The many faces of our House

One year ago we were moving into our house. We had lists, drawings, plans, timelines & budgets....one year later it is amazing to look back and see how far we have come, where we blew the budget and where we saved. We changed our minds 1000 times. With four strong opinions and strong hearts invovled I am impressed how well we all made decisions and moved forward....We are so proud.

I have put together before and after for you all to see.

Upstairs Kitchen (check out the fan! it matches the walls)

Upstairs kitchen nook

Family Room

Living Room

We are now onto our main upstairs bathroom.....I can hardly wait to show it off!

This is the house that love built.

I have a secret!

Wow, this was a hard secret to keep from you because we are so excited!

We are pregnant...OK well really I am pregnant!!!! Yep, it's official. I am 3 months pregnant. We are expecting our 3rd little bundle of joy in February.

This is no big surprise to most of you, as Shannon & I have never kept our desire to have more children a secret. But I suppose the fact that the time has come is a little surprising!
Now the big question is...will we find out if it's a boy or a girl....Yes we will. We both loved knowing what our boys were. We gave away all our baby stuff so we are starting from scratch. If you have any baby items you don't need anymore, my door is open!

So far I feel normal. I am tired. I basically fall into bed right after I get the boys settled down for the night. I have had waves of nausea but nothing too over the top. I have always enjoyed being pregnant and I feel so blessed to be experiencing this all over again.

Thank you for your love and support. It is always very important to us!!

Braydon Turns 4!

Yesterday concluded Braydons week long Birthday celebration! We started celebrating in Osoyoos and finished up with a party for him & all his friends. He is one lucky kid! Being a summer baby parties are always outside with plenty of space to run & play!


The festivities started.....
.....while we were on holidays. Shannon and Will snuck away early in the morning to organize Braydons birthday surprise. I made sure Braydon was lake side ready for their arrival. Soon enough Shannon and Will pulled up dock side in a Speed Boat complete with a Tube for 2!
The boys were elated! We grabbed Mom and were on our way. After a quick tour of the lake to get adjusted to the speed controls, I jumped in the tube with the boys and Shannon hit the gas...very slowly. Braydon was cautious at first but came around. Will was all about the speed "faster, faster, faster!" After everyone had their turn, we returned the boat and headed in for lunch. We had Braydons favorite meal, peanut butter & banana sandwiches. The party wrapped up with a smarties ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. I know Braydon had a wonderful day.


Through out the week.....
....people were stopping in dropping off gifts. It seemed everyday brought a new surprise.



The wrap up was......
.....on Sunday. I hosted a small laidback party at Redwood Park with a few close friends. Some fruit, cupcakes and a beautiful Park complete with the playground of champions! I absolutely love watching the kids run and play, smile & laugh. Children's laughter is infectious.



At the end of it all, Braydon is now 4 and fun was had by all! What will next year bring?

Time for a Break

I think the lesson to learn is that some things are better left unplanned....in the hands of fate.

I took a page from my husbands book and took everything in stride and you know what...everything work out famously!

We left early on the 6th of July all packed up and raring to go! The trip up was fairly uneventful. I learned that Braydon is very content to sit and play his DS for 5 hours. Not so sure I like this, but it was very handy for this long car ride. Will, on the other hand loves to be entertained. Bring on the Eye Spy, Simon Says, Coloring books, Etchasketch...and anything else that works to entertain! Why don't we get a portable DVD player?...well in fact we have owned 2 and as a valuable lesson to Parents "Don't let your 3 year old boys play with the DVD Player". The first player met it's fate thru Will when he was 3 and bent the screen completely off the base. The second player met it's fate when 3 year old Braydon dropped it down the stairs snapping it in half.

We arrived at the Destiny Beach Resort shortly after lunch. It was a perfect day...36 degrees in the shade, not a cloud in the sky.It only took an hour to unpack and we headed straight for the pool.

swimming with the Boys

Around 3 o'clock Mom & Grandma arrived. Dad had to stay back and work which was very disappointing, but I was happy to have my Mom & Grandma with us to share this special time with the Boys.

