Calgary Comic Con (videos fixed)

Comic Conference or Comic Expo.  Whatever you call it, you get the same thing.  Costumes and Comics!  In this case, we also get Trekies.  This expo had the meeting of the Cast of Star Trek:  The Next Generation.

It was a special event for Dora and you can see that here.

After a few hours standing in line (plus pre-purchasing the photo op.) Dora was rewarded with a picture with Ser Patrick Stewart.  Pretty cool!
I spent the time checking out the displays and entertainment that was abound.  You can see some of the action below.

I liked the flux capacitor personally.  It was something from my past, seeing the Delorean.  It seemed like such a cool car in my youth.

It was quite the experience, my first comic con.  It was busier than I thought it would be, in fact, they ended up turning some people away.  We sat in on one Q&A session with the cheerleader from Heroes, Hayden Leslie Panettiere.

The evening was the TNG exposed, a sit down with the full cast from Star Trek.  This was my favorite, an hour and a half where the cast talked about their time on the show.

This last clip has a funny line, perhaps my favorite from that evening.

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House Progress

I've been doing a poor job of updating the house progress and will update our other blog shortly.  I'll try to date the posts to match up with when things were done.

Currently the exterior is getting close to finished with the fake rock going on now.

The interior has seen the drywall finish and the paint/primer started.  Not sure if it's just primer or 1 coat of paint yet.

Lastly, the doors and detail work has begun.  We asked for a little more detail to the front entry door and I like how it turned out.

So all things considered, it's moving along fine.  We might even move in someday!

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Easter Break

This Easter break has come and gone.  While it wasn't as adventurous as some years, we did mange to have some great highlights that were unexpected.
We started the break with a family dinner, celebrating Dora's grandfather who had his 90th birthday. Quite a feat considering how sharp he is.  We followed that with a sleep over at Nana's and another great meal.
After a day off, we hit the road to Coutts as I had some stuff to pick up and I use a border storage warehouse to get better deals (go figure!).  With all our house stuff, we need to save where we can.  We picked the stuff up and I hit the GPS for directions to Kalispell.  Perfect, let's drive through Kevin, MT.

Kevin?  You trust your gps right?  We had a full tank of gas, so the game was on.

As it turns out, Kevin was..... small?  Scary?  Canadian?  While not 100% we swear we saw a sign saying Phil, with an arrow and 43km.  It was kinda bizarre, but interesting.  All along the dirt road we saw this small grasshoppers (donkeys, oil wells, whatever you call'em)

While hard to tell from the picture, they we maybe 10ft high.

We continued on our way, without any mishaps and arrived in Kalispell, MT with no more excitement.

Once there, we were trying to find something fun for the boys to do.  The weather was OK, but we didn't want to just go to a park.  Turns out I found this place called "The Zone".  A kids indoor park, much like Chucky Cheese, only less cool.  Having said that, it was a blast and the kids had a great time.

They had a ton of little things to keep everyone amused and parents get to use the stuff for free.  In the end it was 40 bucks for the family and 3 hr well spent.  They even got tickets to buy little trinkets.  Boys got daggers!

Lastly, we were pleasantly surprized to get a visit from the D, all the way from Whitehorse.  While the weather took a colder turn by that point, we did manage to find something for her to do.

It was a casual few days, but enjoyable and relaxing.  Thanks D for the visit!  Hopefully I will be able to ship Dora up north some time so she can return the favour.

A week well spent.

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Still Snow

Last weekend we managed to get out snow-shoeing with Dora's folks.  It was a nice outing and good to find some snow.  While the mountains have a ton of snow, the prairies seemed to be lacking this winter.  No complaints, but pretty impossible to do any winter activities around town.  It was fun to see both boys out on the snowshoes and of course, they did spend some time getting pulled by dad.

Somehow we didn't take any pictures of the cool snow cave we built.  I guess we'll have to try again next year!

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Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom.

