Never Forget

Saturday morning we headed out to a good friends bake sale at an antique farm sale. The girls were off playing and we were browsing and visiting when we realized we no longer saw Adessa, we asked the girls where she was, and they didn't know. Steve and I calmly started walking around calling her name and asking friends if they had seen her. After about 5 minutes the panic settled in and my calm pace turned into frantic running and yelling her name. We circled the farm a few times to no avail, checked inside, behind, in front. I was in hysterics. I started bolting up the driveway and saw Steve holding Adessa and I just broke down and grabbed her and sobbed... along with a few good friends. That was the scariest 15 minutes of my entire life and I will NEVER forget that feeling. 

Apparently Adessa had decided to walk to the van (parked on the side of a busy country road) to get Meeko out to come play with the other animals. Thank goodness that the husband of the house was at the end of the road charging admission to get in... which at first we thought was a bit unfortunate, but after that I was SO grateful! 

Every single bad thought had raced through both Steve's and my mind and we couldn't shake the feeling the rest of the day. But God is good and kept her safe and I will never forget that and pray it never, ever happens again! 

Oh August... so many memories!

 I have probably one thousand photos on my computer from the month of August alone, but I decided not to do that and instead try to sum up the summer by collaging a few photos (I saw this on a friends blog!). 

Amy, Chris and Emilie came out for a week at the beginning of August to go camping. We went to Parksville beach for a day, Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, Goats on the Roof in Coombs and we took a walk on ferry to Newcastle Island in which we hiked to Kanaka beach and spent the day there. We are so blessed by such wonderful family!!

In between our company Steve's Cousin from Newfoundland- Caitlyn stopped by for a night on her adventure traveling up the whole west coast by herself. The kids had such a great time with her. 

Steve has been itching all summer to get out and fish, and he finally got too with a good buddy... it was the perfect evening and he caught a spiny dogfish (a shark!) and a few crab that we cooked up and ate. 

I got a last minute call from mom and dad asking if they could come out for a week... we were pretty tired out from our busy summer, but how could we turn them away?! So of course they came and we made some pretty epic memories! My favorite day being scooter-ing on Salt Spring Island! We rented scooters for 4 hours and toured the entire island. We went to the Saturday morning market, Saltspring cheese company- for some AMAZING cheese, and to Saltspring Vineyards for some wine tasting. As well as stopping at some beaches. Such a great day!

Mom really wanted to head out to Tofino, because she LOVES the rugged ocean, but I decided to take them out to Port Renfrew as we had never been yet. Unfortunately Steve had to work, but we found an awesome Groupon to stay in Sooke for a couple of nights, so we couldn't resist!
We went and checked out the beginning of the West Coast Trail hike and were inspired by a family of four who had just completed the hike and had done no training for it. So one day that hike will be crossed off the bucket list (that I have not created yet!)
We then drove out to Botanical beach and were amazed by the beauty of it. It was a 2.5 km hike with a few beach stops on the way, each being so unique and my Adessa Mattie did SO amazing, I was so proud of her! She hiked the ENTIRE way all by herself without complaining! We ended the hike with a beautiful picnic. Then drove out to Sooke to stay in a beautiful resort hotel.
The next day we went and checked out French Beach and China Beach, but it was quite windy and cold and Adessa wasn't in as good of mood as the day before. So we got our exercise in and then headed back to the hotel for swimming! And Danika jumped into the deep end and swam to the shallow end WITHOUT her life jacket! Another milestone hit... SO proud of her! Both the girls are gaining so much confidence in the water. 

Next morning the girls and I got up early and went to the lobby for breakfast and then I took them swimming for a good hour in which we had the pool to ourselves. It was very fun. We then headed to Victoria to my dads favorite place- The fisherman's wharf. We ate fish and chips, ice cream and mini donuts and walked around. Then on the way home we watched 'Brave' ... which I would NOT recommend, my little girls were pretty terrified!

My parents helped us around the house, moved my room around, cleaned up the yard (my mom always has to trim things... and I don't complain!) and helped so much with the girls.
Thanks mom and dad once again for an amazing visit... we love you and appreciate your generosity and love SO much, and we love being tourists and seeing the whole island with you!!!

