The Start of Summer (we hope!)

This post has a lot of pictures.  I was only going to put a couple on from this past week, but when I got started looking at pictures, I just had to share from the past couple of months.  There's been so many fun things happen!

First off, we went bowling for my mom's birthday the end of April with my whole family.  It was super fun, and we ended it with going out for ice cream. 

Our good neighbours gave our kids Easter bunnies.

We had an Easter dinner/birthday dinner for my mom at my mom's house on Easter Sunday.

I signed Seth and Hazel up for skating lessons, which they loved.  I keep thinking of things I want to do before we move away. 

A sweet old friend came to visit with her new baby girl.  We had coffee like old times :) 

At Family Fun Night we bid on a craft basket during the live auction.  Hours of messy fun.

Our other neighbour gave our kids rides on his forklift a couple weeks ago.

My parents came over for dinner a few Sundays ago.  This brings back great memories of my dad reading to me through my childhood.

Shaun shaved Seth's hair in preparation for sunny days.  This is halfway through, don't worry, it doesn't look like this anymore.

Lyla literally sat down on a chair with these socks out of the laundry basket and "asked" me to put them on.  

We are excited to try a garden this year.  We just got everything planted this past week, so we are hoping it's not too late.  It was a very cold spring, so apparently it should be okay.

My mom, Hazel, a couple other ladies from church, and I went with the seniors in our church on a ferry ride from Tsawassen to Schwartz Bay (Victoria) and back.  It was one of the few gorgeous days in May.

Well there you have it, an update on our lives the past couple of months.

Hope you are all doing well as well!

Love Brenda

On Hold...

Shaun has been tentatively scheduled to go on a trip to Brazil three times in the last few months, and every time it has been postponed.  The reason for this is because he is trying to meet with a European business in Brazil.  This business currently has other companies supplying them, and they are interested in getting supply from Brazil, for a variety of reasons.  Because they are a large company and occupied with companies that are actually in existence, they have been too busy to deal with us.  So Shaun is working on a Plan B, which hopefully involves this company still as a customer of ours, but we are going to get it done ourselves.

So as we wait, we work and live as usual.  I am enjoying my new job.  Shaun's working on a revised business plan, as well as working with his current business.  Seth is loving school, the weather is getting warmer, we've decided to try to make a vegetable garden this year, Seth and Hazel are taking skating lessons (they needed to at least be on the ice before we move to Brazil!), life is going great.  Just experiencing some minor glitches, which is encouraging us to live life day by day and enjoy every moment.

Here's some day-to-day moments of our life since Neerlandia, while we wait.

Seth drawing a bee out of an encyclopedia.

Shaun turned THIRTY last month.  We hope to do something when the weather is a little warmer and people can enjoy our patio.

Yes, I'm the geeky mom that loves to buy matching outfits for my girls :)

This was at the zoo yesterday.  It was beautiful weather and a beautiful walk.

I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I think she's way too young to be climbing up on chairs and drinking from water bottles.

 

And last but not least, Shaun found free couches and coffee table off of craigslist.  Perfect for us, as it's so hard to know what to buy with our plan for Brazil.  We really needed something, as one of our couches had a cracked frame (that's what you get for letting your kids play "gymnastics" on your couches) and they both had springs sticking out.  They are super comfy and in great condition besides a couple marks on the material.  

Have a great Sunday everyone!

The Snowmobile Incident

Thanks to Kerry for documenting this minor mishap; it's unfortunate I couldn't have done the same for you.  I still have a little laugh bubble up in my stomach when I think of all that deep snow.  Believe me, this picture doesn't do justice to how far out I really was.  

Here I am, happy to try out the sled.  We don't know what's coming, obviously.

Matt thought he had it tough, but man it was torture sitting there waiting for him...

And the only picture of Kerry for the weekend, having a cuddle with Lyla.

Trip to Neerlandia

On Wednesday morning at 4:25 we left our house to visit Shaun's sister Kerry, her husband Matt, and their little guy Levi in Neerlandia, a small town about 2 hours north of Edmonton.  We went through Jasper and were happy to drive through there during the day, so we could see some wildlife and the beautiful Rockies.  It was a clear drive the whole way, except for slippery slushy snow for a little ways on the Coquihalla.

This occurred right outside of Jasper.  It amazed me how unconcerned they were with the traffic.  I hear this is a common occurrence.

Shaun and I seemed more excited about the wildlife than the kids.

When we got there at 7 Alberta time, the kids were excited to see the snow, although they didn't play in it until the next day.  We have only had I think two snowfalls in BC this winter, which of course melt fairly quickly, so this was a real treat.  Seth spent hours outside exploring by himself, chasing after cats and the rabbit, tromping through the snow.

Seth and his cousin Levi.

Shaun took the kids out on their first snowmobile adventure.  It was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday, hovering around zero.  This was before I went out and got the snowmobile stuck on its side... Matt had to trek out quite a ways to rescue me (much to the relief of Shaun).  Thanks again, Matt!

Lyla wasn't too impressed with this adventure.

The kids became good friends with Sam during the weekend.

Lyla wasn't that impressed with this adventure either.

The skis on the snowmobile were worn out which made it extremely difficult to steer, so here is Matt turning it manually.  This problem contributed to my "stuck-in-the-snow" incident, as I could have kept going and stayed out of the powder, but then I would have ended up in the creek, as I just couldn't get it to turn.  Afterwards when I was watching, the guys were actually standing on one side of the snowmobile to get it to turn.  And there ends my experiences with winter motorsports!  Just call me a greenhorn I guess.

 Because why wouldn't you have one in your yard?  Apparently Matt killed the biggest antlered buck of the season out of the church hunters.

Gilligan the pony and his flock of sheep.

Here they all come!

Here's the reason they're running!

Here's Levi, the King of the castle :)

On the way home we drove through Calgary and then Canmore, where we stopped at a hotel to swim and sleep.  The day we left it started to snow and blow and the roads ended up pretty bad the next day, so we were thankful we left when we did.  This picture of Lyla is her showing off her new birthday bathing suit from Aunty Lorene (and Uncle Randy, I guess, but I'm sure he had nothing to do with it!).

We had a great trip, and the kids definitely enjoyed the wide open spaces and outdoor adventures of the weekend.  Something we'll have to do more often then every three years!  Or maybe next time, it will be their turn to visit us in Brazil :)