Short weekend ~ Oct. 22-23rd

The weekend flew by, with two sleeping over at friends' home on Friday night, and one working all-night at McDonald's. We all finally emerged in the kitchen by Saturday afternoon, with the goal of visiting "Papa" at the hospital. (Sadly, James had to work again.) Papa was looking good, enjoying a football game. Eventually Nora started making too much noise, so she and I strolled the halls for awhile. We were able to see a Dr. as well, who was kind in giving us an update. With improvement, perhaps Dad can be transferred to Surrey hospital by mid-week. We were all quite exhausted by the time we left, and I had to take this photo to show the irony... It's officially Nora's nap time, but she was the only child that didn't sleep on the way home, much to our irritation!

Sunday was a more relaxing day, with some time to work out in the yard. Here's Nora in her Sunday best before coming out to help.

Like the boys say, "Mom, those are some pretty funky tights!"

Happy Fall!

After enjoying an iced cookie... lick off the icing first!  See you later...

Cross Country 2011 ~ Oct. 19th

Lewis was very excited to see the sun shining on this day, a beautiful fall day to be sure. He'd been practicing very hard at school to compete in the annual cross country race held at our local park. Eight Christian schools come together to have boys and girls race separately, by grade, so it turns out to be quite a few competitors.

Vying for position from the start is a very important skill... especially with so many parents in the way!

Too hilarious, this boy knows that Dad's camera is close by! Can you say "distraction"?!

Once the kids hit the trail, it gets pretty squishy... so you need to get out in front very quickly.

A happy guy, Lewis placed 37th... in the top five of his own Gr. 5 classmates. Way to go!

Nora was busy having her own races. Of course, she won every time!

I was sleeping off a night shift, so I was glad Scott could take the morning off to be there. (So was Lewis!)  Nora always loves her "Daddy-time".

And this box spells it out pretty clearly... "Sensitive". Yes, when she's not happy, the rest of us aren't either. Reminds me of someone I knew growing up, who lived in the same house as me... :)

Girls can wrestle, too ~ Oct. 17th

Nora and I had a lovely lunch at Megumi's, where she served Yaki-Soba noodles with diced chicken and  vegetables. (It was so yummy that I went to the Korean market a few days later, found the noodles myself and tried to replicate the same for the family. It tasted really good... ) Nora and H. are sweet together, with the occasional fight over a popular toy. (Which would be whatever the other girl is holding.) We tried a couch picture together, as we've done in the past. Within seconds, the girls were scrapping! Here's our combined photos...

Yes, Nora needs a barrette or a haircut. :)

Don't know what Nora was upset about, but she's definitely the aggressor this time!

It went downhill from here... we pulled the girls apart (even though we were laughing) and eventually got ready to go. Poor H. hadn't had a morning nap yet. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon, Megumi... see you soon!

Family time ~ Oct. 14th

With Scott's father in CCU, the only upside was getting a quick visit from Stewart and Charlene, Scott's brother and sister-in-law, from Anchorage, Alaska. Uncle Stu is always great with getting the kids laughing...

Uncle Stewart is already teaching Nora new things, too. Stewart and Charlene aren't sure how long they'll stay right now, sort of depending on how Dad does. He has seen some improvement in recovering from his stroke, for which we are thankful. He can read the paper, watch his favourite sports on the little hospital TV, and is getting some movement back on his left side. We so appreciate your prayers. Will keep you posted.

Julie and Anna's Visit ~ Oct. 13th

It's so delightful to see our little girls together, and to watch them checking out each other.

Julie returned the exersaucer, which Nora had fun jumping in. Anyone need this now? Just call!

Anna's getting close to walking, and is cruising along by holding whatever's close by.

 The exersaucer might be useful at this stage after all... Nora can't fight with her friends if she's contained!

The beautiful girls... Julie, Anna and Nora!

In getting prepared for the next season, Julie and I swapped some clothes. Turns out we each had the perfect snowsuit for the other girl. They certainly enjoyed trying them on...

So, here's where I had a brief moment to imagine what it would have been like to adopt twins! I think God knew what he was doing in giving us Nora... she's like having two children, depending on her personality at the moment. Ha ha!

Touching base...

Hello friends and family, who are so kind to check in on us. We so appreciate you being part of our lives in this way, as it's a great way to stay in touch. (Although I need to do better on my end to figure out what's going on with you!) I wanted to let you know that I'm changing the focus of this blog to make it more inclusive of the whole family, although still mostly with what goes on with Nora. Her older brothers value their privacy a bit more than she does at this point... Nora's not shy, this we know. :) I've changed the title of the blog to reflect that, and added all my previous blogs to the right hand column. It has been a long time since I've written on the family blog that I had going, so I think it will be easier if I just combine the two. With my sister having recently moved to Winnipeg, I also want to keep her more updated about our goings-on. Hope that's okay!