Summer

Summer is half over and I have not posted anything at all. And it is not for lack of things to write about, but quite the opposite. This summer has been an absolute whirlwind of activity and I have hundreds of pictures to prove it. However I don't think I will get around to posting them... maybe a few of my favorites, but we'll see. The summer started out with the big trek back to Alberta for a couple of weeks. The main event being Steve's sister, Leah getting married. We took a couple of days to get out there and then I was supposed to leave for Vegas on a little trip with the girls, but realized I had forgotten my passport. I put out a facebook plea seeing if anyone could meet us during our 3 hour layover in Vancouver. My friend Lana was my hero and drove across to Vancouver to meet us... what a good friend! Vegas was fun, we shopped, walked the strip, took in an amazing Cirque De Soleil show and soaked up the +40 sun. Our flight home was delayed and so we made it home a day before the wedding... cutting it a little close!

My amazing in-laws and best hubby in the world watched the girls and we had quite the scare with my Danika. She had been violently ill with what we thought was the flu on the way out to Calgary and which lasted 4 days, with no appetite, until Steve took her to emergency and they told us she had a terrible bladder infection. She went on antibiotics and was scheduled for an ultrasound the next day. Steve took her to that and they called in the Dr. right away as it looked like she had appendicitis and Steve was told to take her to the children's hospital. But once the surgeon saw the ultrasound he said to wait a few days on the antibiotics and if they didn't work to take her into emerg. This all happened while I was in Vegas, it was pretty terrifying and I prayed so much for my little angel. Thankfully the antibiotics worked and she started feeling better as soon as I got home. But my poor husband and in-laws, I felt so terrible. But so thankful that it didn't turn into anything more serious.

Leah's and Zach's wedding was beautiful, and Leah looked amazing. Danika, Adessa and their cousin Emilie were the flower girls and they did such a great job. I was a bridesmaid and we had so much fun taking pictures in beautiful Canmore. My talented husband MC'ed the evening and did a fantastic job. I am looking forward to seeing all the pictures from that beautiful day!

  The next day we had a chance to visit family and my mother-in-laws sister from Newfoundland was out, so it was great to catch up. On Monday we headed to my families for a little family reunion on my dad's side. It was probably the only cold day while we were there, which was a bit of a bummer as we spent the day at the lake. But it was so great to see my cousins, and their children- which got along very well with mine and my sisters. The week at my families was very busy, filled with lots of lake days, and a trip to Calaway park. Since half of Danika's kindergarten class had been to Disneyland, we have been hounded about when the girls got to go, so I told them Calaway  park was just like Disneyland, except without the princesses...  But to them it made no difference, they LOVED every moment, and the best part is that the lines were short and the rides were amazing to them, enough to fit into one day, and with room to even fit in a magician show! My dad was a champ and took the girls on most of the rides as I have officially become old and get too dizzy on rides now... so sad!

My sister threw a big birthday party for Adessa, with lots of presents and cake, and made it very special for my little girl, as family wouldn't be around to celebrate on her actual birthday. Nancy our interpreter from El Salvador was also at the party, and it was so great to see her.
Our trip was wonderful, we enjoyed every minute, and it was so nice to be back in Calgary during the summer as we haven't been back in the summer for 3 years. We felt like we got in lots of time with family, even though it was busy and were so thankful for that opportunity.

 The next trip back to Calgary is already planned for November 3rd as my little brother is getting married!!! I can't even believe it!!! :)

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

On Sunday morning, we headed out to Victoria to stay at the World-Mark Hotel on the Victoria Harbor. We were SO EXCITED! Sharon called and told us what was the best and most cost efficient things to do... I love that about her! Always getting the best deals!  Once we got settled into our gorgeous accommodation we walked down to the fisherman's wharf, which you can see from our room, to try some of the Burdges highlights of their time spent here the day before.

Girls on the balcony, Fisher mans wharf behind Danika 

Definite highlight of the trip... buying some fish to feed the seals, such a COOL opportunity! 

The seals were so fat and would just float around- mainly on their backs. We came back later to feed them again and they weren't even hungry!

