Kissy Kissy

Our 10th wedding anniversary....6 years ago this September. Gorgeous flowers sent to us by Darryl & Sinead in Ireland. In the picture I am trying to hard not to laugh as we are 'posing'. Ah yes....marriage. I found this quote that sums it up well:

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney

Happy Camper!

Chad was in day camp this past week at our church. He really enjoyed himself even though he didn't go with a friend this year. He surprised me by memorizing all his verses, hence the plastic monkey prize! He also came home with the 'Discovery Award' which was given to one boy and girl this afternoon for showing helpfulness, kindness and respect this week. He does us proud!

Nathan on the other hand just finished his week at drama camp. He really enjoyed himself too. I am happy to have my boys back home though. Liam was beside himself without his brothers to play with!

Not Zoom Zoom, But Vroom Vroom!

My parents pulled up last night in this sweet ride. No, it's not my father's mid-life crisis purchase! First of all I think he's past mid-life and secondly it's his friend's car. He is going to be taking it on a road trip to the prairies for a family gathering. He just couldn't resist showing it off!

We all got a ride around the neighborhood. He decided to show me how quickly it could accelerate. Thanks Dad for the scare!
Liam was not to be excluded. Fortunately he was content to just have a sit-down and push/pull all the knobs and buttons. Boys and their toys...'nuff said!

Bookworm Delight

Don't you just LOVE a big stack of delightful books sitting on your nightstand just waiting to be read? I do!!!

All That!

My good friend Shawna and I sunning ourselves in Oroville. I believe this must have been the summer between grade 11 and grade 12. Oh how we loved to pose for the camera :)

Irish Invasion!

We're thrilled to be able to connect with the Hamm family this summer. Sinead's younger sister is getting married and so they made the BIG trek out to Canada for that special event. Darryl will be coming out in a few days as he isn't going to be out as long as the rest of the family. It was just like old times and we had a good time chatting and catching up. The catching up was done in two second sound bites as the kids kept us very very busy!

We enjoyed the back 'garden' as they say before supper. The kids played, picked raspberries and climbed the tree!

Emma is a wee dote (I've been reading Irish novels lately and have much lingo floating around in my brain)! She was so small last summer and now she's such sweet little girl and speaks so well already!

Ceara got up the tree no problem but needed some assistance from Keith to get down. I think that may have been the end of her tree climbing adventures!

The girls enjoyed the sidewalk chalk. Liam was thrilled to have some little people around for a change and is quite good at saying 'Emma' and 'Clodagh' now!

After supper we had the older kids take the wee ones to the park for a short time so we could visit over dessert. They were back before we knew it! Nathan and Chad generally don't go to the park without Keith or I so they were a bit tickled at the prospect of going 'alone'!

Beating The Heat

The hot tub has been a lifesaver during our recent heat wave. Keith turned down the temp and made it into a 'cool' tub. Liam loves to get rides on the floatie!

On Friday, I headed up to Harrison with the usual gang. Nate stayed back as he was having a day with his grandparents.

Liam was bribed to sit on Auntie Koko's lap with a piece of licorice. It worked!

The three older boys entertained themselves for 5 straight hours making sand castles, moats, roads, walls, and very deep holes.

After many hours in the sun, Liam was just wiped out. I cleaned him up and plunked him in this chair while I packed up the car. He just went into the pre-sleep zone and didn't move a muscle.

He slept for the hour long drive home. He only woke when the car stopped this once in traffic....and I quickly took a picture. A great day at the beach...what summer is all about!

One Year Ago

Ireland...I miss it!

Naughty Boy

Oh, let's see. This thing mum is always using...it must be very interesting. I should check it out for myself. I know mum has said 'no' several times in the past but surely she didn't mean it?!

Hmmmm.....no one's looking! I think I just got away with installing a new program!

BUSTED! Hey Mum! I'm too cute to get in trouble and you know it!

88 Big Ones

My grandpa turned 88 on Monday so we had a little party. Menno Home style!

Grandpa was in fine form. Too bad he's so deaf....it's hard to yell at him to have conversations!
My boys with their great grandpa. They call him 'old' grandpa and he doesn't seem to mind...or maybe he just can't hear them!

Four generations. My grandpa, my dad, me and my boy!

Here I am with my Aunt Carla who is my Grandpa's youngest daughter. My dad has four sisters and no brothers!

Andrew got into trouble by stealing the old folk's straw and making mess. Liam is learning by example, Andrew!!

