Happy 5th Missie Joy!

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.

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful gifts! And thanks especially to Grandma and Grandpa for all their work entertaining us this weekend. Also, Thankyou to Meghan and Aaron for hosting us, putting up with us, and as always, having fun with us!!!

Happy Anniversary My Love

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.

Was I scared getting married at 19? Yes! Did I have doubts about getting married so young, to someone I had only know for a short time? Of course! Did I regret my decision for a single second in 11 years? NO!!!

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:

"Love is friendship that has caught on fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less then perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.

Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future and it doesn't brood over the past. It's the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals.

If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that are missing. If you don't have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it's not enough."

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

A Huge First!

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.

All Together Again

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.

Funny Faces

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?

A Walrus Kiss!

We saw a wonderful Walrus show at the Aquarium. Michaela was lucky enough to get a very wet kiss. It was really cute.

Caleche

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.

Quebec Museum of Fine Arts

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.

Dinner Out

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.

Artillery Park

I love this picture. It looks like she's jumping off a tall wall. In reality she's running down a hill.

St. Matthew's Cemetery

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.

Fun at the Park

It was such a beautiful day, we also decided to go to the park. Michaela loves climbing high, but only if Daddy is nearby!

Nathanael loved this tunnel slide, but for some reason did not want me taking a picture of it (note the pout!)

Family Day

Jonathan and I had a wonderful weekend out with the kids. When we heard that Stewart Hall was having it's "cultural days" this weekend we decided to go. There were displays by local artists, activities for the kids and more.

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.

I just love this picture of Michaela. She looks so serene and lady like. She had been picking dandelions, and then went and sat down with her bouquet next to her. A second later she was up again and off running. I'm glad I caught the moment.

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.

Mother's Day

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.

Clown

Nate found someone's reading glasses and gave us all a good laugh. Future Nerd! (Just like his Dad) ;)

Not Enough Grandma!

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.

A Huge First!

This weekend we drove to Kingston to celebrate Jamie Roo's 2nd Birthday. It was the first time all the cousins, including practically-brand-new Justin, were together. With the promise of treats, we somehow managed to get them all on the couch together. It was quite a task, but well worth it!

Early Birthday Surprise

We didn't want Michaela to have to wait all the way until the end of July to get her first bike, so we gave her one last weekend. She was very surprised!
Nathanael wanted it for himself, and kept trying to get it away from Michaela.

99 Luftballoons

Party!

We had a wonderful party for Nathanael(2) and Elizabeth(4). I love the look on Nate’s face here. He loves large groups of people, and you can see this in his smile.

Everyone pitched in and we got Nate this awesome stroller/bike trailer. He loves it, and we’ve already used it a lot of times! Thanks again, everyone, for being so generous!