The Phillips Home

First Day of School!!

2011-11-02T12:43:00.002-05:00

Ok I am WAY behind!!! We got back from our Florida trip and there were so many pics that I was too overwhelmed to put any on. So I've just decided to skip it for now, and move on to 1st day of school. Both Emma and Ty had great first days of school. Ty has Ms. Limperopolus, we call her Ms. L,:) and Emma has Ms. Ringdahl. Jeff and I have jumped in full force this semester. Jeff is coaching girls volleyball for grades 4-6, and basketball for boys grades 5 and 6. I am volunteering in Emma and Ty's class with reading and helping with math.

We are loving Lord Roberts Elementary and all the friendships we have there.

Grade 1 pancake:)
Grade 4 pancake!

Emma and Ty on their first day!

Ty in his grade 1 classroom

Emma in her grade 4 classroom.

Canada Day 2011

2011-07-21T13:51:00.004-05:00

Canada Day 2011, dawned cloudy and cool!! Which wasn't a huge surprise because this is what happened last year. It did, however, get sunny for part of the day, which was a treat. We started the day with a picnic, where about 60 of our friends came and had hotdogs, and lots of yummy treats that everyone brought. We played kick ball and a fun "new to us" game called link. Everyone stayed until around 5, when we left to go get good spots for the parade. We all watched the parade together, and Scott brought homemade ice cream, which was a hit!! After the parade we all kind of went our separate ways, and then some of us met up to see the fireworks!! It was a fun and FULL day!!

The kickball game.
Some of the ladies sitting and chatting.

Eating the yummy hotdogs and goodies.

Some of the kids ready for the parade.

Our whole gang at the parade!

Some cheerleaders from SFU and UBC in the parade.

Some Royal Canadian Mounties.

Sports Day 2011!!

2011-07-21T13:05:00.005-05:00

Sports Day 2011, was GREAT!! We started off with each day doing tug'o'war, then we had grade level 50 yard dash. Then after recess, they were divided up into their teams and played games ALL day long. I know I've probably said this before, but I LOVE how the older kids at our school take care of our younger ones. All the kids were divided up into teams and on each team were kids from every grade. The older kids (grades 6-7) were the team leaders and helped the younger ones at each station. The kids had so much FUN!!

Ty doing the tug'o'war, he was the anchor :)
Emma pulling hard on the rope in the tug'o'war!!!

Emma and her ribbon from the race!! She got 3rd place!!

Emma running hard!

Ty ready for his race.

Ty with his ribbon, he got 1st!!

Ty with the egg in the spoon.

Emma in the sack race!!

Ty with one of his best friends, Jake!

Emma with one of her best friends, Angelica!

Our principal, Ms. Coopersmith, and Steve, our counselor.

Fort Langely field trip with Emma's Class

2011-07-21T12:12:00.005-05:00

Emma's teacher this year, LOVED field trips!! We went on many, but this one was different because it was away from downtown. We were able to go to Fort Langley which is a historical site for where people used to trade and barter. The kids were able to mine for gold, roll barrels, and build a house. Then we went to a nearby park and had lunch. It was a lot of fun, AND educational!!

The house where they would sign contracts.

Emma's "gold"

Mining for "gold"

Building a house

Rolling barrel contest

My group of kids

Ended the day with a game of red rover. Glad that game is still around!!

the Crossings Easter Service 2011

2011-07-21T11:44:00.004-05:00

This was our first year as a church to do an Easter service. Our team was great with set up and take down and even though we're not to the point of doing weekly services, it was good to see everyone in action!!

The toddler room where I was.
The 3's and 4's

Grade School kids

The muffins and coffee and our nice security woman :)

Our Greeters :)

Doing sound check.

Easter Egg Decorating and Egg Hunt

2011-07-21T11:33:00.003-05:00

Well one thing I have found out about church planting is that when you're in charge of an event, you seem to get less pictures than if you're not in charge:). So that prefaces my lack of pics for our Easter Egg Decorating and Hunt. We invited friends over to decorate eggs and do an egg hunt Easter weekend. We set up tables in our courtyard and the kids had fun decorating the eggs. Then we sent the kids to the other courtyard and hid TONS of eggs. The kids had a great time finding them and then we all had a yummy picnic lunch of hotdogs! It was a very fun and beautiful afternoon.

Some of our kiddos decorating eggs.

Emma making a masterpiece!

Ty making his masterpiece!

Ty hunting eggs (actually counting the eggs):)

Emma going to all extremes to find the eggs :)

Emma's Fashion Runway Birthday Party!!

2011-07-21T01:41:00.004-05:00

Emma designed absolutely every aspect of her birthday party this year. She designed the invitations, then drew out a picture as well as made a list of what we needed for her cake. Then she described what colors she wanted everything in and how she wanted everything set up. She wanted to do a fashion show/runway party. The invitation told the girls to bring clothes that they would want to walk the runway in. There were about 20 girls in our apartment all primping and getting their make-up etc. on. Then we took them to our party room that the building has and we had decorated it to look like a runway. We had fun music going and I think the girls could have swapped clothes and walked the runway for hours. After about 1 1/2 hours of runway walking we had to put an end to it so we could do cake, ice cream, and presents. We had videoed the girls on the runway and they LOVED watching themselves as the ate. It was such a fun birthday party and I was so proud of Emma for creating everything. I think everyone involved had an incredible time.

Emma's runway cake

The whole group!!

Natalia and Ashra

Emma and Natalia

Emma and her friends on the runway!

Emma blowing out her 9 candles!!!

Emma opening gifts.

All the girls watching themselves while they ate cake.

Emma's 9th Birthday

2011-06-24T14:45:00.006-05:00

Emma woke up on her 9th birthday with her door decorated and a new desk in her room! We had cinnamon rolls shaped like 9's and I made brownies for her to share with her class, then ended the day with fried chicken. I can NOT believe my precious baby girl is 9!!!!! There are many days that I wish I could turn back the clock and play with her more, although she still loves for us to play with her now:). I am so thankful for her!!

Door Decorated!

"9" Cinammon Roll

Emma before she hands out brownies to her class, after they sang to her.

Day 9

2011-06-24T14:30:00.004-05:00

On our last full day in TX, Emma and Ty had date day and night with PaPa and MiMi, while Jeff and I showed our friends Jonny and Melissa Lochhead (Jonny's from Scotland, but living in Canada, and Melissa is from Canada) around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and then we went to Passion Ft. Worth with the Lochheads, and Jeff's Mom and Truman. The kids of course got spoiled and went to Alley Cats where they played games and Emma climbed the rock wall. They also got LOTS of tickets and came back with LOTS of little prizes!

This is one of the "prizes" Ty chose...this boy cracks me up!!
Emma on the rock wall!! She is so amazing at this!!

Day 8--Drive through SAFARI!!!!

2011-05-31T22:02:00.010-05:00

On Thursday we drove down to Glen Rose TX to Fossil Rim drive through zoo, and the Glen Rose State Park with Grami, Poppy and Grandma. The kids absolutely LOVED it. Ty sat on Jeff's lap and could feed animals on his side, and Emma sat in my lap and did the same. We saw ALL kinds of animals, deer, ostrich, zebra, giraffes, cheetahs, etc. We had lunch there, and then after driving through we headed over to the state park, which has dinosaur fossils. Emma and Ty loved looking at them. While we were at the park Jeff and I took the kids on a short hike and of course they loved climbing up and down the rocks. We drove back to Ft. Worth and let Emma choose where she wanted to eat for her birthday. She chose Chuck E. Cheese :). So we went, ate pizza, and played games. To end our night we went to Braum's (YUMMY)!! We had a full and very fun day!

Ty and Jeff looking at the animals

One walking straight at us:)

They also had a petting zoo there and Emma and Ty brushed the goats.

Ty brushing!

Some of the animals eating the food.

The zebras came so close we could touch them. One even stuck his nose on the window. (we had rolled up the windows for the zebras b/c they were pretty aggressive.

Lunch!!

Zebra trying to get in :)

GIRAFFE!!

The giraffes would come close too!

Emma feeding the giraffe as it sticks it's head in the window!!

Grandma, Grami, Emma, Poppy, and Ty

Grami, Ty, Emma, Poppy

looking for the dinosaur tracks.

Sweet!!!

Emma took a pic of Jeff and I on our hike!

At the Glen Rose State Park!

Emma and Ty hiking.

Four generation pose: Grandma, Grami, Jeff, Emma, and Ty :)

Evening of Day 7--Grandpa, Grandma,and Papaws

2011-05-30T01:17:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday afternoon/night, we went over to Jeff's grandma's house to see his dad, grandma, and papaws. We went and ate bbq with them, got Braums ice cream (YUM!!), and then went back to their house to visit a while. It was great seeing them and we enjoyed visiting with them!

Emma, Grandma, Papaws, Ty

Emma, Grandpa, Ty

Days 6-7 The GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!

2011-05-25T13:30:00.009-05:00

Day 6 started off with Mimi letting Emma and I get our nails done!! We had fun being pampered:). Next we headed off to the Great Wolf Lodge. Emma and Ty absolutely LOVE going here and riding the rides, swimming in the wave pool and playing. Ty is finally tall enough that we don't have to worry about him not being able to ride anything, which is a huge relief!! After we had tons of fun in the water, we went to the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Emma's birthday. We got a brownie volcano for dessert, which was delicious!!! After that we went back to the Lodge and the kids played games in the gameroom. We went to bed and then got up ready to go on Day 7 for some more fun in the water!! It was a fun mini-vacation in the middle of our trip!

Emma and I getting our toes worked on!

Emma getting her fingernails done.

Papa and Emma on a ride.

Jeff and Ty on a ride.

This was one of the things Emma LOVED. She did it over and over!!

PaPa and MiMi!!

Jeff and I

Ty, he still doesn't like to stop and smile for pics most of the time :).

Emma, however, is ready to pose for a pic at any moment!!

Eating at the Rainforest Cafe.

The waiters singing to Emma!! She loved it!!

Emma playing Skee ball!

Ty playing.

Emma petting a "mouse"

Ty poking a bear in the eye :)

One thing Ty and Emma always do is "serve icecream" through these little windows. They love taking our orders and then serving it up!!

