Tag: family

Caithlin’s grade 12 graduation!

My niece Caithlin, who is also my godchild, graduated this June! They do things a little differently in Medicine Hat, AB … her graduation ceremony and prom was in May. Since my parents were still living with us in Victoria and my Dad was unable to travel, I flew to Medicine Hat to celebrate the wonderful lady that my niece is.

We are so proud of her. I spent some really wonderful quality time with Caithlin that I will treasure. Her group of friends were pretty amazing too. I love Caithlin’s personality and funky nature. I mean she wore red converse high tops to her graduation ceremony & prom. She is way cooler than me.

Congratulations Caithlin!

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Airport good-bye:

Caithlin & her Mom- my sister Sarah:

pre-ceremony celebration at Caithlin’s home (top right= my nephew Ethan & Caithlin, bottom left= Caithlin & step-mom Amanda, bottom right= Caithlin & her grandparents):

Police Point park- my favorite park in Medicine Hat, AB:

Graduation:

Prom:

 

dee’s 40th birthday!

On January 28th I turned 40! WOW! It seems like yesterday I was in high school or living it up at University at the age of 17.

I don’t normally do a lot on my birthday. My close friends all live in different cities and we are kept pretty busy with family life. Claire & Rhys really enjoy celebrating with us so I decided to have a stay-cation in a swanky local hotel. Jimmy made all the arrangements while I just enjoyed everything 🙂

Two of my girlfriends had flowers sent to me which was an amazing way to start my birthday celebrations- thanks Faye & Anna! Jimmy and the kids bought me some gorgeous new artwork that I had been coveting for quite sometime by a local artist- Michelle Heslop. We stayed at the Ocean Pointe Hotel with a room that had an amazing view of the inner harbour. We ate, we swam and we had loads of fun. Jimmy even brought along some of my favorite ice cream- tiger! The next day we met my parents at Spinnakers for brunch which was wonderful and to end…we had delicious allergy friendly cake from my favorite bakery- Patisserie Danielle.

If this is 40 then I am totally okay 🙂

 

Christmas 2017- part 2 (Christmas Eve)

This year Auntie Wendy & Uncle Chris were unable to host Christmas dinner so we decided to do something a little bit different. We all love Greek food so we headed to one of our favorite Greek restaurants with Nana, Papa, Auntie Debbie and had a feast. It was fun!

 

Serenade

 

We have an annual tradition of opening one gift on Christmas eve. Normally pajamas….this year did not disappoint. Onsies are a bit hit with Claire & Rhys’s age group so they were gifted some Christmas ones. Lucky us that we had a white Christmas eve!

 

Nana & Papa move in…

September was a tough month. My Mom was diagnosed with dementia and my Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer… just days apart.

For my Dad’s cancer treatment he would have to travel quite far from where they live in Alberta. This would involve a lot of driving in the winter months, hotel stays, my Mom being left alone in the hospital, restaurant food etc.  Jimmy & I decided it would be best if my Dad had treatment in Victoria so we could support them with healthy cooking, a cozy place to stay and the BC cancer clinic is just 5 minutes away from us. Luckily my Dad’s doctors in Alberta agreed that being treated in BC was the best option.

My parents moved into our home late November. We thought it would just be 3 months but it turned into 6 months as my Dad’s treatment was delayed. Not going to lie…it was tough. It isn’t easy sharing a small home with your parents/ in-laws. However, my Dad did great through his treatment and my Mom did great as well. They had a personal trainer, went on daily walks, ate healthy food and my Mom was seeing a wonderful Naturopath who specializes in cognitive health. The fact I haven’t lived with my parents since I was 17 and that these are Claire & Rhys only living grandparents made the time they spent with us memorable and special regardless of the difficulties. A BIG thanks to Jimmy for being as patient as he could be with his set-in-their ways in-laws taking over our space 🙂

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This is a photo of my parents (Tricia & Vern) in Mexico on a trip we shared in 2016 ♥

 

 

Learn to Fish at Elk Lake

I enjoyed fishing when I was a kid (I even won a trophy for a fishing derby in Sooke that my Dad’s work put on) so when I saw that there was a free learn-to-fish night for kids I signed us up!

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC runs free two hour sessions throughout BC. They stock lakes throughout the province with fish for fishing purposes so teaching children & adults the rules and how to properly handle fish makes sense.

On a sunny evening at Elk Lake we gathered with several other families to learn to fish. We learned about different types of fish, how to hold a fish, types of bait, fishing rules and then we had over an hour to use fishing rods to test out our new skills. The rods were pretty large so Rhys struggled a bit. There were so many kids in a row at the lakes edge that fishing lines were getting tangled etc. The bait was worms which was a gross factor for the kids. Rhys went for a walk with Jimmy to the nearby dock to take a break. Claire had her sights set on catching a fish. Those who were positioned nearby the reeds kept catching fish so Claire walked over and somehow found a spot there as well 🙂 The instructor called out last fish of the night and Claire caught a fish on her very last try! She caught a Bass fry.

Not sure if we will fish again anytime soon but we had fun on the lake that evening!

 

Can you spot the little fish?

 

Thanksgiving

Jimmy’s sister Wendy & I typically split up the holidays and decide which ones we host. This year I hosted Thanksgiving and Wendy hosted Christmas.

When we were in South Africa away from all our friends and family we all missed these holiday events. Claire & Rhys particularly missed their extended family. When we traveled through Australia on our way back home from South Africa they LOVED spending so much time with their great Aunt Christine & Uncle Mike in Perth. Family means a lot to us and we cherish all the time we spend together.

I love Thanksgiving and having family come together for some shared laughs and good food. It was a nice sunny day this year and we had a great gathering.

 

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