Ah, the busy days....
Wednesday Chad's Nannie from Bar Harbour arrived for a visit. It is always so much fun and such a pleasure to have her stay with us. I really enjoy having her around. She arrived for Savanna's 1st birthday party on Saturday.
Thursday evening I had a music practice for the HARVEST JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL yeah, the choir is singing!! (announcement to come), anyway but before that Chad & I went down to the bus station to pick up his brother Doug, who also was coming in for Savanna's birthday party. I really like Doug, he's a "real" guy, you know, the kind who know's how it is and doesn't pretend it's any different. hes fun, great conversationalist, smart thinker, and "easy" person to have stay in your house. So we acidentally got the times mixed up for when he was going to arrive so we just sat on the back of the car freezing our toesies off and hanging out.
Little side note here. There was this couple who arrived after we did and pulled in next to us. He got out and helped his wife get the walker out of the back for her. She sat down on the walker and waited. Meanwhile a young, voluptous woman in her early twenties came storming off and starting totally telling off her mother about some non-existant express, meanwhile we're left just staring beside her. I can't believe she's ripping into her mother like that (firstly), secondly she has absolutly no shame whatsoever to do this with us sitting right there. People today, absolutly no respect. Grunt.
Anyway, we really enjoyed having Doug & Nannie in and Friday I made my friend Donna Knappe's amazing Spicy chicken penne for supper. Yumm, yum. The Billington clan came over to decorate for the big party and we had yummy din din. Thanks Donna for the dish it is delicish!
And Saturday morning dawns. We were ready for a party. Savanna was such a doll. I can't wait to get the pictures back. She certainly got a good grasp on opening gifts and she had a butt load! So many gifts for someone so little! The house was full of celebrants, somewhere around 20 I think, what a party! it was a full day. Savanna had a blast, I think, and got such lovely things too. I love baby clothes-they're so great and tiny!
Sunday was a full day of church. In the evening desperation called and I played piano in the band for the Street Invaders finale. How awesome an evening to hear how teens were challenged by God's word and the importance of sharing the hope Jesus offers. They all seemed to be assured in their own worth in Christ too, which is great. We will have to continue to pray that now that they head back to their homes, the truths they learned will remain a changing and challenging factor in their day to day lives.
Dawn Monday morning. Bright and early Chad & I arrived at the church to meet up with Joel & Anne Calabrese. Their flight back to Colorodo Springs flew out of Vermont so we had agreed to drive them down and bring their van back. We had a really great drive of laughs and great conversation, and of course a few naps along the way. It's amazing how much more comfortable driving for long distances can be in a vehicle built with some comfort! :)
We saw wild turkeys! just walking along the highway. I've never seen a wild turkey before, it was kind of neat, although they looked pretty skinny for dinner. Do people hunt WILD turkeys anymore? The neatest little town called Sharon, Vermont, captivated my attention along the road. Just a few houses, a tiny town, nestled in among the moutains, those rolling moutains, in a tiny valley. I'd never been to Vermont before, the mountains are stunning, in a different way then British Colombia. The moutains of Vermont roll at different depths and you can see many of them in, kind of like a pop up, 3-D book, all at the same time.
We stopped for the night in Shelburn, near the Burlington airport and went out to a lovely restaurant called the Tuscan Kitchen, with dangerous garlic....ah the danger of garlic.....ah the delights of garlic.....
We dropped the Calabreses off at the airport and hit the road yesturday morning stopping off in Kittery for lunch. Ahhh Kittery, an amazing experience. Unfortunatly, or perhaps fortunatly for our bank account, we didn't have much time in Kittery, but we did stop off at Carters, a favorite of mine. They have the most adorable baby clothes. We got a totally adorable outfit for each of our neices for Thanksgiving, I'll definilty have to get a picture some how and post it around the holiday.
Anyway, that's the catch up on everything, I must go and do someone productive today!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Today
Today, I cleaned our blueberries from Monday's picking--28 cups! Not bad for under 2 hours of picking, I'd say, and that's just Chad & I. Sharon picked between 16-18 cups, Shelley the same, and I don't know what Mom & Dad got. So I froze them for now, I wonder what I should make.
I also got the house pretty tidy before we go away. Chad & I, and the staff of SSC are headed down to the Willow Creek Conferences on Leadership, in Moncton tomorrow morning, through Saturday. We'll return Saturday night after Kaitlyn's first birthday party! Hard to believe she officially turns One Year Old this coming Wednesday-what a year!
