Monday, October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving

Thank You
Thank You
For Your love that saved us Jesus
Thank You
Thank You for the cross
With our hearts on fire
And our hands raised high we're singing
Thank You thank You for the cross
Thank You thank You for the cross

Lyrics by Brian Doerksen


All thanks starts with the cross....from there it's all dessert!

Sunday, October 09, 2011

The Wedding

There's been a romance brewing at the middle school for some time now.  After months of 'secret' dating two teachers made their love for one another public and got engaged in spring.  We were all very happy for them and excited to be able to witness them make their vows yesterday.
Marci and I had to work yesterday even though it was a Pro-D for the students.  There was a big conference at MEI schools so we had the office open.  That certainly didn't stop us from turning it into beauty parlor central.  We painted our nails, did our hair, did our make up and entertained everyone who came into the office including the stunned UPS deliver man!



Our custodian was a willing photographer for our shennanigans.  He's such a good sport.



The party then moved to Heather's house where we put on the finishing touches before the guys picked us up to take us into Vancouver.




Primping and fussing and trying on various earrings and necklaces.  It was fun even for this gal who generally does not enjoy getting dressed up at all!



We clean up well, wouldn't you say?




Marci's husband Geoff was the chauffer for the trip into Vancouver.  We went Menno-style with the men in the front and the ladies in the back.  We dined on shrimp cocktail on the way in....we do things in style!


Of course, Heather could not resist trying out the 'special' chair to exit the van in the parkade.



I now jump to the cocktail reception between the ceremony and dinner.  It was requested that there be no photography during the ceremony.  It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony, you'll just have to take my word for it.  The venue was the Terminal City Club in Vancouver.  Very posh!



So we mingled, ate canapes and drank punch.



Lisa who teaches grade 8 at our school was one of the bridesmaids.


Keith and Geoff had important things to discuss.  I only realized as I uploaded my photos that I didn't get one single picture of Keith and I together.  DRAT!


Joel who teaches grade 7 was the emcee and decided to practice a few jokes with us ladies.  He did a fabulous job!


We were finally let into the banquet room (starving!) and it was just stunningly gorgeous!



The food was some of the best wedding food I've ever had.  Very elegant, tasty and varied.  SO GOOD!

 We snagged Beth's (Joel's wife) sweet little man while she went to get her dinner. 



The cake was so pretty and tasty too!
We got to know the couple quite well with the slide show, speeches, stories and fun that was a part of the reception.  They are really quite well suited and it was an honour to be a part of their special day.



They were very dignified and did not smash any cake into each other's face.



 These two are just so much fun.  We had so many laughs that night.



 Looking at two different cameras but we did manage a shot with the beautiful bride Jo-Anne!




 The dancing only got started at 11:30 and we really had to go home.  We were getting a bit giddy at this point and certainly got up to no good in the bathrooms with the free mouthwash.

We headed home with a quick stop to meet Rhoda and pick up a turkey in Surrey.  This is a true story as strange as that sounds :)
Home at 1:10 am and in bed fast asleep at 1:11 am.  It was an AWESOME evening.  We wish David and Jo-Anne all the best in the future....I know they'll have a great marriage as it was most evident that they will put God at the center of it all.






Saturday, October 08, 2011

4-OH!


What a great time we had the other night as we celebrated my friend Delayne's birthday with a surpise 'look-a-like' party at Cactus Club Cafe!  We 'got' her good and it was fun to see her reaction as she was seated at this table full of crazy gals.

 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I know Delayne took it all in stride!


 Would the real Delayne please stand up?
Corina, who organized this whole she-bang with her lovely entree.  It's a great new restaurant...very beautiful inside and the food is good too.
It was a fun night with many laughs. 
Happy Birthday Delayne!

Friday, October 07, 2011

Go Canucks!


Just another fun day in the office!  Thank goodness for Marci who always has a spare jersey to loan this non-sport watching gal!

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

It's About Time

Finally spent my birthday (February!) gift card to Home Sense.  That brick wall was really forlorn and now looks much better, I think!

Monday, October 03, 2011

Terry Fox Run


MEI Middle had their Terry Fox Run last week.  Since Nathan is now a student I decided to walk with his class.  My friend Jennie who also has a daughter in grade 8 was my walking partner.  Her little lad is much younger and lighter than Liam so I was tempted to swap strollers with her.  Liam is quite  heavy load and the 5 km walk was a good work out.  We had a great time chatting and before we knew it, we were back at the school having a popsicle reward!

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Keith & Chad's Excellent Adventure


A few weeks ago, Suzanne emailed to ask if Chad might like to come out to Comox for family day at the base. One of the highlights was going to be a ride on the Aurora! Chad didn't have to be asked twice and Keith was eager to go along as Chad's chaperone instead of Suzanne picking him up from the ferry. Even though it was on our anniversary weekend we knew this was quite an opportunity so we really didn't mind.


They headed out from Horseshoe Bay late Saturday afternoon.
Just in time for a stunning sunset.
Very sadly the Aurora was found to have a broken front landing gear that morning (kinda essential I suppose) and so all flights had to be cancelled. I suppose these things happen with 40 year old planes. Good ole Canadian military. But, no mind....Keith and Chad had a great time anyhow poking their nose in the planes and other equipment.
Chilling out in the 'lounge' of the plane. The Aurora became a static display for the day.
Keith found the fire rescue vehicle of course!
Chad enjoyed this massive tow truck that pulls the planes out of the hangar.
Keith said he didn't dare take too many photos....security and all that.
Then they had a nice lunch and also stopped at Goats on the Roof in Coombs.
They caught the 5:20 pm ferry home....easy to make the ferry last minute when you are a foot passenger!
Back in stunning Vancouver. Wow...those mountains are gorgeous!
A slice of pizza and then off to home. A very quick but great trip for Keith and his clone!
Nate, Liam and I had a great time back on the homestead....but boy oh boy was it good to be all together again!

Saturday, October 01, 2011

A Second Shot


Even though I did finish (with a good deal of skim reading in the second half) Anna Karenina I can firmly say that I despise Russian literature. Why that book is a classic is beyond me! But I am willing to give the following classics a try. I have them stacked on my night table reading to go!






Friday, September 30, 2011

Another Project Checked Off the List

Nathan's deluxe walk in closet is built and painted. In two weeks, once the paint is cured, we'll start loading up those shelves and making his room as neat as a pin!
Keith gets credit for the master building and designing and Andrew for the awesome paint job!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Lavished Upon

I got spoiled for my anniversary. Keith says the computer wasn't a gift but to me it was! He also bought me an external hard drive so now I can back things up regularly and not be devasted when things go crash.



I woke up to these gorgeous red roses on my dresser on my anniversary!


And we also had a spectacular dinner on the eve of our anniversary at Restaurant 62. Have you ever eaten there? It's not cheap but the food is very fresh and very well presented and simply delicious. We started with some cocktails, bread with fresh hummus and lovely potatoe & onion soup. For our entrees I had seared chicken over pasta with bacon and sundried tomatoes and Keith had seared rock fish with crab and a little ramekin of baked pasta with tomatoes. It was soooo good but sadly we didn't have room for dessert. The options looked delicious but we just could not manage it. While we were there, the network 'TLC' was filming an episode for a new reality dating show to be aired Dec 4th. It certainly gave us something to gawk at between courses :)
The finale of our anniversary celebrations will come in November when we will escape to Harrison Hot Springs for two nights. We cannot wait!