No River Flooding Is Gonna Stop the McG Clan

Alberta is facing mass destruction and devestation due to flooding. Mass amounts of rain in Northern Alberta have caused the rivers to swell.  High River is covered in water.  Here is an article from the Calgary Herald.

High River

Yesterday residents from downtown Calgary were told to evacuate and this morning, this is what downtown Calgary looked like.  Pictures courtesy of Calgary Herald.

Down Town Calgary

Here in Medicine Hat, those living in the lower lying areas (those close to the South Saskatchewan River) have until 10pm tomorrow night to evacuate from their homes.

So far, there is no flooding, but the river is predicted to start to swell at an alarming rate tomorrow afternoon.

We McG's do not live near the river so we are still in our home.  We have plans to travel tomorrow...to Calgary...but NOT to downtown.  We will be going to the airport and flying to Victoria, BC to visit my family. All roads to the airport are good so off we will go, crossing our finger and just taking it as it comes.

We have stocked up on as much water as possible.  We are unsure as to what we will be coming back to.  I am optimistic that all shall be ok, but I am not sure if there will be available running water.  I honestly didn't even think to go and buy water to stock up on, but no matter as ALL stores in Medicine Hat are sold out.

I honestly don't know just how bad this flood will hit Medicine Hat, but I am optimistic that it won't be as bad as everyone is making it out to be.

My thoughts and prayers are to my "Hat" residents who have been displaced from their home.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of my fellow Albertan's who have lost loved ones, who have lost their home, who are displaced, or who are just scared shitless.

I am attempting to Stay Calm and Carry On as the British have once said.

Daddy-O - A Father's Day Tribute To My Dad

Father's Day is today and what a better way to celebrate then to write about my dad.

My dad was in his 30's here.....hard to believe that I am now in my 30's......

What I remember most of my dad:
(these are but a few things that I remember)


I remember his calmness and his patience.  He had a knack of making me feel better when I was worried about something.  If I had a bad dream, I would sit at the top of my stairs and quietly call for my dad.

"Daddy.........Daddy........Daddy...."

Eventually my dad would wake up and come upstairs to my bedroom.  I'd tell him about my bad dream and he'd hug me and tell me "it's ok". We'd say a little prayer and I would feel calm, secure and so much better.

My dad worked hard to support us.  He had a dental lab attached to our house when we were young.  That way he was able to work from home. At that time he worked as a dental technician.  He made dentures and other orthodontic devices.  We LOVED hanging out in his lab.
I remember always being down there asking him questions or asking him to help me hide when I was playing "hide and seek" with my brother and sister.

I really don't know how he got any work done.  However, he never got angry or impatient with us.  

He would always answer every question.

He would always stop what he was doing and help me hide when I asked.

A very patient father, and for that I am grateful.  I'd love to say that I am as patient with my own McG girls, but this is still a work in progress for me.

I remember every Saturday night we would have "Soup over rice" for dinner.  You know Campbell's Chunky Soup? Well, we would have that over rice.  Then we'd sit down and eat it while watching wrestling on TV.

And almost every Saturday afternoon after church, my dad, brother and I would drive out to the airport.  We LOVED the airport.  Perhaps it was because we lived on such a small island and it was a symbol of "escape" for us.  Nah....we liked going to the airport because it carried good memories of the travelling we did once a year.  Not only that, but there was a really cool dump near the airport where people used to take their old worn out objects like bikes, stoves and tons of other cool stuff.  It was fun to climb around and look at all the cool stuff.  Then on the way back home we would sometimes stop at the ice cream shop and have a yummy treat.

My dad is an awesome grandfather.  He was always running around playing with Olivia.  Sadly we moved to Butt Fu.... I mean Medicine Hat before Sophie was old enough to really appreciate her grandfather.  However, my parents send little 5 minute videos of themselves talking to our girls and Sophie gets such a kick out of watching my dad do silly funny things.  I can't wait for this summer when she will be able to see him and get to experience his silliness in person.

My dad has not seen Stella since she was 8 months old!!!

Thanks Dad, for being such a great Daddy.

Thanks for your patience. 

For your calmness.

For your reassurance.

I couldn't have asked for a better Dad!!

My Baby's Daddy

When Mickey first moved to Victoria (before we had met), he lived with his aunt and uncle for a few months.  During his stay with them he spent a lot of time with his young cousins who were 6 and 3. When I had been dating Mickey for a while, he took me over to his aunt and uncle's house to meet them.  He had talked a lot about his little cousins and I was excited to meet them.

I could tell immediately just how much those two little kids loved him.  Their eyes lit up when they saw him and were just so happy to play with him.  Yup, Mickey pretty much dissed me to go play with his little cousins.  Brownie points, BIG TIME!  (Well played Mickey, well played).

