December

In a bit of a blur, the month of December showed up and we jumped in with both feet to make it an enjoyable time for the boys. As has been our tradition, we set out to cut down our own tree, we were used to the Victoria scene, however, things are done a little differently up here. We ended up off roading on a flat bed, with a few bales of hail pulled along by a tractor. Did I mention I had whiplash for this adventure?

































Once we arrived at the power lines, along which the trees grew we were on our own to head out and find a tree. The idea was find your tree, let the land owner now and then he comes along with his chain saw, falls it for you and then you drag it back to the trailer bed and balance it amongst the hay bales. It was rustic! My cousins came along and their son had recently picked up a "baby jesus book" which he was quite pleased to read through out the journey. As well, there was Harold the dog, he was loud and lively, which is Kin's least favorite type of animal, he found some comfort with Gram Gram though.




















































On the rather steep up hill climb back, we held tight to out collection of trees. Just as we crested the mountain size hill, our driver, stopped to show us the small church he had built on his property. Inside of which he had pictures of the tractor wreck he had survived, right beside the trail we were currently traveling along!






















A few days later, we pulled out the decorations and got the house looking all festive. Kin's highlight being putting the angel a top the tree!




We had a fabulous trip to Victoria to celebrate India's 4th Birthday. We walked away with the most gifts however, cloaked in love from good good friends and reminded of how each of them blesses our life!





And then with the blink of an eye the big day arrived ... the boys found footprints, fairy dust and a letter to prove indeed the big red guy had stopped by. They were thrilled with their gifts and truly brightened Christmas for all us grown ups!





May the New Year find you all full to the brim with peace, joy, hope and love!!

Fall in Parksville

It has been a while since our last update .. we have been finding moments of fun amongst the challenge...

The boys were focussed on having a party to celebrate Halloween, they are quite used to being the little entertainers. Makinley did say on the day of the party "are all my friends coming to the party? " When I explained how far away most of his friends were and he said "oh I guess they are busy today." Once the food and fun came out .. the house was full of laughter!




Halloween was a packed full of fun as well. We made the Weeks Halloween Favorite of Witches Brew!! The boys carved a host of pumpkins to adorn Gram Gram's porch.


The boys were also thrilled when Gram Gram pulled out all of her Halloween crafts so that they could decorate the door for the trick or treaters! And finally after all that waiting it was time to put the costumes on and hit the streets!!






The night ended with a bang when Uncle Ron showed up with a few fire crackers!!



The next day fueled by candy power, we raked piles of leaves and ... well who can resist with all those leaves !!!

Thanksgiving

We were blessed this year to spend Thanksgiving with a host of family members ....

Hope everyone had time to celebrate the blessings around them this weekend!

Playin' around

Uploaded with Skitch!

Here we are on a sick day (for mommy) having a little computer fun.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Uploaded with Skitch!

Rockin' roll and bubble baths

As these photos will confirm, location doesn't change some things ... these boys love their music. Today they performed a "show" for me with Tim McGraw's music... Live Like You were Dying being the favorite.






While I was working this evening, I got an enthusiastic call from my three boys to see what was up in the bathroom. Apparently, they had performed an experiment to see what happens when you add bubbles to a jetted tub ... the results speak for themselves..

Soccer and Cathedral Grove

Today was full of adventure. We got a call at 9:15 last night to say Mitchel had his first soccer game in the morning, luckily not until 11:30. We had been waiting to here if he got on the team due to our late arrival, for soccer season that is. In true Mitchel form he was not willing to play but eager to watch and take it all in. To our delight his coach is a woman named Monica who is homeschooling her three children, one of whom is five. It was a perfect match. Mitch enjoyed the game and is looking forward to participating in his upcoming practice ... Sorry forgot the camera so this blog is photoless ... I am hopeful I will get better at including photos!!

As a family, we spent the afternoon adventuring around. First we hit the Goats on the Roof where there were indeed goats, one looking to nibble some of Makinley's ice cream cone! We were able to buy bags of local produce, which made my heart sing. Then we headed up to Cathedral grove where we had a picnic amongst the "giants" as Kin liked to call them. It was refreshing to be surrounded by such raw nature. Puck and I are both loving being back in a place that replenishes our spirits so fully. Again, forgot the camera. However, I did get a shot of the police man dinosaur who stopped by!



The day was so fabulous, weather wise, we decided to visit the beach after dinner. Mitch and I biked through the estuary and Puck and Kin took the road way. The sunset was breathtaking, with the moon rising at the same time. Puck rushed home to set up the telescope, we got a good look at the surface of the moon!

Check out the photos he took at this link http://gallery.mac.com/puckyloucks#100026..

Thanks for reading !!

Munchkinland

We visited Munchkinland today and had a blast, as the picture will show. It is quite possibly the best children's space I have visited. It is free and open to the public three mornings a week. The boys spent time as fire fighters, doctors, chefs and fisher men ... finally found a place the boys might just like more then Gram Gram's daycare!!








After all that fun we started digging our garden out from beneath the overgrown grapevines. Can you find the hidden gnome amongst the vines??