Mom's birthday is April 1st.  Now you know that woman enjoyed a good April fools day joke.  For those that don't know it, Steven retold it at Mom's funeral, one of her better jokes.  She was at work at the Raymond Care Centre and was dressed up in the infectious disease gear.  When people came into the building, she proceed to inform them that they were now in quarantine and then proceeded to decontaminate them.... by sprinkling baby powder all over them.  Good one eh?

It's been almost a month and I feel like I've tried to focus on work, which hasn't always been successful.  I am trying to make the adjustments one needs, but it's full of conflicting emotions.  At first I didn't want to think about it, but now..... I want to think about Mom.  I need to remember her.

I have this digital photo frame thing  in our kitchen and it's great because the pictures that flash by remind me of experiences and events on a daily basis when I get up in the morning.  I've realized that I need to change those pictures now.  I've got other memories that I want to be reminded of on a daily basis.  I love you Mom, I miss you Mom and I remember you Mom.

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Funeral Slideshow

Here are the pictures from the Family Gathering after the service.  Many of the pictures are from the 40th wedding anniversary slideshow, but there are lots more in this one.  I love so many of these pictures.  I know they say a funeral is suppose to represent some type of closure, but I don't see it.  I wasn't ready.

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40th Anniversary

My parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary prior to Mom's passing.  I made a slideshow for them which they both saw and enjoyed.  I thought I would post it here since we also showed it at mom's funeral service.

I love so many of the pictures and I'm sure some of you will enjoy the pictures of me and my siblings.

Parents 40th Anniversary from mark on Vimeo.

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Collette Iwaasa 1950 - 2012

I am posting today the passing of my Mom.  I've come to decide that this is as much my diary as it is my blog.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has called, sent emails or messages.  My family and I appreciate all the kind works, condolences and support.

At some point in your life you realize that this day might come.  In our case, with the progression of the cancer we had some time to prepare.  For that I'm thankful.  It gave me the opportunity to tell my mom how much she meant to me and how blessed I was to have her in my life.  Not everyone is so lucky.

I don't need to tell everyone how wonderful or special she was.  We all have these people in our life and know that they can never be replaced.  I miss you mom...


I've included some information below for those coming to the service.  First are two maps that show the location of the different services during the funeral.

There will be a meal to follow at the Raymond Cultural Hall.  The Regent Restaurant will be catering and my Dad would appreciate it if family and friends would attend.  He has ordered food for 250 people, so don't feel like your imposing, we would love an opportunity to talk with you and see how everyone is doing.

Again, thank you for all the love and support.

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Double Duty

Last weekend Dora and I took a trip down to Whitefish for two reasons.  To pickup some appliances and to get some skiing in.  It was a perfect blend of the two.  Day one we picked up our stove and range hood.

This is the cooktop:  Thermador : Sgs304fs 30 Masterpiece Gas Cooktop

And this is our range hood:  The Zephyr Hurricane AK2536

I'm pretty happy with both, even though they're still in boxes.  I spent far too much time trying to decide what I wanted, but in the end, I'm happy.  Plus I'm happy with the money we saved!  around $1000 just on these two alone!

As for the skiing, we spent a balanced day between the hill and the lounge.  We decided we wanted to leave early so we only got lift tickets for the bunny hill.  For $19 bucks you get access to 3 chair lifts and two blue runs.  That's a pretty good deal if you only want to ski for an hour or two!  Both Dora and I spent some time on Tele skis.

These were all pictures before the beverage and nachos!  It only got better.

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Judo Family Night

It was that time of the year where everyone shows their skills off to the parents.  It was apparently no different for my boys.  We've been heading to Judo as of late and both boys have been improving and developing their skills.  Logan in fact started doing seoi nage without me showing him how.  It's amazing how they start to pick it up on their own after a bit.

I was suprized to find out that they were being promoted to "two red strips".  I'm not sure if that has any real meaning, but the boys were sure excited!  

It was also very exciting, to see something special happen.  My mother was awarded her Black Belt from Judo Alberta for 28 years of service.  After all that time helping and supporting the Raymond Judo club, it made my heart full to see how happy she was to receive it.  I don't think there was a dry eye among us.

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