changes

With a little (okay a lot of) help, we have a new look. What do you think? It's kind of ridiculous how excited I am right now. I know, I should get out more :-) !!

5-4-3-2-1

That's the ages of our kidlets (at least until Olivia's birthday in July). How precious are they!?!

Finally!

The sun finally came out this morning, so what else could we do but head to Mill Lake. Lots of playground, trails to ride bikes on, water beckoning little people to do some splashing (and making mommies & grandmas nervous - especially on the boardwalk), wildlife to see, flowers to pick (and decorate helmuts with), snacks to eat, cousins to ride teeter-totters with...what a great morning. It was so nice to feel warm and not attribute the feeling to a hotflash!!
I just love these five little people in my life. There's literally never a dull moment when they're around!
Another lovely aspect of the morning was a quick stop for drinks from my favorite coffee shop - Afterthoughts. For me, it's often a forethought :)

We saw some very new residents of the park - baby ducklings trying out the water...

...what do you see out there Malcolm?

Oh, baby goslings enjoying a family swim!

Even the turtles were out today, enjoying the first sunshine in awhile.

We happily soaked up the sunshine & warmth (so long awaited). How lucky am I that this was my day off, & I could be there too!

Central Heights

This is no time for fear, this is a time for faith & determination
Don't lose the vision here, carried away by the motion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember & never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him
We know, God is in control

He has never let you down, why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father watching over you & me.

(Twila Paris)

four!

Happy birthday Sabrina. You are such a special, lively, funny, affectionate, entertaining, smart little girl. Your singing brightens our days & your hugs are priceless. Your boundless energy inspires us. We love you sooo much.

Malcolm's Birthday

We celebrated Malcolm's second birthday today. Wow, how time flies. If you follow the Reids' blog, you will know that Dobby built the kids a big sandbox. So, we thought an appropriate birthday gift would be some tonka trucks - not too big & not too small - to play in the sand with. Malcolm got right into the whole scooping & dumping technique right away, so I'm sure we'll be seeing some very focused work going on in that sandbox!

Cindi made an(other) amazing cake - you'll have to look closely at the pictures see which are toys & which are cakes!

Malcolm is showing you on the last picture how old he is. He's still figuring out how to hold some of his fingers down with his thumb, so for now he uses two hands - very clever!!

Happy Birthday, little guy! Bapa & Mana love you lots!

spring break

This beautiful creature came out to welcome us to our home away from home this past week. We were on our way to Lake Okanagan Resort, which is a bit off the beaten path, but so worth the drive!

We got checked into our suite, a beautiful villa less than a year old with really nice furnishings and this wonderful view from the living room. Beautiful, right? Now, look what we saw from the patio...

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oh, oh, that can't be good!
Sure enough, the next morning, at 7:00 AM the nailing & power sawing began. No matter how high I turned the fan, or how many pillows I had over my head - it was still LOUD! Soooo, I called the front desk and said surely they must be kidding about us having to listen to this for a whole week (very politely, of course) . The nice man said he'd see what they could do & would call back shortly. True to his word, a few minutes later he called back to offer us a three bedroom suite on the first floor and at the other side of the villa. We said thank you very much - how soon can we get in? Well, we were moved over in very short order & thrilled with the upgrade! The two of us had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge kitchen & living room, four plasma TV's. We thought (briefly) about calling our family and friends to come join in the wealth :) The resort manager followed up with a bottle of wine. Very good customer relations!!

As you can see from this picture, the view was again astounding. We enjoyed a patio view of the lake from our bedroom as well as from the living room. Ah, things were looking up!

We did some walking/hiking & I found out how not in shape I am. There was not a level area in the whole resort! It was fun though, even if my heart was pounding up into my throat some of the time. The main thing is, as Rick said, I made it! Notice the blue sky? We saw that pretty much every day we were there.

My man contemplating the vastness of Lake Okanagan.

The moon was so beautifully reflecting off the lake the night before we came back home. Our camera doesn't do it justice!

We drove home sunday morning - does this look like Easter to you? Apparently it got alot worse by the afternoon - whiteout conditions and lots of accidents. We were thankful that we had left early enough to avoid the worst of it, and arrived home in time to host an easter egg hunt for our grandkids & Easter dinner with our family (even though Colonel Sanders did the cooking).

We had a WONDERFUL time away together, relaxing & refreshing!

from the west, with love

We just got back from a week away (more on that when I have more time) but I was given an assignment for today. Bev, our sis in law who lives in Toronto, asked each member of our family to blog pictures of their yards on Easter Sunday so we could compare or commiserate, if necessary. So Bev, these are for you! The daffodils were actually taken about a week ago ;)

The hyacinth I just took now - yay, it has started to open...