Spring Break Day 5--Baby William, and date day with PaPa and MiMi

2011-05-21T23:45:00.003-05:00

On day 5, Jeff and I drove down to College Station Texas to see one of my best friends from high school, who had just had a baby. While we did the road trip, Emma and Ty went with PaPa and Mimi to Going Bonkers, a super fun play place!! They had fun being with just PaPa and MiMi, without the limitations of mom and dad, and Jeff and I had fun seeing friends we hadn't seen in FOREVER and a PRECIOUS baby!!

Emma and Ty at Going Bonkers

Playing in the play place.

Sweet William, he was absolutely precious!!!!

Me, Ashley and the adorable William!!

Spring Break Day 4!! Fun with Grami, Poppy, Grandma, and their friends!!

2011-05-21T23:07:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, our 4th day in TX, we were able to go to one of Jeff's mom's best friends, Janie's house. We got to ride four wheelers, play baseball, and Emma caught 3 fish!!! We had a great bbq lunch and thoroughly enjoyed our time. The only pics I got were of us on our 4wheelers, the rest Grami took, and they are printed and I haven't scanned them. However, we did have a wonderful time, even if there's not as many pics!!

Jeff on the 4wheeler

Emma on the 4wheeler (Emma like these, but really enjoyed Janie's dog, Izzy!!!!)

Ty on the 4wheeler, this was definitely his favorite part:)

Spring Break Day 3 SIX FLAGS!!!!

2011-05-10T16:20:00.006-05:00

Day 3 was a very exciting day. Not only did the kids get to see their cousins, aunt, and uncle, they got to go to SIX FLAGS!!!!! They were so ready to go ride rides!! We first rode the bobsled, then MiMi (the only one who doesn't get sick on the boat) took all the big kids on the "boat" aka the Conquistador. After that was the first round of the log ride, followed by a second ride where my niece, Jacqueline, rode it for the 1st time(I'm pretty sure it's b/c I asked her to go) :). She is not big on rides so this was a HUGE step for her, and she LOVED it!! During the 2nd log ride in which Auntie Julee, PaPa, Jacqueline, and Ty were riding, Mason, Hayden, Jeff, and Emma rode the Titan (they're the only ones tall enough). After that we were off to the "old timey"cars. We had lunch, rode the mine train, then my mom and I were the best mom and MiMi ever b/c we went on the Aquaman(which gets you TOTALLY wet) with Emma while the boys rode Tony Hawks big spin. We finished Six Flags up with the Judge Roy Scream and the Cave. We went back to MiMi and PaPa's for Pizza Inn pizza (a request by Jeff and me) :). It was a very eventful and VERY fun day!!

Waiting in line at the Judge Roy Scream.

MiMi, Me, and Emma on the Aquaman.

Jeff, Ty, Hayden, and Mason on Tony Hawk's Big Spin.

Ty, Hayden and Jeff on the "old timey" cars.

Emma and Jacqueline making funny faces!!

2 of the prettiest girls I know :)

Hayden, Emma, Mason, Ty, Jeff, and Me waiting for the Judge Roy Scream.

Julee, Jacqueline, PaPa, and Ty on the Log Ride after Jacqueline's FIRST time!!!

Me and my sweet nieces playing while the big kids were on the Log Ride the 1st time.

Emma and Hayden, braving the top row!!

Mason, Ty, and MiMi on the "boat"

PaPa and MiMi with all of their grandkids!!

Evening of Day 2

2011-05-02T22:28:00.003-05:00

On the night of Day 2 we went to see a Ft. Worth Brahmas game with Grami and Poppy. Ty of course was more than thrilled with his love for hockey and Emma was ready for a good time too! We sat behind the goal and cheered them on to a win in overtime. On a side note: EVERY sports event I go to or watch on tv and would like it to end at a decent time, ALWAYS goes into overtime. It's not that I want to leave the people I'm with, it's just that I would like it to end when it's supposed to. Since I'm not the biggest sports enthusiast, I guess I don't appreciate a good overtime:). We did have a wonderful time and at one of the intermissions they even had a wedding on the ice, which Emma enjoyed and critiqued :)

Poppy, Jeff, and Ty

Grami and Emma

The wedding

The Brahmas!!

Spring Break in TX Day 2

2011-05-02T22:10:00.002-05:00

Day 2 we woke up and just hung around my parents house. Ty played baseball most of the time and Emma opened some of her gifts from MiMi and PaPa for her early birthday. The night before we also had an icecream cake that she asked MiMi to get and it was delicious!!

Emma playing in the back yard.

Ty being the pitcher.

Emma opening her gifts.

Blowing out 9!!! candles! Can't believe how old she is!!!

Spring Break in TX Day 1

2011-04-28T15:42:00.005-05:00

Well I know this is from a long time ago, but our lives started spinning wildly out of control after we got back from spring break, so I'm just now posting pics from our trip, Emma's birthday, and Easter. So this is day one of our spring break trip to TX. We flew in Wednesday night around midnight, and then slept in a little the next morning. Thursday afternoon we went horseback riding and had a blast. This is one thing we have found that both the kids LOVE doing. We went last year up here in Canada, and this trip we went in Keller TX. At the end the kids got to feed the horses jelly beans and they had fun giggling and squirming while the horses licked their hands. :)

Our train line: Me, Ty, Emma, MiMi, Jeff, PaPa.

Emma feeding her horse a jelly bean.

Ty feeding his horse a jelly bean.

All 6 of us on our horses saying "yee-haw"

I LOVE painted walls!!!

2011-03-22T23:52:00.002-05:00

We just had a mission team come to visit from Brandon MS. They had asked what would help us personally and we told them we would love for them to help us paint our townhome!! They even had a very talented artist in the group, so Emma and Ty told her what they wanted on the walls and she was so sweet to meet their requests! They painted the whole apt. a tan color and then we had one wall in the living room that was a steel blue color. Then in Emma's room she wanted lime green with flowers and her name on the wall. Ty had the tan, with one accent blue wall. He asked for the Canucks hockey logo and his name. We are so grateful that they were able to help us out like this. To me, a house just isn't a home until it's painted... now I have a HOME :)

Emma's room.

Ty's logo.

Ty's name.

The blue and tan walls.

We also rearranged our furniture and it's a little roomier :)

Snow and Sledding in the City!!

2011-03-22T19:57:00.003-05:00

We finally had a full day of snow here in downtown!!! It snowed all day and then all night and we had mounds of snow to play in!! Because I have the best husband and our kids have the best daddy EVER, he allowed them to play in the snow and make a snowman at MIDNIGHT!!!! We had had some friends over for dinner and we took the last family home around 11:45 because they lived the furthest (about 7 or 8 blocks). When we got back, Jeff said, "let's make a snowman!!!" So at 12:00 am we were in our courtyard building a snow man!! The kids had so much fun. The next day we put on our snow gear and headed out to sled. We found a hill about 2 blocks away that was perfect for sledding.

Daddy, Ty, Emma, and our snowman!
Building the snowman.

Emma sledding.

Ty sledding.

Taking our sleds to the hill.

Ty and Emma going at the same time.

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-03-22T19:37:00.005-05:00

We did our annual, Valentine's Dinner/Scavenger Hunt again this year and the kids had so much fun. Emma made all of the placemats, also making cards for all of the food. We had fried chicken, then the kids went on a scavenger hunt around our home, looking for clues and then finding their treasure in our ottoman :). It was another great Valentine's Day!!

The fried chicken :)

Daddy's placemat

Emma's placemat.

My placemat.

Ty's placemat (he did do the part on the right :)

The name card for the mashed potatoes!

Going to look for clues.

Reading the clues.

One was on the top bunk :)

Finding the Valentine treasure!!

Singing at the Korean Church

2011-03-22T19:24:00.002-05:00

For a while we were praying for the Korean Church every Sunday afternoon, while they met. After they met, one of the young women, Sunny, would teach Emma, Ty, and Carson Sunday School. They loved going each week, and at their last service (they had to move buildings and we no longer meet with them on Sundays) Emma and Ty sang a song and did motions for all of them. They had a great time and enjoyed every minute!!

Sunny, Ty, Emma, and Carson!!

20 Questions with the Kiddos!!

2011-02-09T21:35:00.004-06:00

I got this idea from a couple of friends' blogs and thought it was a great idea!! I asked Emma and Ty 20 different questions and thought you might like to read their responses!! They definitely get their indecisive nature from me!! For the questions you were only supposed to have one answer, but you can see it didn't quite turn out that way :)

Emma:

1) What is your favorite color? green, blue, yellow, purple

2) What are you really good at? rock climbing

3) Who is your best friend? "in the whole world?" asks Emma. Adyn, Halle, Alaira, KB

4) What is your favorite thing about having a brother? sometimes he plays with me

5) Who is Mommy's favorite 8 yr-old? ME!

6) What do you want to be when you are a grown up? teacher; gymnastics teacher; famous rock climber; famous figure skater; nail tech; work at a hair salon.

7) What do you like to do with Daddy? go to build a bear

8) What do you like to do with Mommy? see a movie.

9) What does Mommy say to you a lot? baby

10) What is your favorite food? fried chicken

11) What do you like about church? Sunday School

12) What is your favorite toy? Sprinkles

13) What is your favorite song? Toby Mac; Selena Gomez

14) What do you like to do outside? swim

15) What is your favorite animal? leopard, cheetah, giraffe

16) What makes Mommy happy? kissing me

17) What does God do? Saves us

18) What is your favorite movie? Alvin and The Chipmunks-the Squeakqel; Beverly Hills Chiuahua

19) What does Mommy like to eat? Beef Stroganoff

20) How much does Mommy love you? A WHOLE BUNCH!!

TY:

1) What is your favorite color? black, blue, green white, red, purple

2) What are you really good at? hockey

3) Who is your best friend? Jake, Joseph, Vladislau

4) What is your favorite thing about having a sister? she plays with me

5) Who is Mommy's favorite 6 yr-old? ME!

6) What do you want to be when you are a grown up? famous hockey player; policeman; famous writer

7) What do you like to do with Daddy? go on rides at Six Flags

8) What do you like to do with Mommy? play

9) What does Mommy say to you a lot? hockey??? When asked a 2nd time: that you love me.

