February, what happened?!

February is almost over, so it seemed like a good time to review what it was like. Thinking it was going to be a less busy month with the bills dealt with from Christmas and birthdays finished, I had filled the calendar with two elective surgeries, medical appointments and swimming lessons twice a week. (To make me feel less guilty that the last lessons were in the summer...) Due to the uncertainties of life the month has now been crazy, and I am now keeping as much of March open as possible! (And the Olympics? Missed that...)

 Feb. 2nd, for the church directory. I didn't get my act together to
colour-coordinate us. James has been attending church elsewhere lately
 with his friends, so I'll have to Photoshop him in.

Nora's recent preschool highlight was the visit from the dental hygenist, and especially the "goody" bag that was sent home. We have stars from the brushing chart stuck all over the place, and floss used for many interesting functions. The mask and gloves were the favourite item however!

Such medical equipment was helpful in real life as we taught Nora about what surgery is about. Rosie had two fat lumpectomies done successfully and needed a lot of  care post-operatively with her drain and medications. Nora had a lot of concern for her, reminding us often of what we needed to do for Rosie. Visits to the vet together happened a few times, so Nora had endless questions and also did "surgery" on her doll at some point.

Feb. 3rd ~ A compliant "patient" but not impressed overall with her private nurse.

Feb. 7th was the day of my Dad's accident, referenced earlier in this blog and now the topic of his very own. "Uncle" Rob, Margarita and Charles were helpful in taking Grandpa's car back home for Grandma, and then Margarita joined us for a late dinner once we got home from hospital.

 Nora is quick to say, "I love you, Margarita!"

 So do we...

In the end, we went forward with our plans to celebrate Chinese New Year with the Ma family despite Dad waiting for surgery in the ER. It was a great visit, helped to keep our minds distracted from our bad news and we knew that that Darlene and Edward could relate to how we were feeling. (They've had many "episodes" of  hospital visits with ill parents over the past year.) Take-out at home was an even better idea to really visit, and play a few games, too.

 Grandma had helped Nora make a special card for Auntie Darlene. :)

 Rosie was in better spirits with her "cone of shame" removed from her head.

 Nora sees the world differently than most!

So, Feb.7th right now is the dividing line of "life-was-busy" versus "Stop the train, I want to get off!" mode. (as I write this almost 3 weeks later.) Like a co-worker told me last night... "One day you'll look back on this part of your life as just a bad dream." Hope so, more like my parent's worst nightmare... Anyway, we all try to be positive, and in no way do I resent taking time out of my life for spending time with my parents. It just takes a toll... like I can even complain.

 Feb. 9th, Nora learns more about surgery on people. Now her dolls are getting holes repaired in their legs...

Nana and Papa swing by for some early Valentine's treats for Nora. That was super sweet. :)

 Feb. 10th

 Papa had to make sure Rosie was doing okay, too. :)

Valentine's Day passed in a blur, with my request to just stay home for a quiet night with the family. Too many shifts and daily hospital visits a week later were exhausting. A thoughtful husband made it a nice evening.

This brought us a laugh one evening, checking on Nora around midnight. She'd been to the hospital earlier that day, however this is her dental mask. (We insisted she throw away the hospital one much to her distress!)

 Feb. 18th ~Wonder what she's dreaming of?

Lewis snuck up after 8 pm with me to visit Grandpa... was cute to see them talking together. Lewis has been making a zip-line from his second-story classroom window across the length of the playing field. He formed a K-nex cage to travel on it, which can hold an iphone. So far he's recorded on video the four "trips", including the crash-landing of the encased iphone on the other end. It's great that his teacher gives him such leeway for his inventiveness.

Feb. 20th ~ Grandpa's apprentice.

Feb. 21st, Charles and I departed very early for his wisdom teeth surgery, with all four removed without complications. He is recovering well, much quicker than James did with even having a date night that same day. Okay, well maybe we all watched a movie together but he was still pretty chipper. 

 Charles' creative way of securing ice packs to his jaws.

Snow enveloped Greater Vancouver on Feb. 23rd, which was enjoyed by the younger members of the family.

 Nice to have a big brother!

 I think it's safe to say that Rosie has fully recovered.

 Lewis always likes to make forts~

 So many snowflakes to catch, what a challenge!

 Nora enjoyed throwing snowballs at the van.

