Halloween Party!

So Becc seriously needs to become a party planner. She is sooooo good at it. Anyway on Saturday night she had us (and about 30 other friends) to her Halloween party, there was tons of food, tons of decorations, a D.J. and most importantly lots of costumes. It was fun to get all dressed up and dance all night long...I won't have to work out for at least a week now. Anyway, here are pictures of the couples:

Jeff and Yuka (Some old fashioned costume)

Ben and I (Peter Pan and Captain Hook...someone didn't want to go all out)
Nate and Tan (Little Bo Peep and her sheep - can you say whipped?)

Becc and Jared (Cat Women and Joker)

Anyway, that's pretty much all we've been up to lately. Just a lot of work and a few party's here and there. I know, our life is so boring.

Party Time!!!

Today I had one of the those bittersweet moments everyone talks about. This one was more bitter than sweet...but it's still all ok. I'll explain.

This morning I woke up to this: Now if you really (I mean really) know me, then you'd understand that the snow was not the bitter part of the day...it was the sweet! So I love love love love to snowboard!!!. At the end of last season (which was a reduced season for obvious reasons) I packed up all my equipment (including my sweet new Burton board) knowing that it would be a few years before it saw the snow again. It was a sad day, but I was planning on another winter pregnancy, so I knew I could give up the snow for a year. So this morning, although I was excited to see all the snow and kind of pumped that snowboarding season starts in 12 days, I was kind of sad that I actually get to go this year. Going Snowboarding at all this season means I'm not pregnant again and means that I just have to wait even longer (and it's already been over a year since we first got pregnant)...it seems like a long time. Ughhh. So anyway, that's the bittersweet story for the day. So if any of you want to go snowboarding this year, I'm obviously free to go with you!!!

So onto lighter topics. This week was kind of an exciting week ...Sarah turned 18 and had a big Halloween/Birthday party, Becc had a BIG Halloween party, and I found the perfect pair of Peter Pan shoes. This is the reason why I love that my mom's a Pack Rat; we found these shoes in her box of old shoes from her younger years. They are seriously awesome!

I also put together the cutest Peter Pan costume, I think I'm going to be Peter Pan every year now...it was so fun!
So here's a picture of the Birthday Girl - Sarah! (a.k.a. Felicity Shagwell from Austin Powers) and her nice Old Mand Friend - Jordan.

Anyway, it looks like none of my pictures are uploading properly so I'm stuck with the Four Picasa lets me use. I'll post another thread of the pictures from Becc's Party.

October 15th....

Today is Pregnancy & Infant Loss awareness day. I don't think this date is recognized in Canada, but from what I understand it's an official date of some sort in the States. Anyway, I think it's really important to remember the loss that so many of us experience, but is so often dismissed because of fear and lack of understanding. If you know anyone who has recently lost a baby please reach out to them and let them know how much you care. It's really so important to know that others care.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts, I've just been soooooooo busy lately. Busy enough that I haven't made it to my computer for almost a week now, and if any of you know me, that's a big sacrifice. Anyway, the last few weeks have been full of things like:

1. My Birthday - It turned 23 this year and it was an awesome Birthday. Ben and I went to the Olive Garden and had a nice quiet dinner for two. Then, Ben surprised me and pulled out one of these http://www.apple.com/ipod/gallery/ . This was to replace our other one that got stolen - and it more than replaces it, cause it's totally awesome.
2. Thanksgiving - we have two huge thanksgiving dinners. One with Ben's family and one with mine. While making my family's dinner, my mom and I realized that there wasn't enough room in the oven for the Turkey, the potato casserole, the sweet potatoes and the Ham. So we decided to get Ben (the handy man) to cut the Ham in half so it would all fit. It sounds like a nice thing to do, but it was pure humour because Ben used his work Saw (Don't worry he put a fresh blade on). How much more white trash can we be??
3. Jeff's Birthday - the big Brother turned 32 this year!!!
4. Alexander's baby blessing - He' seriously such a sweetie. Tan watch out...I may just try and steal him one of these days.
5. Jeff's call to the Bar - another really neat experience. We were all just so proud of him and all he's accomplished. You should have heard the intro they gave him - he sounded like this super smart, super amazing person; which I know he is, but to me he's still just my Brother. I guess he's just my amazing big brother.
6. A weekend sleepover at Becc's with all the grandkids and some extras - Tan and I went to Becc's while the men were out of town. I had so much fun, but for some strange reason I was soooooo tired by the end. Seriously, those kids are B-U-S-Y! But you just can't help but love them - like I said earlier, watch out, I might just steal one of them someday.
7. A garage pad - Ben's been working on getting our garage in and before the garage comes we need a garage pad. So he borrowed a bob-cat and went to work. Him and a friend of his and a few extra hands prepped our back yard and his friends back yard for the pad(s). Then in the next few weeks the pad will get poured and then it's on to the construction of the garage itself. The joys of having a handy man for a husband.