10) What is your favorite food? grilled chicken and baked potatoes

What do you like about church? playing in the hall

12) What is your favorite toy? hockey

13) What is your favorite song? don't know...something Toby Mac

14) What do you like to do outside? play

15) What is your favorite animal? bull, horse, dog, cat, lion, tiger

16) What makes Mommy happy? playing with me

17) What does God do? helps us

18) What is your favorite movie? all hockey movies and Elf

19) What does Mommy like to eat? Beef Stroganoff; Daddy: Roast

20) How much does Mommy love you? A WHOLE BUNCH!! and then he added, & DADDY does TOO!!

Christmas in February!!

2011-02-09T13:33:00.004-06:00

Well I feel as if I haven't taken down my blog, "Christmas Tree" :). I know it's been forever since Christmas, but I just haven't been able to put pics up, some from lack of motivation and some from busyness!!

So here is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!! We set out cookies for Santa, put reindeer food on the roof, read the Jesus Christmas Story, said goodbye to the elves, looked for Santa on NORAD, and then went to sleep. Emma woke up about 5:45, but being the bad parents we are:), we made her wait until 6 and then we woke Ty up. They loved running down the stairs and seeing their presents! We played all day long, made a Happy Birthday Jesus cake, and then we had friends over that night to celebrate with!!

It was a WONDERFUL Christmas!!

Putting cookies out and saying goodbye to Tyler and Emily, the elves.

Throwing reindeer food!

Tracking Santa on NORAD.

Santa came by :)

Ty loved his jersey!

Emma looking at her FurReal puppy and sewing kit.

Putting sprinkles on Jesus' cake.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!!

Christmas Traditions

2011-01-31T12:46:00.007-06:00

Well in one of my other posts I told you that at Christmas we have many traditions that we do and that this year we wanted to start some new ones to go with our new city! So we did some of our usual, decorating cookies, decorating gingerbread houses, looking at lights in pj's and with hot cocoa, but then we added in a couple of new ones too, looking at incredible gingerbread houses and sledding(that was actually after Christmas).

Jeff and Emma decorating Emma's

Ty decorating his.

Decorating Cookies.

"Willy Wonka" in Gingerbread form (it was my favorite!!)

A gingerbread village complete with a hockey rink!

Close up of Wonka!

Giant Gingerbread house.

Houses that we looked at.

Ready to go!

All bundled up in pj's and blankets to go look at Christmas lights!

A GREAT GIFT!!!

2011-01-06T18:59:00.003-06:00

In the words of my mom, "Besides Disney World, this was my favorite vacation!!" My parents came up for Christmas at the beginning of December and took us on a ski vacation to Whistler. We never thought we'd live so close to the slopes, so now that we do, we wanted our kids to know how to ski. It has also been a dream of my dad's to ski with his grandchildren!! So we went up and skied for 3 days. The kids loved it, and the adults loved it!! We all had a great time. My mom doesn't ski, so she cooked a great breakfast and lunch for us and then we would go out for dinner. It was so nice to have a place to come back to during the day and have a good meal. Before we left for Whistler we had our Christmas with them, and then when we got back we went to Bright Lights in Stanley Park. We had a blast with PaPa and MiMi!!

On the train at Bright Lights.

Ty and Emma with the Gingerbread Man!

Ty with one of his stocking stuffers :)

Emma with her American Girl twin toddlers!!

Ty with his Stars Hockey Jersey!

PaPa, Ty, MiMi, and Emma on the Gondola ride up the mountain!

PaPa, MiMi, Emma and Ty headed out to ski, and MiMi to shop :)

Emma and Ty coming down the mountain.

I'd never been in a white out, but we were on this trip!! It was crazy!! It was blizzard-like snowing and foggy. Still having fun though :)

The Phillips Family waving to MiMi at the condo.

Christmas Parade

2011-01-01T23:23:00.003-06:00

I love having traditions and this year we added a few to Christmas!! The first one we added in December was the "Santa Claus Parade"!! It was a block from our apt so we didn't have to get there an hour or more before, which was nice. We arrived about 15 min before it started and had a great spot. The kids had fun seeing all of the floats, bands, and getting the handouts!

Rudolph the Red? (It was kind of orangey) nose BUS!!
Float for Construction workers working safely.

Dance Team

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Emma and Ty with Emma's friend Angelica.

SANTA CLAUS!!!

My own little santa's!!

Letters To Santa!

2011-01-01T23:00:00.003-06:00

Jeff and I always try to pick a week night before December to go see Santa at the Mall. We do not want to stand in line with hundreds of others so we opt for a weeknight. When we were in Mississippi we always did it the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, being in Canada now, and Thanksgiving being different we did it the first week of December. I'm thankful to say no one was there besides us!! Before we left the house we had the kids write their letters to Santa. Then we headed out. I love being the only ones there to see him b/c he takes alot more time with each kid. The kids had a great time telling him what they wanted (Emma knows now that we are actually Santa) and Ty will instantly tell you that the mall Santa is NOT the real Santa, just a helper :), however they both love the tradition :)

Ty writing his letter.

Emma writing hers.

Santa reading Ty's letter.

Santa reading Emma's.

Merry Christmas 2010!!

Ty Turns 6!!!!!!

2010-11-28T23:57:00.006-06:00

Ty has definitely had a LONG Birthday celebration this year. His actual birthday was on Thursday, November 18, but his party was not going to be until Friday the 26th. So he woke up Thursday morning to signs and streamers on his door, had a #6 pancake, took cupcakes to school, got to pick out a prize at school, went skating after school, went to a hockey game Friday night, saw Megamind, Saturday, his Korean Sunday School teacher bought him a cake for Sunday school, then on Friday, he had his much anticipated hockey party!! All of this while continuing to say, "It's my birthday..so can I pick....?" After all of that he is officially 6!!!!!! I can not believe how quickly the time has flown by. I feel like I was just holding him in the hospital and now he's in Kindergarten, and 6!!!

Decorated Door!

#6 Breakfast.

Picking out his prize at school, which he was SO excited about!!

Ty standing by his cupcakes, while the class sings "Happy Birthday" short story on the cupcakes: I had made homemade confetti cupcakes, that Ty and Emma had helped with the night before. Emma came down to Ty's class before we passed them out to get one. As I was getting her one, the glass container fell and busted on the floor, ruining the majority of the cupcakes, so I had to RUN to Safeway to pick up some more. Ty handled it great and his only request was that they be decorated :)

Ty's class!

Emma helping Ty read his cards at his birthday dinner.

Some of the gifts from PaPa and MiMi that were left to open. Everything else Ty got for his bday from family had to be given early b/c it was all hockey stuff and he needed it right away. So for a month, we have been saying, "this is from so and so for your birthday, but you need it now" :)

Korean cake for Ty's bday!

Ty had 2 requests for his cake. 1)that it be made with candy. 2)that it have strawberry cake on the inside. Both seem like pretty reasonable requests, and the first I could definitely do, however, the great city of Vancouver does not sell Strawberry cake mix!!! In fact, when I asked my Canadian friend Melissa, she said she'd never heard of it!! So, thankfully, Lyndsey rescued us and was going down to the States on Tuesday before his party and got me 2 mixes!! Thanks Lyndsey, you made his day extra special :)

About to blow out the candles.

All the kids eating cake and ice cream.

The parents.

One of Ty's gifts was a Luongo life size poster. He loved it!

Ty's friend Jake skating.

The non blurry kid is Ty playing hockey. We had the rink divided, with half playing hockey and half skating.

Hockey Game.

All the kids that came!!

Halloween and Trick or Treating

2010-11-28T20:10:00.007-06:00

We had tons of fun Halloween weekend this year!! We had parties at school on Friday, some friends over Saturday night, and then, Trick or Treating 2 different times on Sunday!! It was fun-filled!! In Mississippi, we were always told to wear costumes that were not too scary and kid friendly. They obviously do not go by those rules here in Vancouver :). On Friday, at school, all of the kids could dress up in whatever costume they wanted. They had a "haunted hallway" that Emma's class was a part of (she was dressed as a black cat, that's about as scary as we get in our household :). I went with Ty's class to the "haunted hallway" and it was SCARY!!! The teacher in charge of the hallway asked our teacher if we wanted the lights on or off, she said she didn't care, but looking back I think we should have gone with ON!! It was pitch black with a strobe light blinking, scary music, the kids were lining the hallway with scary masks and things were hanging down from the ceiling. 2 of the scariest masks were the scream face masks that had blood pumping through them--YUCK!! I had about 5 kindergarteners huddled around me crying and screaming as I am holding their hands and pushing them through. At the end of the hallway was a "dead" body hanging from the ceiling. By this point all of the kids are crying and saying they never want to do that again, and one of the little boys got a nose bleed from the excitement--TOTALLY different than the Fall Festivals we are used to attending :). At the end of the day though, both classes had great parties that were alot of fun. Emma's class decorated cupcakes, and Ty's class had several stations set up to make crafts, play games, and they sang songs for us at the end. Saturday night we had friends over and just grilled out, which was very fun and relaxing. On Sunday we went over to an area of town called Yaletown and trick or treated the shops there. It was a totally different experience, and the kids loved going from store to store. After a couple hours there, we headed home, warmed up, grabbed a quick snack, then set back out to the West End, which is where our school is located. There we trick or treated some homes and apartment buildings. People go way out here for Halloween. There was a row of houses and an apt building that had really decorated. The apt. building was made into a freak show/circus theme, and one of the houses had been made into a pirate ship. In all, inspite of the one scary event, we had a great time with friends this Halloween!

The Pirate Ship House.

Ty(one of the stations was painting your own face) and his friend Jake, both Batman!!

My handsome Batman.

My Beautiful Cat.

Emma's yummy decorated cupcake.

Tasting her work :)

Ty and Jake playing BINGO. This was Ty's favorite thing at the party!

Emma's Class.

Our decorated Pumpkins.

Ty's face says what he's thinking about the yucky inside of the pumpkin :)

Emma did great this year at helping carve her own pumpkin and cleaning it out!

Ty changed costumes for actual trick or treating, now he's Robin!!

Emma the black cat behind the pumpkins!

Waiting to cross the street to trick or treat the businesses.

Trick or Treating the businesses.

This is Luongo. Most of you probably don't have a clue who he is, but he's the goalie for the Vancouver Canucks! HUGE DEAL up here!! We noticed him out with his daughter and asked for a pic and he was happy to do it!! Ty was THRILLED!!

Off to trick or treating #2.

Ty, aka Robin.

Emma and super girl, aka Madeleine.

