Weddings are celebration gatherings of families and friends.Attended this weekend the wedding of my niece Sheena to Mike. What hit me was not only alot of great photo ops as I am sharing here but also what such gatherings can be! Real life connections between family, friends and others Too often we don't take time to make those connections, which includes The great aunts and uncles  and cousins and best friends...can be both Like this perspective of parents giving away their youngest daughter ...Stunning dress and train. This is my sister Maureen and I...can you tell we are sisters? Aunt Jane who is near 80  takes some great shots!Those quick poses...not always the best lighting but lots of smiles! ..A spiralling entry to dinner.......  Lovely first dance.....some of my favorite shots!      Yummy wedding cupcakes!

The evening is ending well...loud music and lots of movement...left at 11:45 PM but certain dancing went on much beyond!

Let’s face it mother-daughter relationships are never simplistic, no matter what the age, from toddlers to adult women, that link will always be there. With the news of the possible demise of Xanga, become somewhat reflective of also the relationships formed here, and how it was my daughter, Amelia who introduced me to blogging in the first place here on xanga almost 10 years ago.

 Technologies have much in the last 30 years and she reaches her 30^th birthday this year. Here we are on the last trip together in St. George, Utah where she competed in the IronMan in early May.

As the youngest of three, she inherited the “ no television except at Granny’s on the weekend “ policy of her parents. Whether due to the accidental breaking of the television screen by her elder brother, Leigh, who at age 5 popped bubbles with Mr. Rogers with his home made sling shot, or the parental convictions that came from educator’s Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook in 1979, television was banned from the household. Books, puzzles, learning games, soccer, swimming and movie going became some staples of her pre-school upbringing. Convinced that what was good for one daughter, was needed for both “ the girls “ , the summer she was four and her sister, Rebecca, six, I launched into a “paired reading” program, in hopes of enhancing the reading skills of both. Well, my eldest daughter repeated first grade, was diagnosed with a learning disability and the youngest, Amelia learned to read at age four and entered a French Immersion program.

 The parenting journey has been interesting, challenging, with joys, mistakes and learnings, all three of my children taking very different paths. Without my children, I would probably not become as seriously involved in my writing, blogging and journaling as I have.  From initial notations of  “ firsts “ during their childhood, family Christmas newsletters to letters in journals of my hopes and dreams for them in times of troublesome teens, my family has provided me with incentives and stories for writing.

Fast forward…The coming of the blogs. Someone, somewhere created the very first Web log…The term was created to reflect the process of “logging the web”  Xanga was started in 1999. In 2004, both Amelia and I created blogs on xanga… http://that-canadian-rower.xanga.com/….and my blogging here has recorded not only family journeys, but my own work journey to the Canadian arctic and back! Indeed, my Xanga blog, a friend that will be missed!