Michael's 50th Birthday Celebration

Wow!  It's hard to believe that my husband, Mike turned 50.   I remember him being only 24 when we started dating.  Where does the time go?

We had a great celebration  over lunch with about 35 - 40 people which included family and good friends.   

And for anyone who really knows  Mike, knows that Mike likes his COFFEE.  And because of his love for coffee, he received plenty of it along with gift cards for Tim Horton's and Starbucks.   I wonder if he will share? 

The kids were all great with helping with the preparations, and the decorating. 

The younger girls picked out his hat which says,

"I'm NOT 50, I'm 18 with 32 years Eperience".

Grandma and Me

I really look forward to Saturdays, I never use too.  Saturdays were always a day to do major house work, laundry and running errands which usually included grocery shopping, going to the farm market etc.  Now Saturdays are spent a little differently, I go and spend about an hour each Saturday with my Grandma.  A grandma I am getting to know through each of my visits with her.   As mentioned in previous blogs, this is a grandma that was absent from my life for many reasons,  reasons that I had no control over.  But God has blessed me with this privilege.  This Saturday was a little different then the one before.

I took Mikaela and Tamara with me so they could meet their great grandma.  We even stopped and picked up peanuts so we could take grandma out to feed the squirrels.  When we arrived my grandma was not feeling too well as she had come down with a bit of a cold, so we didn't take her outside to feed the squirrels we just stayed inside and had a visit.  We had a shorter visit due to her not feeling well.  So before we left I took both Mikaela and Tamara out to the courtyard so they could feed the squirrels, but needless to say, there were no squirrels to be found.  I guess we'll wait and see what the weather is like next week. 

Grandma enjoyed the girls, she said, that Mikaela reminded her of Max (Max is their cousin).  She actually laughed with girls a bit throughout the visit.  And if any of you know Tamara this will not be a surprise to you.  I refer to Alice as Alice and not grandma.  I guess I am still getting use to the relationship.  Anyways, every time I say Alice, Tamara says, "that is your grandma, you are to call her grandma, not Alice".  Then Tamara goes on saying, "you don't see me calling my grandma by her first name, do you, and neither should you",  Out of the mouths of babes.

A Day Well Spent

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to go and visit Alice.  Alice is a 96 year old lady who has become very dear to me.    I don't know much about Alice, her likes and dislikes, what her favorite color is, what her favorite food is.  But am hoping over time I will learn all these different things and much more. You see, Alice is my Grandma.  I met her for the first time 4 years ago.  And now I have the pleasure of getting together with her each week and spending time with her. It's amazing how time slowly brings people together, complete strangers actually.  There is a lot of background to this story, but I am not going to get into it.  But let me just say, that I am thankful for the privilege and opportunity to meet my Grandma (my dad's mom).  My dad never knew his mom, he only knew her name.  I spent about an hour visiting Alice with my oldest daughter Danielle and my cousin Max.   We had a few good laughs together and then went outside into the courtyard and looked for squirrels to feed.  Alice enjoys spending time in the courtyard feeding squirrels.  They must know her really well, because as soon as she starts calling them they come a running, and not just one, but a few of them.  When the squirrels come close to feed out of her hand, Alice's face lights up with delight.   I wanted to take some pictures and realized I didn't have my camera with me, so I tried taking some with my phone, but I don't think they turned out too well.   I will have to remember to take it next time.  We spent about 15 minutes or so outside feeding the squirrels before heading back inside as the wind started to pick up, and the rain started to fall.  We spent a little more time with Alice before we headed home.  But before we left, she introduced us to her friend.  She told her friend that I was her granddaughter and that Danielle was her great granddaughter.  The joy I felt at that time, was a joy I never felt before. 

Personal Chef

Jessica is taking a cooking class at school.  I have had the opportunity to try some of the items she has made.  The best one so far was chicken quesadillas.  She made this for our whole family for dinner last week and let me tell you, it was delicious!!!!!  She also made chocolate zucchini carrot muffins and they were good too, she has also made carrot muffins with cream cheese icing.  Oh so good!  I am now waiting to try her homemade jam that was made today.  I have to wait until tomorrow to try it as it has to set for 24 hours, 24 hours too long.  I am so looking forward to what else she will be making.  Maybe if I am lucky, I will get one night off a week from cooking. 

Girls Day Out

Saturday started  out earlier than normal  as Tamara, Mikaela, Jessica and myself were heading to the US with Mikaela's friend Paige and Paige's mom Christine.  We started our morning with Starbucks, so yummy!!!!
We then stopped in Lynden at the Hilltop Restaurant for breakfast.  The food was very good!  From there we continued on to Bellis Fair Mall.  We had a blast going through just about every girly store they had.  After we had enough shopping at the mall we headed to Red Robin, yes the US has Red Robins.  It was there that we shared a plate of nachos and then enjoyed our lunch together.  What a great day we were having!
We then decided to go to Burlington to check out the outlet malls there.  Before we went to the outlet malls we stopped at Kohl's first.  By this time Jessica was not feeling too well.  She just wanted to go home.  I felt bad for her, but I was also feeling bad for Christine and Paige as we went with them in their vehicle and now our day together was now coming to and end, or was it.....  We took Jessica home, but the rest of us girls decided to finish our night off in Abbotsford with a movie.  We arrived at the theatre to find out we read the time wrong and our movie didn't start for over an hour.  So, being girls we went and had dessert before going to the movie.  By the time the movie was done and we arrived home it was after midnight.  I enjoyed spending 15 hours of the day with Paige, Christine and my girls. We are thinking of doing it again, but this time, book a hotel in the states and then go shopping.   A day well spent with the GIRLS!!!!

Good Grades

Today I received both Cody's and Jessica's intern report cards.  Both of them are attending MEI this year.  For those of you who know Cody and know how his grades were last year, let me tell you, his grades are no where near what they were last year.  He has totally out done himself and has the highest marks he's had in a very long time.   I am so glad that we had the opportunity to send them to MEI. I am so proud of the time and effort he has put into his work this year.  WAY TO GO!  

Jessica  did online schooling for the past 2 years which she did not like very much and didn't do too well at due to the lack of having a teacher.  Jessica has totally out did herself as well in her classes, well all but one, But we won't get into that.  Let's just say she is looking forward to having a tutor help her.  I am so proud of the time and effort she has put into her work this year.  WAY TO GO!

It helps so much when they have friends and like the school they are attending.  I believe it makes all the difference in the world.
Both Mikaela and Tamara received their intern reports and again I am proud to say they too are doing well.  They are at the same school they were at last year.  WAY TO GO!  

To all my kids KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!    

Running for the Cure

CIBC Run for the Cure

My daughter Jessica took part in the CIBC Run for the Cure.  She did this along with other classmates from her PE class.  Jessica's goal was to raise $500 dollars for this worthy cause, and on the day of the race which was just over a week ago she raised $475.  We are so proud of her!

Here is Jessica running towards the finish line.  She ran a  5 km run in 38 minutes.  Thank goodness the weather cooperated for the run.  

Here is Jessica with Mikaela and Dad and Grandma.  Tamara was with me while I was taking the picture.  This was  Jessica's cheering squad.  After posing for this picture, we took her out for lunch to celebrate.