The whole west end trick or treating group :) Buzz: Carson, China Doll: Brooklynn, Robin: Ty, Black Cat: Emma, Super Girl: Madeleine, Zombie: Ashra, and Cooper (as himself :)

Ty's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!!

2010-11-18T01:23:00.004-06:00

Ty's class went on a field trip to a different pumpkin patch than we went to as a family. It was fun, but Ty said his favorite was still the one we went to first. It was a very "Vancouverish"day, slightly misting, cold, and muddy in the pumpkin patch! None of that bothered the kids one bit :)

Jake, Ty, Vladisaw, and a blurry Kyle.
I had never seen characters like this before: a giant pumpkin and corn.

This is what the kids did for about 10 minutes straight!! They ran and hopped on the hay bales row by row!

Here they were playing in a giant tent filled with hay.

Ty on the wagon ride.

The one thing I did like better at this patch was that they had musicians on the wagons with us leading us in a sing-a-long!!

Ty picking his pumpkin.

After the patch we went to a nearby park that was by the water to eat lunch.

They also ran around and scared seagulls away.

PUMPKIN PATCH!!!

2010-10-30T00:51:00.005-05:00

Just a little warning--there are A LOT of pictures coming up :)

If you know me at all you know I love fall and I LOVE going to a pumpkin patch every year. One of the first things I did when I knew we were moving to Vancouver was make sure there was a pumpkin patch somewhere close enough to drive. We found a GREAT one this year. Each pumpkin patch holds a special place in my heart because each one has so many memories that we've created at it, and I know this one will hold many more memories in the years to come. This year we went with the Robinson's and our friends Amy and Ashra. The kids played in bouncy houses, rode horses, pet bunnies, went on a hayride, picked pumpkins, tasted REAL apple cider (really its fresh squeezed apple juice with no preservatives--it was AMAZING!!!), jumped on a jumping pillow, went down slides and through a small maze. It was FUN!!! We can't wait to go back next year!!

Ashra, Emma, and Ty.

Ty riding the horse.

Emma riding the horse.

Emma petting the bunnies.

Ty in the bunny houses.

Seriously, I took about 15 pics and not ONE turned out with everyone looking at the camera!!

On the hayride!

Ty and Daddy!!

Amy and Ashra.

Ty's pumpkin pick of 2010!!

Emma's pumpkin pick of 2010!!

This year she was even big enough to pick it up!!! I don't like how old she's getting !!!

Emma and Ty on the jumping pillow.

Carson on the jumping pillow.

Emma decorating her pumpkin.

The finished product!!

Ty painting his pumpkin (to look like it was bloody, gore is a new thing at our house) :)

Ty's finished product!!

Happy Thanksgiving - Canada Style

2010-10-22T18:12:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving in Canada is earlier than the U.S., it's the 2nd Monday in October. We had 2 Canadian Thanksgivings this year. The Korean Church that we pray for on Sundays at noon wanted to have their Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday after church. They asked us to bring some Canadian/American food, and they brought some food too. So our team brought turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin and pecan pies, rolls, etc. Alot of the Koreans had never had turkey, but they obviously liked it, b/c it was GONE!! They seemed to like everything else too, although the mashed potatoes, and the cool whip for the pies, were hard to eat with chopsticks. For our 2nd Canadian Thanksgiving, we invited people we knew in our community that didn't have family plans. So we ended up with around 29 people in our apt. It was crowded, but FUN!! 5 of those people were here from Mississippi for a missions trip. They helped us make all of those people feel hospitable and cleaned up--they were a ton of help!!

Victor with the kids at the Korean church.

The Mississippi team praying during the service.

Korean Thanksgiving.

Our Korean friends eating :)

More friends eating!

Our friends at our apt. before we ate the 2nd Thanksgiving dinner.

The food!! there was tons!!

Some of the ladies in our solarium.

Our friends Amy and Carl, and 1/2 of Victor :)

Patsy and Ann. (and Jeff peeking through!! LOL)

Fall day at the Park

2010-10-22T17:57:00.003-05:00

Since we have been here Vancouver has been beautiful in every way!! The summer was gorgeous and the fall has been INCREDIBLE!! I love fall, so to see all of the leaves changing and the cooler weather (although summer wasn't near as hot as anywhere else we've lived) has been wonderful. On this particular Saturday we rode our bikes to Stanley Park and then played on one of the playgrounds there. Just to let you know, the leaves are changing and even more beautiful now than they were in September.

Our sidewalk.

One of the crazy things about Stanley Park is the very friendly wildlife. The raccoons will practically pat you down for food. So when we got to the park, we weren't entirely surprised to see raccoons there, although we were surprised that we saw 6 of them!

One of the 6.

Pretty trees.

Ty digging.

Emma playing with her puppy.

Emma and Ty by the rose garden.

Trip to the Beach with Ty's Class

2010-10-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

I know I've said this before, but I LOVE that our school is so close to the beach!!! One of the Fridays in September Ty's class headed down to the beach for some playing. They all spalshed in the water and made different creative things in the sand. They had so much fun.

Eyeing the water!

In the water!!

Ty with his friend Mark, pointing something out.

Ty, Joseph, Jake and Mark were building a way for the water to come down the side of a small sand wall.

2nd First Day of School

2010-10-21T23:19:00.004-05:00

For our 2nd "First" day of school we had cinnamon rolls!! For every grade but Kindergarten they had a full day, however, the kindergarteners went for 2 hours on this day and met all of the kindergarten teachers and were able to be in their rooms for a while to see what each teacher was like.
The yummy cinnamon rolls!

Emma with a big bite :)

Emma and Ty all dressed up!!

Ty, the big Kindergartener!!

Emma, our big 3rd grader!!

Emma in her new class at her new desk.

This is Ty in one of the Kindergarten rooms. This was Mr. Coomb's room and his room was the "play"room. It was definitely Ty's favorite!!

This is Ty in Mrs. Foisy's class. This is the teacher who Ty ended up getting for this year. I could not have put him in a better class. Mrs. Foisy is so kind to the students and she is an INCREDIBLE teacher!! Inspite of my humanly plans, God always puts Ty and Emma in the perfect classes, that suit them perfectly. I'm so thankful that God knows everything and knows what's best for my children, that He loves even more than I do.

First Day of School- 30 min. long day :)

2010-10-21T22:58:00.002-05:00

In Vancouver the first day of school is only 30 minutes long. So this year, we had 2 "first" days of school, a 30 min. one, and a full day one. These pics were from our 30 min. day. On this day they go back to their previous year's class and their previous teacher takes roll, then it's time to go. They didn't find out what class they were in until 3 days later!! Different system, but it worked :)

Emma with her "3rd" pancakes.

Ty with his "K" pancake.

Ty with his faux hawk, cool jeans, and monster truck shirt. This boy is just like his daddy in wanting to be stylish :)

Emma went with new jeans, an embellished tank top with matching cropped cardigan, and "runners" (that's what they call tennis shoes here). Emma wants to look good, but be comfortable, like her momma :)

2 GREAT looking kiddos!!

Camp Rock 2 PARTY!!!!!

2010-09-29T12:31:00.003-05:00

Camp Rock 2 came out the Friday before we started school on Tuesday, so we decided to have a sleepover party to celebrate!! Jeff took Ty out for a boys night so it would just be us girls!! Emma invited 4 friends over and we had pizza, went swimming, and then watched the movie. However, my pvr (that's what they call dvr here in Canada) did not record the whole movie b/c it went past the time frame it said!!!!!! So the girls did not get to see the whole movie, but we made up for it by building a fort in Emma's room out of blankets and chairs. The girls went to sleep great, and then we woke up, had pancakes, painted on canvases and then they went home. We had such a fun night.

Emma decorated to make it look a little like Camp Rock.

We also painted nails!

Emma had her friends sign this flower she made as they came in.

One of the signs Emma made :)

All of the girls!

The Fort!

The girls playing cards in the fort.

Making people out of the balloons.

Ty came home before our friend Madeleine went home, so they were sitting on the couch watching tv together.

Emma after the party!!!!

Playland at the PNE

2010-09-22T22:24:00.002-05:00

Well on the RAINIEST day of August we went to the Playland at the PNE. This is a fair like place that has rides and shows, and really reminded us alot of a state fair (although not nearly as big as the State Fair of TX). A family that we are friends with invited us to go way back in the school year and this is the day we ended up deciding to go. We thought it would be better to just go and have fun in the rain, and get to ride things over and over b/c there was no lines, than to go on a sunny day and deal with the crowds. The kids were not bothered a bit by the rain and had a great time. We got to ride tons of rides, see 2 shows, pet and feed animals, and build a deeper friendship with a family we met at the school.

Emma and Ty riding a mini coaster.
Not quite like the Dumbo ride at Disney World, but the closest thing we have :)

Ty on the "Dumbo"ride.

This was at the Chinese Acrobat show. This girl was AMAZING. She was doing a handstand on top of about 20 chairs!!! We were nervous for her!!

Emma and Ty feeding a baby calf.

Ty being a Royal Canadian Mountie!

Emma being a RCM!

Celebration of Lights

2010-09-19T19:47:00.002-05:00

"Celebration of Lights" is something I've mentioned in my other posts from this summer. To catch you up, it is a 2 week, four night event, where 4 different countries compete with fireworks. On one of the nights we met up with the TheRobinson's and TheAllen's. To watch the fireworks together.

The Fireworks.
Emma playing with Sarah's phone.

Carson and Ty pretending to sleep.

Brooklynn LOVED the ice cream!!

Chick-fil-a Trip

2010-09-19T19:37:00.002-05:00

Our friends Cassie and Clint, came up to visit us in Vancouver after they had helped with Sports Camp for Tim and Amy TheCommons. When we took them back to Washington, we all met up at Chick-fil-a. This is a major deal, because it is the closest one to Vancouver and it is still about an hour and a half away!! So we let all the kids play together for about an hour on the University Campus where the Chick-fil-a is.

SERVE

2010-09-19T19:31:00.002-05:00

One of the great things we got to do with thecrossings over the summer, and that we will continue forever, is SERVE the community in some way. This SERVE night, and a couple of other SERVE nights we were able to feed the homeless. One of my favorite things about it, is that the kids get SO excited about it and they love to help out!

Jeff cooking the hot dogs.

Emma, Ty, and Carson helping put the hot dogs together.

