Today

There's no specific reason for today's post. The kids were playing outside and I decided to get some pictures. The first one isn't Michaela taking a cat nap on the walk-way; she's actually examining a grub. She spent the better part of an hour like this. :)

Yes, Michaela's learning how to dress herself without any input from mommy. Still, she looks pretty darn cute.

That's my guy. The proud American. (do they put something in all their flags that make them flutter majestically every time they're held aloft???)

Moving Day!!!

I thought we should get a quick picture before the insanity of unloading the truck began. :)

Mom and I distracted the kids while Jon and Dad unloaded. They were helped by a wonderful woman named Marie who is Jon's new department's secretary and her two grown children. With their help the truck was emptied faster than I ever thought possible. It was quite something.

Unfortunately my previous 'guess' that Omaha has similar weather to Montreal was a little off base! It's HOT!!! And the week we moved in was insanely so. Although, according to neighbours this has been a uniquely cool summer. My response is always... WHAT!!!??? From what I hear, normal summer temperatures stay above 40 Deg. and the humidity is enough to give Montreal a run for its money. Sigh. Well, thank God for air conditioning!!! :D

By now the days are still quite hot, but the evenings and mornings are cooler, which is awesome. It still amazes me how blue the sky always is. We've had about two days with rain and other than that it's been sunny, sunny, sunny. But when it rains... OH BOY! Does it ever rain. Our street is a hill and when it rains, it looks like a river in front of our house. It pours and there's thunder and lightning. It's quite something to watch... which we happily do from inside our dry porch.

This is a picture of two of my best friends, Carrie and Tina, at the Karaoke party my friends threw as a going away celebration for me. (Tina was by far one of the best singers there!!!)

This is a Happy Birthday shout-out to Tina; one of my dearest and oldest friends (It’s a day late, so hopefully she’s also one of my most forgiving friends!)

I met Tina and Cegep when we were 17. I’ve always been impressed by her gentle spirit, her kindness and her devotion to her faith. She is funny, adventurous and so much fun to be around (and she’s a snappy dresser too!)

I remember this one time seven years when Tina decided she wanted to go to Old Navy after church. Yes, this was in the ancient days before there was one down the street at Fairview. She and I hopped in her car and drove to Ottawa, just like that. I loved that impulsiveness and we had a brilliant time.

Tina, over the years you have enriched my life in so many ways, and I know you are a blessing to so many others too. Happy 32nd Birthday. I hope someday we live close enough to be able to share our Birthday parties again! Miss you and love you and I wish you a wonderful year.

Our drive to Omaha was LOOOOOOOOOOONG!... and then some. I don't know what we would have done without Grandma in the back seat entertaining the kids and breaking up squabbles. She has the patience of a saint!!! Thanks Mom. :) May your daughter's undying gratitude and your grandchildren's love and devotion be compensation enough for the hours of therapy you undoubtedly needed after being stuck in the back of a car for over 25 hours with two very noisy, restless kiddies. ;)

Love ya!

My good friend Amanda took these pictures of the kids this summer at a local park. I can't believe how wonderfully she captured these two little troublemakers. I can't get them to sit still long enough! Well, thank you so much Amanda. I can't tell you how much I love these pictures!

Poor Baby!

After almost a year illness-free, this new year brought sickness after sickness. Since January we've had strep-throat, colds, sinus infections, stomach bugs and chest infections. It's been almost non-stop, Michaela missed several weeks of school and Mommy's on the verge of insanity! ;)

The worst was in February when I went in to get Nathanael up from his nap to find him struggling to breathe. The local walk-in clinic gave him two ventolin treatments which didn't help. They had me in a panic because they kept asking me "does he have any family history of allergies or asthma?" I kept telling them, "I don't know, he's adopted!" But they kept asking. It was making me feel like a bad mom for not knowing the answers to their questions. When he didn't improve they sent us to the Children's hospital. He was seen quickly, diagnosed with croup and given some sort of steroid drink to open the lungs. We then had to stay in the respiratory observation room for a couple of long, boring hours. It was such a great hospital though. Over every bed there was an adjustable T.V. that the kids could watch with a DVD slot if you brought your own movie. The kids lay back and watched Tintin.

It was a long exhausting day, but the kids behaved beautifully and we got to do something different as a family!

Biodome

In February I joined another Mom and her two kids for a trip the Biodome. Michaela had been a few times, but this was Nathanael's first visit. He looooooved it!

Yikes, Has it Really Been That Long...?

Sorry I haven't been posting... Life has just been flying by! So here I am, going back to the beginning of the year to share some family fun.

In January we enjoyed a beautiful day at the Ecomuseum with Grandmaman Marthe. We all had a wonderful time despite the cold. :)
Is it just me, or should Jon be holding onto Nathanael... It looks like he's about to dive in.

What a great picture! It amazing what a family resemblance there is between Marthe and Michaela!

First Day of School

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.

Last Vacation Pictures...I Promise!

This day was so hot, the kids jumped in for a swim. We could hardly hold Nate back!

Summer Adventures

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!).

N.J.J.S.

Happy Name Day Puppy. We love you!

Splash Pad Fun

Bathing Beauty
Macho, Macho Man!

Name Day Fun!

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!

Fireman Day

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

Swimming Lessons

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.

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.