more of Amy's Awesome Visit

More of our visit:

Amy, Julia and I picked apples from our front yard and then i was treated to the culinary talents of Miss K. :) Delicious Apple Crisp, Amy Style!! :) mmmm.
We walked a lot during her visit, to give her a taste for the town we dwell in. The first day she was here we walked for at least 3 hours total because sam was sick, and sitting in his stroller was the best we could do for him . poor guy.

Aren't those flowers beautiful????
On my birthday we went to church, and then Amy wanted to take me to coffee. Since dave was working, we took the kids with us!! heehee. It was super fun, and the staff even gave me my very own slice of bday cake as a gift!! i was impressed. in the picture below, you can see the ribbon i'm wearing. It says "birthday girl" and Julia made me wear it all day. :)
Sam loves 'leetles' otherwise known as tickles or a back rub . he gets 'zoned' and nearly drools all over!! haha. cutie.


Sunday was my 25th Birthday, and i have to say, i was REALLY spoiled. i thought maybe, just maybe dave would surprise me with the day off, or maybe i'd get to have a couple girls over for tea.... but no, it was awesomer than that! :)

The day began with dave telling me to stay in bed. Amy brought breakfast up to me on a tray with flowers and a candle. So classy!!
Dave asked Amy to make sure i took a nap in the afternoon.... so i did..
Amy took me out for coffee and cake (as the pictures show)....
Dave invited Carla over for me to go walking with....
and then... the sneaky sneaky people that love me...
when our walk was over we arrived home to a fully decorated home, crammed with people and food!! (chocolate fondu to be exact!!! yum!)

so... i am spoiled. i feel very loved. it was so fun. Amy asked people to tell how they met me, and a favorite memory. i'd have to say, that was my favorite part of the night. i don't like being on the spot... but it was super fun to hear the random memories from the various folks. a few things i didn't have any recollection of, i guess that's what made it so special. i was touched.

i love you all. thank you all. turning 25 was the best celebration so far. i know they only get better.

ABBOTSFORD VISITS SARNIA

Dear Miss Amy from my highschool days is here for a visit! she is so fun and helpful . It is wonderful to get together again and see how we can start off right where we left off... since we haven't lived near each other for 5 years now, i think that's pretty special! She is an inspiration to me!
Walking around sarnia..... getting her accustomed to the new neighborhood!
My silly dancing girls...
BEACH DAY!!! aaaaaaah. so so fun!! swimming, eating 'bluewater fries' and building an awesome castle!! :)
When we returned home from our day at the beach, Amy sang and played for us.... soooo relaxing. what a talented lady she is!!

JULIA'S POST

Julia asked if i could possibly take her photo (avec the new tiara) and make a post about how she received it for all to see . (when i asked why, she said it would make people happy.)

So. This is Julia. with her new tiara. she received it at a birthday party for her best friend, and is thrilled to be a princess as she wears it. :)

that is my story. sorry... that is HER story.

isn't she cute.
:)

More of our weekend away........ part 2

Mom and Dad graciously allowed us to use their new toy, a GPS, and wow it was so fun! On the way to Fergus, we somehow made a 'waypoint' or something and so for 15 minutes or so we were off the beatin' path. It also seemed to be set on a "never drive the same way twice" setting, which was fun. It allowed us to see sights such as this lovely romantic covered bridge near St. Jacob's. isn't it lovely? the river was gorgeous too. it is called the Kissing Bridge.
Dad Hillson: is this one that we saw on our travels back in the day?? You'll have to check your journals to see if you wrote in the names, i remember seeing A LOT of this style of bridge.
here is our Fergus Castle. (not) it was just a little park, a fancy walkway to the rivers' edge. but i LOVED IT!! :)

5 years of wedded bliss! (celebrated early)

No, we did not spend the weekend in a cave, but we did see a few and i did climb into this one for the photo. :) Dave and I went away for three nights to Fergus while the wonderful Oma and Opa babysat the kids. yippppppppeeeeeeee!!! Fergus was the typical small town ontario: so so so cute and filled with character and flare. For example: we found a really good Tandoori restaurant, a castle-like lookout on the river, a local art show, a Dutch shop filled with all the smells of Holland, and of course, our beautiful B&B estate!!! blessed and spoiled. that's how we feel.