Seeing how he interacted with his young cousins, how he seem to really, honestly enjoy playing with them, I knew that he would be a fabulous father one day.

I was right.

From the moment Olivia entered the world he has been an amazing father.  I remember feeling so unsure, so awkward with holding Olivia or changing her diaper for the first few weeks.

Not Mickey.

He held her, dressed her, changed her diaper like he had been doing it for 10 years! When I was stressing or worried about something to do with Olivia, he was calm, logical and reassuring.

He was like that with each of our girls.

So confident, so sure, so loving with each McG girl.

He still is like that to this very day.

He's my "go to" guy when I am worried or unsure, or just need to have straight up logic.

He's an amazing father to our McG girls.

He never flinched, not once, when we were faced with the possibility of having a child with special needs, and when Stella was born and we saw that she in fact did have Down Syndrome, not once did I see any sadness in his eyes.....just love.  I clearly remember him bent over gently touching her face and softly talking to her as tears of pure love filled his eyes.

He works his lil touche off to provide for us.

I work hard yo! Just look at my bulging biceps...

When he gets home from work, he is always in a good mood and happy to see his girls (and they are always excited to see him too). No matter how shitty work may have been, no matter how stressed he is, he leaves it all at work.

Our McG girls LOVE to spend time with him.

Every Sunday (his only day off), he spends his day playing with his girls.  He'll even sometimes let me sleep in!!

Thanks to his "need" to have everything in order and organised, I always have someone who will pick up my slack....that's right ladies my man is NEAT and ORGANISED (he makes me look messy in comparison).  I shit you not. When we were dating, that was the first thing I noticed when I went to his apartment for the first time....it was IMMACULATE!

My McG girls have a wonderful example of what a "real man" is.

Happy Father's Day my darling.

such a joker

gotta love a man who can act like a kid...occasionally

We love you to the moon and back!

Passing On The Torch - My Liebster Award Nominees

FINALLY! I have put together my nominations for a Liebster award.

Just a brief recap as to what a Liebster award is:  A Liebster Blog award is a "peer award" given to upcoming bloggers who have less then 200 followers (as best you can tell)

Liebster (German) - beloved, cherished, esteemed.

I have found extreme value in these bloggers that I have nominated.  Each has a different writing style and each offers GREAT value to my world.  So I am sharing these blogs with you:

The Down Syndrome Action Plan

Down Syndrome: A Day to Day Guide

Our Little Chilli Tribe

The Chronicles of Ellie Bellie Bear (this blogger has already been nominated by 2 other bloggers but I have nominated her anyway cause her blog rocks my world.)

Our Epic Story

Garden Of My Heart

Down Syndrome Up Up and Away

I Will Carry You

Let's Do This

Green Tea Ginger

Chromosomally Enhanced

So now what?  Well here are the steps to follow when nominated for a Liebster Award.

Step 1
First, thank the Liebster-winning blogger who nominated you and created a link back to their blog.  I was nominated by Treyton's Posse.  Thanks again Rob!

Step 2
Post 11 facts about yourself.  They can be about anything! The goal is to get to know the person behind the blog better.  Here are 11 facts about me that you can check out.

Step 3
Answer the 11 questions presented to you by your nominator. You can answer them all in one post, or basically however you like!

Step 4
Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer. Here are my questions to you:

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What is your favourite colour?
3. When you get the chance for "me time", what is your favourite "me time" activity?
4. What's your preference, a "sweet" or a "salty" treat.
5. Where is the most interesting place in the world that you have visited?  If you don't feel you have been anywhere interesting, then where in the world do you find interesting and would love to visit? (whew, hope that makes sense)
6. As a family, what is your favourite thing to do in the summer?
7. If you don't already, would you ever consider using your blog to make money?
8. Who is your favourite band (if you have a favourite band, that is....)
9. Which season is your favourite and why?
10. What is your "all time" favourite movie?
11. Where do you envision yourself 5 years from now?

Step 5
Now here is where you recognise 11 blogs who you feel deserve recognition. It is up to you.  You get to pick the blogs for any reason as long as they have less then 200 followers to the best of your knowledge.  Once you have made your selection, create a post like this one on your own blog that explains the award process.  Then notify each of your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog with the link back to the post you created.  I have already announced my nominees above.

Step 6
The final step is to post the award badge on your blog.  I will now try and go and figure out how to do this. I am still really new at all this picture badge stuff so I really have no clue how to go about doing it.

So there you have it! I hope that some or all of my nominees are able to complete all the steps as I personally am looking forward to getting to know each person behind the blog better!