Easter Sunday ~April 8th

Despite a rushed morning getting ready for church, Nora was somehow tuned into the fact that it was Easter. She'd been wearing her Easter hat for the past few days and put it on as soon as she woke up. You have to wonder what's going on in her young mind, what she grasps in the myriad of things we teach her every day and how she chooses which knowledge is most important. In this case, she likes the bunny ears...

   Here's Nora hanging out in the church foyer during the continental breakfast. We enjoyed a very good  service.

Back to wondering what Nora absorbs in our daily life... Regarding Easter, we talked about "Spring-time" and flowers growing back, about God's "boy" Jesus being good always, while we are not... she gets it that we can be "bad". Bunnies and eggs fall into the "new life" category but beyond those ideas we will have to wait until next year. Christ's death and resurrection are incredible things to come to grips with for anyone. We are happy with her enthusiastic nods that Jesus is good.

Fortunately Nora enjoys posing, especially if she can wear her boots!

Pretty in pink.

Rosie's feeling well enough to be bossed around...

Charles' friend Margarita bravely joins us for the day.

Lewis very kindly agreed to help hide eggs outside for Nora and her cousins before Easter dinner.

Nora finds all the "low" eggs.

Scott asked why Nora had changed into another dress... He didn't realize that she has one for Sunday afternoon "lounging".

Nora is fond of bossing Lewis around. Her "ploy" here is  that there may be bees nearby, which are the one thing she is truly afraid of now.

 Even this egg was too far for Princess Nora to extend her arm for!

 Now Lewis is her official basket-holder....

No matter how long you stare at the egg, I don't think it's going to hatch...

 Another prized egg...

 Eggs for all the girls...  cousins Kailey, Kieren and Nora

The play kitchen is always a big hit.

Kailey cuddles her Easter puppy.

 Relaxing after a delicious meal.

For being quite last-minute in the planning department, we enjoyed a lovely Easter together, being especially thankful to be with our parents. The truth of our need for a Savior was brought close-to-home with the challenges of raising children as well, so it was a good time to reflect on Christ's sacrifice for us. We hope you had a good Easter as well. :)

James meets Europe ~ Mar.14-28th

Our Spring Break was really boring, especially when we imagined how James was spending his. He had only one hour of rain on his whole trip, while it seemed like we had only one hour of sunshine! (I exaggerate...) Yet we were very happy for the opportunity he had to visit Austria, Italy and Germany on a "European Music Tour" with his school. He was 8-9 hours ahead of us, so sometimes we could connect on facebook at around noon or so when he was settling in for the night. He has most of these photos on facebook, but didn't mind me sharing them for those of you that don't access that site. Enjoy!

Touring a garden in Salzburg, where "The Sound of Music" was filmed.

Castle in Salzburg

Up in the castle, doing what every guy can't resist.

 View of the Alps from up in the castle.

James as Fraulein Maria...

 A sugar addict like James was surely tempted by this!

 Driving through the Alps to get to Italy

Lounging at the hotel after arriving in Venice.

Looks like an amazing place...

 James with his classmates, now bonded for life.

 Overlooking Venice from a tower window.

View of Venice from the tower.

 Venice at night.

One of many churches visited... ? in Germany

Visiting monuments to Bach in Leipzig

Castle in Eisenach, Germany, where Luther hid out doing Bible translation.

Former banquet hall in above castle.

A German McDonald's... check out the pastries and cakes!

 Lacking internet access in the German hotels, the kids and teachers hit the streets to "borrow" it from unsuspecting locals.

We enjoyed looking at all of James' pictures with him on Saturday night. We asked him to take pictures of everything, and he surely did. Ask him about the classical musicians, and he likely can't tell you much, though! :) Welcome home... now it's time to focus on finishing up Grade 12.

Bring on the Sun! ~ Mar. 25th

Sunday morning, I saw the sun shining and felt that today was the day... the day for Nora to wear my very special dress before she was too big for it. This is the dress that my Grandma Johnson made for me when I was a baby. I was likely 8 months old or so in the portrait that I have, so this dress was a bit short for Nora. The hip jean jacket from Auntie Darlene brings a fun feel to the whole outfit, too. :)

I waited a long time to have a daughter to wear this as it sat in the closet. This is a visual reminder of a dream come true, which I'm thankful for. (And it just wouldn't have looked the same on James, Charles, Thomas or Lewis!) 

Several older women at church admired the craftsmanship of this dress, one even recalling having made the same pattern years ago. Way to go, Grandma... you make things that last!

Nora's latest smiles involve scrunching up her nose, so it's a little more challenging trying to get a good one.

I was so happy to feel like Spring is coming, so I celebrated with my new pansy shirt. :) Minutes later, I was changed into my work clothes hacking down branches and raking up moss. Felt wonderful, at least until the next morning...

Rosie enjoyed a weekend in the yard also. Sadly, the very next evening she was bit by our neighbour's dog and had a laceration on her groin, in the bend of her left back leg. It would have been worse if the neighbour hadn't pulled his dog off her. I'm thankful that we received payment for the vet bills of $1000, and that Rosie is recovering okay. She just doesn't look as pretty as this, as she's wearing a cone around her head and is missing a bunch of hair from a bad shaving job. :(

A Day Out ~ Mar. 23rd

Our second week of Spring Break continued with a lot of rain, so Thomas entertained himself by working on puzzles... here's just one of them. 

When the sun finally shone, I decided to make a day of it for all of our sanity. First we went to the local nursery and purchased nine heather plants for the front yard, as something needs to be done there. We found a Subway nearby in a new subdivision, where the workers announced it was "Free cookie day". That was really kind, but I think they just made that up because Nora was being so charming. I ended up driving around, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful scenery of White Rock. Our final destination became Crescent Park, for a "nik-nik".

Our picnic table was covered with pollen from all the trees, and it was much cooler outside than we had anticipated. However, we were just so happy to get outside that we didn't care.

We listened to the sounds of chainsaws cutting down some of the huge trees in the park as there had been some recent windstorms. Nora was quite frightened of the noises, especially with hearing the crashing of the trees as they fell. Her world has been so sheltered, I must get her out more. :)

Nora is so fortunate to have such doting older brothers. They are so tender with her, helping her play on the equipment. I really enjoy watching them interact, and seeing the boys act like boys still in how they play.

This one's my favourite picture... We didn't last long at the playground as Nora started shivering!

Watching the ducks was a new experience for Nora.

Thomas showed her how to crouch down to help them not be afraid...

We enjoyed exploring the trails, which helped us to warm up a bit more.

When we switched directions on this log for a picture, I noticed that we were missing the front wheel of the stroller!

The boys took off, retracing our steps and thankfully found the wheel in a rougher patch that we had crossed through the forest on. Good thing!

It was certainly a lovely time out together, and Miss Nora was asleep within 5 minutes once we got back in the van. The wonders of fresh air. Hope we can get out again soon, as it does make everything seem better in the world. :)