Adessa was SO sad when all the fish were gone

Pirate girls 

Locked up!

Me and my girls!

Steve took hundreds of candid shots... this is one of hundreds!

Another highlight of the trip.. the mini donuts on the wharf... o my goodness!!! They were deadly! But don't worry Sharon I only ate 2! ;) 

The World-mark where we stayed

Second time around, this time we made them slowly feed the fish as the first time they just dumped them in!  The seals came right up and grabbed the fish from our hands!

Cool Shot

The seal just took the fish from Danika's hand

Lots of time spent in the pool... Daddy is so much fun!!!

In the evening our wonderful friends Nathan and Amelia came over... one year ago they were married and Steve was a groomsman. It was totally a last minute call, but one we were so happy to have made as they came and spent the evening celebrating Canada Day with us! 

Danika has known Amelia since we started at camp... she used to call her 'Polka-Dot'  The girls had so much fun with Amelia and Nathan. 

We went and checked out the shows at the Parliament buildings, but it was too loud and busy, so we didn't last too long. 

 Cool video of the seal taking the fish from the girls hands

 Adessa busting a move!

The AMAZING firework show we could see from our hotel room!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! 
Sharon- Thank you for thinking of us and giving us this amazing opportunity to make so many wonderful memories! Love you!!! 

Danika The Babysitter

This morning the girls and I watched two little girls named Penny and June for a friend of mine. Penny is Adessa's age, so the two ran off and played so well together, while Danika took charge and asked to babysit June! I was so proud of her! She made sure June was always happy, putting in her soother, finding her toys or making her smile. And then when June was tired Danika laid on the couch with her, sang her songs and tickled her face (just like I used to do to her! *sigh*) and June fell asleep. 

Danika entertained her for about 2 hours, and she was so wonderful! Danika has only been done school for 2.5 days, but so far I am really loving having her home again! It is so much easier having her to play with Adessa- to help a bit with clean-up and just to have my baby girl back home all day! I didn't realize how much I missed her! 

Oh and Danika told me that when she grows up she wants to be a babysitter AND a teacher. Thought I would write that down for the record! :) 

Canada Day Craft

This morning as I was doing my "quick" check on Facebook I found this great craft idea posted by a girlfriend of mine! A very simple craft to make Canada Day shirts. We already had a few white shirts kicking around, had the acrylic paint from Danika's party and had two beautiful little girls who were eager to paint their hands! We had lots of fun... it turned into quite a mess as Adessa insisted on painting a few different pictures afterwards. But that is all the fun... isn't it?! 

Before shot... all ready to go! 

Danika painted her own shirt! She is becoming quite the little artist... it was a little hard for this mamma to let her do it by herself, as I wanted it 'just so' however I laid off until the end... where I took a brush to 'straighten' a few lines! (ooops, I couldn't help myself!)

Action shot!

The completed shirts!!! I am so excited for Canada Day this year! We have some pretty amazing friends some of which called me up yesterday and asked if we would be able to stay at her cousins World-mark Hotel on Victoria Harbor for Canada Day... um YES PLEASE!!! We feel so blessed and are so excited to be a part of Canada Day- Downtown Victoria within walking distance to all the events! Thanks Sharon... you are SO generous!!!! And we are so excited!!! 

Kindergarten Graduation!

My baby girl graduated from Kindergarten today. We can't believe it! It feels like not long ago when we were SO nervous for her to go into Kindergarten, and now she is finished. We are so proud of her and she has grown so much in this past year. The last couple of days Danika has been very emotional as she is SO SAD to be done kindergarten. All of a sudden she gets really quiet and we ask her what is wrong and she replies, "I am just so sad to finish kindergarten and leave Mrs. Mitchell." We have been so blessed by Mrs.Mitchell and she has been the most wonderful teacher for Danika. 

All ready for her big day of Graduation! 

Eating Graduation cake 

Adessa was very excited to be a part of it!

Shaking hands with the principal and getting her Kindergarten Diploma!

Danika made so many good friends this year!

Girls being goofy!

Danika with the twins

Danika and sweet little Noah

We are going to miss her!!!! 

Class picture... what a wonderful year!!!!