PICTURESSSSSSSSSSSS.......

Ahhhh...Too tired to add more. I'm going to bed. I'll add a few more and explanations tomorrow.....

Happy Summer!!

Well, we are all moved into the 'old' house. I have painted so many surfaces that I am sick and tired of painting and am taking an extended painting hiatas. We are still unpacking boxes, cleaning and organizing a month and three weeks later; but the majority of settling in has occurred. I am SO looking forward to having things be back to normal....Does that ever happen?
The kids are doing tonnes of new things and learning many new skills. Olivia is SWIMMING, counting to 100 in ones and in groups of tens and can read a few words!!! It is amazing watching her swimming lessons. She improves and learns new tricks every session. She floats on her front, back and can do 'breaststroke' with herface in the water.
Briar is walking, climbing and says a few words. His first word was 'Quack'. He also says 'Woof', peek-a-boo (be-boo), Olivia (O-aa), and a very clear and repetitive 'Uh-oh' (his favourite). I think he is starting to say 'Up' as of today as well.
Briar also turned 1 YEAR old on May 29th!!!! I can not believe how fast that went! We had a little get-together with his little friends and he had his first taste of carrot cake. I must say that he didn't enjoy it as much as I thought he would. He got a water play table from Jeff, Olivia and me and he loves to splash and play in it with his hands.
Jeff has been fishing but they are having trouble finding the hake. Consequently, the boats have been taking turns going out of recognisance missions. This means that Jeff can come home for a couple of days occasionally.
Eli has been having trouble with his hind legs lately. He does what the vet calls 'knuckling' often (holds his paws on the tops of his knuckles without realizing it). I took him to the neurologist in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. Marnie took Olivia for the day and Mom met me in Vancouver to help with Briar. The doctor suspects that Eli has a herniated disk in his spine. They can me a quote for $1982 for more tests and $1302 for an MRI to find out for sure if this is the problem. This doesn't even cover the cost of surgery to repair the disk. Ouch! Anyhow, after speaking to my regular vet, I think I've decided to treat it as a herniated disk and provide the least invasive care for it. This involves 'extreme' rest (no ball play, no running, no off-leash walks) and Prednisone every second day for two months. I SO hope this helps my boy. It was only six months ago that he could jump over the tailgate of the truck with it closed without any trouble. Freckles, who is about 9 or 10 years his junior, can't even do that.
Anyhow, that's about all I can think of at the moment that is new. I will write more after I add pictures if I can think of more.....

Okay...Here come the pictures....

Here are the pictures that I referred to in the last post. Enjoy!!! Daddy and his little ones...
It's so hard to get all of them looking and smiling at once.

Olivia's last day at playgroup with Sandy and Lindsay.
Olivia and Thalia at Sportball.
All the kids and teacher, Lee, at Sportball.....and evidently me and Briar in the reflection of the mirror!
Olivia and Angus with Miss Jodi on the last day of preschool down-island...
The newest addition to the preschool farm. There were actually two of them but I couldn't get a good picture of the most shy one.

Briar and Papa take a walk.
Olivia and Angus read together.
Olivia wearing Angus' nose.
The kids went for a walk in the stroller to the spit with my mom. Briar fell asleep on Olivia's lap.
Briar and his 'hawk

Happy Easter morning for Briar!!
Little buddies...
Briar takes a turn driving.

Bean in a bag...

Olivia Easter present from us...I know it's pretty big for Easter but it had been under our bed for awhile and I wanted to get it out before we moved!
I love this reaction! I guess she spotted another egg.
Briar tackles an egg - shell and all.
Easter booty...
Checkin' out the basket on Easter morning...

I love her sweet little face...
Robo and Briar share a snuggle...
Upside down.......
yay!!! The Easter Bunny came!!!!
Briar and his Easter present from us.....

We brought a picnic down to Jeff on the boat one day while they were working in the harbour. We all loved it! We even saw the bridge go up!!! I had never seen that before in all my years of living here.
Messy but cute face.......
Photo by Olivia.....
Bean makes a friend......
Briar takes it all in.

Is it just me or does Robo look a bit like a Vulcan in this picture?
Olivia experiments with noise.
Oma and Briar on a walk to the local Tim Horton's.
Briar and Daddy have a chat.

Excitement all over a mud puddle!!!
My Peanut....
My Snoopy-headed man....
The blond....
And the MUD PUDDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!