Juliette's 2nd Birthday

We went down to Vancouver for Juliette's 2nd birthday party. Mom drove down with me a couple days before to help get things ready. Darren hoped on the greyhound later in the week to join us. Juliette was so excited on her birthday, we had been telling her about the party all week. when she finally saw her balloons, she would not let go of them for anything! She walked around all day with them trailing behind her.

She loved wearing her sparkly dress and would dance around putting on a show.

Joan is famous for holiday decorating, their house was perfect for entertaining. It was wonderful to have the grandparents, family and friends together for this special day.

It was nice to see Heidi, Allen, Deven and Lola looked so cute with her little Dora hair cut.

Juliette just loved playing with her big cousins.

Danny even showed us some of her cool gymnastic moves. Juliette thought it was so great she tried doing a head stand herself.

Grandpa Joe holding Virgil. It was great we had a chance to see him between trips up north.

Little Sara just loved playing with the hanging ornaments.

Juliette opened so many great presents from everyone, Including all the 2010 Olympic mascots, an animal farm that she just loves, books, clothes, a little shopping cart and a beautiful blue satin designer dress.

In between presents she patiently waited for the next one to be handed to her, balloons in lap of course.

cousins Justin and Danny reading one of her new Dora books.

Juliette had a butterfly theme party this year. Her cake was butter pecan. It took 7 hours to make, Iam getting quicker. Mom, Dad and Joan were great consultants in the construction process.

Its hard to believe that 2 years has gone by already. Juliette was happy to have a little brother to share her special day with.

Virgil passed out with all the excitement of the day.

If Juliette could have 2 wishes it would be balloons and blueberries!!

Christmas Spirit

We all went up the mountain with Bob and Doris's family to pick out our Christmas trees. It was a cold day but this didn't stop the kids from having a great time on their sleds. Virgil and i waited in the vehicle most of the time as he did not like the cold.

Getting in the Christmas spirit, I did a little baking. This gingerbread Santa's sleigh is an advent cookie calendar counting down the days till Christmas. I hope Justin and Dawson's braces hold up with these hard cookies!

Juliette couldn't wait to get in on this excitement. she decorated this beautiful snowman all by herself.

I had fun with the cookie exchange this year. There were 5 of us participating. this is such a great idea, you get all your holiday baking done and gives you an excuse to get together with friends.

Virgil's baby shower

At almost 2 months old, Virgil was the man of the hour at his shower. He showed up at Rona's ready to be snuggled by all the oowing and awing women.
It was so nice to see Haike and Wolf, who when he wasn't sleeping had a huge smile from ear to ear.

Mary Jane had a couple of thinking games prepared for us. Her teaching skills kicked in immediately! It was alot of fun and there were prizes to be won.

The kids had a blast playing together, while Virgil slept most of the time.

There were so many great gifts for Virgil, including his own Santa suit. It will make a cute picture for Christmas.

Mary made Virgil one of her beautiful turtle quilts.Yvonne snuggling with Virgil

Great Aunt Deana saving him a little dance.

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And at the end of the day, it was time to kick back in the swing and reflect, with a good thumb!

Happy Halloween

Juliette got her cute little witch costume from Grandma Joan. Mom and I drove down to the pumpkin patch near Spence's bridge to take pictures and let Juliette pick out
her own pumpkin, but when we arrived there were no pumpkins in site except this little one she is holding, which was perfect!


Mom helped me with this picture of Virgil in the pumpkin. It took many tries and alot of laughs before we got this shot. He was 24 days old.

This is what Virgil's pumpkin turned into.


This year we gave out ghoulish cupcakes to our family trick or treaters. I found alot of great decorations and had fun putting these together.














Darren and I took the kids out trick or treating, Keneesha and Indy came along. Juliette wasn't really sure what was going on but she liked getting candy in her bucket and hung onto it for dear life.

Juliette was excited to look at all her candy, we let her eat the fruit and one roll of gummy lifesavers. The rest was tucked away. Virgil slept in the ergo pack when we were out, here he is kicked back in his beaver costume.

Home in Merritt

We arrived back in Merritt the middle of October. Oma came to stay with us for a couple of weeks while Darren was finishing work up North. She was a great help with looking after Juliette and keeping the house in order. We had fun taking the kids to the park, going to Kelowna and taking pictures of Virgil. there were alot of laughs! It is nice to be back and to see everyone.

Virgil meets the family in Vancouver

Juliette was all smiles to have her baby brother home from the hospital.

When Virgil was 6 days old we flew down to Vancouver. My friend Gisele had Juliette on her lap which was a great help. Both kids were perfect flyer's, as they slept the whole way. Grandpa Ashby picked us up at the airport. We went to visit Great Grandma Ashby, Juliette was having fun playing with the panda bears she had on her bed. Virgil was very tired and slept throughout the visit.

A special moment between Grandpa and grandson.

Auntie Mel and cousins Dawson and Justin. I was happy that Mel could give me some tips on changing baby boy diapers!

A family dinner with grandparents. Virgil's first dining out experience.

As Virgil slept peacefully in the stroller at the park.

Juliette was busy playing with Grandpa. She sure knows how to wear you out with all that running around. especially the continuous hoisting on her favorite slide.

We went to visit the Auntie's, Jessie and Jamie. They were excited to meet their new nephew. Virgil is wearing a new hat given to him from Gramma Jan from Salt Spring Island, its a little strawberry.
These are my friends of 20 years from high school with their wives and children. This was a rare occasion to have the group together. It was really nice to see everyone and fun to see our kids playing together.

Heidi and i have been friends since grade 3. We are both blessed with both a son and daughter. I look forward to spending more time with them in the future.