Noah

My nephew Noah went to be with Jesus today...

There are no words to say. But our hearts ache at the loss of a precious and unexplainably joyful little boy. Our thoughts are with Brad, Nichole, Kailyn & Josh tonight.

Thank you, Jesus, that he is with YOU.

You can click HERE to read about Noah's journey.

Summer Stuff

Last Saturday we took the kids to Cultus Lake for the afternoon.



I was surprised that the kids actually got right into the frigid water!






Even I got used to the water after a few minutes of floating on the air mattress. I could've lounged out there all day and left Erik on the beach to deal with the kids... but before long they were calling me back :(


Anyway, it was fun to be out enjoying the summer and hopefully we'll take more opportunities to do those kinds of outings since I doubt we'll get any camping in this summer.

On Tuesday we celebrated Caleb's 2nd birthday with some good food and some swimming in Doug & Elissa's pool.


Here's the birthday boy:


Micah and Keziah were more than eager to help with gift-opening and candle-blowing. Thankfully Caleb didn't seem to mind their help, though I don't expect him to be as courteous next year :)


Last weekend we went to Ikea to get a shelf we've had our eye on. For the kids, going to Ikea is just about as exciting as it gets - I think it's mostly for reasons that are edible (namely hot dogs, cinnamon buns, macaroni and cheese and frozen yogurt!).

Here are the kids enjoying the many compartments of the new shelf:


We're really happy with the purchase since it tidies up the awkward toy area quite a bit.


I made my first purchase from Etsy this week: a handmade diaper bag. My previous diaper bag has seen quite a bit of wear and tear over the last 4 and a half years and I really wanted something totally different. I've been looking online for awhile already and wanted something that looked nice but was still practical. I found several that I loved but a lot of them seemed hard to keep clean. This one is not only super-cute on the outside, but is lined with vinyl on the inside for easy wiping! I also like that it doesn't have a flap opening (like my old one) and has pockets inside. I'm really excited for it to arrive!


That's all for tonight. Right now I'm enjoying a cool breeze coming in from our patio after some nice thunder showers this evening. Now we're gearing up for a hot week - with the humidex in the mid-forties! Yikes.

Another Year

Sometimes it still feels like it was just yesterday that we heard the news; so fresh and un-believable. And sometimes it feels wrong to discover that I'm getting used to Nathan being gone, and that life has simply carried on without him.

But, as we expected, our lives haven't been the same - and won't ever be the same - and that harsh reality is what breaks my heart...

Wii have been busy

I realize it's been a long break between posts. I guess it's a true indication of how busy we've been lately. Neither Erik or I do very well with a lot of busy-ness (especially in our evenings), so we're looking forward to a much quieter week.

In the last couple of weeks Erik and I were involved with leading worship for a group called ACTION who are heading out on summer missions. I also volunteered to help watch the babies in the nursery at VBS at the last minute - mostly because it would give my own kids the opportunity to be a part of VBS as well. I'm glad I did it, but it was a long full week and at the end of it the laundry and dishes and dirty bathrooms were piling up!

The kids did really well at VBS. I put Micah and Keziah together in the preschool class. They were long mornings and Keziah became increasingly unwilling to go to her class - so the last couple of days she went back and forth a little bit between her class and the nursery which was fine with both her teacher and me. Micah, on the other hand, was very nervous before his first day, but was a pro by the end of the week. It was interesting, though, to watch their little program for the parents on Friday. They had all the kids go up on the stage to sing and I could see pure fear in Micah's eyes. If he would've seen me I'm sure he would've come running to me, bawling, but I was way in the back. Part of me felt anxious for him, but mostly it was reassuring to observe him and see how he was able to cope with a stressful situation!

This year the kids got free (LARGE!) t-shirts:


Grandpa and Grandma took the big kids to the parade on Canada Day which was a nice break for me! Micah was pretty disappointed not to be able to go to the fireworks this year, but we had had a few really late nights (and cranky over-tired kids) so we made the executive decision to go to bed early.


