Another new year

Josiah had his first day of preschool on Friday, and he was soooo excited! He's really been counting down the days. It was just an hour long and the parents were asked to stay the first day so the kids could adjust more gradually. They were in a new classroom with a few new kids in the class, but he has the same teacher and 5 of the same friends he had last year. He didn't seem a bit scared. Today I dropped him off and he was totally okay with me leaving which is a big change from last September. The 4 year olds go 3 mornings a week, so he's there Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

It's great for him to have this fun playtime to look forward to every other day, and great for me to have a bit of time to just focus on Abby. Although, she's become very, very needy lately, so it's not really a break, that's for sure. All day long she clings to my legs saying, "bup, bup, bup, bup." (which means "up.") And then when I pick her up she squirms and whines until I put her down, at which time she grabs my legs and says, "bup, bup, bup, bup..." Yeah, it's good times. =) Regardless, it's good to be able to just play with her and know that Josiah is having a great time somewhere else for a little while.

The Details of our Lives

Here's some little things going on that make up much of our normal life...

Abby has taken to pulling things out of my laundry basket and wearing them around the house...please excuse the public display of my undergarments...

This is one of the shirts we got Josiah when we were in the States. It says, "I do all my own stunts." It's perfect for him and his constantly bruised legs.

They put in a toddler playground in the park that's right by our house- it's practically in our backyard, actually. This is it under construction.

This is it mostly done. They still have a few finishing touches, but it was the place to be the last few days. It has 2 baby swings, a little play structure with 2 slides, and some kind of twirly seat. We're soooo glad to have something like this right out our door.

Abby loves sitting on our patio with her little legs hanging down- especially when the 2 girls who live next door are playing down in their yard. Josiah joins her on occasion. (I'm quite certain she can't slip through, for those of you who were concerned.) =)

Josiah wanted the training wheels off his bike (just like his friend and neighbor, Caden), so we finally got around to removing them a few days ago. He took to it very well, very quickly, much to our surprise, I admit. Some days this week have seen more falls than other, but the loan of Caden's knee and elbow pads has made the transition less painful, for sure.

Dwayne went back to work this week, but I don't have any pictures of that! I should definitely go in to his classroom and make a grand show of taking his picture someday soon...=) This marks the beginning of the busiest season for our family. Everything gets up and running next week. Summer has been good, but I love the changing seasons. A few differences to the routine, a few changes of venue, a few new things. We'll keep you posted.

The big trip

Warning: Vacation pictures to follow... Though this trip was awesome and full of dozens of stories and details, these things may not interest all readers. Feel free to skim. =)

So, if you know us at all or have ever read this blog you know that we just went on a trip that we've been saving for and long anticipating. We left our children with Dwayne's parents and flew to Ohio on August 11th to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I could say soooo much about this trip, but if you can believe it, the following is an abridged summary of our 6 days away. (I should note, we only took our camera to Cedar Point for 1 day because we didn't want the worry of carrying it around every day. Also, theme parks don't make for great photo locations...we're not really looking our best, and all the rides are more magnificent in person. But, this is the best we could do for giving people a glimpse of our fantastic time.)

At the park entrance.


Dwayne getting soaked on the log ride. (This was the one ride where we took turns going on because there was nowhere dry to leave the camera.)


Dwayne, post-log ride- soaking wet with the Skyhawk flying in the background.


Cedar Point in on a peninsula onto lake Erie. It's a really cool location and very beautiful. There is a big water park with access to the beach. Behind me you can see 2 yellow twisting spirals. That's the Wicked Twister. You get strapped in and it shoots you forward where you spiral all the way to the top facing forward, then you fly backwards all the way to the top of the other side facing down... 5 times. I was almost too scared to get on, but I'm glad I did. Super fun. I think we did this ride 4 or 5 times.


Millenium Force was rated the best roller coaster in the world last year. It was one of my favorite rides. Below is a picture of the way up the first drop. You can't tell from the picture, but it takes you up 310 feet and drops you down the other side at an 80 degree angle. Again, I was almost too scared to get on this one... Soooo glad I did! Oh man. When you're at the top all you can see is lake Erie for miles and miles...

This is the Power Tower. It has 2 sides- the red and the green. The green one takes you up 240 feet slowly and then drops you from the top. The red side shoots you up 240 feet from the bottom and you slowly bounce back down. I couldn't manage the green side, but I probably did the red side 10-12 times while we were there. There was NO line. You could walk on this ride for a quick adrenaline fix and head on your merry way.

This is us strapped in on the Power Tower.