Anyway, that's sort of all we've been up to. Sorry for the lack of pics. Sometimes you just forget your camera.

Do you recognize...

This city??

It's Montreal!!! Now why would I have pictures of Montreal? Because I just went there this last week. Last Wednesday my boss came into my office and asked if I wanted to go to Montreal for a conference, she apologized because it was really last minute, but there was an opening they needed to fill and they wanted to know if I would go - on the company of course. So without even thinking about it I said "YES, of course I'll go, need you even ask?" My boss then went on to tell me that it wasn't as much of a business trip but more of a retreat, and to top it all off we were staying here (Fairmont Queen Elizabeth) and I was allowed to bring a Guest. So of course my first thought was Ben. Of course I'd bring my husband, who would be crazy enough not to bring their husband to Montreal? So I called him and invited him on this all expenses paid holiday, obviously I wasn't convincing enough because he said he couldn't go. I should understand though: he runs his own business, it's really new and he's really (really -really) busy right now. He just can't leave his clients without heat and water when he promised it a week ago. I really understood. So I then tried to think of who would really enjoy a city like Montreal and I quickly thought of this person:

My Mom of course!! She's just the type of person you would want to take to Montreal. She speaks French, she appreciates the architectural beauty of old cities and she can shop for hours (cause really, that's what Montreal's all about). So she agreed and we flew out together bright and early Sunday Morning prepared for a fun week. The conference started out with a welcoming reception at Le Parquet, which was a very modern building built around some very old traditional Montreal buildings. There was so much good food there that I was sick by the end of the night. The next day, we spent the morning in classes. Now this might sound boring to some of you, but it was really sooooo interesting. Then with the Afternoon free, Mom and I went shopping. Let me tell you, shopping in Montreal is quite an experience. We shopped all up and down Sainte Catherine Street, which is basically the central shopping district, a place where all the stores want to be. So we definitely saw the best of the best. Then on Monday night we went to a Caban a Sucre party up on Mount Royal. The view of Montreal was breathtaking from the top of this "Mountain", just stunning (check out my pic at the top of this post). The party was fun too, especially the lumberjack competition:

Tuesday was activity day and we could choose from tons of amazing things to do (golfing, spa, race car driving, white water rafting etc.) but of course I chose the shopping tour. Our tour guide took us all through downtown Montreal and we shopped our little hearts out. Montreal has this amazing underground shopping centre. There are at least 2 levels of shopping completely underground, hence the name "the underground city". It was so fascinating because just when you thought you were done shopping, there would be another whole underground level that needed to be explored. We also checked out the traditional Montreal stores like Simons, and Ogilvy which were very fun!

Then Tuesday afternoon we went on a bus tour of Montreal and saw lots of neat things like the Biodome, the Botanical gardens, the site of the 1976 Olympics etc. Oh and we stopped and took pictures of the St. Josephs Oratory, which is supposedly really famous (I'm not that cultured though so I have not idea how famous)

We saw lots of really neat stuff. But the best part was when the tour was done and we went for dinner at Reuben's for their famous smoked meat sandwich. Can you say delicious??? It was heavenly.

So Wednesday was another day of classes which we skipped for a good cause: Shopping! I just NEEDED to make it to H&M which is much more important that networking and making business contacts, right? Anyway, us poor Western Canadians are seriously so deprived because this store Rocks!! Then after our shopping spree we went back to the Hotel to get ready for our Masquerade ball at Windsor station. We got all dolled out. Here's a picture of the night. Although we all had our masks, there was a lady there that thought we needed hats too (hence the crazy hats on our heads).