So overall in terms of family activity and excitement, things have been understandably low-key. But we work together, pulling together to work as a family unit which is an important skill to learn when a crisis happens. We will get through this hard time with my Dad, and I'm so thankful for my husband's support practically and emotionally. If only the kids would stop messing up the house and eating so much food, and getting their clothes dirty and, and, and...  :) Thanks for following along. Susan

Two Fun Saturdays ~ Jan. 24th & Feb. 1st

Hi everyone, most of you know that I have been blogging, just not on this site. This may be short and sweet, but I need to do some posting here as all my days are running together... even worse than usual! For those of you following my Dad's progress, I will add his blog to the roll on the right for easy access. I will  also add an email option there to receive posts from this blog, so you don't become weary of looking for any cute photos of Nora. :) (Although so far I can't seem to get that to work...)

 And I thought life was busy then... sigh.

It seems like such a long time ago, really only a month now, that Scott and I had a very quick weekend to ourselves downtown to celebrate our January birthdays. Thai food for lunch, crepes on Robson St. for dinner... it was delightful!

 A rare weekend of freedom~ who wouldn't smile?!

 A thoughtful surprise from a church friend working at the hotel.

Last minute, our Texan friend Kent, from Scott's college days, joined us on the Saturday as he had flown in to Vancouver to go skiing at Whistler for the week. We had a fun time playing tourist with him, especially going to the "Fly over Canada/Flight of the Dragon" films at Canada Place. (A special presentation for Chinese New Year...) We weren't as organized as last year to look up menus and restaurants for Dine Out Vancouver but did stumble across Cardero's Restaurant in Coal Harbour. We caught up with Kent over a leisurely lunch about what's he been up to for the past 10 years or so. I just love the camaraderie of old friends reconnecting, how time disappears and the essence of friendship remains.

 Couldn't ask for a more beautfiul day~

 Kent is so hilarious...

 ... he kept us laughing all day.

 Let's hope our next visit is in Houston.

 Kent the tourist.  We really just wanted to go to Roger's Chocolates.

 A view of Mount Baker.

 Scott has fun with his new camera, a birthday gift to himself. :)

 I'm hoping to tempt more friends and family to come visit, even in January!

 I heard a lot of college stories that afternoon.

 We didn't imagine that Kent might experience Chinese New Year that often. Welcome to Vancouver!

The following Saturday, we picked up Kent from his airport hotel, after our Chinese New Year luncheon. (See previous post.) It was a great evening for him to meet the family, and connect with Scott's family as well. (He last saw James and Charles in 2005, never any of the others.) Despite a torn shoulder injury from skiing, Kent was still the life of the party. Who knew that six days later, life would be much more serious with my Dad's traumatic accident. Glad we had this time when we did.

 Nora had never met a Texan before...

 ... but now she has a favourite one!

 Wasn't long before the college yearbooks and photo
albums came out, and that was a riot for everyone.

 Lewis and Thomas found Kent just as funny as we always told them he was,
and now maybe they have some new insights about their father. 

 Farewell, our American friend. Hope to see you again this decade. ;)

Another blog ~ Feb. 9/14

Hi everyone.... I've started a new blog specifically for my Dad's updates, that hopefully  my siblings and Mom can contribute to. Please visit here www.life-is-never-dull.blogspot.com for any updates, and please feel free to share it with others. Thanks, Susan :) skarpiuk@shaw.ca

 Feb. 2/14

Life is never boring ~ Feb. 8th

Hi everyone, I have a different focus in my writing today. Many of you know my amazing Dad, Art. Well yesterday, just after noon, he shocked us all again by breaking the same leg almost 30 years later in an usual accident. He was selecting a door for a project at a business, holding the first door upright of a pile so the employee could slide one out further from the back. Many of the doors were heavy, solid core ones and somehow the doors came forward (think dominoes) and knocked Dad over, crushing his left leg over the right one. Three employees lifted the doors up, maybe about 8 doors?, as he pulled himself backwards and out. He became very chilled lying on the cold ground awaiting the ambulance. The paramedics were able to see it was a compound fracture of the femur, splinted him up and took him to emergency. (Dad joked that he lost a good pair of jeans...) X-rays revealed the lower leg, the tibia, was also fractured below the knee. He waited all night for surgery, at 5 am this morning. My brother Rob was able to stay with my Mom, giving her some time to sleep briefly at home before 2 am. (The time they were told for surgery.) I saw everyone for two hours last evening after my day shift, and Scott and I went up this morning. Dad was in the post-anesthetic recovery room still, and was awaiting transfer to the orthopedic unit when we left before noon. He appears comfortable, is very drowsy and as sweet as ever.

