright idea to buy the big bag of nachos and he and his cousins helped eat them. But it's true, we just got finished with them last week -- they never run out!

The camping trip was a Millette Reunion down at Kanosee Lake in southern Saskatchewan. It's a beautiful little area and, heat wise, was a little reminiscent of Ontario humidity. While I don't need sunscreen up where we live, Joseph and I definitely put in on at Kanosee. Dan didn't and barely lived to tell the tale after an agonizing 2-3 hours after the water park had a bad effect on his burnt back.

We had some crazy weather, ranging from burning sunshine to tornado watches and then warnings. In fact, on Saturday afternoon, we headed back from visiting with Dan's grandparents in nearby Redvers to quickly pack up our tent and entire campsite as we watched some gloomy skies. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out at the Millette family cabin in a downpour, waiting to see if we were going to need to book a room at a hotel. Thankfully, everything cleared up a little and, with no other tornado warnings, Dan set our campsite up again and we had a great nights sleep.

Joseph spent a considerable portion of our trip playing with one of his favourite toys -- a squirt bottle meant for flames on the BBQ. He happily went around our campsite spraying the tent, the electrical box (yikes!), and us. We finally convinced him that the van tires needed to be washed and that kept him busy for a while. 

One evening we took a canoe ride across Little Kanosee Lake (I think it was called). Our little back-paddler was quite insistent that he was quite capable of paddling all-by-himself, thank you very much. He kept telling me, "I sorry, I sorry" as he took the paddle from my hands to make things difficult for Daddy steering in the back.

The squirt bottle came along on our canoe trip, but was quickly dropped overboard and picked up by Grandma following in another canoe. 

{Oh, and while she'll hate me for mentioning it, make sure you check out Dan's pictures of the magnificent fall in his blog. Grandma went and announced her mishap in a Sask Pro-Life email, so Dan figured it was fair game to tease a little more! She wrote that while one strong son came to her rescue, the other pulled out his camera...}

The campfire also needed some spraying one night. And with Grandpa's help, Joseph succeeded in spraying all those around the campfire too. Dan's cousin's little girls thought this entertainment was simply hilarious and went home begging their mom for squirt bottles too.

Now that we've survived camping and had fun doing it, we're wondering what to do and where to go next. While we may not have been roughing it too much, we certainly weren't holed up in a fancy huge camper, complete with satellite dish and heater/air-conditioner like so many other "campers" around us. 

But we did learn a few things about lighter packing and not blowing our air mattress to full capacity. There's also certainly no point in going through all the effort of boiling water and making oatmeal for a little toddler who's distracted by rocks. Coffee cream does not freeze well; it just turns out curdled. And if you forget your sausages at home, they're going to cost you a heck of a lot more to buy on site.

But boy, nothing beats sleeping in the great outdoors with a fresh cool breeze and tired bodies after a day full of fun!

Dan Talkin

That's right, I spelled "Talkin" with no g, because I have attitude. Anyway, here are some random thoughts (8 to be precise) going through my brain these days...


1) What exactly is "roughing it"? On our camping trip last week Becca and I measured each and everything we did to that ever-so-necessary "roughing it" category.

"We have an air mattress!" 

"But it's not comfortable..." 

"We have electricity along with a plug in stove and fan for our tent."

"But someone stole our wood to make a fire..."

"You're drinking coffee using a french press!"

"But there's no cream..."

"We had a hot shower before bed!"

"The bathroom sinks were very dirty..."

Where do you draw the line? It haunted us all weekend. I guess the bottom line is this: if you camp with a tent in Saskatchewan then nature just sort of takes care of the whole "roughing it" question. We had some extreme heat... We had a torrential downpour... We had tornado warnings... We had bugs... We, quite simply, were camping outdoors. In the end, though we do add more conveniences than what I remember as a kid, the great outdoors always lets you know that you're still a guest in mother nature's backyard.

Good times. And those nachos never run out! Ever.

2) Speaking of camping, some people just should stay away from canoes! I'm not going to say who...

3) Also speaking of camping, though the trip was absolutely awesome (it was also a Millette family reunion), I learned something important. A severe sunburn on the back does not mix well with a hyper-chlorinated swimming pool. I thought my skin was eating itself up for a few hours there. Thankfully the chlorine reaction finally went away. For the record, red wine is the best cure for such an experience.