Friends on the Beach

2010-09-19T19:26:00.002-05:00

This summer we met up with friends at the beach one day!! The kids had a blast playing in the sand and ocean (although the ocean was FREEZING!!) It's so fun living close to the beach!

PaPa and MiMi come to Vancouver

2010-09-01T13:11:00.009-05:00

PaPa and MiMi came to visit us in Vancouver in July. We had a blast the whole time they were here, and did so many things we hadn't tried yet in Vancouver. They arrived on Tuesday and we took them to eat and then to show them the kids school/playground. Then, the girls went and got our nails done, and the guys went to a putt putt place downtown. I only got one pic of the nail place and it was on my phone and I haven't gotten it off yet :(. That night we went to see "Singin' in the Rain" at an outdoor theatre in Stanley Park. The kids were zoned in the whole time and we all enjoyed seeing the musical in a cool place like the park. On Wednesday we woke up and went to a water park in Cultus B.C. called Cultus Lake. It was a very warm day for the vancouver area (low 80's) so we had a blast, but by the end all of the adults were getting pretty chilly :) The kids could have stayed forever!! We ate at a fish and chips place that night and then rented bikes for my parents and headed to see "Celebration of Lights" at the beach. "Celebration of Lights" is a fireworks show that they have for 4 nights where countries compete against each other. We were able to see USA that night. On Thursday, we went to Granville Island, rode all of the different types of public transportation, saw Gastown, and ended the day riding our bikes around the seawall at Stanley Park!

(and this was supposed to be our "rest"dayhaha) On Friday we went to Lynn Canyon and went on the suspension bridge, then we headed to Shannon Falls (where I realized I had a kidney stone--grrrr!!!!) then went horseback riding, and finally headed up to Whistler to see the Olympic ski jump, biathalon, and bobsleigh. Every minute was filled and we really enjoyed their visit!!!

Ty putt-putting.

Out of order--but a pic of Emma coming down one of the slides at the water park.

About to go in to Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park to see "Singin' in the Rain"

In our seats at the musical

Ty coming down one of the water slides.

USA fireworks.

Emma and MiMi at the fireworks.

PaPa, MiMi, Emma, and Ty at Granville Island.

On one of the ways of transportation--the Aquabus!!

Bike riding on the seawall!

Emma and Ty playing on the "Climbing Tree"

Emma at the beach during our bike ride.

Ty at the beach.

The girls :)

Emma and Ty doing their "sports" poses at the Olympic Torch.

Em- figure skating, Ty-baseball

Ty, Emma, MiMi, and PaPa on the suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon.

On another bridge.

Ty helping clean up at the barn.

MiMi and Emma on their horses.

Daddy and Ty on their horses.

We had other people on our ride with us, but going from the back forward this pic is: Emma, Ty, then Daddy (PaPa, MiMi and I didn't make this pic :)

PaPa practicing the biathalon!

PaPa carrying the Olympic torch!

Grandpa Visits!!

2010-08-14T13:54:00.004-05:00

Grandpa came to visit at the beginning of July! We had so much fun with him. Right after we picked him up at the airport we went strawberry picking. They were the most DELICIOUS strawberries any of us had EVER tasted!!! Next year we will probably go back several times so that we can make jam, pies, lots of yummy goodies :) Over the next week while he was here wen went to the beach, Capillano Bridge, Lynn Valley Canyon, all of the Olympic sights, Shannon Falls, and Whistler. We had so much fun and enjoyed showing all of Beautiful Vancouver.

Emma and Grandpa picking strawberries.
Ty and Daddy picking strawberries.

Some of our good picks!!

The kids, Jeff, and Grandpa at Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge.

Grandpa, Emma, and Ty at Capilano!

Shannon Falls

Emma on the Luge!

The Biathalon Track.

Ty on the skeleton!

Ty and Emma in the bobsleigh.

Unreached Goals!!

2010-07-07T01:56:00.002-05:00

Ok so my goal for posting last week was to make one post a day so I wouldn't being posting all at once---well that didn't happen :) Get ready to drink out of a fire hydrant, the floodgates have opened. I am on a posting marathon!!! ENJOY :)

BEACH TIME!!!!!

2010-07-07T01:45:00.002-05:00

Well after much waiting and hearing about warm weather everywhere else, it was finally warm enough here to be in swimsuits and play at the beach!!!! The kids and I (sadly Jeff had to work, but he'll get to go many times I'm sure) hopped on our bikes Monday afternoon, rode through Stanley Park, and first stopped at the Splash park to play. After our stop there, we rode around to 3rd beach and the kids played in the sand and water for a solid hour. Reluctantly we left and rode home, but we were so happy for a warm and pretty day :)

Jazz Festival

2010-07-07T01:38:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was a free Jazz Festival in downtown Vancouver. We decided to go on Saturday night and they had the coolest stuff for the kids to do. They had a large washable piece of art that the kids could paint on both kids painted until we made them stop (I even got in on the action and I told Jeff we needed one at home :) They also could make a marching drum or a shaker. They both liked doing that, although Ty was disappointed that it didn't sound like the real thing. We then ran into the Robinson's and Lyndsey's parents who are visiting and sat and talked/played with them for awhile. It was a very relaxing and fun evening.

Slumber Party!!!

2010-07-07T01:32:00.002-05:00

For Jeff's bday the Robinson's let our 2 kiddos spend the night at their apt. Our kids of course had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave :) 2 days later was Victor and Lyndsey's anniversary, so we kept their 2 overnight!! We had so much fun. We painted faces, went to the park, and watched a movie. The kids did great and we all had so much fun.

Carson at the park.

Brooklynn at the park.

Emma, Ty, and Carson with painted faces!! Too Cute :)

Water Park at Granville Island

2010-07-07T01:26:00.003-05:00

We woke up last Friday to the first sunny day in a while. So to celebrate we went to the "water park" (I use that term loosely b/c it's a splash park with 2 small water slides, one of which was not working) at Granville Island. Ty and Emma went up and down, up and down, over and over, for an hour on the water slide, and never got bored. They had a BLAST!!!

Ty getting ready to go.

Ty done and ready to go again!

Emma getting ready to go.

Emma sliding down.

At the End!

O' Canada

2010-07-07T00:38:00.005-05:00

CANADA DAY!!!! Canada Day is July 1st and celebrated like the 4th of July in the states. It just so happens to be Jeff's bday too!!! So we had a full day of celebration. The first thing we did was go to a big Canada Day celebration they were having by the Olympic torch and convention center. The kids had their faces painted and we got to see the torch lit. After that we met theCrossings team as well as people they invited and some of the baseball families, and friends they invited at 2nd beach. We ate, played, and talked for a few hours. Then we all kind of went our separate ways except for the Robinson's, the Lochhead's, and us. We all went back and watched the Canada Day parade that was close to our apt. Our group dwindled down to just our family after the parade and we let the kids stay up until 10:30 to go and watch the fireworks in the Harbor by our apt. It was so crazy, about 10:25, when we left our apt., tons of people were walking down all the sidewalks to go to the apts. It made me feel like we were at Disney World or somewhere among the masses. We were ALL wiped out after our FULL day of fun!!

Emma and Ty with their Maple Leaf Masks!!
By the Olympic Torch.

Some of the adults at the beach.

Emma and Ceris at the playground.

The kids playing soccer.

More adults chatting :)

Playing at the playground.

Waiting on the parade!

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Part of the country of China's parade entry.

Waiting on the fireworks.

The Fireworks!!

Soccer Time

2010-07-07T00:22:00.002-05:00

For 6 weeks Emma and Ty had soccer practice, one day a week for an hour. Then to end the "season" Ty had 2 games and Emma had 3. They both enjoyed playing but I think Ty is ready to have games every week.

Ty liked playing goalie.

Ty playing.

Emma playing.

Emma's team.

Ty's team.

Brothers Creek Hike

2010-07-06T23:57:00.003-05:00

One event that I was not looking forward to was Ty's class's last day of school hike. It's not that I didn't want to go on the hike, it's just I didn't want to go on the last day of school. BUT, we had a wonderful time and I'm so glad I went!!! Ms. Jardine, loves everything outdoor and we have done some wonderful field trips, so I knew this one was going to be just as good as all the others. The hike took about 2 hours to get up to the creek and then we had lunch and played in the ice cold creek. Then we hiked 2 hours back down the mountain. I think one of my favorite things about this hike was that Emma got to go too. I asked Emma if she wanted to stay for the rest of the talent show or go on the hike, and she definitely wanted to go on the hike. So Ty, Emma and I all got to hike together, which was so fun and something I can't wait to do again!!

The class following Ms. Jardine, and the "trail finder"
All of the kids by a big tree.

Playing in the creek.

Ty's Class Family Picnic

2010-07-06T23:42:00.004-05:00

One of the end of the year things that Ty's class did was a family picnic. The last Friday of the year most of the parents and the kids met for lunch at 2nd Beach park. The kids had so much fun playing on the play ground, playing soccer, and playing with the parachute.

Ty and Jeff playing soccer.

Ryder, Maribod, and Ty eating lunch.

Ty swinging with Paul and another friend.

The Parachute!!

Ms. Jardine, her assisstant Mr. Davis and Zoe, Ryder, Milan, Sasha, Jaden, Selma, Nabil, Maribod, Luna, Frieda, Lily, Ty, Paul, Mau, and Philip. We were missing Faith and Ahmed.

Talent Show

2010-07-06T22:44:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago Emma told us she wanted to try out for the Talent Show at her school. Jeff and I were nervous for her, but we knew we needed to let her audition. Jeff made a cd off of itunes for her of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and she had to audition in front of the grade 7 teacher (and all of the other kids who came to listen or audition). Emma did great at the audition and all of her friends applauded her. The teacher told her to practice taking a breath before one of the words, and so our little determined girl practiced at home, and her teacher had her practice in front of her class everyday. Then, the big day came, and after much prayer and practice Emma was not nervous at all and did AWESOME. Jeff and I kept trying to get her to take her words up with her, in case she forgot, but she wouldn't. She kept saying she knew the words. Finally, I realized I need to trust God that He would help her do her best. We were so proud of her for getting up there, by herself, and doing the best she could. She's way braver than me!!!

Before the show began.

About to sing.

Singing.

I need to add, Emma told me she wanted to wear her blue and white polka dotted dress and do her hair in braids. She also wanted to carry a basket with a ToTo look-a-like. She was so funny, she said, " I want it to look like Dorothy, but say Emma too" Too CUTE!!!

