Hello!

Hope you guys are all doing well.

Had a great time on our holiday last week! Jill and I travelled to French Beach, on the Juan de Fuca trail. It sure was beautiful over there. We had pretty cool weather, I wished I had packed more sweaters but was thankful I packed my sweatpants - ended up sleeping in them to keep warm. The temperatures dropped steeply at night, down to between 6 and 10*C Brrr! The mattress Jill and I were sleeping on had a super slow leak. We would pump it up at night but my morning, we'd be sleeping on the hard ground. It wasn't terrible though... we got used to it.

We made a friend - one of the campground operators - Velvet. She was such an awesome lady... kept checking in on us, making sure we were safe. Lovely lady! She was a great source of information on everything local - it was appreciated.

Jill and I took trips to the Sooke Potholes where we scrubbed ourselves clean in the chilly water (it wasn't too cold once you got in!). Jill and I had the shore to ourselves both times - it was great! We also went up to Port Renfrew and took a stroll down to the tidal pools. I enjoyed the trip down to China Beach. It was goregous! I wish we could have stayed longer but it was getting dark by the time we got down there.

The bugs weren't bad. We found some bug spray that worked and its been reformulated so that it doesn't stink like standard bug spray! It smelled almost fruity - a nice change.

I don't have any pictures to post yet - they're all on Jill's camera. Will post some once she uploads them.

Things have been pretty busy since I got back.

Jen and Jenny are getting ready for their trips. Jen leaves on Monday night for Haiti. She's really looking forward to it, to seeing her husband, and to seeing the children again. Jenny leaves next Wednesday for Hailifax and is in the final throws of packing. They're both doing well and I'm excited for 'em! I saw them yesterday for a cuppa tea and a light supper as well as delicious coffee cake. I'll post the recipe at the end of this note.

Got to see an old friend tonight - Dave. He's working on the Base this month and is staying with mom and dad with his dog. He popped over for a cuppa tea - it was great to see him and catch up. Got to see pictures of his wife and son - beautiful! Will hopefully see some more of him before he heads back to the island at the end of the month.

Tomorrow I'm heading over to Jenny's. Dad/Jill are going to drive Jenny and family to the airport next Wednesday and we need to make sure all the carseats will fit. If they don't, they mentioned that we'll just split the five of them between Dad and Mom's trucks. It means so much that they're willing to do this... its very special.

Time for bed!

Talk to you soon!

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Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix in 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread 1/2 of batter in the prepared pan.
Prepare the filling: In a medium bowl mix 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and cinnamon. Sprinkle cake batter with 1/2 the filling. Spread second half of batter over the filling, and top with remaining filling.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.