party, party, party

I think I could do a whole series on all our parties lately. Between birthday parties, our going away parties and saying goodbye to different groups of people and friends, I have a whole pile of pictures to post. Logan's party was a little while back and the kids loved to play, paint with sidewalk-homemade paint and do the pinata of course. Emora liked the candy most of all.

We had lots of friends come by for our going away party at our house, including no less than 3 of Brian's former roomates, apparently he had a whole string of them before I came along.



I got to see several of the ladies from water aerobic's class too. This was only a very small fraction of ladies who ever took the class from me and just look at all those children!

Even though I keep thinking everything must be packed by now, we somehow start off each morning with a long list of loose ends to tie up, closets to go through, things to organize and pack... It's just crazy. Now I am really thankful to those friends who said to start early and do a bit at a time and I'm really thankful that Brian has been available to basically do all of it. I packed a few boxes, but we have become a well coordinated team with me going through stuff, sorting and organizing it, then leaving it in a heap for him to actually pack. I make him a list of heaps around the house, then often leave with the kids on our daily whatever, when I return, the heaps are in boxes and the mountain has gained another foot or so. Our middle bedroom is now the depot and there is a section where the boxes actually reach the ceiling. I am not sure if I should be thankful we have so many things or to be disgusted by it- I waver back and forth. I'm sure as I'm unpacking I'll feel both emotions all over again.

it's not all my fault

OK, so my blogging sporadicness is not all my fault. Our internet connection has not always been the greatest and sometimes when I go to post, we can't get hooked up, so that's the way it goes.

Our house is no longer a home. All the pictures are down and everything is pretty much packed except our suitcases. I thought I may be emotional about leaving the house where we brought home each of our kids from the hospital and built so many memories, but as I look at the blank walls it's easy to see that it's just a building.

The weather has been cool here and even rainy these last days and I have found myself surprised when I relax into the comfort of the weather and realize that it feels like Saskatchewan. So that makes me excited to get to enjoy the weather I grew up with. I'm even excited for winter and seasons, which is easy to do when it's a perfectly wonderful 20 Celcius/70 Fareinheit day.

Logan was riding his bike yesterday with the training wheels up higher and then off, so now Ivan is determined to learn too. Brian has been adjusting wheels and we will get our exercise running behind them. Exciting to see them making those steps of independence.

Here are pics from Lily's birthday and Nana's last visit. We went to another birthday party this weekend and look forward to seeing more friends this week.

We won!!!

Tighe and I were so excited that our photo of butterflies in purple won in the contest by our friend, Olivia where she was having friends raise awareness for Lupus. We were just happy to create the image for her to support and encourage her and now we won too! That means we are both going to get an 8x10 of one of her photos. So fun. I REALLY love having such talented friends.

So I get 2 fabulous going away gifts from Olivia, one of her artistic creation AND the photo shoot she did for us. There are so many pictures in the ones she took that I love. I know Brian posted some of these on facebook too, so I'm trying to post some of the other ones.

It was really nice also to get shots of just Brian and I. We are always taking pictures of the kids and make the effort at least once a year to get a family pic., but how often do we get pictures of just us, as a couple? Then if we do have one, they are just a shot at an event, not a shot with our relationship as the focus, like these. They ended up being my favorites I think, because they are so special. Reminds us how we really do love each other- for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness or health, while packing or not. Yep- we are in the throws of one of life's major transitions and get to rediscover how different we are. How he likes to be prepared and organized (ie. have everything packed with us at ready weeks before we leave) and how I am more loosy-goosy, let's be able to live somewhat normal and pack up the rest right before we go.

The kids are driving me nuts, since everything is topsy turvy and there is little order in our lives/schedule at present. Right now I am making them pack things. They are loving it, but I'm a little concerned at what we'll find when we open their boxes on the other end.

Picture gallery

Sorry for not posting in FOREVER!! I have so many pictures to post and oodles of videos, but they are not always easy to upload, so I end up expending more energy just trying to get pics up. And we've taken a lot and a lot lately. I have about 125 pictures being developed right now and that's just from the last couple of months. But then a lot has happened in that time. Grandpa Ray visited. We went to Glenn Rose. Nana visited. We had 3 going away parties and have been meeting with lots of friends, oh yeah and packing some too ;)


I'm about to say farewell to my water aerobics class too! So weird. I've been doing that since I was pregnant with Ivan. That's 6 years! I will miss it a lot, but am hoping to either make regular trips to Regina to swim or substitute with walking/skiing/exercise videos at home. I realized long ago that I had to have physical activity as a regular part of my life and intend to do so still.


Olivia who was featured in one of my recent posts, is a professional photographer. As a going away gift, she did a photo shoot for us and captured so many amazing images. We just love them. Here are just of few of them for you to enjoy.

Happy Mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day MOM! and to all the other moms out there and to all the other women mentors out there, may your day be filled with the knowledge that you are making a difference and injecting love into the lives of others. You help shape the world through your dilligence and care. Thank you for being available, for encouragement and help to navigate life's channels.

