Sports, Sports and More Sports

I am so behind on updating this blog and PopPop Adams has clearly reminded me of this, so I combined three sports in one. This year Conor played volleyball for his school. His team was undefeated. He also played league basketball. He is presently playing football for the Cowichan Bulldogs. He plays offensive line. Conor really wants to play defense; however, this year he moved up to a bigger team and he is "low man on the totem pole", so I told him that he has to work his way up. He is doing well and most of our Saturdays are consumed by football.

A Day at Transfer Beach

One of our favorite places to go is Transfer Beach. One Saturday when the weather was clear the kids and some friends had a picnic at the beach. I have to remind myself that even though the weather is clear it is quite cool at this beach as the breeze comes from the ocean. We had a great time but it definitely was not quite spring yet. We found baby jelly fish along the beach. Mack walked along the beach picking them up and throwing them back in the water. She was trying to rescue them. Hmm this sounds like someone else I know; however, her mother is not as passionate about rescuing fish!!!!

A Spa Birthday

Well, the much anticipated birthday of Mackensey has come and gone. She chose a Spa theme after watching me prepare for a MOPS spa event. With the help of two very wonderful friends, thirteen girls had chocolate facials, pedicures and manicures. They came in their house coats (This is Canadian for robes. I was told that nobody knows what a robe is in Canada.) They made homemade bath salts and decorated the jars with tissue paper flowers. If I could do it over, I would have made the party longer and had one more helper. The party went by so fast and it was hard to get everything in. The girls had a blast and the huge hug and kiss after the party from Mack made it all worth it. After everything settled down and it was just her best friend left in the house, I let her open her American Girl stuff from the grandparents. She screamed when she saw the packages because they are very distinctly wrapped American Girl. Thank you Nanny and G-daddy, Nanny and PopPop, Great Nana, Uncle Scott and Aunt Mara, Great Grandma Franks, Kelly and Wendy for making this day great. By the way, Shane was locked in the bedroom during the party!!!!!

Home Sweet Home!

We are pleased to announce that we have moved into a new home. We feel so extremely blessed. This is our dream home and has everything that we could ever want. We have a beautiful view of farm land and a lake. It is a very open floor plan with a downstairs family room and wood burning stove to heat the house. Shane asked all of us what our favorite part of the house was. The kids both liked the big yard and the play room. Shane liked the open floor plan and the view. I keep changing my favorite part. It started with the floors and after the last few nights of the toasty fire - I just can't make up my mind.

Creativity at Its Best

Friends of ours told us about a bike/craft shop where kids can go after school and during the summer to work on bikes and or do crafts. The kids had a lot of fun this summer at the shop. Mackensey did a lot of sewing projects and Conor had to take a bike a part piece by piece in order to learn how to build one. We have started going back twice a week, and on Tuesday Conor came home with his first built bike. He surprised his sister by making her a bike. He only had the frame to work with and had to piece together other parts and even do a little bit of welding. Mackensey made a doll and clothes and designs to go with it. They have really enjoyed this shop and are learning so many great things. Mackensey and Conor are going to paint the bike and make it look new.

The Wedding

Our trip to TN (during the busiest time of year) was for Samantha and Josh's wedding. Conor and Mackensey were so very excited to see everyone but were even more excited about the wedding. Mackensey has dreamed of being a flower girl for as long as I can remember. It was so thoughtful of Josh to make Conor a groomsmen as well. If I do say so myself, Shane did an outstanding job officiating the ceremony and really made it personal. I have so many pictures to share and have had such a hard time choosing just a few.

Snow and More Snow

Well, we definitely have snow! Our trip to TN and home from TN centered around much drama with snow. They were calling for snow before we left, so we packed up early and got a hotel so as not to miss our plane. Then on the way home, our plane was canceled due to Seattle being shut down as well as Victoria. I do have to say if it weren't for Shonda's computer skills we would be stuck in an airport over Christmas. We were re-routed a day later to Vegas where we had to spend the night and then finally arrived home. Just in time for more snow! Coming home was much anticipated to only find our cars literally buried in snow (we could not get out - snow on both sides, front and back of the vehicles). The driveway that we share with the neighbors remained buried in snow with not even a path to our house. Shane and Conor spent the night digging us out only to get another foot of snow - to dig us out again. We woke Christmas morning to another foot of snow (we are not digging out today). Snow or no snow we are so glad to be home. Conor woke up Christmas Eve Day and came down in his snow clothes. He ate breakfast in his ski pants and boots and was outside for the day sledding down some great hills. The snow is absolutely beautiful and it is extremely nice to have a "Very" White Christmas. Merry Christmas to all!