Macie in the snow

Macie had fun! She liked having a snowball fight with Nathaniel, though she couldn't make a ball and the loose snow just flew back in her face, but it was fun. Addie tried to take her down the sled hill, but some how the sled was left at the top of the hill and Macie used Addie as a sled down the hill. It was funny!

Oh the snow!!!!!!

We have had so much snow the past couple of weeks its not even funny! In a two week span we received about 70+ cms in our front yard! Enough for the kids to build their own sledding
hill. And snow fort. They have had a blast playing in the snow.

Latest Family Picture

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. Things were a little busy. I will try to do better this next year.

In September we went to a local park and had a cute family picture taken. This is the best one...as someone was not co-operating......and it wasn't the baby!

Nathaniel's Baptism

On June 29th, 2008....Nathaniel was baptized by his dad. Oh what a time we had this time around! Everything that could go wrong did. Usually I am more prepared than what I was, but the last few months have been really busy. So the Saturday before the baptism I spent all day cooking and baking....we have had a cooler than usual June, except for that Saturday...we hit record highs (34 degrees Celsius)....just because I was baking! Then Saturday night I remember that Nathaniel didn't have white underwear. I got to Wal-mart with 15 minutes to spare before they closed. Then just got the program typed up, when the Bishop called and said that he would not be there he had to leave time earlier than expected so Ramon needed to fill in for him, so now some things were wrong on the program and we were out of yellow ink so I could not redo it (the store was closed by now!) The new white pants and tie that I ordered for him did not come in time (at the time of posting this it still is not here). We went to the baptismal clothing closet to get Nathaniel his white jumper for the Baptism and there was nothing for him unless he was a 300 lbs and 6 feet tall. So 1 and 1/2 hours before the baptism, Ramon and Nathaniel went to the stake centre to see if there was something there....or he would have to be baptised in just his new white underwear! Luckily they were able to find something. Romney didn't make it back from the States in time so I had to give the talk on Baptism (my talk made Nathaniel cry!), so now my program is total wrong and the whole thing ended up being a Bandong production!....but in the end everything turned out great. When Nathaniel was dunked, he came up sputtering...caught his breath, turned to everyone smiled and waved....he is such a ham.
It was a really nice day. Ramon's Tita Melly from the Philippines was able to be there as she came for a wedding on the following weekend, but arrived in time for the baptism. It was really nice to see her and spend some time with her. My parents and sister were also able to come from Calgary.

Belle

Belle just before the performance in her "storm" costume

Belle's Ballet Recital

On June 14th, Isabella had her Grade 1 Ballet Recital. This year was "The Little Mermaid" and her class was the "storm" It was a beautiful dance and she did awesome. She has really improved in her dancing from when she 1st started three years ago. Isabella has a natural talent for dancing especially Ballet. This year her teacher was Ms. Angela and she attended classes twice a week for one hour each class. In the video, Belle is the 1st one in her class to come on stage and then for most the of the dance she in on the left side of the stage.

End of School Beach day

Every year the kids go to the beach as a fun day to end the year. I helped out that day by driving for Nathaniel's class and helping to supervise Belle's class. Macie was a great help that day. She really enjoyed the beach in her new track suite and her new pink rubber boots. We spent two hours exploring the beach area. Macie found lots of things to pick up and look at. Isabella found a clam and a sand dollar. Nathaniel and his friends found baby star fish. It was a great day!

Macie's walk back to shore.......

....or at least we tried to get her back to shore. She had other ideas!

Video of Macie at the beach

This was Macie's 1st walk through the water. Once her feet hit the water and it made a real cool spashy sound....she wasn't moving forward. Making the sound was much more fun. Though after being in the water a few minutes and the water started to seep into her shoes, she wasn't too sure she like the cold water in her shoe.

The 1st signs of Spring

On Saturday the 12th of April....we had some wonderful weather. The sun came out and things warmed up to the late teens...a little warmer in-land. So we had a day of working on the yard. We want to put in a garden on the west side of the house, but before we could do that we needed to clean up the scattered brinks all over the place. Some we were half buried in the ground, so they needed to be dug up. Well the few that we saw in the ground turned out to be an oddly place brick patio that was then covered with dirt and grass. So what was suppose to be a few bricks turned into about 200 bricks. So after all that hard work, we thought that we deserved some fun. What we decided to do was get a picnic supper and take it down to Crescent Beach and enjoy the setting sun on a beautiful sunny spring day. This was Macie's 1st real trip to the beach. Last year we only ended up going once due to the move and she was too little to really enjoy it, but this year she will. In fact, she had a blast playing in the water and with the rocks and chasing the dogs that were there.....And of course the rest of the kids love the beach. Addie and Belle are the water babies and have always loved the beach. Nathaniel took a little while to like it....he didn't like the slimmy green rocks or the seaweed everywhere. But that doesn't seam to be a problem now. Looks like summer will be at the beach.

