Patriotic Lucas

Lucas' favorite song is "Oh Canada".  He sings it every day.  While painting some pictures the other day he gleefully broke out into song with a rather loud rendition of the anthem.  It always makes me smile when he sings it.  He knows every word of it, and sings with some serious gusto.  Makes me proud.  I especially love the last pic - the grand finale!  ..."we stand on guard for THEE"!

Adison

I had a chance to meet Adison for the first time last week.  What a sweet baby girl!  Definitely rouses the desire in me to have a new baby once again...  it's funny how they can do that so quickly.  Especially when they are so innocently sleeping as Adison was for our entire visit.  ETA: while we're on the subject, I had better just clear the record and add that no, I do not have any "news" to share.  That is exactly how rumours start! ;-)

Something Special

Some people go out of their way to do something extra special for others... my Secret Pal is just this kind of person.  I've been blessed this whole past year by my Secret Pal - so thanks again W! (and I intend on doing my absolute best to keep these gerbera daisies alive.  They brighten up my kitchen perfectly!)

Okanagan Falls

We had a wonderfully relaxing trip to Okanagan Falls last weekend.  Three whole nights with no kids to wake us up was a real treat.  It was great to read books, catch up on sleep, go for walks and best of all - not have to cook!  It was also nice to make the drive and not worry about potty breaks, diaper changes or feeding schedules.  As we were stopping to take photos along Skaha Lake Sunday afternoon, we met a professional photographer by the name of Todd Smith.  He was also there taking photos of the ice melting and breaking up on the lake.  We stopped and had a friendly chat, and he told us he would be featuring the photos he was taking in his next newsletter (released this past Thursday).  You can view the newsletter at www.toddsmithphotography.com It's a beautiful place we live, we are so priveleged to have such amazing landscapes right here, "in our backyard".  I had to ponder as we made the trip back to the Fraser Valley on Monday afternoon.... 6 days?  HE did this all in 6 days?  WOW.  What an awesome God.

Early Spring!

Yesterday we were blessed with 100% pure sunshine.  So, we pulled out all the stops, taking full advantage of a much welcomed early spring.  Early in the morning, we headed outdoors.  Jaco and Lucas emptied the trailer of wood and organized it neatly in the garage.  Nathan enjoyed playing with some toys while sitting in his stroller while I worked at cleaning up the gardens and pulling weeds.  The sun and clean morning air was refreshing.  After Nathan had his nap we headed out to the river for some fishing.  It was a gorgeous spot, there was no one around... including the fish.  Turns out the part of the river we went to is still too low to do any fishing for Cutthroat Trout, the guys couldn't even find any hatch.  We still had a nice walk over the rocks, and the guys waded up and down the channel a couple times.  I enjoyed sipping my tea and taking some photos.  As the afternoon went on, we decided to head back home but not before stopping to capture a photo of Mt. Cheam.  And on the way home, we stopped at the local butcher shop for some steaks to throw on the BBQ.  It's been awhile since we've seen this kind of weather.  All in all, we had a great day celebrating the sunshine yesterday.  Here are a few photos from the river, and one of Mt. Cheam.  I also have a pile of photos from our weekend away to OK Falls.  We had a wonderful time, it was very relaxing.  I will post some of those in the next couple days.

Another one

of Lucas.  I'm learning to incorporate props, so here is one with him with his head resting on the rag quilt my sister Rebecca made for him.  She made this very soon after his birth, so it's pretty special.  A little on the photo; I really lean on the overexposed side of things.  I can't stand an underexposed photo, so they tend to look blown out sometimes.  I just love the creamier skin tones and the way the color stands out.  I'm working on toning it down, but I just can't help myself.  I guess I just go over the top sometimes.  If you know me at all, this is not unlike my personality... I have even been called dramatic at times. (gasp!)

Happy "Love" Day

A little valentine I made for Jake.  He is whisking me away for a romantic weekend getaway with just the two of us.. I am very much looking forward to a couple nights away.  Time to kick back and relax.

Miss Blue Eyes

Miss Blue Eyes (my niece) came for a visit today.  She was just as she appears in this photo, totally sweet and angelic all day long.  And a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon was the icing on the cake.  A perfect playmate for Luke, they laughed and giggled chasing after eachother all morning.  It was really sweet, a very fun day. 

Something that has been weighing...

Okay, so you probably have heard about the baby girl who was abandoned in a stairwell of a parking garage on Jan. 30.  You can read the whole story on CBC here.  There has been an enormous outcry of people asking, "How could anyone do this?"  I agree this is very sad that someone would do this, but also I'm inclined to believe that extreme circumstances (no matter what those may be), probably led to this person dumping sweet little "Angelica Leslie".  As a result, there has been a plethora of mothers and families willing to adopt Angelica.  The thing that has been weighing on my mind is, how can people be so outraged by this and moved by this that they would be willing to adopt her, yet perhaps not have a word to say about the thousands of babies that die every day on account of abortion?  Really.  It boggles my mind.  In America alone, over 4000 babies are aborted daily.  How about all these babies that are murdered every day?  Does no one have anything to say about these souls?  Is anyone willing to "adopt" them?  Isn't it time to take responsibility for these children?  Abortion laws need to change.  After all, 4000+ mothers "dump" a baby every day. 

Having fun with "Girlie" Colors

As I've mentioned before, I love when the opportunity to work with girlie color schemes comes up.  My best friend just had a baby girl, hence the perfect chance to create something girlie!  I love dark pink.  This ribbon is the same as the lime green ribbon I used on this and this project as well.  I still have no idea who makes it, but I love it.  The chipboard "A" is from Close to My Heart, as is the Alpha stamps ("Delightful" set).  The large white flower is from Heidi Swapp, and the dark pink flower is from Prima.  I also used the "Priceless" stamp set from Stampin Up! for some added detail.

Scrapbooking

I just love it.  Scrapbooking is like therapy for me.  Ever since I've moved my scrapbook area upstairs to the dining room, I've been doing more scrapbooking than I have in the last six months!  I've been taking advantage of naptimes and evenings to scrapbook.  I just tell myself as long as the laundry is done, and the kitchen is clean, I can play. :)

Vedder River

This morning Jaco's sister Cori-Anne called us up, and asked if she could come over.  Well, we were all hanging out at our place, and quickly decided it was much too nice outside to stay indoors.  So, we headed out to the River.  The trail by the Vedder River is one of our very favorite places.  It's very special to us.  This is the place where Jaco proposed to me just over 5 years ago.  My parents lived very close to the river, so while we were dating we often went for long leisurely walks there.  Since Jaco has become a die hard angler, it's even more of a delight to go and watch all the fishermen reel in their steelhead.  And of course Lucas loves it too... lots of sticks and rocks, what's not to love for a 2 year old boy?  I'm sure as Nathan grows he too will share our love of the river and all the wonderful treasures found there.  Samson (Cori-Anne's puppy) joined us as well, and you sure could tell he was also enjoying the great outdoors.  The fresh air and sunshine felt absolutely wonderful today, it was such a delight to once again admire the beauty of God's creation.

Portraits from today

Giggles!

Nothing but giggles from these two!  The kids had so much fun at a play date here this morning, and of course I had to snap some pictures.  I don't get to play with pink too much.. maybe that's why this one of Elayna and Adrienna is my favorite.