Grandparenting 24/7

There are times when I miss my girls terribly, but at the same time I am so thankful that Jamie and Megs live here with their boys and that we can be part of their everyday lives. That also means that on occassion Aidan and Jaxon come for sleepovers, or in this case, a weekend at Pa and Mimi's house. Yesterday morning dawned a beautiful day and I was up early to get to Curves and then get everything done before they arrived at 7:30.......The first thing to do together was a walk around the park. The sun is just getting up as we walk, and you can see the ice on the water...a crisp morning!

Anneliese and I each took pictures of the other pushing the double stroller, but this one of her shows how the boys each had their place to sit and watch the world go by. Aidan pointed out every Basketball hoop on the way down the street to the park, along with birds and ducks once we got there.

Back at home we got ready to head out for the morning(yup, I really did get us all fed, dressed and out the door for a coffee with other Staff Wives that we only have once a month).
Jaxon is in some ways more content then Aidan was as a baby and will sit and play for a long time as long as others are in the room. At the same time however he is also stubborn and in this picture I could see the look of mischief in his eyes!
Aidan was so excited when Pa finally came home from work. He ran into his arms! We decided to head out to McDonald's for dinner and afterwards Aidan ventured into the Play area.....he was pretty timid...
.....but at least he got in there and crawled thru the lower portions.

Dave and Jaxon watched close by....I think Jaxon was thinking just let me get in there too!
Afterwards Aidan wanted to check out Ronald McDonald, although he was a bit scared to actually touch him.

Both boys slept thru the night(yeah!!) but Jaxon decided that he was done sleeping before 7. It was still cold in the house so I left him in his bunting bag while he played and I caught up on some emails. He was so excited about this basketball! Could it be that he would be 'nuts about balls' like his older brother?
Jaxon reading the paper before his breakfast cereal...(he grabbed it off the counter while I was getting the cereal ready :-) )

Aidan woke up a couple of hours later and was ready to play 'ping pong' with Pa as soon as he got up! We don't have a ping pong table so a Rattle and soft ball out of Jaxon's basket of toys are great substitutes.

Getting ready to wrestle with Pa in the Living Room...I love the twinkle in his eyes...so much fun to have Pa all to himself all day long! It doesn't get any better than that.

Off to have their Saturday morning date at Tim Horton's!! Donuts are one of Aidan's favorite things.

I caught Aidan sitting down behind Jaxon and holding him....or is it that he wants to take the soccer ball away from him?

I know why God didn't plan for people to have babies at this age, but it sure is fun! We just all had to have a nap this afternoon!

Spring can't be too far away....

When the snow melted I was soooo excited about all the little shoots coming through the soil in the flowerbeds....evidence that the bulbs I planted in the fall didn't freeze but are anxious to start to grow. Today(this is Monday even tho the blog says it's Sunday but I downloaded the picture yesterday) the sun is shining and they look like they are stretching to reach the sun.

But alas, the weatherman is predicting snow tomorrow! Can it be?? More snow?(we still have a few piles left on our front lawn from the previous dump) I was so hoping that spring really wasn't too far away. Instead I guess I will just have to keep enjoying this lovely pot that someone nice gave us! Spring really isn't that far away...it's right here in my kitchen!

Thankful for the little things

A strange picture on a blog, I agree! Especially on my blog since anyone that knows me knows that I really don't enjoy cooking or baking very much although I do love my new, renovated Kitchen.

But as we continue to adjust to life without Debbie and walk this journey of grief with Garth, we are more aware of the little things that we can do together that we would otherwise take for granted. Those things that he would give anything to do just one more time:

.....like reaching across the car while driving together and just touching

..... or walking into a store holding hands

.....calling from work just to say hello

.....telling a story of what someone said

.....watching our grandsons together and smiling at them

.....going out for dinner just because

.....walking into HomeSense and finding the perfect Spice Rack for our kitchen(Dave insisted we needed one since trying to find the right bottles while cooking was frustrating)

So today I am thankful for the little things we can do together on ordinary days....even for the new spice rack sitting on my kitchen counter.

My Chains are gone...

