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News - October 21, 2025

Two updates in two months! This just might be a record for me. Actually, the real reason is that Cloudflare in Vancouver is down and I can’t log in to Ancestry to work on my tree and I needed something to do so here we are.

I update my Remembrance page here each year to show the updated version of my family members who fought and died in service to their countries. There are several additions this year - I am proud to remember them here.

Still with the military side of my family, this update’s entry to the Interesting People page is my 2nd cousin, 4x removed, Robert Hope Moncrieff Aitken. He and I share my 5x gt grandfather as a common relative. Robert was a soldier (eventually a Colonel) in the Bengal Corps of the Indian Army. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1858. It is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and British Commonwealth forces. You can read about him and his heroics here.

The renovations on Mark and Jillayne’s new house are complete and we went to Thanksgiving dinner there, along with much of Jillayne’s family, some of whom we had not met before. The house looks great, the food was tasty and the company was a lot of fun - adults, kids, and dogs. We really enjoyed ourselves and got to take home some tasty leftovers.

Tess’ car has been put to sleep for the winter as she doesn’t like driving on snow and ice which we know is coming soon. I put the snow tires on the CR-V and Seven (our motorhome) is in hibernation, so we are ready.

Tess managed to rub the back corner of the CR-V up against the front corner of a bumper on another car in the Walmart parking lot. The only damage to our Honda was a broken plastic clip holding some cladding on. The other car’s bumper got a hole rubbed in its plastic so it will need a new bumper. The problem is that it is a well cared for 28 year old BMW 5 series which means a bumper is well into 4 figures! Plus paint, plus labour. Good thing Mark is in the trade. He has a line on a good used piece and he can do the painting and labour. In addition to paying for the parts and materials, his mother is going to have to cook at least one special meal for him and his family for this repair!

That’s it for this update. Take care and stay in touch!

Greg, Tess, & Spike