Shannon & Mom on their way to the wineries

Grandma enjoying a shade break from the 45 degree day

It wasn't long before Shannon was mixin' up happy hour bevies, the sunscreen was lathered on and we forgot all about time. Every morning we rented the canoe and took on the calm lake water. Our biggest daily decision was whether we were swimming in the lake or the pool...tough life.

our daily morning canoe ride

On our last morning here I went outside to get my bathing suit from the dry rack and who do you think is standing there.....Dad! What an awsome surprise. The crazy guy drove all night to join us for our last day...Braydons Birthday. This was the perfect ending to a perfect holiday

I love this place!

fitting in holiday time where he can...Dad shows up in true form

Can anybody tell me where time goes....I realise that today is July 5, 2010...next week my Baby Boy, Braydon, is turning 4 years old. I have nothing planned and nothing bought....where did the time go. Tomorrow the family & I are leaving for our Summer holiday for a week on the Lake in the Southern Okanagan...I have not packed! I am a planner by nature & by career choice but I am certain I have a mild case of ADD. Between family, work, friends and everything in between it is no wonder I spend a great deal of time trying to remember what I was just about to do. Focus.

Wrapping up the school year

All good things must come to an end. This is of course unless the countdown started in January and the end could not come soon enough!

Both the boys finished school this week.

William graduated from Kindergarten, cap, gown & all. The school celebrated the end of the year with a trip to Boundry Bay on Monday the 14th and Sports Day on Friday the 18th. Both events proved to be beautiful sunny days!

Braydon wrapped up his first year in preschool with a year end party at a classmates farm house, unfortunately the sun shined a little later than hoped. Braydons classmates sang him happy birthday and he got to take home a cupcake!

None the less each event was fun and event packed! The teachers do a great job.

Braydon will be moving schools for the 2nd year of preschool. Both the Boys will now be going to the same school...just 2 blocks from our house. This is so exciting for Braydon and I am very grateful to have one drop off & pick up spot for the 2010/2011 school year.

For now we are ready for summer to begin....if only somebody could let the weather man know. It's cold...brrrrrrr.

Fathers Day

It was decided that this year we would start a new tradition for fathers day....we were going fishing! Ok so this is not really all that 'new' to Dad & I, but it is new for the Boys and Shannon.

For as long as I can remember my dad and I went fishing for Fathers day. When I turned 16 we started a new tradition of ultralight flying, but once Shannon & I started a family of our own...ultralight flying and toddlers didn't really mix. For a few years we tried to split up the day..I would get up, make Shannon breakfast, meet up with my dad, rush to the Fish & Game Club have a Salmon BBQ with my grandpas, rush to the ultralight airport in time for a sunset flight then run home to kiss the boys goodnight.....this was not my idea of a relaxing day at all! Over the past couple of years my Grandpa's have passed away. It leaves a void in your heart, but it also opens doors to new beginnings and new traditions.

Dad scouted out a Fish farm in South Abbotsford that was a perfect compromise between the adult world of fishing and the children's world of having no patients to wait 2 hours and not catch anything! Boy did we catch fish! 14 to be exact. After a picnic and 3 full buckets of fish we headed out happy with our successful day. Dad taught Shannon & the Boys how to 'gut' a fish. Uncle Kirk & Grandma joined us for dinner and we cooked up our catch(es) of the day.

Happy Fathers day to the fabulous men in my life! Thank you for a great day!

A visit from Mom & Dad Clift!

We waited and we waited and we waited. We made countdown calenders and good behavior charts.....finally the Big day came. Nany & Poppy arrived!

Shannon & Will went to the airport to meet Joan & Frank. Braydon & I stayed behind to get things ready for their arrival. We are all very excited and happy to have them visiting for the next 10 days.

Through the week we did some sight seeing. We went to White Rock for dinner at the Boathouse, Steveston in Richmond to have lunch on the dock, Joan & Frank traveled to Cordova bay to visit Uncle Jack for a couple days. We had a fabulous lobster feast and a party to celebrate with friends and family. We wrapped things up by the campfire and told old stories that made us laugh till our bellies hurt. Thanks Nancy & Mike for all the great stories.

Shannon really enjoyed and appreciated his dads help with the house. Great father son bonding...there is truly nothing like coming together under the wire to install a toilet & bathroom door with moments to spare before 20 guests arrive for a dinner party. All mom's involved thought they were crazy!

We really enjoyed their visit and can hardly wait to see them again!