Vancouver Island pics

The family on the beach in Courtenay

Caleb's beach fort

Mikail searching for crabs

Caleb swimmin' at the hotel

Me & my girl at Gary's niece's reception

fun on the ferry!

Very windy - it was very warm though

Gettin some air!

and we're off....

We are heading out friday morning to the Island for the weekend. Gary's niece is getting married so we are going up to Courtenay for a quick weekend trip. I'm hoping to get some nice weather so we can hit the beach at some point. I should be doing laundry....but I'm bloggin' instead. I've posted some new pictures of the kids below (except for Mikail, that kid avoids the camera like the plague) Anyhow........be back next week.

More Gracie pictures (& Caleb below)

Gracie's alway wearing my shoes around the house, this time she wanted my
neclace too.

Caleb gettin a little muddy the other day

 

Liz's Birthday Dinner

Here's a picture of us (mom, me and Liz) heading out for dinner at the Copper Room in Harrison Saturday night to celebrate Liz's birthday. It's too bad Carolyn had to work :(

Happy Birthday Liz!

Grace

Smile!

Watching Dora (her favorite!)

Shhh.....baby sleeping

Finally, some pictures!

The view from the back bedroom

The boys playing street hockey (almost every night!)

Gary's new garage !!

Our new master bedroom(there will be a deck off the sliding door) & in the corner window there will be a big corner, jetted tub....yes we spoiled ourselves!

Caleb helping (who gave the kid an axe!! ?)

Taking down the blackberries

The view from my front yard (the park is across the street)

The view from our back deck right off the master bedroom

Hey all!

I have a bunch of pics on my camera but I am still searching for the cord to put them on my computer....it's in a box...somewhere. Soon as I find it I'll post them. This morning Mikail played piano at assembly, and he did well! :) His class dressed up as hippies....they sang, danced and showcased some of the talent in the class (thus the piano playing). It was great.

Life is slowly settling in over here way out in the country. I actually am loving this new community we moved into. I wasn't sure before we moved how I would handle how "close" everyone is. We just need to plant a few tall shrubs to have a few less windows looking into our yard and it should be fine. It's like living at summer camp, at least that's the best way I can think of how to describe the community feel. The boys come home from school and are outside playing till dinner, they have made good friends already and are always busy playing street hockey or soccer in the field. Boys being boys.

This weekend is ladies retreat and I'm actually going! (missed last year cause I was home with baby) I'm looking forward to not chasing a toddler around for a day. :) I've been asked to share my testimony, I'm a little nervous as I haven't publicly shared what Gary and I went through a couple years back but I know that the time has come to push myself out of the comfort zone a bit. I must be faithful to share what God has done for me & for my family. Anyhow, Gracie is screaming for me so I must end this now. More later!

I just picked up Caleb from a birthday party. When we got in the car I asked him if he had fun, his reply.............. " I haven't had this much fun since I was 4!" (he's 7 now)

We're here

Just a quick note to let you all know that the move went well. We are somewhat unpacked and the new garage and addition will be started within the next 2 weeks. The yard was a mess when we moved in so I've been busy tackling the gardens.

Anyhow....i'll try to get some pics asap.

so much happening

Where do I begin.

First of all this year has been the WORST flu year ever in our home. I am exhausted from the never ending cycle of colds, ear infections and kids throwing up all over the house. They have pretty much been passing stuff around since Christmas. This is the first week that both the boys have returned to school. Gracie is just on the tail end of the stomach flu. I am ready for this to be done now. I have been kinda a lousy friend lately but with 3 kids and hubby down, it pretty much takes up all my time. Just reality I guess.

So on April 28th we are moving. This has been the biggest thing on my mind. After many years of renting we are finally able to get back into the market. We spent a few weeks looking around and finally found something we can afford and are able to fix up a bit. This is a very good financial decision for us as our monthly payments will be going down considerably. I have begun to pack our 7 years of accumulated stuff. Feeling a little overwhelmed. I have to admit that I am having a hard time leaving this place. After 7 years this place really began to feel like it was ours and there are so many memories here. But life goes on.....things change......and change isn't a bad thing. I am eager to get in the new place and start the reno's.

Just to add to all the chaos, Mikail is going in for tonsil surgery on April 13th and will be home for a couple weeks after that. Hopefully I will be able to tend to him and pack the house and run around after Gracie (who, by the way, is still NOT walking.......silly girl). I'm sure we will all survive April, Haha.

Well back to packing.......mom, I'll be over in a few days with boxes to store! :)

SHE FINALLY TOOK HER FIRST STEPS THIS MORNING!!!!

3 whole steps!

Some new pictures

Gracie feeding her baby in the highchair I played with as a little girl.

