MAY, 2013
Sidney, B.C.
From Vancouver, we travelled by ferry to Vancouver Island.
Emma the rockstar!
Caitlin nicely contained on the deck of B.C. Ferries!
We arrived at Amma & Granpa's to find presents for the girls ... of course!
Snack time and cartoons with Granpa!
Out for a walk in the wagon Amma & Granpa borrowed for the girls!
An Irish girl ready for the Canadian sun!
Story time and hug time with Granpa.
Yes, my parents bought Caitlin her first car!
Which meant Emma had the borrowed wagon all to herself ... cupholder included!
Family photo time with Granpa as the photographer ... I think this is the one we gave to people!?
Or was it this one? This is why I shouldn't get so far behind on blog posts! (No comments please, Amma & Grandma! :) )
Reading a book with my (Christine's) Auntie Mary.
Out on the deck, blowing bubbles with Granpa.
Caitlin's first trip to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre.
That is one funny looking fish from Ireland!
Getting ready to touch something "fishy".
Emma loved getting to hold a star fish.
There was a Grade 1 class there on a field trip, and at one point the teacher thought Emma was one of her students ... she definitely fit the height requirement!
Caitlin was much happier looking at the fish.
But, even that can be tiring!
A pic of Granpa and Caitlin for Amma (Caitlin is wearing the same shirt Emma was in a similar photo with Granpa that Amma wanted to recapture).
On the road again ... next stop ... Enderby to see Granpops and Grandma!
Enderby, B.C.
Playing the piano at Grandma's.
And getting along ... for this moment! ;)
Doing some "school work" with Grandma.
Reading with Grandma.
"Snacking" with Grandma.
Playing on a tractor with Daddy.
Emma & her cousin Carson, with Auntie Colleen.
Uncle Shawn driving the tractor ... or is it Caitlin??
Swing time with Auntie Colleen.
An intense staring contest while waiting for our dinner at the Armstrong Inn.
The staring contest "finals".
We were so blessed to be able to spend time with Pops on his 87th Birthday! Little did we know at the time, this would be his very best day before his last day here on earth, a week later.
We are so glad that Mike & Belinda, Kim & Colleen were with us that weekend as well.
Precious memories and photos!
Emma giving Granpops all his birthday greetings.
Auntie B and Caitlin tasting the "cake" ... ice cream cupcakes from Dairy Queen.
Trying on a hat someone left in the room.
Testing out a different hat and trying out an "escape route" too!
The girls found a parrot (stuffed animal) that squawked and moved like it was real!
Caitlin took it over to Granpops to give him a closer look.
One of my most favourite photos. This trip was the first time Pops & Caitlin met each other. Caitlin gave him loads of hugs and attention. His wheelchair and his hospital bed did not scare or deter her in the least. Later on in the week, as Pops was doing poorly, she tried to climb up in the bed with him, and he opened his eyes, smiled and reached over to her!
Uncle Mike & Emma discovered an exercise bike in the corner ... so, of course they tried it out!
Thrilled with herself.
Later that night, we headed back to the Bakers' (where we were staying) and Emma & her aunties put together the jigsaw Auntie Colleen & Uncle Kim had given her for her birthday.
The finished product!
We spent our days over at Grandma's helping out with a few chores around the house and yard. Daddy & Emma cut the grass with the ride on lawnmower.
They also collected wood for the burn pile.
And we went to Home Depot to purchase laminate flooring for Joel to install in a new "craft/sewing" room for his Mom.
Another family photo, this time the photographer was Mom! Now I'm thinking this is actually the photo we gave out??
One of the favourite things of all the Carlaw cousins to play on at the farm is the pedal tractors.
We also took Mom and the girls to the Log Barn for a little afternoon outing.
There are yummy things to buy there, and gifty type things, including crazy looking masks too!
Caitlin enjoyed saying "Hello" to all the ceramic animals. Small pigs ...
... and tall giraffes!
Rocking on perfectly sized horses ...
which was great practice for ...
saying hello to ...
real live friendly horses!
Sitting on a swing in the sun.
And getting great cuddles.
JUNE, 2013
Enderby, B.C.
Owen and Audrey Baker not only let us stay in their basement suite ...
They even made us all a HUGE turkey dinner! Just one of the many reasons Joel is so fond of them!
Pops' Celebration of Life
We ended up staying longer in Enderby than we had originally planned. Joel's dad passed away about a week after his 87th birthday. His brothers, Bryce (Ireland), and Shaun (Hungary) flew home to help Joel and their Mom plan Pops' memorial service. While the occasion was not one we would have wished for, it was such a blessing to be able to spend some extra time together as family ...
Snack time with Uncle Mike.
Chillin' with cousins.
Carlaw family dinner ...
at the Armstrong Inn, of course :-)
Brothers and sister ;-)
Edmonton, AB
We left Enderby, this time a bit earlier than we had planned on due to Joel's brothers wanting to stay on for a bit with his Mom. We decided to take a short family break in Edmonton before continuing with our home assignment. It was nice to be together as a family and just be able to re-adjust again after Pops' passing & all the emotion of the memorial service, etc.
We spent a day at West Edmonton Mall. Caitlin driving ... again!
Emma driving for the fire brigade.
And motorcycle 4x4ing ...
We all went for a "hot air balloon" ride.
Daddy & Emma were more adventurous ...
Going way up ...
then coming straight back down!
Emma's first roller coaster ride all by herself!
And practicing "real" driving with bumper cars.
Then she got to drive around a track ... a disappeared for awhile after she crashed into the side and had to wait to be restarted by the attendant!
Caitlin hung out while waiting for Emma. I can't remember how she got the scratch on her cheek though! I blame Joel ;-)
Joel's friend Shaun was able to meet us at the mall and hang out with us. He and Emma went on the swinging pirate ship, and I seem to remember her convincing him to go on the roller coaster with her too. I have the picture ... somewhere!?
McBride, B.C.
Next we travelled on to McBride to stay with Joel's friends Stan & Jody and their family.
We went with them to the McBride Centennial Parade.
Waiting for it to begin and armed with a paper bag to collect sweets!
And lollies and stuffies too!
Then to the park with Jody for the rest of the activities.
Esther & Emma.
Emma & her cousin Grayson.
Oh yes, we're in Canada ... RCMP!
Cuddle time with Stan & Ezra
Emma hot tubbing with the girls.
Prince George, B.C.
After McBride, we continued on to Prince George.
We love going to Hartland Baptist Church and catching up with friends, and its so crazy to think that ages ago they were the youth! Now they have real jobs, real families, and real facial hair!
And there is nothing better than seeing them cuddle our girls and love them like they loved us!
We were able to stay in our old basement suite again (yes, we were invited back), and Emma had a blast playing with her friend Rylee!
Perfect timing when Niki was testing out a bouncy house for her end of the year Kindergarten party!
A friend's mom knitted the girls stuffies ... Caitlin got an owl.
Emma got a scarecrow.
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