Check out Willow Creek if you get a moment:
http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/
I also got the house pretty tidy before we go away. Chad & I, and the staff of SSC are headed down to the Willow Creek Conferences on Leadership, in Moncton tomorrow morning, through Saturday. We'll return Saturday night after Kaitlyn's first birthday party! Hard to believe she officially turns One Year Old this coming Wednesday-what a year!
Check out Willow Creek if you get a moment:
http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/
The St. Stephen Chocolate Factory
Well, yesturday was great! Chad & I planned to meet Mom & Dad, Nanny & Grampy, April & Trevor, Angela & Kaitlyn in St. Stephen for a picnic and then we had booked a tour at the St. Stephen Chocolate Factory. It is Chocolate Fest in St. Stephen this week. We had tons of fun!
The tour was neat! We all had to line up with our hair nets (oh and for Chad, the beard net too) outside the factory. Even Kaitlyn had to wear one! We had to take off all jewlery too, I guess they don't want any diamond chocolate treats! Then they took us around throughout the factory showing us how pepermints, jellybeans and finally chocolate is made. I must admit to you that the smell of those machines mixing with candy and chocolate is not at all appealing!-gross! But I did manage at the end of the tour to fill my boots with chocolate. Unfortunatly because so many people are allergic to nuts, they didn't have many if any chocolate covered nuts out for sampling and they are my favorite! Kaitlyn was so interested in it all and got her first taste of chocolate cherry and a piece of black licorice that she absolutly loved to slobber up!
After the tour we drove downtown to the old factory which is now a museum and chocoliter, or chocolate store. Here, they had tons of chocolates to munch on as you went through, a chocolate history, chocolate carvings and movies on how the factory came into being, some of the initial employee's interviewed and more chocolate chocolate chocolate! By the time we left the museum we had all seen enough chocolate for, well, a little while :)
I went on the hunt for a charm for my bracelet, chocolate or St. Stephen, but was unsuccessful and then we all met to look at a gift shop, where Kaitlyn proceeded to fill her little feet and hands with splinters on the deck outside--yikes, they looked nasty. So, for the next hour or so we waited around while Mom tried to pry the splinters out of her little feet.
When Mom had done as much damage as she dare we went down to Pizza Delight for supper, where Kaitlyn proceeded to continue being the star of the show, showing us she would be 1 year old with her index finger, playing patty cake, cheering and giving applause--she is so much fun at this age!
After dinner, we walked up to Scoops, an icecream shop with a huge amount of falvors and most of us got an icecream, including Chad who also had to go next door and get some deep fried frenchfries.
All in all it was a great day, and as usual just so nice to hang out together and have some fun.
If you haven't been to the St. Stephen Chocolate Factory, you really should take a trip down during their one week Chocolate Fest. I don't know if tickets for this year are all sold out, but book it in your calandar and check it out--it's really econimical too! I'll post pictures once I have them developed!
http://www.chocolate-fest.ca/
http://www.chocolatemuseum.ca/
The tour was neat! We all had to line up with our hair nets (oh and for Chad, the beard net too) outside the factory. Even Kaitlyn had to wear one! We had to take off all jewlery too, I guess they don't want any diamond chocolate treats! Then they took us around throughout the factory showing us how pepermints, jellybeans and finally chocolate is made. I must admit to you that the smell of those machines mixing with candy and chocolate is not at all appealing!-gross! But I did manage at the end of the tour to fill my boots with chocolate. Unfortunatly because so many people are allergic to nuts, they didn't have many if any chocolate covered nuts out for sampling and they are my favorite! Kaitlyn was so interested in it all and got her first taste of chocolate cherry and a piece of black licorice that she absolutly loved to slobber up!
After the tour we drove downtown to the old factory which is now a museum and chocoliter, or chocolate store. Here, they had tons of chocolates to munch on as you went through, a chocolate history, chocolate carvings and movies on how the factory came into being, some of the initial employee's interviewed and more chocolate chocolate chocolate! By the time we left the museum we had all seen enough chocolate for, well, a little while :)
I went on the hunt for a charm for my bracelet, chocolate or St. Stephen, but was unsuccessful and then we all met to look at a gift shop, where Kaitlyn proceeded to fill her little feet and hands with splinters on the deck outside--yikes, they looked nasty. So, for the next hour or so we waited around while Mom tried to pry the splinters out of her little feet.