As a side-note, we would appreciate your prayers for Scott's Dad, Walter. He had surgery on Friday at St. Paul's in Vancouver, to perform a bypass on his femoral artery. (He's had poor circulation for quite some time.) He came through that well enough, but had 2 small heart attacks on Friday night and Saturday morning. He's been in the coronary care unit, getting great care, and then sadly had a massive stroke on Monday evening, on the right side of his brain. He was able to speak last night when we visited, but has left side paralysis. Scott's family is all together now, visiting often. We don't know how he'll do day-to-day, and it's a difficult time. We've seen small mercies already in the situation, and know that your prayers make a difference. Thanks in advance, and I'll try to keep you posted.  Love, Susan

A Special Occasion ~ Oct. 8th

I'm not sure of the actual day, but family and friends gathered to celebrate Uncle Paul and Aunt Laura's 40th wedding anniversary. They had flown in from Alberta to spend this weekend with their four children. We are always happy to see Paul and Laura, as they used to live here for many years in Delta, where we would celebrate every holiday together. (Paul is my Uncle on my Mom's side, the fifth sibling of seven.) I hope my extended family enjoy these photos that Scott took. (Which is why he's not in any of them.) We will hopefully get them to you soon! :)

There were many delicious treats to eat. Growing taller definitely has it's advantages...

The boys are always happy to see "Great-Uncle" Paul, as he's so much like them! :)

With Paul's childhood photos on display, people weren't sure if it was Charles or Thomas that is Paul's clone. I've been feeling for years that it's Charles, but it's Thomas who acts like Paul!

What do you think? :)

Cousin Matt was visiting from Calgary... I can't believe he's so tall and grown-up, as I remember him as a 4 year old. (I guess I'm older now, too!)

Cousin Corinne, looking so glamorous...

Lewis... obviously a little preoccupied with the etch-a-sketch. I deprived him of one as a younger child, I guess.

Paul and Laura's grand-daughters, both very sweet.

Always a highlight for me... spending time with my beloved Uncle.

Scott asked the boys and their cousins to face the corner as if they were being disciplined...

 Nora saw.. and decided to do likewise.

Catching up with friends, and making new ones. :)

Nora loved the party. This is one of her few times to sit still as she was generally running about with a family member on her tracks. She loves to greet people and check them out.

My Mom and Laura. People can always tell that Mom and Paul are related.

Some family shots... such a great-looking family, and the nicest people, too. (I may be just a little biased, but it's true!)

 Paul, Matt, Luke, Elisa, Corinne & Laura

Add in the rest... and there's much to celebrate in what started forty years ago!

 Alex with Elisa, Tricia with Luke...

And the best for last... Grandchildren! Congratulations, Paul and Laura!

Whistler Getaway ~ Oct. 6 - 8th

Every year, the boys have Pro-Days on the Thursday and Friday before Thanksgiving, giving us a 5-day weekend. For once we thought we'd try to make the most of it, instead of going to the eye doctor or other such excitement. :) With a deadline of needing to be back Saturday afternoon for a family occasion, it was a short trip although long enough for the older teens. Driving around Squamish for lunch, we finally found a picnic table outside a Tim Horton's. Do we look like we're having fun yet?

Nora's pretty flexible with whatever's going on, especially if food is involved. :)

Once we settled into the lovely place we were staying, we had a lovely visit from Nora's "China Sisters", who live in Whistler and get to see each other all the time. So fun. Melissa came over first with Isabella, who is 4 days older than Nora.

She is so cute, and inspired us this summer with her fun hair-bows. :) Chasing each other around the pole soon became an entertaining game.

Layna arrived a little later with Ai-Li, who was eager to show us her wind-up gerbils!

Ai-Li is super sweet and happy, too, and likes to dance spontaneously.

This is such a precious photo... little girls that started life together before we ever knew them.

Typical of toddlers, the girls sort of wandered around each, occasionally squabbling over the toys.

Three beautiful blessings... all doing so well in their families.

The boys went off for some activity with Dad... again, helmets!

Charles, with his most valuable possession...

To help the boys enjoy themselves, we just keep stuffing them with junk food and treats. It seems to help! We had movie nights, as Nora goes to bed early.

James was quite miserable until the second day, around 4 pm. We're not sure what the secret is to get him to be involved. Once he's back though, it's all teasing and making funny comments. He is a funny guy when he decides to get with the program.

Friday morning, we did a small walk around the perimeter of Lost Lake. Very pretty, and just short enough to keep the number of inflicted injuries by the brothers to a minimal.

It only took eight attempts to not have James scowl so obviously... you know I'm saving those photos for a future wedding... payback will be sweet. :)

Thomas working on his appearance of "levitation." (He needs to practice more...)

Thomas tries his hand at photography...

We explored the Olympic Plaza in the village. Nora thought this slide was amazing!

Now the boys have a sense of what Whistler is like, at least on the ground! Kind of fun to see after we'd enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics last year. Hope to visit some time again, but we'll only take 3 of the kids I'm guessing. (You can guess who'll be staying home...)