End of Baseball

2010-07-06T22:36:00.002-05:00

Ty had a great time playing baseball this year and it was a wonderful way for us to meet people. One of the families wanted to have a team cookout to end the year so we had a party at their house. Then a few days later we went to a Canadians game (Single A Team in Vancouver). The boys, and Emma with the girls on the team, had a great time at both events!!

Ty, Emma, Fredrico, and Sabrina with the Canadians mascot.
I have to say it wasn't really that warm out, but it was sunny, so the kids played in the little pool and with water guns.

Ty eating.

Ty being goalie!!

This was what was played for the majority of the time by the majority of the boys--HOCKEY!!

Relaxing Weekend!!

2010-07-06T21:33:00.004-05:00

Like I said a few posts back, one of the benefits of living in Vancouver is that we are so close to the Corbins!!! Tim asked Jeff to speak to their church two weekends ago, so we decided to go for the whole weekend. We left right after lunch and were able to do some grocery shopping in the U.S. This is probably not a big deal for anyone inside of the U.S. HOWEVER, for us it is huge. The prices here in Vancouver are at leat 2 times more than the prices just over the border :( So I hit the local Winco--which is a fabulous place with very low prices!!! I got things like Velveeta for $4 instead of $12!!! It was great. The groceries were only the beginning to a wonderful weekend. We went to the Corbins after that, the kids played and had a great time together. Amy and I went to Target (another store Canada doesn't have) and the outlet shops (WITHOUT KIDS!!!). The pics are from a place called Kayak point that we went to on Saturday evening. It is a campground/park and recreational area that has a great playground and it was right by a bay. We had such a relaxing time. Thanks Corbins for letting us spend a weekend with you. :)

Madison, she and Ty are the same age.

Taitlyn being pushed by Amy.

Ty

Emma and Rylie, same age.

Toy Story 3!!! 4 HOURS LONG!!!!

2010-07-06T19:59:00.002-05:00

Not everyone who goes to see Toy Story 3 will have the 4 hour experience like we did :) Jeff and I decided to suprise the kids by going one Friday after school. We went to the 4:40 showing and everything was going great!! Then, about 3/4 of the way through the whole block that the movie theatre was on lost power. We sat for about 20 min. and then they came in and told us that we could get rainchecks for the movie stopping and go see any other movie we wanted. So we went to stand in line to see what other movies we might be able to see, but there were no other kid friendly ones. As we were standing there, they made an announcement that if we wanted to see the 6:20 showing of Toy Story 3 we could go with them. It was 6:10, so we decided to go ahead and join them. So in all, we got to see Toy Story 3 1 3/4 times, got 4 free theatre tickets, and got a refund!!!! The icing on the cake was that it was such a great movie!!

Father's Day

2010-07-06T19:25:00.002-05:00

Our Father's Day Celebration was pretty low key. We went to a church service that morning, had roast for lunch and then went to a street festival with some friends from Emma and Ty's school for the afternoon. After some good time with our friends we left so Jeff could see the end of the major golf event that was going on (I can't remember what it was now :) It was a good and relaxing day!!

The sign that Ashra (our friend) Emma and Ty made at the street festival.
More chalk art!!

In front of the ten thousand villages store ( a fair trade store) were African dancers and drummers. They were great!!

Sports Day!!

2010-07-05T22:48:00.004-05:00

Well after postponing Sports Day 2 times b/c of rain, on the 3rd try we finally got to do it!!! It started out with each grade doing tug of war and then the 50 yard dash. After that they had a break and then divided into teams. Their were kids from each grade on every team and they would do an event like, egg in the spoon relay, or 3 legged race. After each event whichever place their team got, they would get a ribbon to put on a big safety pin that they wore around all day. I am proud to say that both Emma and Ty got 3rd place in the 50 yd dash!!!! Most importantly they both had a blast all day!!!

Emma helping her team pull for the tug of war.

Ty pulling with all of his might :)

Emma running the 50 yd dash!!

Ty running the 50 yd dash!!

Ty playing a pirate toss game.

Emma and Lim running the 3 legged race.

Grami and Poppy's Visit!!!

2010-06-21T11:42:00.002-05:00

Jeff's parents, aka "Grami and Poppy" :) came to visit weekend before last. It was so good to see family and be able to show them our new home. We filled each day with tons of fun and sight seeing. We showed them around downtown and Metro Vancouver, Stanley park, Capilano Bridge, Shannon Falls, Whistler, and they got to see Ty play baseball. We all had a great time, and I think we wore them out!!!

Ty and Emma showing the scultpure of "pillows" on the grass by the bay.
Emma and Ty by the Olympic Torch.

Ty, Poppy, Grami, and Emma at Capilano Bridge.

On the Bridge, about to go across!!

Ty, Jeff, Emma and I all climbed across some rocks by Shannon Falls, and I got a great pic of my wonderful husband and great kiddos!!

Poppy, Ty, Grami, and Emma by the creek by the falls.

Well, this was probably most exciting part of the whole trip!!!! We saw 2 BEARS!!!! We were driving up to Whistler and Jeff wanted to go see if we could show Grami and Poppy the ski jump area from the Olympics. Well the sign said it was closed buy we went up the long road anyway, and we were all so glad we did!!! The first bear was the brown bear below and we saw him twice, once on the way up and once on the way back. The 2nd bear was black and he is pictured above. ALL of us loved seeing the bears!!!

UBC Farm Field Trip!!!

2010-06-18T11:56:00.003-05:00

The advantage of being a Kindergartener is the huge amount of field trips you get to go on. This field trip was to UBC Farm (University of British Columbia). The kids started off with talking with their guide about farms and what they did. Then, he read them a story about how a pumpkin seed becomes a pumpkin. Then the kids got to play in some soil, and then some compost and were able to see the difference in the two (it was definitely a learning experience for me too!!). Next we had a short hike through a wooded area, identifying plants and trees. Then we headed to see some cows behind an electrical fence. Finally we ended up with the chickens, which the kids loved!! After the farm we ate lunch by the beach and the kids played in the sand, and then ended up in the water :)!!!! Ty once again had a great time and enjoyed every minute!!

Our guide, Jacob, explaining the farm (let me just add right here for LOST fans--once Jeff heard that his name was Jacob, Jeff couldn't help but make LOST references the whole time. Then when we went into the woods, Jeff said, "if he leads us to a run down cabin, I'm out of here!!!" I have such a funny husband!! Never a dull moment with him :)

Listening to Jacob talk about pumpkin seeds.

Mixing up the soil and compost.

Just a cute pic of my big boy :)

Looking at the cows.

Petting the chickens.

Playing with the buoys at the beach.

About to go in the water!!

The Corbin's Visit!!!

2010-06-17T23:33:00.002-05:00

Tim, Amy, Rylie, Madison, and Taitlyn Corbin came to visit us in May. Amy was one of my roommates in college and we have always been like sisters. God blessed us with the opportunity to live and work together in Gardendale AL, both of our oldest kids were born there (Rylie and Emma) and then they moved to Texas for a job. Well 3 years ago, God called them to plant a church north of Seattle Washington, which means they are just 2 hours from US!!!!! YAY!!! God is so good to us, to give us sweet family like friends so close, that are also going through or have already gone through all of the church planting stuff. They came and stayed a couple of nights and we had an absolute BLAST!!!! Their girls and Ty and Emma had a great time together. My only regret is that I would have taken more pictures :) Can't wait for our next time together!!

Looking at the tulips.

Showing them the floating dock.

All the kiddos together!!

The Capilano Bridge

2010-06-17T23:19:00.002-05:00

One "touristy" thing around Vancouver is called the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It is a huge suspension bridge held up by wires that goes across a giant ravine. It is absolutely gorgeous with the trees all around and river below. They also have a "treetop adventure" where you can walk on pathways through the trees and across some smaller bridges. We did this in May (I'm just a little behind) so of course it's a little cooler then, but still the highest temp it's been so far is in the high 60's :)

Close up of Em and Ty on the bridge

Emma and Ty beginning the bridge!

On one of the tree top bridges.

Ending the day with a friendly game of checkers :)

busy week for Ty!

2010-05-21T02:22:00.004-05:00

Ty had a very busy week this week. He had practice for their school performance, "How to Be a Pirate" 3 days, and a field trip to the ice rink on Tuesday, soccer practice and baseball practice. He absolutely LOVED the ice rink. He and Emma have been asking ever since we moved to go, and we just haven't been able to when they've had open ice time. So Tuesday was the day for Ty (hopefully we will be able to take Emma soon). He did great and had so much fun. He even ended the time with playing "hockey" (no sticks and no pucks) with a friend. Tonight some of the classes performed a small musical. Much to Emma's dismay, her class was not involved, however, she watched Ty proudly 2 times today and even said he was her favorite part :) She has been a very patient sister this week.

Ty playing "hockey"with his friend.
Ty skating.

Ty with 2 of his friends.

Ty after the big performance.

Lots of New Posts!!!

2010-04-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to let you know I just did 4 or 5 posts in a row, so keep going down if you want to see ALL that has been going on with us :)

Some new things!!

2010-04-23T11:03:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of things that have changed in our lives :)

How you get the carts up and down in a 2 story store!!

Emma rollerblading home from school.

Gardening club after school on Tuesdays.

Ty riding his bike home from school.

One of the grocery stores I frequent downtown.

Emma and Ty on the SkyTrain.

2010-04-23T10:44:00.002-05:00

Ty went on his first field trip this week. The field trip was taking some salmon babies that they had raised since they were eggs to a creek in Stanley Park and releasing them, then playing at the park. It was totally different for us in that we walked the whole way--no buses for this one :) I would say it was probably about a 1.5-2 mile walk there and then the same back. Which doesn't sound that bad, but with kindergarteners, they were pretty tired by the time we got back :)

Walking to the park.

Ty's turn to push the baby carriage that had the bucket of fish in it.

Getting to the creek.

Ty waiting his turn.

Ty looking at the creek.

Ty getting his salmon.

After adding some creek water to each cup, the kids had to count to 60, with their hand on top so the fish didn't jump out, to let the fish adjust to the water.

Ty letting his salmon go into the creek.

Ty on the climbing tree in the park.

Ty with his class.

Ty's Baseball so far!!