4) You remember my love-affair with those great Melaleuca vitamins? I just noticed something this morning:

I thought it was a little strange that my Melaleuca vitamins, for "MEN," had a warning for those taking them while pregnant. This leads me to believe that Melaleuca is actually in favour of women priests. I mean, if they are trying to vie for pregnant men then the logical conclusion is that they are also in favour of women priests. Boo Melaleuca!

5) But we all know that the only reason men can't become pregnant is because the Church won't allow it. They probably say something silly like: "well, Jesus was never pregnant." All I know is that Jesus said: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Clearly, then, Jesus is referring to men giving life in abundance, i.e. becoming pregnant. Stuck up old pre-Vatican II Church!

6) I have the option of taking, for my last Masters course, either a Mariology course taught by some priest or an Apologetics course taught by Patrick Madrid. I have taken apologetics before, but it was a beginner's course during my first year at the Academy. I'd like to think that such a course would be more meaningful nowadays, especially with such a master as Madrid teaching it. On the other hand, how can I pass up a course dedicated to studying about Mary? How am I going to decide! Crazy decisions! Maybe I'll pray to Mary about it...

7) It's very weird having summer's off. I think it's too long. But, on the other hand, I'm in no hurry to go back to those brats, er, students.

8) Here's an awesome sight. I went to go read Joseph a book tonight. But he was already reading his teddy bear a book!

Speaking of which, I should go to bed.

Annual Pilgrimage

Yesterday I went on my annual pilgrimage to a Rider game. The last two years I have gone to watch them in Toronto. However, this year brought a return to Mosaic stadium. There's no better place to watch football!

Unfortunately Becca and Joseph weren't able to come. The crowd noise and excitement is just a little too much for Joseph at this point. I'm told that he watched the game at home and cheered loudly for the Riders. He even got all of his teddy bears out and put them on the couch in order to watch. This morning Joseph impressed me with a perfectly spoken: "Go Riders!" that he must have learned last night. 

I did go to the game with a few other people though...

It was great to see Eddie Russ back! He was cut in training camp, but he never gave up. Last week the Riders signed him to the practice roster, and low and behold he was the starting corner back at the game. He played great! He had some big tackles and even a forced fumble. He's a very strong Christian and all through the game he kept pointing to the heavens after each big play.

Speaking of good Christians. John Chick, former NFLer, father of 6, and 4th degree Knight of Columbus, member was playing.

Football players are big guys! Just ask Ricky Foley...

Superman himself, Geroy Simon, made his first start for the Riders. Here he is getting taped up. Although Geroy only had two catches for 38 yards, it was interesting to see how he opened up room for the other receivers. On one play he lined up alone to the left, and three Ti-Cat players went to go cover him! So of course Durant (who played awesome) easily found an open receiver on the right side of the field. 

Mosaic Stadium was rocking! I love the temporary bleachers added for this year's Grey Cup. All in all the announced crowd was 37,372! Yes, Regina has only around 200,000 people. Lots of support for the Riders!

37 was the number of the day. 37,372 attendance. 37-0 score! Thanks for coming out Hamilton.

After the game we went down near the field. We saw Dan Clark, a big backup O-lineman, meet up with his family. Now Clark checked in as a tight-end for one play, and actually caught an 8-yard touchdown! It's very very rare for an O-lineman to catch a TD. Here Clark shares the moment with his family. It was pretty touching.

We got to say hello to a few Rider players after the game, including Clark, Weldon Brown, and Chris Milo. I saw Milo play his first CFL game two years ago in Toronto. He (and all of the players) seems like a very nice guy.

Yesterday's big return of Kent Austin turned out to be a big victory for the Riders. Should've stayed Kent. All in all it as a great trip!

(Don't) Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly

Recently the head choir-master in Nipawin, and her minions, have been giving the ole Millette family choir a hard time over the dastardly usage of Marian hymns at Mass. We are told that Marian hymns should never be found actually within the Mass. I guess they are offensive to God or something and have nothing to do with the Eucharist. Furthermore, such hymns have that feeling of, how do I say this, pre-VaticanIIishness. The choir-master assures us that she has been to a workshop in Melfort (spit), and so that she is on par with the likes of Mozart and Handel when it comes to music. Okay, that's not true. The choir-master has likely never heard of Mozart or Handel.

