Busy Weekend

We had a wonderful, busy weekend in the Okanagan this past weekend. We visited with Dad and Loni; Aaron, Sandi, Colby and Ashley; Mom and Dad Rachwalski; Chad, Roberta, Izabella and Carter; Jared and Michelle; Grandma Ruesch; and Lynnelle. Ryan and I attended a homeschool convention in Kelowna for two days while the kids had fun with their grandparents. We had birthday celebration dinners with both sides of the family and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Birthday dinner at Dad and Loni's was celebrating Aaron (april 10), Evan (april 15), and Grace's (april 22) birthdays!

Grace got these skipping things from Aaron and Sandi and we all had fun trying them out. Uncle Aaron was the master though!


Dad and Loni's neighbour saw us all outside and came out and made balloon hats for all the kids.

Cool boys.

The tradition at Granny and Grandpa's house is for the kids to go up and watch cartoons in Granny and Grandpa's bed when they wake up. So that is where they were when they opened their birthday presents too. Rachel got one too even though it wasn't her birthday :)
A pink dress fit for a princess!
A remote control car - cool!

Birthday cupcakes.


We were glad to have a visit with Great Grandma Ruesch.

Group hug for Auntie Michelle!

A six year old!

April 22, 2001

April 22, 2007

Here she is, our precious six year old daughter. It seems like such a short time ago that she was born after a quick labour and we brought her home from the hospital 3 hours later. I can not believe how quickly she has grown into a beautiful, smart, sweet, helpful, responsible, loving young lady. In the last year she has really blossomed socially and emotionally. She is much more confident and less anxious than she was this time last year. It has been a real blessing to be homeschooling her and to be a part of that process, seeing her grow and stretch herself. She is truly a treasure and I am thankful for the gift she is to Ryan and I.

It's been a long, eventful week since I last blogged so I will try to fill you in on a little bit of what has been happening.

Monday, April 16 we had Evan's birthday party. The smartest thing we ever did was rent the gym at the elementary school so that we did not have to figure out what to with eleven 7 and 8 year old boys in our home on a rainy afternoon! At the gym they played hockey, basketball, dodgeball and tag to their hearts content. We did the pinata there too and then we headed back home for gifts, pizza and cupcakes. Evan and his friends had a lot of fun and we did too!

An Eight Year Old!!!

April 15th, 1999

April 15th, 2007

I can't believe we have a son who is eight years old! He's halfway to getting his driver's license - aahhhhh. Time has really flown by and my precious little firstborn baby is undeniably a big boy now. Over the last year he has become a really good swimmer, learned to add and subtract 3 digit numbers, moved into a downstairs bedroom, lost several teeth. And, as I blog this, he is having his first friend sleepover. I am not the only one who has noticed over the last few months that Evan is acting much more mature. The ways that he answers the phone, holds conversations, argues logic, and expresses his opinion just really seem very "grown-up." It is sad for me in a way, as I cling to my "baby." At the same time, I love getting to know him in a whole new way as I talk to him about his thoughts and feelings. I am excited as I get a glimpse of the young man he is growing into and I look forward to the days ahead.

Happy Belated 30th Jenn

Jenn was out visiting from Calgary this weekend so a few of us got together for dinner to celebrate her 30th Birthday (which happened at the end of March). Tammy was there too but I forgot to take out my camera until after she had to go home and feed Julie. It was good to see you Jenn!

Take me out to the Ball Game Part 2!

On Thursday evening, Grace had her first t-ball game! It sure was fun to see her get right in there and participate and have a blast. If you know Grace at all, you know that social, group situations, especially where she's expected to do something new, have been a struggle for her. If you've ever seen her withdraw in these kinds of situations, then you will know why it brought tears to my eyes to see her listening to her coach, giving it her all, giving everyone five when she ran the bases, and dancing around when she was in the outfield! She is a stronger, more confident, happier, more relaxed child than she was this time last year. I am so thankful to God for the work that he has done in our precious daughter's life this year.