This is the Top Thrill Dragster from below. This was the one ride Dwayne couldn't convince me to try. He did it twice. It shoots you out like a gun and you go from 0-120 miles per hour in 4 seconds. (yes, 120 miles/hour, basically 200km/hour...) It takes you up 420 feet where momentum then carries you over the top and you drop at a 90 degree angle back to the start. The whole ride lasts 17 seconds. This one is hilarious to watch. It's totally entertaining. They actually have bleachers beside it so you can watch everyone as they're in the cars about to be shot up in the air. Spectators are only about 12 feet from the riders. It's pretty funny. Especially the people in the front row looking up at this looming 420 tower they're about to ascend. Most have a sort of sick, "I-can't-believe-this-is-about-to-happen" look on their faces. Some are praying. Some are swearing. All of them are screaming once they take off. Awesome. This was Dwayne's biggest thrill. =)

This is MaXair. Hard to capture on film. One of my other favorite rides. It's a giant arm that swings back and forth, getting higher and higher, while the whole wheel is slowly spinning. The reason I love it is that it looks really tame, but it's crazy high and it just feels like you're free falling. It's really fun, but actually totally relaxing for me. I think I did this one 10 times too.

Aside from travel days, we had 4 full days in Ohio. After 2 days at the park, we took a day off to drive to Canton, Ohio where the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located. (We went back for a 3rd day at Cedar Point the next day.) The drive was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Lots of good bonding time for Dwayne and I with no kids. Plus, the car had XM radio so we plugged 6 of our favorite time-periods or genres of music into the pre-set dials and flipped back and forth everytime we were in the car. (Of course, we made a game of it by seeing who could name the song or artist first, complete with a point system.) =) I wasn't sure if the Hall of Fame would be that exciting for me because I LOVE football, but I'm a pretty recent fan of the NFL and thought all the old records and such would mean nothing to me. But, I'm so glad we went. It was really interesting and fun and interactive. Plus, after the Hall of Fame, we found great shopping and outlet centers, so it was a good mix of activities for the day. =)

Here we are with the Vince Lombardi trophy. Doesn't Dwayne look like he just won the Super Bowl? =) So excited!!!

Dwayne and I with the displays from our favorite teams.

So, this room is crazy! This is the actual "Hall of Fame" part of the building. Everyone who's been inducted has their own bust! It's very weird. You walk into this whole room of heads. Talk about immortalized. It feels like you're actually standing in front of Dan Marino...

(As a side note, I have to say that this place was cool, but nothing beats walking into the trophy room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. There it's like a cathedral. Stain glass vaulted ceiling, dim lighting, reverent hush, sort of like sacred territory. This wasn't the same. But still cool.) =)

Last but not least, this is the picture of the B & B where we stayed. It was about a 20 minute drive to Cedar Point. What a great choice! This big, beautiful house is almost 200 years old. It's right across the street from the home where Thomas Edison was born. Judy, our host, was superb. Our room was so comfortable and quiet and our breakfasts were yum-yummy. It was a great retreat after the busy days at Cedar Point or roaming Ohio.

So, there's some highlights for those who made it this far. I didn't get pictures of many rides, and there were many. We enjoyed them immensely. If you like rides, you have to get to Cedar Point at some point in your life. It really lives up to it's reputation as the greatest.

I LOVE going to new places. I thought Ohio was really pretty. I'm glad we got to visit it. Our kids did just fine without us, which I expected. Thanks to nana & papa for such great child care! Dwayne & I needed the break from the constant demands of parenting. If you have little kids, I totally recommend a few days without them. =) Although, we are looking forward to going back to Cedar Point in 10 years or so with both our kids in tow.

Camping

I'm getting a little behind on my summer updates, so I think I'll let the pictures do the talking for a little while here... We went camping in Oliver, BC with Karen & Travis, and Heidi & Rob and all our kids in mid-July.

This was the first time these 2 monkeys had to (got to?) sleep in the same space. Getting Abby to settle down in that tent was a challenge. All she wanted to do was talk to Josiah. Sleepovers are waaay too exciting for sleeping!

Our campground was on Gallagher Lake- small, cute, and chilly. I think it was warmer thanks to the hot weather leading up to our trip though.

The floatie was perfect for Abby. She could be in the water without being held and watch all the action.

All the kids (minus Abby) playing on the beach.

Travis celebrated the big 3-0 while we together. Karen managed to pull off a superb meal despite the limitations of camping life.

Dwayne riding Rob's bike as far as he could into the lake...

Travis, almost fully submerged on the bike...how do guys even think of doing things like this? It's not something that would have ever crossed my mind as I sat on the beach...