2010-04-23T10:29:00.002-05:00

Well our big 5 year old is playing baseball again this year. He is loving it again!!! He had his first game this past Saturday and had a great time. At Ty's age in Vancouver, he is supposed to be doing tball again this year, but b/c his age group was full he is playing with the 6-7 year olds and it is machine pitch. He did very well this past week and can't wait for his game this Saturday.

Ty before the game.

Ty at bat.

Ty at 3rd base. At one point we had to tell him to quit blocking the base b/c he wasn't letting his opponents to the base :)

A new tradition for us, but something they do every game here, is a relay with the other team after the game. This is Ty running on his turn around the bases!!

This week Ty gets to be catcher!!! He is super excited about it and has had a countdown going all week for it.

2010-04-23T10:20:00.002-05:00

Emma and Ty were pretty nervous their first day of school, but fortunately both of them LOVED it. They were both very welcomed by their teachers and classmates, which helped a ton. Not sure why they wanted to turn sideways for these pics, but it was the pose of the morning :)

Emma--Grade 2 (that's how they say it here :)
Ty-Kindergarten

Emma's Birthday in Vancouver

2010-04-23T10:00:00.003-05:00

We thought the kids would be starting school on Emma's birthday, but because we were not from Canada, we had to wait on the placement office to process our paperwork, then make sure there was room for Emma and Ty at the school. So needless to stay, the kids were out of school for about 3weeks total from leaving MS. We had Emma's party before we left, but we still wanted to make the day special. Emma woke up and had her #8 pancake, then we went swimming at the pool in our building, then we went up to Shannon Falls and had a picnic lunch. After lunch we went and got ice cream. She had a GREAT!!! day!!

Emma with her pancake :)

Emma and Ty swimming.

Standing on a giant tree stump in the woods by the waterfall.

Emma and Ty at Shannon Falls.

Emma blowing out her "8" candle that she picked out!!

Our new City!!

2010-04-19T19:36:00.001-05:00

Here are some of my phone pics from our first couple of weeks in our new home!!
The top left is Emma and Ty's new school, the next is something they were shooting for t.v.
The next one is on Emma's 8th bday with her 8 pancake, the next is Emma and Ty on a giant tree
stump. On the bottom are Em and Ty on a tree at the waterfall we went to for her 8th bday. After that is Ty in his little league uniform at the opening day ceremonies. Next is Ty and Emma in one of our elevators going to an Easter service. The last one is Emma and Ty riding bikes in Stanley Park. I promise to post better pics soon, but wanted you to get a glimpse of our lives here.

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...

2010-04-06T01:50:00.009-05:00

Leaving Southaven was not an easy thing to do. God has blessed us with so many friends there, and we knew it would be hard. However, our friends made us feel SO SPECIAL and LOVED!!! About 2 weeks before we left our neighbors/friends, from our old neighborhood had us over for dinner. It was so fun to get to spend time with them and to be able to see how God had given us and our kids friends in our neighborhood. on our last Friday night in town, part of our U.S. team ( the one's that live in MS) got together at Scott and Anna Katherine's for dinner, games, and prayer. We all had such a fun time and it made us hopeful for what God has in store for all of us in the months and years ahead (forgot to take pics :(. Our last Saturday night in Southaven, Bubba and Whitney put together a party for us where the people we were close to at church, got together and we ate, and they prayed for us, it was a very sweet time. The Sunday before we left, 2 of my friends who have daughters who are friends with Emma and one of those also having a son who is friends with Ty, threw a party for Emma and Ty at the skating rink. Emma and Ty had so much fun and felt so special. Those ladies also made Emma a scrapbook with pics of her friends from school and church with notes throughout that her friends had made that said: I like Emma because... and then the child would fill in the blank (brings tears to my eyes even as I type about it). Emma's teacher at school, Mrs. Smith, also had a canvas frame made that had a pic of the whole class in the middle..it was precious. Sunday night the church prayed for us and then had a reception for us afterward, Emma stated it best when she said, " I feel like a queen" The whole church made us feel so loved (sorry no pics of this :( . Tuesday, Ty's last mother's day out, his teachers gave him a party. They had made our family (or more we had made it) a special wall hanging, with our feet prints on it, and it said "Blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news" They also gave Ty some gifts ( one of those being a scrapbook from his teachers and they even put a pic of him in his "cap and gown" since he won't be there to "graduate" with his class), had special food, and played games. Finally, on Wednesday night Ty and Emma's Awana's teachers made big deals out of them!! Emma's class threw her a party and she got a beautiful cross necklace, and Ty's class had a missions emphasis, and so Ty, Jeff, and I got to go in and talk about Vancouver, and then they had a special cake for him and gave him a bat bag and Canadian money (sorry, no pics of this either :(. We were seriously overwhelmed at the outpouring of love shown to us over and over before we left. Every one in Southaven will hold special places in our hearts, and we will continue to keep up with them.

Emma and Ty with their neighborhood friends.
Emma with Ella and Adyn.

Jeff and I with Raul and Leah, and Chris and Tiffany (neighborhood friends).

Decorations for the party Whitney and Bubba threw.

Cool and thoughtful sign Bubba made for our Sat. night party and Sunday reception.

Jeff and Bubba.

Lacey and Daniel Saturday night.

People at the Sat. night party.

Emma and Gracie.

Jeff, Bubba, Frank, and Parker.

KB and Riley at the skating rink.

Gracie G. and Emma.

Emma, Abby, and Maddie, at the skating rink.

Ty with Parker at skating rink.

Ty with Conner at skating rink.

Taylor (our babysitter) with Emma at skating party.

Emma with Emma Cole at the rink.

Ty with his class at Mother's Day Out.

Cookies Ty's teacher made for his party.

Ty was definitely having a good time at his party :)

Ty with Mrs. Sandy, his Mother's Day Out teacher for 2 years.

Ty's class playing musical chairs.

Ty with Mrs. Gina (Ms. Amber had already left)

Emma with Mrs. Smith, her teacher this year.

Emma with Mrs. Patti, her other teacher this year.

Mrs. Laura (Emma's kindergarten teacher) and Emma.

Mrs. Julie and Emma (one of her 1st Grade teachers).

The Heaths!!!

2010-04-05T22:59:00.002-05:00

Before we left Mississippi, we were able to get together with Paula Heath and her boys. Paula and I met through Youth Metro and were fast friends. At that time, Emma was a month old and Elijah was 3 months. We all lived in Birmingham and then when we moved to Southaven, we still got to see them because Paula's parents lived about an hour from us. Now Elijah and Emma are 8, Gabe is 6, Ty is 5, and Ben is 2 1/2. When we got together, I was able to bring 2 of Emma and Ty's friends, KB and Conner. We all had so much fun playing together and the time went by WAY too fast!!

The whole gang: Elijah, Emma, KB,

Ben, Gabe, Ty, and Conner.
Ty and Elijah playing ball.

Gabe playing in the sand.

Conner playing in the sand.

Elijah and Gabe playing.

Flying Monkeys and Grandparents Day

2010-03-10T07:38:00.003-06:00

Well this year Grandparents day at MDO was quite an event. They changed the day to Tues. instead of Thurs. a couple weeks before and my parents already had their flight for the Wed. of that week. So needless to say, they missed "Grandparents Day" However, Ty's teacher was so sweet to let them come in that Thursday and have their own Grandparents Day. They had a great time eating donuts and being with Ty. Also, MiMi and PaPa had given Emma a gift when she did the Wizard of OZ, so for Ty doing basketball, they brought him a gift: A FLYING MONKEY COSTUME!!!! Ty LOVED the flying monkeys when Em was in the WOZ. He knew all the lines (to the whole show ;) and we would act it out!!! So Ty LOVED his new costume (only negative thing about it is that it sheds EVERYWHERE!!!!!)

Ty with his teachers, Mrs. Gina and Ms. Amber.

Ty with PaPa

MiMi with Ty.

Our own FLYING MONKEY!!!

More Basketball, Cheerleading, and Awards

2010-03-08T07:17:00.005-06:00

2 Weekends ago we had a very busy weekend. We had grandparents day at Ty's MDO, All Star Sports Awards, and Emma's Birthday Party!! It was a FULL weekend. These are some more pics of basketball and cheerleading as well as the All Star Awards!

Emma cheering.
Ty dribbling down the court.

Ty guarding his man.

Emma's 2 cheer coaches.

Emma getting her award.

Ty getting his award.

Emma standing with her team. (they were all spread out so we couldn't get a "group" photo)

Ty with his best buddy Jakob.

Emma posing before the awards.

More Posing!

Ty was in RARE form before the awards! He actually wanted his pic taken and was doing all sorts of basketball poses!!

One of the many poses (although he looks half asleep :)

Emma's 8th Birthday Party!!

2010-03-05T07:45:00.007-06:00

One promise we made to Emma when we told her about moving to Vancouver, was that we would have an early birthday party with her friends here. So Emma chose to go back to C.R.O.S.S.F.I.R.E. Commandos this year. Her theme was puppy dogs, so everything from the invites, to the cake were puppy dogs. She had a BLAST and loved every minute of it!!

Emma and Ty with an umbrella Emma received!!
Emma opening a present.

All of her friends singing "Happy Birthday" to her.

Ty on the zipline, getting ready to throw his foam block (this was both Emma and Ty's favorite thing)

Emma on the zipline!

Emma blowing out the candles on her cake!

Emma on the bungee trampoline.

Ty jumping into the foam pit.

Emma jumping into the foam pit.

Emma putting her candles on, she wanted to position them perfectly!

Valentine's Day

2010-03-05T07:16:00.002-06:00

Every year around Valentine's Day (we like to do it ON Vday, but this year we were out of town) we have a family dinner where the kids decorate the table, sometimes we dress up (this year we didn't) and have a special dinner together (I got this idea from my friend Paige). I saw an idea on Belinda's blog to do a treasure hunt, so I planned that out this year. The kids LOVED it. I hid a clue and piece of candy for both in different places all over the apt. I gave them the first clue and then off they went on their hunt. It ended in the laundry room, where their prizes were. We had a great time, and it was a really special night once again

Opening their treasure.
Reading the clues.

Emma's pic.

Me and my sweet girl

The decorated table

Catching UP!!

2010-03-04T00:53:00.002-06:00

Just wanted you to know (the few people that read this :) that I am trying to catch up. SOOO, I am doing multiple posts at a time. If you REALLY want to catch up on our lives, scroll down a bit and you can see more posts.