Take me out to the ball game!

Tonight was Evan's first ball game - one of many I will be privileged to watch over the next few months as Ryan, Evan and Grace are all starting ball this week! I do enjoy my role as cheerleader for all of them, but I wish I could clone myself for those times when they have games that overlap.

Tomorrow night will be Gracie's first t-ball game so I'll be sure and take lots of pictures there too!

Easter Weekend

We had a very nice Easter weekend. Friday mornig we went to our church's traditional Good Friday Breakfast. This year it also included an "art walk" of the stations of the cross. There are many talented artists in our church who displayed their artwork depicting events in Jesus' last days. It was beautiful and very moving.

Sunday morning was the Easter musical at church which was fantastic. After church we had Mom over for Easter dinner. Then, of course, we had some fun hunting easter eggs inside, and a treasure hunt for clues to find Easter baskets outside. As you can see, Ryan was a little tired from all the maual labour on Saturday- hehehe!

Work work, work!

I forgot to add this into my long list of reasons why I haven't been blogging lately. We spent a big part of last weekend out in the back yard trying to do some yard work and put up a shed. We finally bought our new shed which is going to replace the one that is built up against our house (which we are going to tear down very soon) so, on Saturday, Ryan started setting it up. The box said it would take "4 hours." Ryan's dad suggested it would probably take a little longer than that. And of course that didn't include the time it took to lay the foundation. The kids and I helped drag these bricks from all over our yard (where the previous owners had made paths all over the place) over to where Ryan started forming them into an 8 by 10 foot puzzle. Everyone was exhausted by the time we got that part done - and there was still the shed to assemble!

Fortunately, Ryan is a very hard worker and he kept at it, stopping only to eat and then heading back outside. He got a lot done, but still had to go out after our Easter dinner on Sunday and keep building. He got it to the point of just needing a roof so last night we were out in the rain and the dark, putting the roof on the shed. I will have to take a picture, once Ryan gets the doors on so you can appreciate all his hard work!

Thanks for not giving up, Dear! As Evan would say, "you Rock!" I'm sure you'll have more fun tearing down the old one!!

Highlights from Manning

OK, so here is another one of those huge long posts but I just couldn't narrow down which pictures to include from our fun weekend at Manning Park. Actually, we were only there for one night, but we packed lots of fun into such a short period of time! :)

There was still some snow there, which everyone was excited about, but it ended up being not very good tobogganing snow because it was a really warm day and the snow was quite soft and slushy. All the kids (some of the big kids too) gave it a try though!

After supper we played Julie's "balloon game," which involved pairs of people trying to pop balloons between their bodies. It was silly, loud, and very entertaining! :o)

There was also quite a bit of ping pong playing going on. We even tried a group game where you hit the ball once and then put the paddle down quickly so that the next person in the circle can grab it. I think we learned that from your house, Cynthia.

The kids' table

Evan with the birthday girl

There weren't 80 candles but the kids still thought they better help Nana blow them out.

There were five in the bed and the little one said "Tell us a story, Grandma!"

Fun with Flubber

And here we are, the whole motley crew of us!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time up at Manning celebrating Grandma's birthday and having fun together. I think we'll have to do it again next year when Aaron turns 30 and Roy turns 50!

Cute Critters

Yes, I am still here and I haven't forgotten how to blog. April hit our house with a vengence and between Easter celebrations, planning birthday parties, baseball season, gymnastics, swimming and art lessons all starting, I have barely had time to breathe. Even now, I have dishes and laundry piled up and waiting for me, but they can wait a little longer because I need to blog. I find it therapeutic to sit down and look at pictures and journal about what we have been doing.

So I will start with some pictures of a couple of cute critters who appeared in my house a couple of weeks ago. I was watching Zach and Deanna while their parents moved into their new house. Rachel and Deanna play really well with each other and they are so cute together! They went through most of the costumes in the costume box in one afternoon, but this is what I caught on camera!