Yes our little baby has started school. Where did the time go? So far she's doing great, and making lots of friends. 
Wow, I can't believe how fast she's grown. I love watching her grow, but days like this I look at her and miss the little baby I could cuddle and hold all day long.
This day was so hot, the kids jumped in for a swim. We could hardly hold Nate back!
We did so many wonderful things at Mom and Dad's this summer. Nate reach a new milestone in that he was finally old enough to hike in the woods (and not in a back-carrier!) There was always so much to discover!
Grandpa caught this "stinkpot turtle" swimming right next to the dock. Michaela held it for a few minutes, then we kindly let him go back home. It's wonderful to be able to dicover wildlife right in your back yard (or your Grandma's back yard as the case may be!).
We went to Kingston Family Fun World on Aug. 14th. A year ago that day, Jon and I went to court to have Nate's name legally changed to Nathanael Josh James Santo. It was a great way to celebrate such an important anniversary.
The car ride was one of Nate's favorites. He even went on it all by himself.
Michaela's highlight was the ferris wheel. She'd never been tall enough to ride one before, but she'd always wanted to. We spent a nervous 30 minutes as all the rides were shut down due to thunder and lightning. It was the one ride we hadn't gone on yet (we were saving the best for last). But then the clouds passed, and Michaela got to go on the ride of a lifetime!
Every year in Pincourt they have Fireman Day. It's sort of like Canada Day x 10. We went with our good friend Carrie. It was a blast
Michaela excelled at her swimming lessons this year. Her favorite thing to do at the end of lessons was to jump off the diving board while making funny faces.
The three eldest Cousins enjoying all that Grandma and Grandpa's lake has to offer.
Yet another wonderful Birthday cake from Grandma! This years theme was geography and travel. Grandma gave Missie an awesome globe, along with an altas of dinosaur sites around the world. Michaela was thrilled! Not to mention the cake was amazing!!! YumYumYum!!!!
We had a very special guest at the party, my sister-in-law's mom, Diane was there. She made the kids fall in love with her! And we couldn't help but love her too! It's always a bigger, better party when Diane is there. 
Yesterday marked 11 years for Jon and I. I spent a lot of time yesterday remembering that beautiful day. The weather was perfect, the wedding went flawlessly, but all I noticed was Jon, and how much I loved him.
How was I so lucky? Why did God choose to bless me so greatly with the best man I could ever imagine? I didn't know 11 years ago that I would feel more loved now, and ever day hence then I did the day before. Jon and I met in CEGEP. I was a self-conscious, shy girl, he was a cool funny guy who always wore a dinosaur tie. I knew that tie and I were meant to be together! It wasn't long before we were best friends, and then it was only a small jump to falling in love. What do you do when you're 19 and in love??? Get married of course!!! (To be honest, I'm surprised we didn't have a dinosaur themed wedding, we were such kids!)
My Granddad printed laminated cards to give out at our wedding. On one side was Cor.13, and on the other side was a quote from Ann Landers. It was, and is so perfect, I'd like to reprint it here:
Jonathan, you are the love of my life. Thank you for the life we have created together. Thank you for 11 years of love, support, happiness and growth as a family. XOXO
Can you believe it? I scarcely can! Meghan and Aaron recently upgraded their car, and generously and unselfishly gave us their old one! What wonderful family I have. After exactly 11 (wonderful) years of marriage, we have our very first car!!! It's so wonderful, and so helpful! And of course there is no longer any excuse for me not to get my license.... Can't wait!! Thanks Meghan, and especially Aaron, who washed the car from top to bottom (it looked amazing!!!!). And thanks Mom and Dad for all your help. Love you all.
Thanks to the genius work of Aaron Visser, we now have a wonderful photo of our time in Quebec city. Thanks Aaron! You did a great job.
On our last day in Quebec, we all went to the aquarium together. This made for a cute picture, unfortunately there was no one around to hold the camera. Does anyone know how to superimpose pictures so that all three of us can be in the same picture?
We saw a wonderful Walrus show at the Aquarium. Michaela was lucky enough to get a very wet kiss. It was really cute.
We took a beautiful Caleche ride around the old city. It was a highlight for Michaela. Afterwards she fed the horse dandelions. It was a wonderful day.
There was lots of interesting art in the museum. Michaela loved this cage, which I'm sure symbolized something....I just am not sure what.
Michaela loved sketching all the pieces of art that interested her. She especially liked this giant bug. That's no surprise.
We had to eat in a lot of restaurants in Quebec. Michaela loved it, but she didn't always like the menu choices. Thankfully there was usually pizza, which was always welcome.
I love this picture. It looks like she's jumping off a tall wall. In reality she's running down a hill.
This picture was taken in the oldest cemetery in Quebec. So old in fact that a tree grew around this tombstone. It was a beautiful graveyard, turned into a park. This was Michaela's favorite place in Quebec City. We often stopped here to have ice cream at the end of the day. It was only a few blocks from our hotel.
Nathanael loved this tunnel slide, but for some reason did not want me taking a picture of it (note the pout!)
Michaela got to go from station to station making different crafts. Here she is displaying the origami butterfly she made.
As fun as the crafts were, both kids were much happier walking down by the water (a little too close if you ask me). It was such a beautiful day.
We topped the morning off with a yummy lunch at subway. Nathanael, as you can see, doesn't need a high chair anymore, but sits very nicely to eat his sandwich.
I wanted to give a very special thank you to Marthe who sent me these beautiful flowers for Mother's Day. It was the very first time anyone has ever sent me flowers. I'd always wanted someone to send me flowers! It was as special as I'd imagined. Thanks so much Marthe! Happy Mother's Day.
Nate found someone's reading glasses and gave us all a good laugh. Future Nerd! (Just like his Dad) ;)
One popular game this weekend was "Fight for a spot on Grandma's lap". There just wasn't enough of her to go around! Nathanael especially seems to prefer Grandma's lap to any other.