Macie and Ice Cream

Tonight we were at Lola and Tita's for our usual Sunday dinner. For dessert, Lola had sugar ice cream cones with mango ice cream. I made a cone for Addie and she was sharing with Macie. After a few tastes Macie decided that she wanted the cone all to her self, so she up and took it from Addie and then went to sit beside Lola on the stairs to save her from Addie taking the cone back. We tried to get it back by offering Macie a different cone, one with no ice cream, but all she did was put the one she took from Addie under her arm to save it and tried to take the new one so that she would have two cones.....the little turkey.
It was so cute watching Macie eat her 1st ice cream cone. At first she was having trouble getting to the ice cream once the level was below the cone line, but then she notice Addie (now with a new cone) bitting the cone part. She was the happiest little girl eating that cone. I think she found a new love....after chocolate and french fries.

The Hockey Game

Tita won tickets to the Canucks hockey game...row 6. She planned on taking Nathaniel, but at the last minute told Ramon to take him. So the two boys headed off to GM Place. They arrived at about 6ish and had their little pre-game snack that I sent with them... then went into the game. Nathaniel was looking forward to getting a foam finger to cheer the team on.....and it work! The Canucks won 6 - 2 over the Calgary Flames. Nathaniel and Ramon had the best time. It was some great bonding time for them. And Nathaniel can't wait to go to another game!

Video of Nathaniel Being Tested

Here is a video of a portion of Nathaniel's testing for his yellow belt. The Tall boy next to Nathaniel is a yellow belt moving up, so in this drill, he has to do one more requirement than Nathaniel.

White to Yellow Belt

On Wednesday night, Nathaniel had his Kikara Grad night where he was tested to see if he can move from White Belt to Yellow Belt. Here are some photos from his testing. The last two pictures are Nathaniel with his new yellow belt and his Teacher Sensa Sean.

Nathaniel being a goof!

Nathaniel is a very Goofy character. He can make anyone laugh at any time. He can take something very simple and turn it into a laughing fit. One thing that Nathaniel loves to do is lip-sync to songs, making fun of them as he sings. He usually picks songs that Addie is listening to, just to drive her crazy. This song is from High School Musical.

Addie's 14th Birthday

Well Addie turned 14 yesterday! Can you believe how old she is getting. Time sure flies by so fast. I was going through some old photos the other day, some when Addie was little. It is so hard to believe that it had been 14 years since that tiny little baby was born. Now she is growing into a beautiful young woman. We had the Werners (they are in town for the blessing of Ciara on Sunday) and the Sketchleys over for dinner. It was a wonderful night as we have not seen the Werners since they moved.

Easter Weekend- Decorating the eggs

Friday Morning we has a chance to get out the dyes and the paints and the crayons to decorate the eggs. Belle and Nathaniel had about a dozen eggs each. Macie with Addie's help decorated about 6....though Addie did the dying and Macie did the playing with the eggs....and she only managed to crack 2 out of the 6. Romney, Addie's friend from church was over, but didn't get into the mood of decorating the eggs. After we finished the eggs. Romney and Addie were off to the Stake Center for the floor hockey tournament.

Easter Weekend -Saturday Morning egg hunt

This morning the kids were up early to find those eggs. We always have the Easter Bunny come to our house on Saturday so that we can leave Sunday to focus on the true meaning of The Easter Season. This was Macie's 1st egg hunt, so the Easter Bunny made it easy for her. She found her 1st egg and thought that this was great. She managed to find three eggs. But was frustrated that she couldn't carry all three together....they kept dropping. Good news is that it was less work to crack the eggs for breakfast as they were given to me pre-cracked. Belle and Nathaniel had a little hard time finding their eggs. It took them about 20 minutes to find them all....but one! The Easter Bunny managed to stump them on one! Ya Easter Bunny!

Vote Time

Taking a survey......Don't ya think this Hot Tub would just look great in the back yard? We saw it at the Home and Garden Show a couple of weeks ago and feel in love with it. Now we just need to make a plan......

Taking the Lead

Ramon was playing with Macie outside today....we thought that this was the cutest little picture and just had to share!

A Beautiful Spring Day

The day started out rainy, but by mid-afternoon the sun came out and the kids were able to go out and play. They love the yard...especially the little hill at the end, by the street. They love to roll down it. Macie just loves being outside. If Belle and Nathaniel go out without her, she opens up the mail slot in the door, looks out then yells at them to come and get her. Once she gets tall enough to open the door, I will have to put a special lock on it higher up or there will be no keeping Macie in the house! Ramon also enjoyed the warm sunny day....with a nap!