This has been a really hard post to write. Last Wednesday a dear friend of ours lost her battle with cancer and peacefully graduated to heaven. It was too soon....so fast.....we weren't ready....already Lord? We didn't get to say goodbye.

Debbie had battled terminal, inoperable(those were the doctor's words) cancer for the last 16 months and we in their small group from church have walked the journey with her and her family of men(husband and three sons). Today we stood in the rain at the graveside as they lowered her coffin into the ground....and then we celebrated her life at the Memorial Service.

Oh how the tears flowed but in the midst of it all, we were reminded of one of Debbie's favorite verses:
My heart is steadfast, O God,
My heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.(Psalm 57:7)

Debbie was an amazing pianist who loved to worship. And in walking the journey she taught us how to live.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name.....

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Belssed be Your glorious name.

Debbie loved music so there was a lot of it today at the service. It wasn't always easy to sing, but what a good reminder to all of us of the reality of heaven...it's only just a breath away. And today Debbie is singing and dancing with the angels....

My chains are gone I've been set free
My God my Saviour has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Undending love amazing grace.

Aufwiedersehen Debbie! I'll see you on the other side.

Celebrating Mr Kai

One of the fun things that we did this week was hosting a shower for Heather and Kai on Monday night(thank you Megs for planning it all while I was away). It was a great opportunity for lots of their friends and family to come and meet this special little man.

Heather got some wonderful gifts - clothes of all sizes, toys and books.

A special treat was that my sister and her two daughter-in-laws came out as well, along with her grandson.

It was fun to see his response to a baby...he was so gentle when giving him a kiss.

We missed having Jody here......that would have made the evening perfect(but I hope you enjoy these few pictures Jods!)

And still it snows.....

They say it will start to rain soon.....but for now, we are still waking up to fresh snow every morning......had to get out and take some pictures looking at our house from the road! The pile of snow by our front entrance is well over Dave's head so he has to shovel it up when he clears the driveway!

More Christmas Memories!

I thought that I would share a few more of our Christmas pictures to give you an idea of what it was like while we were there. We really were in a winter wonderland which was so beautiful. Here is my new favorite picture of Dave and I..thanks for taking it on our walk Heather!
The river valley was so beautiful and they did a good job of keeping the paths cleared for the most part.

Dave enjoyed taking these pictures as we walked.
Heather and I enjoying the 'warm' weather...it's all relative I guess!
Tiks even posed with us on this next picture.

I thought I would post a few of the pictures that I took as we drove up on Christmas Day. It really was a great trip with mostly clear skies once we got out of Abbotsford.

I was excited to have captured this tunnel just before we got to it.

Who can resist a perfect 'barn' picture?

Getting closer .... we are almost there!

Definitely a trip to remember!

Happy New Year from our Winter Wonderland

Some of you may have wondered where I disappeared to, but I am alive and well and wanted to wish all of you in Blogland a very Happy New Year! New Year's Day is one of my favorite days of the year because it is reserved for sitting in PJ's and watching football with Dave all day long! But to top it all off, we woke up this morning to more snow falling.......it was so beautiful outside! Definitely a winter wonderland, but nothing new since we have been living in the land of snow for the past week!

Dave and I left in a snowstorm on Christmas Day in the morning(we literally had to be shovelled out by our neighbor and Dave) and headed north for our first Christmas with just Heather and Matt(I say first because this was so much fun it might just have to turn into a tradition of sorts). They were awesome hosts and allowed us to just relax and be totally refreshed during our week away. Heather had prayed that the weather would warm up enough that we could actually enjoy the great outdoors without freezing! And warm up it did! We were even able to go on a couple of walks down by the river...it was so beautiful out.

Since their town doesn't get a lot of wind, the snow just sits on the tree branches for days on end.

Tiks is a 'snow dog'! We commented several times that she must be part husky! She loves running, jumping, digging and burrowing into the snow. On this picture she has her 'snow face'!

We had a great trip home yesterday with blue skies for most of the way. But by the time we headed to bed, it was snowing again.....this was our view out of our bedroom window this morning! I am sure that the snow will turn to rain as it warms up today but for now, it is beautiful outside......enjoy today with your family everyone! Dave and I have been very aware over the past days that many of our friends are missing loved ones this holiday season, so cherish the days together and make wonderful memories.