We are getting a lot done with packing and don't know if there is much more we can really do until the last week or so, so we may get to just chill out with the box mountain looming before us and hang out with friends.




Unfortunately, although it's good for him, our dear friend Big Buddy is being moved from Abilene today. It is so weird to realize that we won't just be able to go across the street or up to the hospital anymore to see him. But it is a good move for him, he will be somewhere where people can help him more and where he has family nearby, but we will really miss him. He has been a huge part of our lives for nearly 7 years, knew us before kids and rejoiced with us over each new addition. He has been a good friend and helped us know some of the history of West Texas and of African Americans during that time that only experience can share. He is a remarkable man who has faced a lot of extremely difficult situations. His moving is an act of grace for him and us since he was dreading our departure from the street and we dreaded his possible departure from this world. Somehow our parting was softened in the mix, although it is still not fun.

Happy Birthday Auntie Jenn!

Today was a big day. Jenn's birthday, so we web cammed, cinco de mayo, didn't really do anything special for that, packed some boxes, went on a walk with a friend, hung out in the yard with other friends and sold our house. Yep, a few signatures and it's no longer ours! Amazing really. Everything is going so well and smoothly, we give thanks to the Lover for guiding our steps and taking us on this amazing adventure. Brian hasn't had work for a while which is great when it comes to needing to pack. You can well imagine that it is a little horrendous trying to organize with 3 little ones underfoot. Even with another adult there to help it's pretty horrendous. But he may have some work in the coming weeks, so we are trying to get as much done now as possible. Of course between the boxes and mayhem we managed to pack all of our serving spoons, even the ones I had kept out to use for the next month. Not even sure what boxes they went into... so now we are REALLY roughing it! ha, ha

It's already hot here. The chocolate chips in the cookies on the counter have melted and that's with the air conditioning on! In fact we had a neighbor come by asking for a screwdriver at bed time because her air conditioner broke and they were trying desperately to fix it. As I web cammed with Jenn, Imogen mentioned snow and I said, "you don't have snow do you?". She tried to hide it from me, I could tell her face grew conflicted as she let out the truth "yeah, there's snow, it's so ridiculous!" I didn't tell the kids to unpack the boxes, but it did cross my mind and I vocalized it (mostly in joking) no less than 5 times I'm sure. What ARE we doing?! My dear neighbor showed me the temps in SK as a warning as we laid out in the sun yesterday, but she didn't know that I am still, after a decade, mostly fareinheit illiterate, so I didn't really clue in that it was FREEZING up there! Ah well, such is life.

The above pics were from Micah's birthday party some time back.

Lupus awareness month

For our dear friend Olivia and others who live with Lupus-

You may have to live uniquely with Lupus, like staying out of the sun, avoiding triggers, taking things slower at times...

but you can live fully and beautifully when you live purposefully.






Even as we are getting ready to leave here, we are reminded that every minute is precious and to cherish them all, taking special attention to enter in the moments, relate with others in love, treasure each other and the time we DO have.



please visit the Lupus Foundation of America site.

Some Quick Facts:

*It is estimated that 1.5/2 million people (out of 304 million) in the United States have some form of lupus.
*80% of lupus patients develop the disease between the ages of 15 & 45.
*Many lupus patients are very sun sensitive, & therefore need to cover up well when in the sun.
*Some lupus patients report of being affected by UV light, eg. from fluorescent lights.
*The treatment of lupus aims to suppress the overactive immune system & diminish any inflammation.
*90% of lupus sufferers are female
*Approximately 95% of lupus patients have a positive ANA test.
*Lupus is differentiated from other connective tissue diseases, based on eleven criteria offered by the American College of Rheumatology for classification purposes:
•Butterfly-shaped rash across cheeks and nose
•Scaly disk-shaped rash on face, neck, ears, scalp, chest
•Sunlight sensitivity
•Mouth sores, tongue sores, inside nose sores
•Arthritis pain in joints
•Pain in chest and side when breathing or moving
•Kidney problems
•Neurological problems
•Blood problems such as anemia, low white cell count
•Immune system malfunction
•Antinuclear antibodies

party overload

So far, we are averaging about 1.5 parties a weekend, maybe more, I haven't done an official tally. So the kids are wired and high on sugar, but not wanting to nap, even if they need it.

This was our first pool time of the season many, many weeks ago. Haven't done another one yet, but we need to. It's hot enough for it.

Brian got the yard ready for the party we are having tomorrow. The hard thing with a party is not getting to really visit with everyone, but we are excited to see everyone anyways. Apparently some are coming from out of town, several of Brian's old college friends and people just hear throughout the city that we are moving and pop over to see us, so that is fun. Once this weekend is over, I think we will get serious about going through stuff and making some serious headway.

Dominique just fell asleep on my lap while waiting for the computer that I was not going to share with her. I'm serious the girl could be on the computer all day and be happy, but I refuse to let her and she really really needed a nap today. It was a good party!