...cheating a little here, cause they're in a pot, but hey - they're in the yard & growing like crazy!

And what yard would be complete without some hardy heather?

So there you have it, Bev. We actually saw some blossoming trees on the way home today, but not on our yard. Wishing everyone reading a very blessed Easter.

He is risen!!!

quitcher pining!

Okay, I'm back (if anyone cares). I have baked multiple batches of paska in the past week, & my family can eat it as fast as I can make it. Good thing it's so chalk full of healthy ingredients!

Remember last year at this time? We were praying hard for our newest grandchild, Isaiah, and wondering what the future would be like for him. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words... he has celebrated his first birthday and is doing sooo well! He's walking, talking (sort of) and ALWAYS smiling! We are so happy & grateful to God for how he has thrived in his first year. I love that he's a cuddler!

Doesn't he (and his mommy) look pleased with the cake his auntie Cindi made for him?

It was quite the process to get to this point - first he ate off the chocolate chips, then the icing by fingerfulls, then, finally, got down to the business of stuffing it in. Good times!

pining for palms

I love palm trees. Probably because they bring to mind hot sunny days & warm breezy nights, winter vacations laying by a pool, an escape from the pressures & responsibilities of everyday life.

Maybe I'm pining because it's the middle of January & we've had more snow & colder temperatures than usual here in the Fraser Valley.

Whatever the reason, I just wanted to post something tropical & relive the memories (even if it was almost 2 years ago)

It's my blog & I'll dream if I want to!

Blessings in 2008

Wishing you God's blessing & peace for this new year, whatever it holds!
Rick & I have been blessed with an amazing family & we look forward to making many more memories with them this year.
We are blessed with great jobs & are committed to doing our very best at them.
We are blessed with good friends & value the time spent with them.
We are blessed with good health & do NOT take that for granted.
We are blessed with a loving relationship with our Saviour & praise Him for He is the Source of ALL of our blessings!

I'm Dreamin'... or am I?

No, it's not actually a dream. We are having a white Christmas. I know, I know, it's not "Saskatchewan white" but white none the less. It started this afternoon & I'm thinking that the local store that promised previous purchases would be free if we had snow on Christmas is regretting that decision!

This is a snapshot of the delightful chaos in our home last night (and this morning). What you don't see is the garbage bags that Grandpa was busy stuffing with discarded wrapping paper, so the children wouldn't disappear beneath it all. It's so fun to see the kids enjoying what we picked out for them & to hear their joy as they discover "just what I wanted". It was also fun to sing "Happy Birthday dear Jesus" together this morning. Cindi, Olivia & Sabrina made a birthday cake for Jesus (you can see a picture on Cindi's blog)
We are blessed!!!!!!!!!

picture this

Have you ever tried to get a family picture taken with five kids under the age of six? Let me tell you, it's a challenge! But we persevered - maybe I'll post it some day. But for today, you get Rick & Vange aka Grandpa & Grandma. We so seldom take pictures of just ourselves, & we actually both liked this one, so - here we are.
We wish you a very blessed Christmas!
May the season whisper peace to your heart.

Swiss Mountain Shortbread

I came across this recipe three years ago. We've never really been partial to shortbread, however when I discovered I could enhance the flavour by adding chocolate, I was all over it! The dusting of icing sugar just seems appropriate today with all the white stuff outside.

These were taken this morning - we've had about a foot of snow fall since then. It's all fun and games until somebody has to drive to work in the morning. YUK!

got milk?

Welcome December...had I taken this picture today, everything beyond the window would be white. Unfortunately, I was too busy wrapping presents today to think about taking pictures.

The last two Sunday afternoons, I, together with my girls & Viv, have been busy with our annual cookie extravaganza. I don't have pictures of the first day - that day we made approximately a gajillion sugar cookies (all decorated by hand, of course) & slightly fewer peppermint cookies (my personal favorite). As shown here, last Sunday we made armys of gingerbread men & stacks of jam-jams. Malcolm is showing remarkable self-restraint, don't you think?

Olivia has proven to be quite a productive helper. Might I even say she outlasted some of the adults... you know who you are!

Our last project, after the gingerbread & jam-jams were boxed up, was peppernuts. We hadn't planned to make them that day, but since we were super efficient with getting the cookies done, Becky had to call Greg at home to pack up the boys & get over to our house. See, we NEVER make peppernuts without Greg - he is our quality control/morsel placer. These things are labor-intensive, so they's that wanna eat em's gotta help make em! And he can eat em!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow afternoon - shortbread!