Isaac and his friends .....

Isaac had his friends over on Saturday .... at my encouragement.  I want our house to be the place his friends feel comfortable hanging out at ... I think our first intro went well.  Isaac made a list of 'options' ....

They let me dress a lot of them so that they would be warm ...

And they are off .....

They are just like big little toddlers .... lol

 

This is Isaacs friend who stayed later than everyone else .. she got a dinner invite ... mainly because she was still around and didn't show any signs of leaving lol ....

Sabbatical

I won't write much about these past few months because we don't really want to remember much of them ... but here are a few shots of our family as we navigated through .... below was the long awaited interview for the position of ED.

The phase was peppered with moments as a family....snowed in ... with nowhere to go ... we did a lot of talking together, walking loops around this property .... wishing we had money to get off the property and somewhere warm .....

Here is Chris calling Scott ... to say congratulations .... they talked for almost 2 hours ....

It has been brutal ... so glad this phase is over and we know the answer .... and Chris has been amazing to watch as he has processed it all.  His faith is strong, he never once considered leaving .... so many stages of emotions this past year .... Definitely ready for the next chapter.

Learning guitar ....

Found this guy alone upstairs, learning 'Smoke on the Water' and 'Rainbow Connection' ;-)

A Walk in the Woods .....

So this tree that Elliot is climbing is actually the top of ANOTHER tree that broke off in the windstorm that shut our power down for over 4 days .... it broke off and pierced the ground and is now immovable!

I don't know why we aren't walking in these woods every single day ... we have such a beautiful back yard .... and our trip to California really drove it home how lucky we are.  There were a few times, I physically felt drawn to find trees ... find fresh air .... and I couldn't!  We had to drive through quite a bit of traffic and distance to find anything. 

So I have a new found appreciation for where we live ....

Oscar turns 10

Ava was at the top of the stairs for much of the evening on her phone ... Elliot would crawl up and try to scare her while she was distracted ....

Chris made Oscar a hat for his birthday ....

The pics are pretty blurry but they catch a kid turning 10 ;-)

Ms. Blume gets a cat carving

Isaac made his English teacher Ms Blume, a cat carving.  Though she told him that “lies and chocolate help with grades” (which is a strange thing to say to your students, but whatever), Isaac took it to mean “you’ll get an A if you make me a carving”. ;-)

Teenage boys need spa days too!

These two are hilarious together.  Both tall, lanky, incredibly sweet boys .....always up for fun.  

Scouts go to Archery!

These were legit hits!!  I love that Elliot is loving scouts and I love that one of my favorite people is running it. 

Elliot’s dating advice for his older brother

Elliot: hey Isaac, you know what you should do?

Isaac: what?

Elliot:   Tell the girl to touch your hat. And when she touches it, you ask her if she knows what it’s made of.

Isaac: what do I say it’s made of?

Elliot: Boyfriend material.

Here we go ....

We’ve made it up to the Skype interview.  

Repetitive strain?

Isaac has been carving a lot lately and his wrist has gotten so sore.  So I’ve oiled up his wrist with some oils for pain and told him he can’t carve tonight. He isn’t happy but he also is hurting ..... hopefully a rest will be enough. 
He’s can make and paint if of his figures in an evening. 

Isaiah turns 15!

Isaac stayed up this past weekend carving a knome for Isaiah’s 15th birthday. 

He chose a very nice birthday bag to wrap it in ...

They played mantracker through honeymoon bay RV park where Isaiah lives, are hotdogs, cake and too much candy.  And he looked like he had a great day. Oh to be 15 again ....

Lake Cowichan Scouts!

It was the first day that both boys went to Scouts at the Mesachie Hall. Amanda runs a fun show - they did winter survival games to prep them going up to mount Washington this weekend (my kids aren’t going) ... but after they played hide and seek in the dark at the hall. And I love that she did that because one of my favorite memories as a kid was playing hide and seek in the dark at the YMCA. SO fun. 

It’s how we communicate.

EEG ... 5 years later .....

It’s been five years and he’s back for another EEG.  He was pretty excited to stay up late last night - he made it to 1:45am and was easy to rouse at 6am for the long ride to Victoria General. 

He fell asleep pretty quickly and was snoring within minutes. No seizures recorded so I will assume he is at a proper dose for this time.  It was like waiting for a jack in the box that never popped. 

But he had a good nap. I wonder what they were able to record.  

Beautiful boys on a laid back Sunday

Love this pic of Elliot. So GQ. 

And even more GQ with his new haircut care of Jolene who came over and cut both their hair.  We worked out together, and also drank some wine.... I really like her. 

And this guy carved out a monk tonight and used his new paints from grandma and grandpa to paint it. 

And though I have no picture at this moment, (stay tuned), Chris has been working on sewing a brand new hottub lid!!!!  Man of many talents.  

Puerto Vallarta booked!!

And this is why I love him. 
Carrie and I both got direct flights (unheard of!) and she is arriving two hours before me and then I am leaving two hours after her upon departure. We’re taking the kids to a little fishing town, roughly a population of 300 people an hour and a half north of Puerto Vallarta .... should be fun!

Isaac Isaiah and Noah.

Isaac was lucky enough to be able to hang out with his two top friends these last few days. Isaiah’s parents invited Isaac along on a birthday trip to town for cake and shopping with Isaiah.

And a few days later, Noah came and stayed overnight. 


Jaxon came over to give his light sabers away ... apparently they are purging next door!!

Turns out Isaac fell asleep before Noah.  

Dinner at Renton’s.

JL made the best roast beef dinner I think I’ve ever had.  

It was nice to spend some time with old friends ...

Old picture of a train ....

Apparently this train is driving right in front of Mesachie Lake!!

Someone posted it online this afternoon.  I loved it. 

Things I’m grateful for right now:

Listening to Isaac play the harmonica, the song was called “old folks at home” lol

Heat blowing into my bedroom 

Battery powered candles that “burn” since the power out and still remind me to be thankful for power and a sister who gave me the lights. 

A sweet husband who went to fix the hottub cover/cover brace that Isaac broke tonight because the lid was too heavy and the brace finally gave out.  Did I mention it was pouring and he still happily went out there to deal with it?

Health and healthy kids 

A good book that I’m currently reading. It’s hard to find good books. I really like the one I’m reading now.