Mikail, Caleb & Grace

Just 'cause she's so cute!

Face of Time

I can remember when I was afraid like you
Not so long ago
Confusion ruled my life wondering what to do
Not so long ago
These are resting waves from a memory
In a hiding place in my mind
But the sweetest taste is a history
When suffering wears the face of time
The pain hurt way too much the water was so cold
Not so long ago
That’s when light rescued me from darkness I was free
Not so long ago

In the place of suffering
There’s a God worth worshipping
On these wings of worship we will ride.

© 2004 Jason Upton & Key of David Ministries.

Those of you who read my blog regularly (when I write regularly, haha!) have probably noticed that I like to post songs by Jason Upton. I have found that so much of what he writes about has proven to be very healing in my life. This one in paticular spoke to me a couple years ago while going through a confusing, difficult time. This morning I found myself singing it again and I thought of some of my friends experiencing challenging times in their faith right now. This is for you and me.

He did it!

I never would have done it when I was 8, I was far too shy. Mikail walked up in front of the whole school during assembly, took the microphone and started singing. Way to go!

Hi everyone! I wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that I'm still here. The past 3 weeks have been crazy, Gary had the flu (twice) and the boys each ended up missing a week of school because of this silly bug. I've been busy tending to all the sickies in my house and to top it off (of course) I woke up today feeling sick and ended up spending most of the day in bed. Grrr. Hopefully we will all be healthy soon.

On a more positive note, Mikail is leading O Canada in front of the whole school tomorrow. I'm so excited watch him!! He is not to thrilled about having to do it but I think it's great that he is going for it. I'm so proud of him :)

Blue Sky!!

The sunshine is beautiful today. I've got all the blinds and curtains wide open and the house is filled with sunshine. I LOVE it. I certainly appreciate the light and warmth more now that the 30 some odd days of rain have stopped (for today). Yesterday I drove Mikail out to the throat specialist in Chilliwack and as I was driving I couldn't help but be captivated by the surrounding mountains they were gorgeous. Incredibly white in the sunlight. We live in such a beautiful place though most of the time it is covered by clouds and rain but when it clears it is stunning. I am thankful for this place. Isn't creation beautiful?

Anyone else totally lost at the Superstore???

The past 15 years! Ack!

Alrighty then....15 years......this will have to be a summary. I can hardly believe it's been that long since highschool! I'm totally feeling old right now. This post is for Rachel, Sinead and Kori (and whoever else may be interested.) While I was blog surfing a couple weeks back I happened upon some friends from highschool. Jen, if you are reading this go check out Rachel's site, I've added her blog to my links. Ok, back to the summary.

After highschool I attended Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, I lived in the dorms for 2 1/2 years which was a very fun experience. I don't remember getting much school work done, however I did become pretty darn good at playing pool, somehow I came out a couple years later with my certificate in Early Childhood Education and a Biblical Studies diploma.

I met Gary at the end of my time at CBC. We met at Roaring 20's while I was attending Northview Community Church. We were engaged 3 months after we met and married 8 months later on August 6, 1994. We moved to Mission and I taught preschool for a couple of years.

On May 1, 1997 our first son Mikail Isaac was born. What an experience, adjusting to parenthood and all, we did survive the sleepless nights which was a total shock to our system. By the time Mikail was 1 we had moved to Chilliwack and on May 9, 1999 our second son Caleb James was born. I didn't know what I was going to do with 2 boys since I came from a family of 3 girls and my mom came from a family of 3 girls. We were kind of like generations of girls, I hadn't even really ever thought I'd have boys, only girls. None of us (my mom and sisters that is) really knew what to do with boys, we definitely were not prepared for all this energy, but Gary assures me that the craziness that is in our home is very normal. Shortly after Caleb was born we moved back to Mission. When Caleb was 2 I went back to teaching preschool and soon had an opportunity to create and run a Fine Arts Preschool program. I had a great time creating the program and teaching it for a couple of years. On October 12, 2004 our daughter Grace Abigail was born. Yes....a girl! She was born the day after Thanksgiving. It has been so cool after years of 'boy stuff' to be able to enjoy all the girly things with her. She wore nothing but pink for the first few months till I finally branched out to purple, and red and maybe a bit of yellow. She was a wonderful surprise to Gary, I and the boys. Our family is complete.

Right now the boys are in grade 3 (8 years old) & grade 1 (6 years old.) Grace is 15 months. Gary and I celebrated 11 years of marriage this past August. We attend church here in Mission at New Heights Communtiy Church. We were part of the team that planted this church 9 or 10 years ago (forgot how long it's been but I'm sure someone will remind me.)

So, there's the summary. Now you'll need to do one for me Rachel!