Liam took several....actually more than several trips around the room and hallways on Grandpa's walker. He charmed the elderly ladies everywhere he went!

And what's a party without crockinole. Grandpa still enjoys a good game of it and the boys love it too.

Then the clock struck midnight (actually 8:45 pm) and it was time to pack up and let the tired ones get to bed!

Almost Sisters

First day of grade 8, MEI, 1986 I met Keri and Kori. That was a long time ago and we've been through so much! Ups and downs and everything in between. We seem to 'get' each other and after Keith they are the first I go running to with my joys and sorrows. Good, true and loyal friends are they. I am so glad they are a part of my life....a BIG part!

These photos were taken in my room when we were all about 15 years old. Just hanging out...probably just finishing playing with my hot pink curling iron and hair crimper and making a few prank calls!

Coza!

Have you been to Coza in Langely yet? If not I recommend you try it out soon. It's really yummy food. My 'sister-in-law-friend-partner in shopping' (it's complicated really) and I headed out to Langley the other night. It was supposed to be 'just coffee' but it turned into dinner, tons of shopping AND coffee!

We had the flat bread...so good! Tracy was very lady like and only ate half of hers. I demolished my entire serving.

Tracy, it was super fun. We'll go again just as soon as my credit card cools off!

Eagle Mountain Park

One of the most beautiful parks in Abbotsford is high atop Eagle Mountain. It's where the wealthy folks live! The views are stunning and the houses are gorgeous. We took the kids up there the other day and had fun.

Liam was so perplexed by this speaker system. Keith would speak into the speaker across the park and Liam listened at the other end. He thought Keith was inside the pipe and was really confused! We had to play this game over and over again for him!
Slides continue to be the most popular thing for Liam at any park.

Swings are fun too....the higher the better!

There is a viewpoint at one end of the park that over looks Sumas Prairie. Very spectacular...especially when you can see Mt Baker but it was overcast that day.

You may have wondered where Chad is. Chad was very busy at the playground making new friends. Chad will make new friends at each playground we go to. He's the social butterfly of the family.

A plane, a plane! The planes seem a lot closer when one is atop a mountain!

Best Buttermilk Pancakes EVER!

I like to make a hot breakfast for my family on the weekends. The menu usually rotates between waffles, pancakes and eggs & hashbrowns. A few months ago I had some leftover buttermilk to use up and decided to try a buttermilk recipe I had found online. This is now a regular item on my menu! These pancakes are absolutely delicious and I highly recommend that you try them. This weekend if possible!

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/3 vegetable oil

Combine ingredients in order and stir minimally.

This makes lots of pancakes....enjoy!

The Parade and Festivities

Sadly, the sun did not cooperate for Canada this year. The past several years have been fabulous in the weather department so it was rather disappointing to have to bundle up on July 1st! We've been going to the parade with the J & U family for at least 12 years now. It's tradition and I think the only one we've missed was last year when we were at the airport on our way to Ireland.

Look at that young cute couple!

We had to use our umbrellas several times for the rain showers.

My parents joined us this year because Nathan was on one of the floats.

Liam's first parade. He watched with wide eyes!

All the kids. Well the girls are young ladies now!

Nathan was able to be on the float with the mayor as a part of Abbotsford Children's Theatre. He was very excited! He'll be in two upcoming productions....The Nutcracker and Charlotte's Web.

He was a bit hidden but we caught glimpses of him!

Liam fell asleep for the last bit of the parade. It was a very long parade and some of the spacing wasn't so great.

Afterwards we headed home so Liam could nap. Afterwards Keith thought it would be a good idea to have hot tub time with Liam. He hadn't been in there since last summer so we weren't sure how he would react. He was verrrrry nervous! Just look at that face. Thankfully he's been in there since and is now a certified water baby. We can't get him OUT of it!

Kori & Roger had us all over for a BBQ dinner later in the afternoon. Here's the chef extraordinaire using his brand new grill. Great burgers, Rog!

Us girls in our patriotic wear.

And a very tasty and patriotic dessert of strawberry pie! Kori is a fabulous baker.

After supper we just hung out and visited and let Liam entertain us with his antics. We hemmed and hawed about going to see the fireworks. Half of us wanted to watch them...the other half were not too enthused.

Finally at 9:55 pm we decided we would race over to the fairgrounds to see them but they started at 10 pm! We drove as fast as we could to our place, threw Liam in the stroller and ran as fast as we could to watch the fireworks. We caught the last 7 minutes or so and that was that!
A great Canada Day. As always, the best part of the day is spending it with friends!