Visit with the Jenkins

2010-03-04T00:36:00.005-06:00

God has been so gracious to bless me with "sisters" everywhere we move. In college He gave me Amy, Andrea, and Leigh(who even though we may not talk as often, we're still close). In Birmingham He gave me Paige (and in Southaven He has blessed me with some too!!) Paige and John have moved to GA where John is the pastor of a church now. Even though we will actually be on opposite sides of North America, I know we will remain close, because Paige is that kind of friend, a "sister" friend!! The crazy thing about our families being so close is the closeness of our kids. It's one thing for adults to be able to stay close even though there is distance, but it is amazing the closeness that especially Halle and Emma have. They have been best friends since Halle was 6 months and Emma was born. Ty and Corin are the same way! And now Madde Kate, gets doted on by ALL :) So b/c we are all so close, and their church is partnering with theCrossings, we went to visit them in South Georgia!! We had a blast all weekend. The kids played and played, we had their pictures all made together, we had a wonderful time together!!

Emma and Halle at the park.
Emma and Corin watching tv together.

Ty, Corin, Madde Kate, Emma, and Halle(we can't believe we actually got them all looking at the camera)

Sweet Madde Kate!!!

Emma and Halle

Ty and Corin
The 4 Big Kids

Paige and I.

Snow Day!!!

2010-03-03T23:58:00.002-06:00

SNOW DAY!!!! I don't know if there's any kid in the world who doesn't love to hear that they get to miss school for a snow day!!! We have had our fair share of them so far. For the ones we've been in town for, it's hardly snowed or it's been ice!! BUT, we make the most out of it and have a blast!!!

Em and Ty loving every minute!
Emma making a snowball.

Ty throwing a snowball at me!!

Ty down the slide.

Emma down the slide. The time we had the most fun on the slide was when it iced!! It was a blast. Jeff and I even got in on it and we were flying down it--so much FUN!!

Emma's Cheerleading

2010-03-03T23:47:00.003-06:00

Emma decided she wanted to cheer this year for basketball. She had so much fun doing it and loved learning the cheers. She was even able to learn a stunt and had a blast performing it. She was very good at learning the cheers and very LOUD when she was cheering the players on!! Emma had fun cheering and was great at it!!

Ty's Basketball

2010-03-03T23:40:00.003-06:00

Ty LOVED playing basketball this year. He was very good at listening to his coach (Jeff) and then practicing it and doing it at the game. He is a serious player and gets out there and does the best he can. When Jeff told him to block, he would block. When Jeff told him to pass, he would pass. He made a basket during one of the games this year and was so proud. We were so proud of him and loved watching him every game!!

Fun times with the cousins and MiMi and PaPa

2010-01-29T17:57:00.003-06:00

Well we started off our trip in TX after Christmas going to the Great Wolf Lodge and Six Flags. Unfortunately, I have no pics of those b/c they are on my dad's camera, and I put them on my snapfish account, and have no idea how to put them on here, except for making a link to snapfish. We also went ice skating with Hayden, Mason, Jacqueline, Collette, Uncle Ed, Auntie Julee, and MiMi, however, there are no pics of that either!! BUT, I do have a few pics of the fun all the cousins had together at MiMi and PaPa's!!!

Group photo :)

Ty, Jacqueline, and Emma watching tv.

Jacqueline, Ty and Emma coloring.

Sweet Collette!!

Me, MiMi, and Emma went to "The Tea Room" in Arlington. This is a tea room I have gone to since I was in HS with my best friend Ashley. We used to go there and get their vanilla rose tea. It is DELICIOUS!!!!! of course I've never had anything bad there. So the girls set out for the tea room, while Jeff was speaking at a retreat and PaPa and Ty went to McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese!!

Christmas with Grandpa

2010-01-25T10:36:00.003-06:00

While we were in TX after Christmas we got to see Jeff's Dad and Grandparents. We had Christmas with them and had a good time visiting!

Jeff and his Papas chatting!

Grandma Ashley opening her book we made her.

Grandma and Papas Ashley with Emma and Ty.

Grandpa with Emma and Ty (I think Ty had had enough pics at this point :)

Christmas with Grami and Poppy

2010-01-25T10:19:00.005-06:00

We were able to go to Texas this year the day after Christmas. We spent 3 days with Grami and Poppy and had such a great time. We opened presents and went to El Fenix and were able to see Grandma Probst and go over to her house the first day. Then on the 2nd day we went to the Science Museum in Ft. Worth and saw an IMAX movie about animals. It was super cute and the kids LOVED seeing the HUGE screen. On the 3rd day we went down to the Ft. Worth Stockyards and Jeff, me, and the kids went through a maze and then the kids rode on horses---which was probably their favorite thing with Grami and Poppy!!

Emma waiting patiently to open gifts!

Ty ready to open!!

Grami and Poppy looking at the book we made them.

Emma and Ty outside of the maze.

Em and Ty petting a longhorn.

Emma and Ty riding their horses--Ty's wanted to stay right by Emma's!

Emma did a fantastic job directing her horse. She knew how to tell it when and where to go!!

Ty did his best to kick his horse and tell it where to go, but I think he has to be just a little stronger(of course he also had a very strong willed horse :)

Christmas at Home

2010-01-11T08:54:00.006-06:00

I know it's already the new year and I'm still wrapping up Christmas (haha!! no pun intended :) Our Holidays were super full with Christmas parties, Christmas performances, seeing Christmas lights, making cookies, giving gifts, the list could go on and on!!! Here are some pics of the last middle part of December (the first was filled with the Wizard of Oz and the last part we were in TX--pics to come soon :)

Emma with Mrs. Patti (one of her teachers) at their Christmas party.
Emma helping some of her classmates do bags of food for Santa's reindeer.

Ty's Mother's Day Out had a Christmas program and Ty had a SPEAKING PART!!! It was something we worked on everyday for weeks and I have to say he did an AWESOME job!!! He was so excited about his big day!! He picked out his own clothes (which he pretty much does everyday) which were black shoes, jeans, white shirt with tie, and a black velvet blazer. He wanted his hair in a faux-hawk ....he had a very rock star look going that day :)

Ty saying his lines.

Ty with his teachers, Mrs. Gina, and Ms. Amber

One of our traditions is to load up in the car with jammies on and hot chocolate in hand to go see Christmas lights!!! This year we went through our City's "Southaven Lights" which we all loved again, and then we went to see the house with about 100 blow ups!!! We had so much fun!!

Another tradition is making gingerbread houses. This year Grami sent us a beautiful house to decorate, but due to a minor mishap, we could not use the house. We used the icing and decorations, but we improvised with graham crackers for the house!! The kids had so much fun making their own houses and decorating them the way they wanted too. Em's even had a light post and mailbox!!

Em decorating hers.

We LOVE making cookies for Santa!!! Usually we are rushed at night to get them done and then get in bed, but this year our church didn't have a Christmas Eve service, so we had more time that day. So we made our cookies earlier in the day and got to enjoy it more. Here Em is licking her fingers after she finished decorating!!

Ty eating one of the one's he decorated!

Emma and Ty both decorating!

Before we set out Santa's cookies and tea (our Santa doesn't like milk :) we throw out reindeer food. The kids had both made some at school and we had tons of it. One problem this year was trying to get it onto the roof. Jeff had me cracking up, b/c he would stand behind Emma and when she threw hers he would throw some at the same time so she would hear it hit the roof. She had no idea she wasn't making it to the roof and so Jeff solved our big dilemma of getting it on top :) We'll have to be really creative next year if we're in a giant high rise!!

Ty spreading some food on the ground.

Putting some on top of the sign :)

Emma and Ty with their elves (Emily and Tyler) before they had to go back with Santa.

Christmas morning, EARLY (like 1 or 2) before we went to bed and before the kids were up!

Seeing what Santa brought!

Emma emptying her stocking!

Ty riding his new bike!!

Em and Ty blowing out our "Happy Birthday JESUS" dessert!! We did this on Christmas day.

Christmas with MiMI and PaPa

2010-01-04T18:08:00.001-06:00

PaPa and MiMi came in town a couple of weeks before Christmas to watch Emma in the Wizard of Oz and we celebrated Christmas with them. Because they were going to see Em twice in the W. O. O. they spent Friday making Ty feel extra special. They let him pick where to eat and he chose Incredible Pizza. He loved being the center of attention and had a great time!!

Ty and PaPa on the indoor go carts.
Ty bowling!

Everyone looking at the book MiMi and PaPa wanted for Christmas!

PaPa opening the gift Emma got him at the school store.

Emma and Ty numbering their gifts b/c they were SO EXCITED!!!

Emma opening a digital camera.

Ty opening Gator Golf--although his favorite gift was his Nintendo DS.

MiMi opening a gift from Emma.

Wizard of Oz

2009-12-21T10:52:00.005-06:00

Our lives have been in quite a whirlwind these last few weeks because of four little words "The Wizard of Oz". Emma had the INCREDIBLE opportunity to be a munchkin in one of our local theatres production of the Wizard of Oz. She auditioned in August. Practices started in Oct. and she has LOVED every single minute of it. Before their last performance (they were able to perform it 13 times) she even said, "I wish it wasn't going to be over, I want to do this every day!!" Never once did she complain about going to practices, long rehearsals, late nights, she loved it all. She was chosen to be a lullaby league munchkin, so she was in the scene (if you've seen the movie) where Dorthy lands in Munchkin land, she meets Glenda the Good witch and the Wicked witch of the West, is introduced. She also got to do a little ballet number with 2 other girls to represent the lullaby league. The whole thing was incredible and we are so thankful she had this chance!!

The munchkins playing on their DS's while waiting for their turn.
The shirt we were given for being in the show.

A performance they had at Borders bookstore, to promote the show.

More of the Borders performance.

Emma with Dorthy.

Before the show.

Mrs. Dana and her daughter Chelsea, came to the show!

Mrs. Cindy, Mrs. Amy, and Lauren, came to see Emma too!

MiMi and PaPa, Emma's biggest fans!!

Emma giving an autograph--you know she LOVED that!!

Another friend, Lauren at the show!

Emma with Mrs. Patti, one of her teachers, who came to the show!

Madelyn and Mary Kaitlyn, at the show!!

All of the Munchkins, Dorothy, and Glenda!