When Mom had done as much damage as she dare we went down to Pizza Delight for supper, where Kaitlyn proceeded to continue being the star of the show, showing us she would be 1 year old with her index finger, playing patty cake, cheering and giving applause--she is so much fun at this age!
After dinner, we walked up to Scoops, an icecream shop with a huge amount of falvors and most of us got an icecream, including Chad who also had to go next door and get some deep fried frenchfries.
All in all it was a great day, and as usual just so nice to hang out together and have some fun.
If you haven't been to the St. Stephen Chocolate Factory, you really should take a trip down during their one week Chocolate Fest. I don't know if tickets for this year are all sold out, but book it in your calandar and check it out--it's really econimical too! I'll post pictures once I have them developed!
http://www.chocolate-fest.ca/
http://www.chocolatemuseum.ca/
Monday, August 07, 2006
Blueberry picking
Today was a great day. Chad & I, Shelley, Sharon & Chad's Grammie, headed out around 9:30 this morning for my parents place in Churches Corner near Elgin NB (aka--the woods & mountains of now man's land New Brunswick). We arrived in time for lunch after I showed off the awesome Gordon Falls along the way. Mom had a great lunch made for us, subs and April had made chocolate chip cookies. Trevor & April, Mom & Dad, Angela & Kaitlyn were all there too. We ate up lunch and showed off Mom & Dad's digs and then headed up to the lookout for blueberries!
What a pile of them! Chad & I easily filled between 8 & 10 litres of blueberries in under 2 hours. Everyone did equally well--filling out boots. Because of the strong winds there were few bugs and the cloud cover made for a comfortable day out of the hot sun. It was great!
We returned home for some visiting and lassagna & blueberry cheesecake for dessert--yummy! Of course Kaitlyn was her usual doll-self, I love her so much! And hopefully I got a couple cute pictures of her. Angela had her pictures done for her birthday and I was thrilled to get copies for my wallet and coffee table at home. I love to show off the neices!
We returned home around 9pm, a little tired, but happy and tons of blueberries in tow!
A great Holiday Monday!
What a pile of them! Chad & I easily filled between 8 & 10 litres of blueberries in under 2 hours. Everyone did equally well--filling out boots. Because of the strong winds there were few bugs and the cloud cover made for a comfortable day out of the hot sun. It was great!
We returned home for some visiting and lassagna & blueberry cheesecake for dessert--yummy! Of course Kaitlyn was her usual doll-self, I love her so much! And hopefully I got a couple cute pictures of her. Angela had her pictures done for her birthday and I was thrilled to get copies for my wallet and coffee table at home. I love to show off the neices!
We returned home around 9pm, a little tired, but happy and tons of blueberries in tow!
A great Holiday Monday!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Shelley's vibrant hair
Ok, so it's mostly my fault.
Sunday night I was hanging out after church talking with Shelley when suddenly I noticed her hair had gone nearly completly GRAY! Keeping in mind that I'd done a home job on her hair a couple of time before and it turned out really well, I said "What are you doing tomorrow! We're dying your hair!"
So we met at the Superstore and picked out an auburn colour with blonde highlights. We had fun mixing the potions with the magic wands and applying it to her hair, but honestly, wow--it had a really interesting turn out! Lets just say VIBRANT hair colour--red,orange, blonde, Vibrant! I'm praying it will settle down a bit. At least Shelley's pretty easy going about it.....it will grow out..... Until the pictures come along.....
Sunday night I was hanging out after church talking with Shelley when suddenly I noticed her hair had gone nearly completly GRAY! Keeping in mind that I'd done a home job on her hair a couple of time before and it turned out really well, I said "What are you doing tomorrow! We're dying your hair!"
So we met at the Superstore and picked out an auburn colour with blonde highlights. We had fun mixing the potions with the magic wands and applying it to her hair, but honestly, wow--it had a really interesting turn out! Lets just say VIBRANT hair colour--red,orange, blonde, Vibrant! I'm praying it will settle down a bit. At least Shelley's pretty easy going about it.....it will grow out..... Until the pictures come along.....
Ahhhhhhh, the Spa!
