Jolene turns 40!

We hit the monkey bar for a killer workout and it was pretty fun because Shannon joined us too. So lots of misery and laughing together to start the day.  Then we hit up Starbucks for her free birthday drink and thrifting at our favorite spot where we both scored some fun things. 

Home for lunch, wine, 24 Carey gold face masks is brought back from Iceland I’d been saving to use for a special occasion and a Christmas movie. 

Then it was time to hottub and do what she had been planning to do to celebrate her 40th - jump in the lake.  It was freezing.  

But she did it with gusto - like she does most things!

This was me. Not so much of a launch but a “how close to the dock can I get so I can get out quick”

Great day!!!

Butter Church

Just drove by the old butter church in cowichan bay and decided to explore a little and take a few pictures of my handsome boys ...

Susan’s birthday !!

It’s always a good time when one of us crosses the ocean .... this was my turn. I came a day after her birthday, and 7 days before mine!

She took me to this beautiful spot on the water and I had fish and chips.

We hit up the craft market that Jen had a booth at. The exciting part was that years ago, Jen came to WOA and took Sharyn’s watercolour class and then she just kept going.  Fast forward a few years and here she is with her own booth of beautiful art!!!!

It was a bit of a WOA reunion.

I muscled Sharyn into writing some beautiful words in a cute cat diary for ellie for her birthday package!!

Words like this .... with creative liberty of course.

She took it very seriously.  She loves Carrie hence she wanted to do a good job for Ellie.

Little stops through the weekend ....

Amazing coffee shops in mt Vernon

They are a sweet couple. Mike goes out of his way to make me beautiful breakfasts to order with fresh coffee every morning when I come.  Makes me feel really special.  They both do, I always go home feeling very loved.

And look who I ran into on the ferry on the way home!!

Back in my happy place with good memories ....

Friday - projects, workouts and youth friends

It was a chill day around here. Kids went to school while Chris went mushroom picking.  He made a fire before he left so I was happy to hang out.  I finished my wood tree project (see below)

And set up a few Christmas decorations. 

Shannon and I met at 5:30 at the gym and flogged our kids all into Chris who took them to a local craft fair and then met us at the Pho restaurant down the road.  

Shannon then took all the kids to youth while Chris and I took Elliot to his youth group in Lake Cowichan. I think he likes being the only kid there of this family, no brother to contend or compete against ..... saw this shot on insta earlier this evening.  Ben, Max and Isaac .... always laughing. Love it. 

Friends for so long .... nice to see them starting to hang out together again ....

Remembrance Day hiking with the Williams ....

Never has our family been able to find another family where we are all well matched ... from our husbands all the way down to the kids .... when I pointed this out to chris the other day, marveling at how he and Phil get along so well, he looks me in the eyes and says "Don't mess this up" lol ... been laughing about that comment for days .... given my history with some girlfriends, and 'messing things up' .... its a pretty neat family ... and Shannon finds Chris as fun as I do, so I think we are fine ... we have concluded that Chris and Shannon are more similar as Phil and I are, so perhaps we are all well matched?

Phil suggested this waterfall in Nanaimo to get to ... beautiful hike through the woods ... we lost the guys for awhile because they went off-path in search for mushrooms (insert eyeroll ... they had ONE job ... stay together ... nope)  Anyways ... once we got to the waterfalls, it was a steep descent down .... thankful for the ropes!



So great to have Ruby with us today .... as you will remember, it was only a month ago that Ruby was being kept alive by the feeding tube through her nose all summer ... and now is has been removed!  But she still wasn't willing to join all the other kids scrambling down the mud toward the base of the waterfall ... so she stayed with us.

Crazies .....

This was our lunch huddle ....

Heading back to the car .... I have always liked Ben and am pretty happy that he and Isaac are becoming better friends .... Danica invited Ruby over for the hike ... so when Ben heard this he says "If Danica is bringing Ruby, I want to bring Isaac", then Josh says "if Ben is bringing Isaac, I want to bring Elliot", and then Shannon says "If Isaac and Elliot are coming, I want to bring Sharon", and then Phil says "I'll text Chris" ..... so it was the guys who set this day up, which was kind of a kick considering we wives normally do all the planning ...

Elliot in the woods ....

The adults .... well, some of us lol

The kids ....

Impromptu dinner afterwards .... they have the best house .... they lived off grid for awhile while they built their house .... Phil is the one who lent the camp the portable mill which Chris used to mill all the wood for the chapel .... it was a good day.

Isaac and Isaiah go horse back riding!

So Isaiah wanted to take horseback riding lessons ... we said no, unless Isaac wanted to pay for them (he didn't), but we agreed to a ride .... which they ended up not doing much of since they were too busy grooming the horses and picking out their hooves (sigh) ... but they did get on and do a couple circles in the ring ... $55 well spent?  not really....but anyways!  Here were some nice pics from their day!

Elliot’s memes

Isaac and his buddies go exploring in the mountains!

Isaac drags his friends out on adventures .... today was a day in the mountains ....

Alex has been a scout since he was small, and Isaiah didn't feel safe with Isaac anymore in the woods so he made his parents buy him a survival pack lol .... so today was the maiden voyage .... not sure what Isaac brings to the table other than the sense of adventure! So, they were all well matched I think?  They got dropped off at the base of a local mountain .... and they had a good day.

At one point, Alex called home when he could see his house from the top of the mountain.  So Amanda and Gene were able to see them through their telescope!  They made a fire at the top ... cooked some beans and toast ... and got picked up around 5 before it got dark ....