Trystan's 7th Birthday

Trystan is 7!!! Hard to believe that he was 3 when we moved here and is now way taller, older, and so much more mature!
He had to go to school that day but we gave him what he wanted for breakfast (an english muffin with butter), and let him open his present from G/G Grant.
He chose Domino's for dinner and a Oreo cake from Fairway for dessert.
He was showered with gifts and phone calls from family. I also made cupcakes for all his classmates and teachers at school.
On the following Saturday he invited a few friends and had a party. They all had a blast.
We love our Trystan very much!!
You are:
-Smart
-Funny
-Helpful
-Loving
-Mature
-Understanding
-Empathetic
-A great brother
-Compassionate
-Obsessed with beyblades and webkinz LOL

Back to School

This year back to school was on September 6th. Trystan was very excited and not nervous at all! He absolutely loves school! His Grade 2 teacher's name is Mrs.O'Keefe. He's in a Grade 1/2 class. He likes it better than he thought he would. His Grade 1 classroom is right next door so he used to walk by it daily. He thought it looked boring and that all they do is work, but he has been pleasantly surprised that it's not that way at all. Funny kid!
Mrs.Lee (the principal) said he's in the perfect class for his needs. Mrs.O'Keefe is apparently the number one teacher as far as literacy. So she will be good for the pace that Trystan is comfortable with. Being in a grade 1/2 class will also give him the chance to feel like a leader and be a leader and help out the grade 1's.
I'm happy with things and so is Trystan!
I'm sure he'll have a fabulous year. I'm really not worried about him at all, he's such a smarty pants! :)

Summer 2011

Well Summer has come and gone. It went by fast as usual. Our weather was ok, not too hot. We didn't go to the beach once this Summer. Didn't really feel like it until school was in. LOL. Isn't that how it goes!

So our Summer consisted of babysitting Seth and Kira for a few weeks, a visit from Oma and Opa, water park, picnics, park, relaxing aka Jammie Days, and a visit to Kamloops.








Oma and Opa stayed for three weeks. We did some shopping, lots of cooking, and hanging out and enjoying each others company. It was a very nice visit. They are already planning their trip to come next Summer too. :) I don't have any pics of them on my camera since we didn't have our new one when they were here. I have a few on my phone and they sent us some actual photos.

Babysitting Seth and Kira was nice. They are loved by us and we love to have them over. Although sometimes the kids fight like cats and dogs; but that's what happens when people are friends.

Kamloops was nice as well. We did lots and lots of shopping, played outside in the water, hung out with the Johnsons. Kamloops wasn't too hot when we were there, low and high 20s. I'm used to it being close to 40. But it was actually kind of nice. 40 is just way too hot.





















Overall we had a very eventful Summer.

Trystan is happy to be back at school, Kobe is happy to be back at school, and Tiffani and I are enjoying our alone time with each other and to be back in a routine.

Friends

Yesterday we had the pleasure of seeing our good 'ole buddy Dave. And we got to meet his wife Shamaine and their son Hayden (2 years old). I've been wanting to meet them for so long. I'm so glad we finally were able to.
We decided to get some dessert and head to the park with the kids. We had many laughs, as usual. And caught up on their lives. Our kids had a blast together, it's like they've known each other all along!

I'm very proud of Dave and what he has accomplished. More importantly, he has found an amazing wife and they are raising a wonderful boy.
I'm grateful they are in our lives, and that we got to seem them, if even for only a couple of hours.
Adam was there too of course. I was in stitches laughing the whole time. Some things never change, and some people never change. I am grateful for that, and that after all these years we can all get along and have fun like we used to!!
I hope to see them again in the near future!
Why can't we all live closer? GEESH! ;-)

Little Gifts from God!

Ever since we lived in Kamloops and were looking at places to live in here in Victoria, I wanted to get a place that allows a pet. We did not find one. We have been living without a pet for 3 years and 4 months now. It has been tough!! A little piece of myself is missing. I don't feel quite "whole" (for lack of better ways to put it)
Our land lords approved a dog, but only a Bichon or Toy Poodle. Well, they run very expensive and they are hard to find! I think about moving every single day just to get a pet. I really want a cat. I'm more of a cat person than a dog person. But of course moving just to get a pet can't happen just like that. It involves finding the right place, which we haven't. Places here are so expensive. Where we are right now works with our budget. Here is where we will be for a while probably.
But the "little gift from God" that I'm talking about in the title is our new little pet. It's cute, small, brown, and loves nuts. We've got ourselves a pet squirrel. Well not really a "pet", but we sure treat it like it's "ours" and it comes around like it belongs to us too. It comes around in the morning peeking through our patio door asking for more nuts. It gets really close to us. It's unreal. It's the friendliest squirrel I have EVER seen in my life! And we see many of them in our neighborhood; they usually scurry away really fast at first glance of a human.
I feel like that squirrel is a little gift from God. His way of saying, "here you go, Nichelle, this is the best I can do right now. I know it's not a cat, but please be patient, you will have your cat sooner than you realize."
I'm grateful for little Gifts like that. I truly do believe it is from God. I get so happy when I see it. I get to feed it and give it water daily like I would a cat.
The kids absolutely love it too. They also love feeding her nuts. Tiffani yells "SQUIRREL" with such delight and excitement when she sees it. One day it came into our house and tiffani said, "UH-OH" lol. I was half asleep not knowing what she was talking about. I opened my eyes and there was the squirrel in our house.
I can't wait to get a cat...but for now I'll take the squirrel! :)

ps. btw, the little black "blob" on the right hand of the picture is the squirrel.

The start

So I decided to start a blog (again). I came across a blog the other day that has been active for about 5 years. She got a blog book made out of her online blog and that made me think. It made me think how important keeping a journal is, and how special it will be in years to come, especially for the kids. I also got a new camera today, finally, after our last canon broke. (tiffani got ahold of it, we'll make sure that doesn't happen again)So what better time to start!
I'm looking forward to many blog entries and to making the most out of this blog! And, of course, eventually getting this made into a book. :)
Let the fun begin....