Birthday highlights

This is a post long overdue. April is crazy birthday month in our family. Here are just a few pictures to give you a glimpse.
First came Dad Rach's birthday on April 3 but it wasn't a milestone one for him this year so I don't have any pictures - sorry Dad. :)

The next birthday was April 10th when my baby brother turned the big 3-0. We made a quick trip back to Vernon to be at his surprise birthday party. I think he was actually pretty surprised!


The following weekend, we celebrated Evan's 9th birthday with a few of his buddies at Castle Fun Park. It was our first time doing a birthday party that did not involve being in our home and I have to say it was kind of nice to not have to prepare any food (except for the pirate island money cake that Cap'n Evan requested of course) or worry about what to do to entertain a bunch of rambunctious sugared-up boys for a couple of hours. :)

On April 15, our firstborn child turned 9 years old which is really still beyond belief to me. He is still a sweet little Mama's boy in many ways but he's definitely growing up and he certainly knows how to push my buttons some days.
Here are a few pics of him on his "birthday-day," opening some gifts, talking on the phone with his Papa while climbing on the playhouse roof, and blowing out the candles on the raspberry cheesecake that he requested for dessert (yes he is wearing a cape - we are big fans of the dress-up box in our house!).
The weekend after Evan's party, we held a backwards party at our house for Grace's 7th birthday. We ate cake before lunch (of course), sang "you to birthday happy," played goose goose duck, and backwards beanbag toss and did other strange, silly, backwards things. It was lots of fun.
On April 22, our sweet daughter turned 7 years old. She is going through a silly phase right now where she has to make faces at me instead of smiling when I take her picture, thus the growling cake picture but oh well. :) I can't believe how grown up she is in so many ways. She is getting such long legs and coming close to being as tall as her big brother! She is a great helper and a hard worker and she loves butterfly kisses.

So there you have it, our April in a nutshell. There were other things thrown in there besides birthdays as well - it's been lots of fun but lots of craziness too. So maybe you can see why I haven't had time for blogging for awhile!!!

Stay tuned for more recent updates. :)

Losses

It has been so incredibly long since I posted on here that I doubt anyone is even checking in anymore but I do want to catch up on my blogging anyway. It has become a form of digital scrapbook for our family and I enjoy being able to look back at it since I gave up paper scrapbooking before Rachel was born!

There have been many things happening in our family over the last two months: some have been sad, some of been wonderful but few have been mundane. I'll start by journaling about the losses we've suffered.

On March 22, my Dad's wife, Loni passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.

We had a funeral service for Loni in March, and last week, a few days before her birthday, we gathered in Ashcroft to bury some of her ashes at the cemetery there and then continued on to Spences Bridge, where Loni spent some of her growing up years, to scatter the remaining ashes in Murray creek.

The blessing that has come from this tragedy is that we have been able to spend extended time with Loni's son Jeff and his wonderful family. Our kids have been blessed with an abundance of cousins!!

On April 26, Ryan's last living Grandparent, Grandma Rose Ruesch, passed away. Here is a picture from the last time we visited Grandma, on labour day long weekend. She was looking so good and healthy, tanned from being out on her deck all summer. :)

Saturday, May 17 would have been her 82nd birthday so there was a tea and open house for family and friends to remember her and then on Sunday, Grandma's five children and their families gathered to spread her ashes in the river by Sugar Lake.

Once again, the blessing that came with the sadness was in being able to spend time with family. Our kids loved spending time with their cousins all weekend.

So, as you can see, it has been a difficult, emotional time for our family over the last 2 months. It has also been an opportunity to talk openly with our children about death and to help them to see God's hand working in our lives. I am thankful for the privilege I have of being at home with Evan, Grace, and Rachel and being able to share in the teachable moments when the difficult times come.