While we were visiting my parents, Micah discovered Wii Sports and loved it. So, you can imagine his joy when Uncle Keith and Auntie Kristi offered to lend us their Wii for the summer while they're in Manitoba. I've had to monitor its use (and use it as leverage to get Micah to go to bed!) since he is addicted.

Despite the fact that the Wii is designed to get people to be a bit more active, most people who've played it long enough have discovered that you can still do pretty good when you're lounging on the couch :) Micah, on the other hand, probably gets double or triple the excerise while playing since he jumps. All the time. He appears to do it involuntarily and out of pure excitement. He proved to me in this video that he doesn't even realize that he's doing it:



Even his VBS teacher commented to me about how much he jumps!

Silas is 3 and a half months old already and is growing SO fast! We had a rough week of naps last week because of VBS so it feels good to get back on track this week. His schedule is slowly turning into a 3.5 - 4 hour schedule as he's awake for longer periods which is kind of nice. He's starting to spend time in the bumbo seat, though he still gets a bit slouchy after awhile :)


I also strap him into the highchair and wheel him around the house so he can watch me work in the kitchen or see the kids play in the living room.


Silas giggled for the first time while we were in Manitoba and we're hearing it more and more all the time. Erik got some good laughs out of him yesterday so I'll end this post with some wonderful baby giggles:

The Rest of the Trip

It's time to finally finish posting all the pictures from our road trip to Manitoba. There are just too many great ones to share...

Baking with Granny:


Keziah and Daisy:


We often didn't know where to put Silas as we didn't have a swing or bouncy seat, but the stroller came in handy:



We also rigged this cushiony seat in the high chair :)


Hanging out in the boppy pillow was also enjoyable:


Especially when he could watch Micah and Granny play this classic hockey game:


Keziah (and Silas) having a little watermelon picnic in the backyard:


My parents' backyard - so beautiful and lush!


Erik and Micah had some fun with guns - not sure how I feel about it, but I guess boys will be boys!


Erik and Micah worked one day replacing boards on my parents' deck and prepping it for a new coat of paint:


Erik also replaced the set of stairs in my parents' garage:


Some scenes from the farm ...



Posing by an old fire truck in town. Micah dubbed it "Mater":


On our last evening we got the chance to ride in my parents' pontoon boat. Joel, Laura and their kids were able to join us as well. It was a beautiful evening and we had a lot of fun. Here we are getting ready to head out:


You can see my parents' cabin in the background - the brown one hidden up in the trees:


My dad telling an animated story:


Granny and Keziah:



Micah got a chance to drive the boat:


Then it was Keziah's turn to be captain:


Silas was totally content for the ride and eventually fell asleep:




Maddy acting like her crazy self:


Olivia showing off her beautiful smile:


Judah choking on his life jacket :)


I had to post a picture of Boissevain's claim to fame - a giant turtle statue named Tommy. The picnic table to the right of Tommy can give you an idea of how big he is:


The next morning we were off again. We spent the first day getting to Herbert. While we were in Regina we had some time to kill so we stopped when we spotted a Petland and an Old Navy right beside each other. Erik noticed some ladies struggling to change a tire and offered to help while I took the kids to Petland. It turns out that the women were from out of town and had been praying for an "angel" to come along and help them. Erik was pretty pumped that he could bless them in that way. Then a few minutes later while we were in Old Navy we ran into our good friend, Jen. She took us to surprise her husband, Craig (Erik's best friend from Bethany) who was still at work. It was a lot of fun!

Here's me getting cozy with Big Bird:


Erik trying to pass the time:


Sleepy kids:


I finally had to take my turn driving because Erik was so exhausted. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get much sleep with three demanding kids in the backseat...


Day 2 of driving was LONG - almost 24 hours on the road. We took a few long breaks - some planned, some not (i.e. getting stopped just outside of Golden for close to an hour while they blasted some rock up ahead). One of the more pleasureable stops was at beautiful Lake Louise:






By the time we got to Kamloops it was midnight and Erik was totally spent. So I stepped up to the plate and drove the entire last stretch to Abbotsford - thank goodness for 4-lane highway and very little traffic!

So that concludes the pictures from our epic road trip adventure. Completely exhausting but totally worth it!