Saturday, Amy booked me for the afternoon for a post-graduation suprise. She wouldn't tell me anything about it except that it was a suprise, I needed to dress for the weather (she hoped it was a nice day) and bring a flashlight. Needless to say I was very interested. When she picked me up she took me for icecream at Tingley's--always yum! And the for a roundabout drive in Fredericton asking me questions about my fitness level, saying she'd probably need to go for a shower after before work, etc. I was really interested, and kinda thought we must be going on a hike through some cave or something!
Anyway, the little nimrod was just playing with me, but brought me to Avalon Spa for an hour massage. This extra fun because we both went together! I didn't even know you could do that kind of thing in Fredericton! Anyway, we had an hour of absolute bliss! If only I could afford to do that on a regular basis! It was so wonderful and what a great gift!
Anyway, the little nimrod was just playing with me, but brought me to Avalon Spa for an hour massage. This extra fun because we both went together! I didn't even know you could do that kind of thing in Fredericton! Anyway, we had an hour of absolute bliss! If only I could afford to do that on a regular basis! It was so wonderful and what a great gift!
Another Dream Come True!
Now, as many of you would know, I have wanted a piano, or something with really great sound, full hammer action and full keyboard length ever since I moved out from home, nearly 9 years ago. How often I have longed for something to sit down to and express myself in a way I had come to love and find solice, but I was so unhappy with anything I might be able to afford in the keyboard range that I held off, believe that someday, I might be able to buy my own piano.
So this past weekend when a touring company came through Fredericton with a major piano sale, Chad & I decided it would make a fun date night to go up and dream a bit. When we got there, they had some amazing piano's, one German grand was so beautiful and one of the staff played it for us so beautifully. We dreamed a little and left. Always, after doing this, and trust me I've done it for years, leaving empty handed yet again has made me feel like a little part of me died again. I was a little sad when we left to say the least but I just knew there was no way we could afford a piano at this juncture in our lives. So we went for icecream! LOL!
While licking our cones Chad suggested we go to our local music distributor and friends shop "Tony's Music Box" and look around. When we got there Mike helped us look at some really great electric piano's, with good sound, full hammer action and full scale keyboard. He got us a few prices to mull over and then we found this baby.
Mike sat down to show us what it could do, and you'll never guess what he started playing...."Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I couldn't believe it and started laughing! I soon informed him that my mom used to sing that song to me when I was a little girl, and the first time Chad met me I was singing that song at a youth play, and the first movie we saw together it was playing in the soundtrac, and because of this we had decided to have me walk into it on our wedding day! It seemed ironic or something.
I didn't think we were seriously looking at keyboards Friday night, but Chad had other plans in mind. He asked me if I would be happy with this one (I thought he meant down the road) and I said, of course. Then he asked me if I wanted to take it home tonight. Laughing I said again "of course!"
"Ok Mike", he said, "lets do it!"
I couldn't believe it, I'm not sure I still can. But trust me, at 12 midnight when I called my parents in Moncton with the news and played them a piece over the phone, it truly was amazing, another dream come true!
So this past weekend when a touring company came through Fredericton with a major piano sale, Chad & I decided it would make a fun date night to go up and dream a bit. When we got there, they had some amazing piano's, one German grand was so beautiful and one of the staff played it for us so beautifully. We dreamed a little and left. Always, after doing this, and trust me I've done it for years, leaving empty handed yet again has made me feel like a little part of me died again. I was a little sad when we left to say the least but I just knew there was no way we could afford a piano at this juncture in our lives. So we went for icecream! LOL!
While licking our cones Chad suggested we go to our local music distributor and friends shop "Tony's Music Box" and look around. When we got there Mike helped us look at some really great electric piano's, with good sound, full hammer action and full scale keyboard. He got us a few prices to mull over and then we found this baby.
Mike sat down to show us what it could do, and you'll never guess what he started playing...."Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I couldn't believe it and started laughing! I soon informed him that my mom used to sing that song to me when I was a little girl, and the first time Chad met me I was singing that song at a youth play, and the first movie we saw together it was playing in the soundtrac, and because of this we had decided to have me walk into it on our wedding day! It seemed ironic or something.
I didn't think we were seriously looking at keyboards Friday night, but Chad had other plans in mind. He asked me if I would be happy with this one (I thought he meant down the road) and I said, of course. Then he asked me if I wanted to take it home tonight. Laughing I said again "of course!"
"Ok Mike", he said, "lets do it!"
I couldn't believe it, I'm not sure I still can. But trust me, at 12 midnight when I called my parents in Moncton with the news and played them a piece over the phone, it truly was amazing, another dream come true!
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