Season's Greetings!

                                                                           Wishing you a very special Christmas - from our family to yours... may we focus on the Giver of the greatest Gift, and count our blessings as we realize how fortunate we truly are! 

                                                                                    Our precious grandchildren - what treasures they are!

                                                                               God has blessed us with an amazing family; we are deeply grateful for each one. 

 

Six - and Sixty

 Summer passed & I hadn't yet taken the annual Arbor shot, so today was the day. We have been blessed with amazing weather right through September. Our six beautiful grandchildren are all growing up so quickly and, except for Natasha, are all in school this year!

 These boys love to play sports - it doesn't really matter which sport, although they have their preferences... there is never a lack of energy or enthusiasm.

 My wonderful man had a milestone birthday this weekend. We spent a fun evening with friends on Friday, and today we celebrated with our family. He still has a bike on his "bucket list" but for now, the only one he got was on his cake. Some things just don't lend themselves well to birthday gifts. :)

 These two cousins really enjoyed each others company today - pretty cute to see relationships develop early.

Maplelea Girls visit their American Cousins

 

I had included a long story about our trip, but once again, blogger has chosen to send it to cyberspace, rather than post it.
Maybe I'll try again tomorrow... if anyone is interested, that is.

Mothers Day 2012

 I'm posting 3 very similar pictures from today, but I  love all the different expressions, so I couldn't choose just one. I especially love Natasha's grin as she's anticipating her next bite of dessert... it was a very good weekend. I am blessed with an amazing family!

 

 

tiny princess

Today Natasha was introduced to zwiebach. She was delighted that she could have a piece for each hand, and after walking around with them for a minute she realized that this was something she could eat!
Well, it didn't take long for her to find a spot in the sunshine (scarce as it has been) with her cup of water & she had herself a lovely picnic! She was allowed to take a second one downstairs with her, and it didn't take long for her to make the long trip back upstairs to ask - very politely - for a third. Of course, grandma said yes. Who could resist such a charming little princess?
 

birthdays - 7 of them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas at our house

We are nothing if not avid Canuck fans (okay, truth be known, we have a few bandwagon jumpers but I'm not mentioning names here)

These are my fabulous jersey boys - hey, where's the other one?

Who knew shoes could make a boy SO happy?!

Let the games begin...

After a little encouragement, she started ripping paper & looking into bags - atta girl!!!

More Santa Train...

Santa Train

Santa Baby (and her adoring big brother)

The best gingerbread "man" ever!

Isaiah was recruited as a volunteer for this guy's juggling street show. The entertainer was amazing  but Isaiah kind of stole the show (and made $10.00 in the process). Here Isaiah is being juggled, but you have to use your imagination since it's not a video. :)

Actually, Isaiah, Greg & Rick were all part of the show - Rick as the DJ & Greg as a knife thrower & as part of a group of guys who tried to help the guy onto his super tall unicycle - pretty funny!
It was definitely a fun family day.

Cirque de baby

Hey...

                                                              hey guys...

                                                                can you do this?

                    Not bad. How about you Sabrina?

Nice! Now hold it for about 10 minutes!

Ocean Shores, Washington

We spent a week in August @ Ocean Shores.
I thought by August we'd be certain of hot temps, so the idea of the ocean seemed appealing.
Sadly, the weather did not meet our expectations, but we did make the best of it.

The beach was a few minutes walk through grassy dunes, although we could see the ocean from our suite.

The skies tended toward cloudy, and even when they were blue, the constant wind was chilly.

We had some lovely sunsets over the water.

This little guy came by with his family most days

While we walked along the beach the first day, we encountered several groups of horseback riders, so we investigated. As you can see, we have one more thing crossed off our bucketlist.

It was a very relaxing vacation, but all things considered, we won't be going back there again.