Do You Know Me?

It seems every so often my wife, myself, or the both of us will get the family tree itch and start looking through old records, pictures or whatever other sources we find; and, since we are on vacation this seemed like a great past time for when it is simply too hot to do anything outside … and so we have started, again.

The number of people are adding up quickly in each or our respective family trees. I believe we will use the online versions available at Ancestry.com. You can currently visit Terri’s or my respective trees at:

A lot of the information in my family tree is from memory with help from mom (thanks). A few more branches were found with some research based on the starting points we worked out, but unfortunately no one seems to recall much about my father. I have not seen him since I was about two years old, although I do have a picture of us together likely sometime in 1967:

l-r: Joseph Caissie and son Edward Joseph Alexandre Caissie

I also have a generation photo. This picture has four generations including myself from my mother’s side of the family. In the front, I am sitting on my mother’s (Karen Morin) lap. Next to us is my maternal grandmother Winnifred Ferguson nee Homer; and, her mother Gertrude:

l-r: Karen Morin, Edward Caissie, Winnifred Homer, Gertrude

Have you traced your family tree? Are you part of our family? Do you know me … or my dad?

Vacation July 2010

Technically I started vacation Friday but yesterday was the real beginning.

[rant] Friday was three hours of “live help”-less support from my current Internet services provider. After threatening the CSR with canceling the service I was finally able to force them to try and help. Unfortunately the person did not have the skill set to do the job. I eventually sorted through the issue on my own well enough to restore full Internet service at the cost of my VoIP services … can you say not happy? [/rant]

Yesterday … yesterday was a great day! We had to take our foster bunny Peanut in to our vet for a minor treatment. He needed his teeth trimmed due to malocclusion of his incisors. Afterward we returned home with Peanut, then my wife and I went for lunch.

My wife decided to surprise me with the place so we got into the car and she said we’re going to Port Credit.

We ended up at Snug Harbor on one of their patios and enjoyed a great fresh fish lunch which I washed down with a couple of pints of my favorite beer, Stella Artois. We then walked along the pier to the lighthouse at the end taking a few pictures along the way.

There were some rowers in single, double, and four-man with coxswain; some young men clowning around on the edge of the causeway; numerous seagulls; and some friendly graffiti, too. Check out the gallery below.

Happy Anniversary

I met my wife, Terri, sixteen years ago today … and we are still going strong. We were married less than a year later on March 24 and we have not looked back.

Royal Botanical Gardens

This is our first week of vacation in 2010 and like past vacations mostly a restful spur of the moment choice of places to go and things to do. Yesterday we waited for the weather reports to come in then decided to drive to the Royal Botanical Gardens near Hamilton, Ontario.

The weather was beautiful with blue skies and temperatures in the high 70’s; of course the humidity made it seem much more like the high 80’s but it was a great day all the same.

My wife, Terri, has a great eye for pictures and loves to take them. She must have clicked well over 300 digital photos on our day trip; myself, I only took a few with my iPhone that I found interesting. I rarely take pictures but with the built-in camera I am taking a lot more than what I have ever in the past. Here are some of the pictures I took:

The pictures are (in no particular order): My sandals on a bench, it was so nice to walk barefoot in the grasses; Roses in one of the Rose Gardens; My lunch at the Rock Garden Tea House, a Chicken Caesar in a spinach wrap with a Fanta; a small waterfall tucked away in the corner of the Rock Garden; and, a flower setting on exhibit representing Romeo and Juliet. Enjoy!

World Rat Day 2010

My wife and I have been keeping fancy pet rats for several years now. They are very intelligent, affectionate little animals and a constant joy in our lives. To celebrate World Rat Day these last few years, I create a unique graphic to share with all other rat fanciers. This year, due to unforseen circumstances, I was not able to create this graphic until this morning:

World Rat Day 2010 with the elusive Easter Rat

As World Rat Day 2010 also falls on the same day as Easter Sunday I chose to incorporate the elusive Easter Rat and some pastel colors into the design.

Happy Easter … and Enjoy!

The Rev. Fr. Donald Morin

I have many fond memories of my uncle, the Father. Sadly we had grown apart over the years but I will never forget him. He was a mentor; a sage; a man of God. He made the best blueberry cobbler and always had time to listen.

Uncle Don passed away this morning, he would have been 70 this year; and, he is the first of the nine brothers and sisters in my mother’s family to leave.

Born July 13, 1940. Died February 10, 2010. May he rest in peace. Amen.