I did go away for the beginning of May – but worked hard to get some blog posts scheduled ahead of time so hopefully you didn’t notice (well, maybe you noticed how consistent I was in posting for a change?! LOL). One of the joys of having a business like a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator-ship is that you can step back at times but often the business can keep going with a little maintenance.

Anyway – I am privileged to be one of the photographers for the Burlington Teen Tour Band. I get to travel with these talented teenagers and take photos of them doing their thing – socializing, having fun, entertaining people and making parents and citizens of the city (and country!) proud. The band recently completed a tour of the Netherlands, after being invited to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the country – in which Canadian forces played a major role. It was such a fantastic experience! The BTTB played in front of mayors of Burlington & Apeldoorn (Burlington’s twin city in the Netherlands), the Canadian Prime Minister, and Dutch royalty (Princess Margriet of the Netherlands), as well as thousands of appreciative Canadians and Dutch citizens along the parade routes. Most significant of all, they played for Canadian and Dutch veterans, and had an opportunity to speak with vets who shared stories of their service. It was such an honour to be there with them. This is one of my favourite photos, taken from the Silent March in Apeldoorn – band members lined the route where dignitaries and citizens walked from the church to the park.

This is a photo from the parade in Apeldoorn that was televised on CBC – big crowds (this is actually one of the less crowded sections!) and people rushing into the street in front of the band to take photos and get a better look.

Now that we’re home again, getting over the jet lag and caught up on laundry (though I realize it’s a never-ending process), I’m looking forward to getting some of my favourite shots printed and into a scrapbook. I think I’ll likely end up doing mostly pocket scrapbook pages (Project Life by Stampin’ Up!) because it’s less “thinking” than traditional layouts – though I may throw a few of those in as well for good measure! For me, it’s the importance of getting the photos printed and stories shared that motivates my scrapbooking attempts, and so pocket pages are a good fit. Come to my next Memory Keeping free intro night (Weds July 15th) to see how I’m progressing!!