Anyway, I'm sure this is just super long and boring for all of you so I'll wrap it up. Our last day (Thursday) was spent in Old Montreal where we got to see all the old (really old) buildings from when Montreal was originally built hundreds of years ago. It was seriously so beautiful.

The best part of it all was when we were walking back to our hotel and you could see this great mix of old traditional structures right next to new modern buildings. This was neat, especially since it's now a rule that any renovations of old buildings must maintain the orignal exterior so as not to lose any more history. We won't be seeing many more "new" buildings in Montreal and it will maintain it's current charm.

Anyway, that was the trip. I hope you enjoyed my novel!! I know it was long, but I'm just so excited that I got to go to Montreal on my company and even more excited that I got to bring my mom. It was really neat to see one of the first areas in Canada that was settled and all the great Canadian history that Montreal holds. Canada's a pretty cool country, eh?

I cook...

Not Bake.

So yesterday, while Ben was busy outfitting his new work van, I was busy outfitting our countertops with all sorts of baking. I had big plans in mind. Well as it turns out the countertops weren't exactly 'outfitted' by the end of the day. I blame the garbage can, which being the greedy monster he is, ate most of my baking. I'll explain:

My first attempt at the mini chocolate chip banana muffin recipe resulted in flat and very dense muffins (hockey puck material). I guess I forgot the Baking Powder. So I tried again and was careful to remember the baking powder. But, since I'm still in training it's no surprise that I put a bit too much batter in the muffin tins. As you can see they looked sort of like muffins on steroids. Then finally, as the saying goes, "third times a charm", I managed to perfect the recipe - at least I think. The muffins were delicious and wonderful, mmmmmmmm. Anyone want the recipe?




So, if you think the "Third Try" muffins look good, why don't you stop by my house on Saturday at 11AM for a little taste? Oh, and while you're here, (WARNING, shameless promotion coming up) you should have a look at the Shade Clothing party I'm hosting. The clothes are awesome and the food will be great (that is if I can convince Becc to bring some cinnamon buns). Anyways, I hope to see you there! Call me if you need directions.

Favourite Pictures

So, I'm definitely not a photographer or anything, but I just had to post these two pics cause Marcus is sooooooo cute in them. He seriously has so much personality - I love it! The first one's him laughing at Ben, I think all Ben's doing is give him the old 'shifty eye' look. Something about it made Marcus go crazy, he was laughing for so long!



This one's just another example of how cute he is. He's just so sweet.

 

Zoo Time

These last few weeks have been pretty busy around here - I'm hoping things start to slow down soon. But regardless, here are some pics from the Zoo a few weeks ago. We went with the McCance grandchildren and had tons of fun. The kids were cute and I think they really liked all the animals - although Carson did sleep through half the trip. Emily got to do everything, serioulsy everything. She played at the park, looked at all the animals, fed the Giraffe, went on the train ride and most importantly ate some sweet icecream. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of the whole Giraffe thing, I never got to feed any animals when I was little. The day was lots of fun and very tiring. I think that had something to do with Carsons 7 AM wakeup call. But it was all worth it because we love those kids so much!!! Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Baby Alexander

Alexander Kenneth is here!!! We're all so excited that Tan finally had the baby and that Marcus can finally see his new baby brother, cause we all know he was so excited (j/k). He is so cute!! The funny thing is, he doesn't look like Marcus, yet Marcus is so cute too. Anyway, Tan looks great, Alexanders perfect, Marcus hasn't noticed and Nates a great dad (well Tan's a great mom too).

Here are some pics (I didn't take any of these, and since they were emailed to me the qaulity is a bit low - but the cameraman is great!!)

In the Hospital

Baby and Dad (Nate)

Marcus checking him out

Me and Alexander

Sarah, Matthew and Alexander

Grandpa and his Grandsons (except Marcus - where is he?)