Let's get one things straight here: the Church's Eucharistic Theology is greatly indebted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. You see, back in the Middle Ages a controversy arose whereby some people questioned the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (sorry Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, you guys were only copycats). People such as Ratramnus and Berengarius claimed that the Eucharist was Jesus "in figure" and not "in truth." It seemed that the more Jesus was stated to be truly present in the Eucharist, the more such heresies arose. In the words of Fr. Lucien Larre: "Oh dear!"

What to do?! Well, as with the Nestorius Christological heresy, theologians (such as St. Paschasius) turned to Mary's role. It was soon reasoned that Jesus present in the Eucharist is the same Jesus born of Mary. Sound simple? It is. Yet, the implications of this are enormous. There is no room for talking around this point. Before you could say: "yes Jesus is present, and he is present in the Church too, and in all of us..." But to say that Jesus, the same Jesus born of Mary, is present in the Eucharist is to definitively proclaim that Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, is present, "in truth". Teaching that Jesus, born of Mary, is present in the Eucharist is a very significant Eucharistic teaching for the Church.

Further, the Church always places great devotion to Mary within the context of the Mass. Our Lady has more devotional Masses then any other saint (obviously). The Masses of Our Lady are filled with prayers asking for her intercession, and honouring her role in bringing us Jesus. Everything about Our Lady speaks to the glory of her son. Further, the official Church prayers for Masses of Our Lady, which by all right are primarily meant to be SUNG (*GASP*), speak about Our Lady. What? You mean the official prayers of the Church in Mass, which are meant to be sung, contain Mary in them? Sort of like singing to Mary, within the Mass?...

Thankfully we have workshops in Melfort (spit) to tell us otherwise. I'm sure Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli would be happy.

Just a note: this is not to say that singing Marian hymns at all points of Mass, and at every Mass, is appropriate. But, it is to say that Marian hymns and texts can and do have a very important place in Mass (theologically, liturgically, and historically), and in the praising of Jesus in the Eucharist.

So in conclusion, the message that is apparent is that it is perfectly fine and good at Mass to sing of peace flowing like a river, or dancing rain, or how friends are like flowers, or about building a "City of God" (they sure missed St. Augustine's point on that one), or above all to sing about ourselves... but DON'T SING OF MARY, pure and lowly.

Cue the drum beat...

"We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand, We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand, And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love..."

Vacation, Part 1

Whew! What a whirlwind! It's now past mid-July and we've been away from home for much of the last 3 weeks. We're trying to get back into a semi-normal-with-Daddy-home-all-day kind of living. Joseph is currently suffering immensely from not having numerous aunts and uncles or grandparents at his beck-and-call, but we're hoping this stage of tearful living ends soon so we can have our usual happy boy back.

So, Ontario. We thought the weather was hotter than heck when we were there, but as it turns out they've been dealing with an even warmer heat wave this week. Although my Dad was bemoaning the almost daily rain showers we had during our visit, I was thankful for the break from the heat and humidity that the rain sometimes offered.

Although we stuck around the home-base most of our visit, we took a short day-trip to Niagara Falls. Joseph was hugely impressed! His jaw-dropped exclamation: "Big l'eau." He immediately asked to take off his shoes and lifted his legs up to climb over the barrier and into the falls. We gave him the iron grip. And placated him with Timmy's lemonade.

No matter how many times we visit the falls, they never cease to stun us. To watch that much water crash over such a height is always and ever so impressive. Joseph was also thrilled by the little, muddy puddles made by the mist coming from the falls. We caught him most of the time before he stomped in them, but not every time.

Like I said, we spent a lot of time hanging out at the Mombo residence. Summer is a great season to spend around there, with no shortage of things to occupy a little boy's attention. Joseph spent the vast majority of his time wet and playing in or with water. His usual apparel varied from no clothing at all to a bathing suit and tank or just shorts. Diapers were always optional and yet somehow we used up almost all the diapers we brought.

The hose and/or a little baby bathtub were his favourite pastimes. Despite this great love for water, Joseph was not overly impressed by the pool. Neither was his Daddy. Just too cold. I swear it used to be warmer when we were kids. We spent hours upon hours in there. Granted, now the trees surrounding the greenhouse are taller and block the sun more... but I swear it used to be a lot warmer. Nevertheless, we still jumped in and out quickly to cool ourselves off -- especially as there was no working air conditioning. 

Re: pool pictures -- he might look happy, but this was the Joseph's one time in the pool and it lasted about 40 seconds, just enough time for 2 pictures.

