2004

Here are the highlights for 2004 for Viki and me: In January, we finished remodeling the bathroom. This was the third attempt and we finally got it right. 

On January 17th, my nephew Robert Mitchell and his spouse Kari Foster had their first child -  Brennan Mitchell.  Brennan is the first grandchild for Teresa Mitchell and a great grandchild for Stan Freiberg.

In March, Kathryn went on a spring break school trip to Europe. She visited Paris, took the high speed train to Nice, then on to Monaco, Pisa and Rome. She had a great time and can’t wait to go again. At the end of May, Viki and I made a whirlwind one week road trip to Yellowstone and the Oregon coast in a rented Mustang. Yellowstone was amazing and the mood with the geysers, paint pots, buffalo, cold and snow made it a perfect time to visit. We enjoyed a lovely view of Lake Yellowstone from our room at Yellowstone Lodge.

 
Old Faithful in the snow            Yield to buffalo in your lane!

From Yellowstone, we headed south to the Grand Teton National Park. This area is special to me as I spent several summers there with my parents as a young child. They were summer forest rangers, back in the days when fire lookouts were still built and manned. We spent the evening in Jackson, which is where my sister was born. Although we had heard the town was over-run with commercialism, we found the town to be quaint and a great place to visit. Perhaps the critics haven’t seen what has happened to Banff, Alberta. Next we traveled over Teton Pass, then it was two days to get to Cannon Beach, to a suite that we’ve stayed in twice before. When we walked in and saw the view of the ocean and the haystack (giant pyramid rock offshore) we were in awe all over again.

 
Grand Teton, Wyoming                      Cannon Beach, Oregon from our suite

June 4 – 7 Once again we made the annual trip to Parksville. Attendees included Tim, Viki, Stan, Kathryn, and James. The Mitchells came up on a camp out – Kevin, Teresa, Lora, Sierra, Pam, Robert & Kari & Brennan. Tim went swimming all by himself the first day. Pam took over the tradition of puzzle building. Marika, Drew and Raya came for a night, so the two 7 month olds got to see each other. There was major disappointment for hockey fans, but the NBA finals were great.

At the beginning of the summer Kathryn drove with a friend to Calgary and ended up spending time with Jordan and Pam, who had moved to Calgary the previous month (but returned before the first snows of winter). We were at Shawnigan Lake again for a week. It was great, as always, and the weather was perfect. Pam, Kathryn and Jordan all missed out this year as they were in Calgary.

In August, we celebrated Stan’s 81st birthday

In September, Tracie and Jason took a quick trip to Europe. They visited Paris and Mont St Michelle.

Raya turned 1 year old in October, followed soon thereafter by her first Halloween

In October, Viki tired of the aging Chevy Blazer and we bought our first new car, a Mazda 3, Zoom – Zoom

Also in October, Teresa and Kevin celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary.  Click on the following pictures for Quick Time movies.  Allow time for these to load:

 
Movies - the Toast, Chaos in the Kitchen, the Dinner

James and Robert celebrated their birthdate - November 13th.

Viki continued her obsession with running. She ran in the Times Colonist 10K in the spring with here sister, Carol. In the fall, Viki ran the Royal Victoria Half Marathon for the second time and proudly finished in 2 hours and 1 minute.

I continued my obsession with tropical fish this year. In addition to www.tropicalfishfind.com a second site was added in May – www.timstropicals.com   I’ve got nearly 100 write ups on fish and more than a hundred pictures now. Although online sales in Canada didn’t work, I haven’t given up. I did sell fish to BC, Ontario and Florida. I also sold a tropical fish website to Nigeria.

The biggest change for us this year has been having Raya in our lives. She is now saying single words, doing sign language, walking and touching our lives in a very special way. Recently she had her first sleep-over with us. It was an experience that Viki and I will always cherish.

Back to the Top