The morning we were leaving, it poured rain. Really, really poured. Thankfully it was while we were leaving, so it didn't get in the way of our camping fun. It did make packing up a challenge. The kids took refuge in the Bond trailer (Jayden & Ben weren't feeling particularly photogenic at this moment captured above) while Dwayne bravely packed up our tent and other gear. There was a little bit of unpacking, drying out, and re-packing to do once we got home to Chilliwack... Despite that though, this was a great, great trip. The kids had fun playing together and even though it's exhausting, it's fun to take your kids camping. Plus, it was wonderful just to hang out and talk and reconnect with the grown-ups. =) It's nice to keep the Bond/Martin/Hansen connection going strong.

Inquiring mind

Says Josiah to Dwayne today, "Dad, why do boys have penises and girls have Reginas?"

Much anticipated reunion and introduction

Our great friends, Jon, Angie, Elijah, and Brady left Selkirk about 3 weeks before us last summer. It was a sad farewell for us made more sad by the fact that they were going to miss the birth of our baby...again. (They also moved from Regina a couple of months before Josiah was born...we just basically follow them around the country...) =) Aaanyway, we hadn't had the privilege of introducing these good friends to Abby or of just visiting with them face-to-face for a long time, so we were very, very glad to see them again at the beginning of July. They made the long trip out from Caronport for some reconnecting with lots of family and friends like us. =)
It was awesome to see the boys play together again. They had a pretty grand old time. (I think I have a lot of pictures on this blog of this little turtle pool. We do other things here too besides wade in that 3X3 inflatable pool, just so you all know.) =)

Though we got 2 visits in with the Coutts' for the week they were here, it was altogether too short. Way, way too short. Still, you know when you have reunions with family or friends you haven't seen in a while, and you're reminded of all the reasons why you love those people and how great it is to be together and you wish there weren't always so many miles between you and you leave excited about the next time you get to see each other? That's how this was for me, and I can't wait until we can make a trip out to Saskatchewan.

Stinkin' Hot

We've been doing what we can to keep cool around here. The last 10 days or so have been soooooo hot. Hottest on record around here. Last Wednesday was the hottest day Chilliwack has seen- 38.8 degrees. When I checked the weather at 6pm it said it was 36 degrees and felt like 43. "Yeah," I thought, "That feels about right." I felt like I was melting. It was too hot to go outside. Too hot to stay inside. Too hot to go for a drive. (Our AC is broken in our car.) Too hot to cook. Too hot to clean. I love our house here, but I really miss the central air we had in our house in Selkirk.

So, today is only supposed to be 25 degrees or something, so that will be a nice reprieve. We're leaving tomorrow morning to go camping in Oliver, which is notoriously hotter than the rest of BC... Smart. I think it's supposed to be 30-35 degrees for the 3 days we're there. In a tent. Awesome. =) But, we're on a lake, and our friends have AC in their trailer! Sweet.

And the first year passes...

Well, our little girl turned one on June 28th, and it's hard to believe. I felt, with Josiah, like I had been anticipating the big milestone and thinking about it... But with Abby it really feels like it snuck up on me. We celebrated the big day with a 2-phase party. In the morning we had Abby's little girlfriends over for cupcakes and playtime. (In reality, they were my girlfriends, who happen to also have baby girls around Abby's age, and some of them also have kids Josiah's age.) Two of my friends and their little girls couldn't make it due to sickness and moving into a new house, so all-in-all this "simple" little birthday gathering ended up being 19 guests in our living room! (It was kind of drizzly and we couldn't be outside, as originally planned.) It was a bit chaotic with all the kids running around (more the big kids, than the little ones), but not as crazy as you might expect... Keeva, Nyla, Abby, Sydney, Emily, and Macayla.

Abby's cupcake tower

This was her first cupcake, and she polished it off quite nicely. She was actually pretty non-messy about the whole affair, but clearly enjoyed the new flavor.

Phase 2 of Abby's party was the family supper. Nana, Papa, GG Marshall, Auntie Cheryl, and Uncle Zach all came over for presents, BBQ supper, and strawberry mousse cake!

Cheryl has a crazy story about how she spent the day before Abby's birthday, but with some improvisation, she still managed to pull off this beauty for her little niece's first cake!

Opening presents with the experienced assistance of her big brother.