We spent a bunch of time on the pond too -- paddling around looking for fish and turtles. Of course, Joseph wanted to paddle and we heard a continuous "I sorry" as he took our paddles away from us, pushing our hands back too. The iron grip had to be employed here as well, as he was liable to lean right over to get a closer look. Despite my best efforts, Joseph would not be taught to paddle forwards, but insisted on paddling backwards and Dan had quite the time maneuvering our canoe. 

A month or two back we happened to be watching "You Gotta Eat Here" when they showed a place not far from my parents'. Being that it's called The Burger Barn -- and you know how much we like our burgers -- we had to visit and check it out. We didn't realize it was on the Six Nations Reserve at the time, which incidentally means they can't serve alcohol for some reason, but it's a great little place. We were definitely impressed. And besides the burgers, they had some amazing bottled Root Beer -- which I can't remember the name of -- that we just loved!

Joseph had such a blast every day that he was oh-so-sorry to see bedtime come. Each night he'd lay in bed with me asking whether everyone else was going to sleep too. "Ben?" "Yes, Uncle Ben is going to sleep." "Blaise?" "Yes, Uncle Blaise is going to sleep." And so on... through the list at least twice. He wasn't ready to sleep until he was sure everyone else wasn't staying up having fun without him. And no wonder.

And so, our 10 day vacation came to an end rather quickly. Everyone was sad to see us go... or rather, saddest to see Joseph go. He's a lot of fun, for a two-and-a-half-foot monster so I can't blame them!

Welcome Home

We're finally home! After a long day of travel, particularly with a stressful check in at the Toronto airport, we pulled into Tisdale around supper time. (hey, in fairness to Toronto, there was rain the day before... oh the humanity! Poor poor Toronto! I hope they survive...). And there was a little surprise waiting for us in front of our house as we pulled in:

Now usually the only times I notice flowers are when they are in the way, e.g. "what are these dumb flowers doing on the table!? I can't see where the mashed potatoes are!" There is one exception to me not noticing flowers, and that is with the Western Prairie Lily, or as I prefer to call it, the Tiger Lily. These flowers always shout out "home" to me. So thank you for welcoming us back, little flower.

Just stay out of my way now.

Ontario at the Moment

Just a quick update to the world. Becca, Joseph, and I are safely in Ontario and enjoying our time of visiting and relaxing. I have been keeping up with my Master's course work while here and, more importantly, keeping up with my workouts. Unfortunately I have to pay big bucks for every workout, but Becca has been kind enough to let me have two so far (I go to the Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford).

Here are a few random thoughts about the trip:

- Brantford ain't so nice. Now Becca has warned me for years about Brantford, and now I know why. We went to a family Canada Day celebration there at a park. Needless to say, I have never seen so many greasy people with tattoos, smoking, swearing, and the whole works. It was pretty yucky. Perhaps what sums it up the best was there was some girl, probably on drugs, who spent half the night up on the roof of a high school gym near the park as she contemplated suicide. The police sectioned it off, some people watched, but all in all it seemed like a regular and normal occurrence to everyone at the park. Thankfully the girl came off the roof safely.


- The Canada Day celebration did have some good entertainment! I got to watch Crowbar perform (Ooohhh, what a feeling.... what a rush!!!). April Wine came on later, but I didn't stay for that because we wanted to get Joseph home to bed.

- I did a bit of fishing in the Mombourquette pond. Oops, I don't have a license.

- Niagara Falls is awesome! We went on Wednesday. Joseph saw it and immediately started saying "big l'eau! big l'eau!" He then started saying "shoes! shoes!" because he wanted to take his shoes off and go in the "big l'eau!" He sure was impressed!

- We left our mark at Niagara Falls too! No, not like that. We just left a little "Roughrider" momento for the benefit of the tourists. Becca and I also met some people from a small town near Regina while at Niagara Falls. It always amazes me that wherever I go there are always Rider fans, and that we are always best friends because of the Riders.

- It's too hot here! Ok, it's not even that bad (I'm told), but it sure is hot for us Westerners. Poor Joseph has to spend most of the day like this:

- There is a pool to help us keep cool. The water is freezing though! It always makes me think of the age old debate: "would you rather freeze to death or die from heat?"

- Cheers to meeting up with friends. Last night we visited Mike and Elana Bebjak who live on the border of Ancaster and Hamilton. And we thought we didn't have any friends...

All in all things are going well. Becca might have more to say about the trip (or more pictures) when we go back home next week.