 Dad helped find Lewis a work table for Christmas... was the best surprise!

I will be working the next three evening shifts, so will need to be able to focus well. I think overall work will be a good distraction. My co-workers will be comforting I'm sure, once the entire grapevine is out. (I left work yesterday in tears after Scott's phone call... but I thought he said it was a car accident, so was feeling some deja vu from being 16 again.) I'm okay now, as my Dad comforts everyone even when he is the one suffering.

I already know he and our families are being prayed for, whether it be the nurses and surgeon we encounter, the songs of encouragement on the radio, or your heartfelt emails. We will do our best to communicate, but are hoping for not too many visitors right away. My Mom still remembers the day that 24 visitors came to visit at VGH... Dad was exhausted. All I know is that she won't be going to Saskatchewan on Tuesday like she planned, even though Dad said she still could. :) Will keep in touch, love Susan.

Happy New Year! ~ Feb. 1st, 2014

Kung hei fat choy! So I'm hoping that we can all forget that I've not posted since Christmas Eve, and pretend that it's just now New Year's... that it's really not 6 weeks later! (If you ask Nora, she'd be okay with that, she's so confused already about which New Year is which...) If anyone is still out there, I hope you've had a good Christmas, New Year, January and birthday if applicable! :) 2014 has started out well, but hectic as per usual, and I will perhaps blog in retrospect if time suddenly stops still. Here's to the present day, and another attempt to reconnect and post our more memorable moments so that 2014 won't be a blur come December, or even next month. And I surely miss writing, no matter how basic this is...

This past weekend, we were able to meet up with other adoptive families for our annual luncheon to celebrate Chinese New Year. With a record turnout of just under 300 people, it was a little overwhelming at times but still a good experience. The Year of the Horse is a nicer one for craft options, I'd have to say!

 Before my headache occurred from too many gongs clanging... :)

This year the "God of Fortune' was without make-up, so we hardly noticed him there, after many talks prior with Nora about how she "might not be scared of him this time". He was also absent from posing in the photos, which was not a bad thing. :)

 Scott has fun with his new camera...

Much less intimidating...

The best part of the day is seeing Nora's "China sisters". Nora is most comfortable with Anna, as we see each other regularly. Jenna, visiting from the Island,  is remembered most for showing us her violin, that Nora often tells me that she wants to learn someday. We'll see about that...

 All little sweethearts~

 A photo prior to lunch, hoping that the girls  would be more cooperative. Nora only
took about  2 hours to really warm up and start smiling normally.

 The menu ,which changes very little year by year.

 Lewis and Thomas were good sports to join us this year...
not too many other guys in sight!

Enjoying the company of friends Julie, Randy and Anna.

 Spring rolls were popular, and easy to eat!

 Thomas is a tea connoisseur now, always sampling Scott's numerous varieties.

 Just because~

 Lewis tried to delete this photo, but I was impressed
that no one complained about not having forks.

I don't think we'll ever get James or Charles in there.  

Initially we thought we had two extra seats at our table so we could spread out a bit more. However, a hostess informed us that they had placed the special guest and her friend at our table as they thought we had teen girls in our family. Surprise, surprise! We assured Thomas there would be no pressure to entertain the local YouTube sensation, Michelle Kwan before she entertained us. (I whispered to the event coordinator that I felt sorry for her being stuck with us, but in the end it was not a big deal. I joked with her that this was a unique subculture, which she hadn't experienced before.) Michelle ended up playing several modern songs on the traditional Chinese harp, known as the guzheng. Check out her biggest cover here... Sweet Child of Mine. 

Such a humble young lady, who knew she could do guitar solos on the harp?!

Playing Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". 

 Hopefully Michelle will consider playing for FCCBC in the future.

Nora had been looking forward to the lion dance, and having Thomas hold her at the stage made it so less scary! It was the last event of the afternoon.

 Close but not too close!

 This is quite the workout for the 2 young people inside.

 And the girls love it... while the parents hold their ears. :)

And our last set of photos of our travel group in 2010, minus Saffron in the BC Interior. (Scott took pictures of the photographer taking pictures, which is not the easiest task when two of them want to dance, gangnam style!)

Jenna, Isabella, Ai-Li and Nora. 

Ages 5, 4, 4,and 4. So cute!

 Our only regret was not getting to visit everyone outside the chaos.
Good news though... it looks like a tentative reunion is on
the calendar for July in Kamloops again. Yeah!!!