The Elora Conservation area was lovely. we took a wee walk to the scenic 'hole in the rock', which the above and below picture show. you don't even see it coming, and all of a sudden your forested pathway takes a dive into this hole, and you walk the stairs down to the river. crazy eh? it was awesome.
Dave treated me to a play in Stratford, "The Taming of the Shrew" . So witty, so clever. it was very well done. We strolled about the town, which we LOVE, making the ever-important stop in at the Family Toy Store. our finds for the day: color-your-own tattoos for Julia and Tub Fun roads and cars for Sam. (foam pieces that stick to the tub wall so you can bulid different road shapes and drive the 10 different cars on them)

more of the day

The rest of Canada day was more than an adventure, i'd have to say. We arrived home from our first party just after 2 pm, and quickly made dinner for Dave's family, who joined us at 3pm. (Dave bbq'd these amazing chicken thighs that he wrapped in bacon, mmmmm. )

we had a couple surprizes, but i'm not at liberty to speak of them quite yet... give it a couple days and then i'll be free to. :)

karli and I walked to the hospital for my Rhogam shot that i receive at 28 weeks with every pregnancy. Due to my blood type this shot keeps my body from developing antibodies that would reject future babies.

We all sat around and chatted until firework's time!! Then everyone was packed up, strollered up, and stoked for an evening of excitement down by the river!!

We meandered along the parkway, watching for people we knew. Saying hi and sharing happy greetings of the day. Then a funny thing happened.... as we approached a group of people sitting on the grass, a woman got up and addressed me.... IT WAS DEB! :) one of my blog-friends!! crazy!! We couldn't chat long, since Julia and i needed the facilities, but it was so neat to meet someone that i've only ever spoken to on my blog!! :)

Julia found her best friend, and we sat with her family for the fireworks . Once the flames and bursts were done - we headed for home. a long day of fun, lots of walking, lots of talking and friends and food and fellowship. Do you find it hard to come 'down' from times like that?? I find it hard to be motivated to home alone cleaning after a day of enjoying people!! :)

anyway. i'm happy to be canadian. it's a good thing to be.

2005 and 2008

Sam loves water. So SO SOoooooooo much. :) he just shakes with excitement as the waves roll in to catch him!! we went home drenched... Julia was thigh deep in the water as well, it was so gorgeous out!! :)
Here is the fam in 2005 (below) and 2008 (above) . Canada day bashes at the beach are best. :)
i'm not really sure what Julia is doing in the top photo....i'm sure she looked normal when i was saying "cheese" but hey, i think she gets it from me. My mom always said you could NEVER trust me to keep any photo's 'normal'. haha. poor mama. :)

weeeee Julia loved the water too. just like sam does! Here she is, 15 months old in the cold waters of Lake Ontario, when we were in Toronto for Canada Day with the Klapauszaks! (great people, really, i think everyone needs a Klapauszak in their life!)

CANADA OH CANADA

One day of the year to celebrate our country, and thank God for the blessing of living in a land that is rich in education (even if we are fighting a lot of what is being taught and not taught), rich in medical care and availability, rich in cultures and other worlds, rich in freedoms (even if some freedoms are getting a little too 'free' and hurting individuals with their free-ness... i'm being redundant on purpose, really. :) haha)

Wow, it was a GREAT CANADA DAY. We spent the morning chillin' at home and making ourselves look Canadian. well, i suppose we looked more like a flag than a 'kind' of person... all red and white, and shaved funny . :)
Our friends' parents live by the beach, and open up their home for a huge bash every CanDay, so we went along this year and WOW!!!!!!! it was so much fun!!! people, food, lots of space to run and play, and then front row seats to watch the parade, right from their front yard! THANK YOU for letting us come crash the party!! :)
parade!!
waiting for CANDY!!! (what else???)
oh yeah... and then we sat down by their beach and enjoyed the water since it was a boiling hot day!! (no humidity though, so it didn't make me sick!!) :)

what a perfectly lovely way to celebrate the day!!! (but that isn't all!!)