Abby was learning to put up her hand when someone would ask, "Who's 1, put up your hand?" Then she learned that if she just lifted her hands in the air and cheered, she could get the whole room to cheer with her. She did this about 20 times throughout the evening and still managed to hold us all in the palm of her hand. =)


So, whether we anticipate birthdays or they sneak up on us, they come nonetheless, and it's been a reminder for me to stop and savor this time. Abby is a beautiful little girl. She's healthy and strong. She's an unpredictable eater, but a great sleeper. She's a joker and loves making us laugh. She always laughs when we do, as if she totally understands what's funny. She likes to dance, especially to the music on the weather channel, which Josiah and I check every day. She LOVES animals. Real ones and stuffed ones. She babbles ALL day long. Even in the nursery at church the helpers will comment, "She sure loves to talk, doesn't she?" And it doesn't matter if she knows you or not. If she has something to say, she'll say it to whoever is in earshot, complete with pointing and hand gestures. She gives great kisses and hugs. (Mostly to aforementioned stuffed animals, but also to us, if we ask at the right time.) She likes eyes, and unfortunately tries to stick her finger in everyone's. This has not been so popular with her little girlfriends shown in the above birthday photo... She loves doing whatever Josiah is doing, which some days he loves and some days he doesn't. She's an amazing little girl, and we are so blessed to spend our days with her.

Every night I go into my kids rooms before I go to bed just to check on them. (I wonder how old they'll be before I stop doing that?) Often when I go into Abby's room, one of her chubby little legs will be sticking out through the slats in her crib and she'll be all sprawled out and resting peacefully. And EVERY night my heart warms when I see her face and I think about how glad I am that she's my daughter.

See ya next year

This past week marked Josiah's last day of preschool. This year was such a good experience! Josiah changed a lot between being almost 3 and now almost 4. He's really grown up in lots of ways. I took a picture of him and his teacher, Ms. Annette, who is soooo wonderful. She is very sweet and gentle-spirited, but has great guidelines and a firmness all those little 3 year olds seemed to respect and listen to. It was great to watch her teach. The wonderful thing is that she will also be Josiah's preschool teacher in September when he moves to the 4 year old class and 3 mornings a week. That will be helpful for the transition back into school routine in the fall.For now, though, we're looking forward to a summer off of routine and full of beaches, pools, backyards, campgrounds, bike rides, park visits, sporting activities, BBQ's, and hang out time with friends and family. Ahhh...summer vacation. =)

braving a few steps...

Well, on Wednesday Abby took her first couple of unassisted steps! Just 8 days before her 1st birthday. It was sooo exciting. She's been walking around holding on to things for quite a while and standing stationary for a couple of weeks, but finally had the courage to move those feet forward toward a drawer of pots that I had closed. She's been doing a couple of steps every day since, so I'm sure it won't take long before she's stringing a bunch together. I'm looking forward to that. Crawling gets her everywhere she needs to go, but it's tough in the summer. She's always getting so filthy outside and wearing holes in her pants or scratching up her chubby little knees. It will be awesome to see her walking around and enjoying all there is to discover in this big world.

In her jammies

This was from Abby's 11 month photo shoot a couple weeks ago. She's wearing her new summery jammies. She's sooooo adorable. That's the only reason I'm posting this picture. =)

Fire hall field trip

This is Josiah with his friend Joshua at their preschool field trip to the Chilliwack fire hall at the end of May. It was fun times- tour of the hall, sitting in the truck, taking home new fire chief hats. The tour mostly went right over the heads of all the 3 year olds as the chief seemed to be aiming his comments at the parents, but they had fun walking around anyway.
This is the kids yelling, "FIRE" for their group shot. Also a highlight of their day. =)
Would someone please convince Josiah that it's okay to wear sandals? He INSISTS on wearing socks and shoes, regardless of his outfit or the high temperatures. There are pluses and minuses to a child's independence. The plus: he dresses himself from head to toe every day. Very grown up. The minus: 50% of the time he doesn't exactly match, and I have to resist the urge to make him change because, of course, I assume everyone will think I chose his clothes. But, I've decided to swallow my pride and let people think what they will. Rather than belittling Josiah, I just tell him in my most upbeat voice, "Okay Josiah, that doesn't really match, but if you like it, you can wear it." He seems quite satisfied with his choices every time...

Her Father's Joy

We had Abby dedicated at our church yesterday. Dedication is basically our way of publicly saying that we are committed to raising Abby in a godly home, to taking her to church, and to teaching her about Jesus. Our congregation stands and commits to partnering with us by loving Abby and being a church that teaches the truth of the Bible, worships God together, and reaches out to the world with the love of Christ. It was a really special day. Abby was very animated up on stage, pointing at the crowd and chatting. It was so sweet.

Some of you might remember that Abby means "her father's joy." We love that about her name, partly because we think she might be a daddy's girl. More than that though, our greatest hope for Abby is that she would bring joy to her heavenly Father by living a life that honors and pleases him. With that in mind, we read these verses for her at her dedication service yesterday.

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:9-12