For My Sweetheart

Today we are celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary!! It's hard to believe that it's been that long....we were so young when we were first married!(at least I was!) What a ride it's been though...through the highs and lows, you have been my sweetheart, the one I laugh with, the one I cry with, the one I dream with!!

As I thought about what pictures to put with this post I decided to post some of the neat pictures of nature that you have taken the past weeks in your walks here in town. This one of the bald eagle at Mill Lake is definitely a favorite.

A mother goose and her goslings. I have to laugh at how many pictures of ducks and geese you have taken. But then I shouldn't be surprised....35 years ago during our first summer in Penticton you took rolls and rolls of film of pictures of ducks and geese. Some things haven't changed...except that your pictures have definitely improved...a lot!

 

We have had the coldest spring in 50 years so our tulips have been blooming right through the month of May. This picture gives a sneak peek at our front flowerbed.

 

Our yellow tulips are my personal favorites.

And finally this one of you and Kai enjoying one another. You are a great father and father-in-law, and an awesome grandfather.....Happy Anniversary Sweetheart! The best is yet to come!

Under One Roof

 Today it is quiet here at our house but for most of the month of May it was anything but! You see Matt, Heather and Kai came for a three week stay while Matt took a course down here in the valley, so we were all under one roof.

 They arrived at the first of the month so were here for us to celebrate Heather's birthday together! Aidan and Jaxon insisted that she had to have birthday cake, so we had to oblige.

 Auntie Megan and Kai shared many great times together! I love this picture of the two of them laughing at Aidan who is hiding under the table.

 It was fun to watch Kai do the everyday fun things of life here at our house...

 ....like helping wash the dishes! Or let's be honest, just play in the sudsy water.

 He loved spending time with his cousins and they learned from one another. He showed Jaxon how to use the iPhone...

 ....and Jaxon showed up him the fun of pull toys!

 Together they played with play doh...

 and being read to by anyone that would sit down with a book.

 Because I had to work while they were here, Kai loved to come up and sit at the counter with me.....but who can work with this cute boy sitting beside you?

 For one of those weeks Dave's Mom came to visit too.....(Kai's smiling, can't you tell?)

 Getting ready for a picture.....

 Grandama Gigi loved the boys....

 ...and they loved her! Whether or not she was paying any attention to them!

Kai loved getting her attention and playing peekaboo with her.

The three cousins had sooo much fun together...here they are helping me mix up waffle batter.

....playing together on the big chair with the blanket.

....listening to songs on Pa's iPhone....

.....just so much fun being together!

Dave has a whole folder of favorites that the boys enjoyed....Kai knew how to make it happen!

Kai and I just hanging out.......mornings were a very special time but Saturday mornings are the very best because there was no schedule. We could just hang out in our pajamas all morning long....no wonder the house seems so quiet tonight. Thanks for coming to visit guys....come again real soon!

An Adventure

Last Sunday we decided to go on an adventure and explore a place that we have never been to in our 31 years of living in this area.

We left with our Google Maps on my phone in hand and headed west to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary right on the ocean. We had absolutely no idea what we would find and we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find the most incredible collection of marshes and trails. There were birds of all shapes and sizes everywhere we walked.

 Of course Dave was in his element with his camera and long lens in hand as he set out to see how many birds he could get pictures of. He started with this tree swallow....the color on his back was amazing!

We see black-capped chickadees in our backyard all the time but it was so neat to see this one close-up.

 These rufous-sided towhees are in the park where we walk all the time but we rarely see them out in the open like we did this time.

 The bald eagles soaring overhead stopped everyone in their tracks.

 I'm always amazed at the difference between male and female birds....like these northern shovelers.

 I've always loved learning about things, so seeing birds that I don't know the names of makes me want to know what they are called.

 These were American Wigeons.

I was wishing that my iPhone had an app where I could just take a picture and know what the name of the bird was....anybody know of one?

 Some of course are easy....like the wood ducks! They are so incredible with their different coloured feathers and sharp lines.

It was a great adventure and definitely a place we will go back to during different seasons.  As new as it was, as we drove home we enjoyed the familiar view of the northshore mountains as we drove through Langley where our office is located.

We truly live in a most amazing area!!

Spring Blossoms

 I love everything about spring but I especially love all the blossoms in the trees......I just had to grab the camera the other day and capture a few of them!

 How incredibly beautiful are these anyway?

The intricacy of each blossom never ceases to amaze me!!! Our God truly is an awesome God...the God of all Creation!