Tan (the Mom), Becc and Alexander

More Pics of the Wedding

I just want to point out how gorgeous and graceful Emily is and how much of a dork I am - you know, I was just letting her shine on her wedding day (J/K)

Emily's Wedding

I know, I've been completely MIA for a long time - the sad thing is I don't have much of an excuse. I've been pretty busy though with lots of stuff like Girls Camp, Emily's wedding (which we had to perform at), recovering from some seriously painful wakeboarding injuries and trying to recover a stolen car (no luck yet). So that's why I've been gone - plus I've been super (super super super) busy at work these last few weeks - big promotion and raise here I come!!!
Anyway this last weekend my Emily got married. Ok, I know you all think I'm a total chease wad, but she really was "my" Emily, that is until she met Gary and decided to sign up on his team. I'm ok with it cause he is such a nice guy and he really really loves her. But he'd better know, she's my favourite cousin which is a title he can never take from me. Anyway, the day was gorgeous, Emily was stunning and it was lots of fun trying to get Gary to smile for a picture. He's got a great smile, but he's one of those people who just hasn't figured out how to make it work in front of a camera (you all know the type). We all had so much fun that day and I think we will all remember the hours we spent dancing at her reception (mostly Sarah, Becc, a very pregnant Tanya and myself). We danced the night away - seriously we did. Anyway, here are some of my favourite pics from the day. The thing I love about weddings, is that no matter what, the pictures look great. So, Enjoy!!

Memories

Just when I thought I was ok. Just when I thought I could go to church and sit through another baby blessing without crying, just when I thought I could handle the fact that I don’t have my children with me and everyone else has theirs, just when I thought that I could handle still not being pregnant, I get reminded how hard life really is. Seriously it’s so hard.

This last week a friend of mine just found out she was pregnant. She’s been trying for years and after two failed IUI’s (intra-uterine insemination) she finally got pregnant on her third IUI. I was so excited for her; she’s one of those people who just deserved it so much. She was so happy too, because this way she wouldn’t have to move onto IVF (in-vitro Fertilization) like they’d planned; she was done with trying and she would finally get her baby. It turns out she still needed to wait though. She had an early miscarriage and lost all the dreams and hopes that she created within days of finding out she was pregnant. I think what most people don’t understand is that it hurts so much no matter how far along you are. From the moment you find out you are pregnant you start planning the next phase of your life. You instantly think of things like names, first steps, first kisses, Universities, grandchildren and so on. It’s silly that you think of all that stuff, but you really do. It truly only takes a minute to create a life of dreams for an unborn child, it also only takes a minute to lose all those dreams when you lose a child.

So I’ve been thinking about how I dealt with my loss and what was hard about it at the time and what is hard about it today. I know the pain is not nearly as raw today as it was 6 months ago, in fact it’s not nearly as raw today as it was 3 months ago. But let me tell you, it’s still not fun at all. It’s really strange, I can go for days being fine, and then I go for days being just OK, and then I get hit with the memories of how hard it all is and I go through a few days of sadness and longing. It’s things like seeing a friend of mine lose a baby she so badly wanted and then seeing someone else mistreat a child they didn’t want that remind me of how hard life is. It’s knowing that no matter how good of a person I am, I can’t undo the events of this last year. It’s both the knowing I’m not pregnant each month as well as not knowing when I will get pregnant. It really is just the fear of the unknown.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I (someone who now knows better) should act when others go through similar experiences. I’ve decided that there isn’t much you can say to comfort anyone – all you can do is be sorry for their loss and acknowledge that their pain is valid and real. I remember the day before we went into the hospital to deliver Emma and Jayne, Ben and I stopped by where Nate was working that day to visit him – and just get some hugs. I remember the minute I saw him he started crying, and then he said how sorry he was, that he missed them already, and that he wished he could take my pain away. I don’t think he could have said anything better. He knew full well that he couldn’t take my pain away, but if he could, I know he would in a second. That meant so much to me at the time and it means so much now, it also taught me an important lesson. We really need to do all we can to help each other, we need to be sensitive to others when they are happy, and when they are sad. Mostly we just need to care for those around us.

This brings me back to my friend that just miscarried, I also told her that I wish I could take her pain away and feel it myself. I really would do this if I could, partly because I know it’s so hard and I really would never wish that on anyone else, but also because I know I could handle it. I’ve handled it before and I know I can get through it. I know if I lose another baby, I will get through it. We truly are comforted when life gets rough. I know I was. I made it through because I know there is more to life than what we can see right now, I know there is a plan.