Summer 2010

This summer Iam on maternity leave so we decided to stay in Merritt for the summer. We spent alot of time in Kelowna and Kamloops at the beach and water park. We would pack a picnic and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Hugs for little brother.

We had nice visits with the grandparents;

Virgil enjoys a little jam session

Oma and Opa on their Anniversary

BBQ at Spences Bridge on Virgil's 8 month B-day

Darren's 37th B-Day

(Juliette did not take her eyes off the cake!)

Juliette is a very good strawberry picker, She did not eat one berry until I told her she could have one if she wants. We picked 80lbs.

Virgil just wanted to eat them!

Darren's cousin Scott was down from the Yukon with his family so we met them in Vancouver and took the kids to Playland. Juliette was reluctant to go on the rides until she saw Cameron and her brothers running to them, and she joined right in with the excitement.

She even wanted to go on the Ferris wheel with her Dad, you won't catch me on that thing!

Virgil was too little for the rides but he had fun watching the kids.

Darren's Uncle Chuck and Aunt Barb were also spending the day at Playland, they watched the kids while we did the good old roller coaster.

we all enjoyed dinner at Osaka's. What a fun filled day.

My cousin Duane and wife Carrie just had their 4th child. We wanted to stop in and meet the new little fellow Kason, what a sweetie!

Second cousins together for a photo op.

Oma and Opa were camping in town during Canada Day. We joined the celebration and watched a magic show and Juliette got her face painted at Voght park.

Sibling Rivalry

Juliette being the oldest tends to take advantage of her brother being smaller, its only natural.

The next bucket of water went on his head!

The tables turned when Virgil got a hold of Juliette's Quatchi doll and sent it for a swim in the toilet. She didn't find out thank goodness.

Cute summer pic with the wildflowers in the background.

Juliette's spa day! I wanted her first hair cut to be fun , So she got to sit in a barbie car and watch cartoons. It was a piece of cake. They even gave us a sachet with her hair to take home.

They also offered to do her nails, which she picked the polish off in the car before we got home.

She was thrilled to receive a balloon and felt like a princess!

She looks so cute in the pink summer dress from Grandpa Dave.

Open House at Dad's work

(Highland Valley Copper Mine)

This is one of the giant dump trucks that he drives, can you spot Juliette underneath it?

Virgil's first attempt at getting his face painted, he is supposed to be a cat but could not sit still so he has random black marks on his face.

The theme was mini Olympics, so if the kids participated in the games they received a medal. Darren said her medal was much nicer than his hockey medals!

The mine made the official 2010 Olympic medals therefore they were able to keep a set to show and display.

We were able to hold the gold medal, Only by the ribbon. It was quite heavy, Juliette could barely hold onto it.

The kids cooling off playing in the pool out in the yard. You can get a glimpse of part of the garden behind them.

This is our baby hippo!
we grew him in the garden along with many other odd shaped critters, they are actually russet potatoes and they taste yummy.

Virgil takes steps at 10 months.

At 11 months old he is fully walking and getting into all kinds of mischief. Out come the safety latches and baby gate in full force.

when we let Virgil run free on the grassy field he went the full length a couple of times. He was huffing and puffing. When we went in the car he fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

The last family beach day of summer.

Virgil going in for a big smooch!

Easter 2010

This is Juliette's 3rd Easter and virgil's 1st. We had Keneesha and Indy over to decorate eggs. After the kids thought it would be fun to do a little hunt with them. Well Juliette is not the most gentle child and between her and Indy they had all of the eggs broken up and filling the house with that lovely aroma in no time.
Easter morning Juliette found her eggs from the Easter bunny. She even found some for her brother.

As a tradition in Gody, the kids all get together and look for their Easter baskets outdoors.

Juliette joined in doing some chalk artwork and this is what she drew! I thought it was amazing. The Sterling family gathered around the fire on Easter morning.

Virgil's first meal

It was 1 day before his 6 month birthday and the day before April Fools that he had his first solid meal. He had rice cereal and Iam sure he said, Its about time! He was pretty good for the most part at keeping it in his mouth. Watching babies eat for the first time is such a funny thing to watch, we caught it on video.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics

We spent 10 days in Vancouver during the Olympics.

On our first night in town we generously acquired men's hockey tickets to see the Germany VS Belarus game. We left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and hoped on the new Canada line downtown. The atmosphere was electric, the fans went all out with face painting, flags, cow bells, you name it. The mass majority were Germany fans so we cheered for the underdogs and they ended up winning it.

It was neat to see GM place all decked out in Olympic colours.

We hung around after the game to see the Hockey panel do their thing.

We had a little walk about after the game. Here Robson square is transformed into an outdoor concert. The lights were quite spectacular.

On the other side of Robson you can see the zip trek cables, We didn't do it cause we were not crazy enough to wait in line for 5 hours.

Police horses out on patrol.

The next day we went downtown early with the kids and Grandma MJ. We hoped to beat the crowds. The weather was beautiful but a bit chilly in the morning.

Family picture at Canada Place.

She really is a proud Canadian, most of the time!

Cool Thunderbird on display in The Pan Pacific Hotel. It was nice to see Jose and Chee, old co- workers still around. They gave us coffee's and a bag of fruit for the road.

Juliette was ready to stretch her legs on a walk with Grandma.

She was all smiles after going for a little run in the grass.

Auntie Jamie's Birthday

Juliette thought the Birthday glasses were so cool, she had to try them.

The girls did some artwork colouring on blocks.

we were so glad we were down to help celebrate Jamie's Birthday.

Jamie had a cool pig cake that was delicious. where there is a cake Juliette is not far away.

Some of the things that we checked out during the Olympics;

The O Zone in Richmond. We arrived just before it opened so there was no line up. Wasn't much to see so we didn't stay long.

The Holland Heineken House was a popular place, but we lucked out by arriving at a quiet time. Darren enjoyed a nice cold beer and I had the fries with mayo.

Virgil and I at the countdown clock

look who's at the top of the podium! He's solid gold.

Juliette and her favorite mascot Miga.

Debbie transferred down to Vancouver to help out during the Olympics. we met up with Trudy and her to hang out and check out some pavilions. we saw the Quebec house and waited in line for about half an hour to see the 4D show at the Ontario House, That was pretty cool but Juliette was a bit scared. Later we watched the closing ceremony fireworks on the roof of the Stadium.

The City looked very festive with all of the banners and decorated buildings. Don't miss the 3 ducks in the water.

We got a picture in front of the Sochi House Olympic countdown clock just before 2 suited men with sunglasses looking very serious closed the gates on us.

we didn't want to wait in any line-ups to get into pavilions. On the day after the closing ceremonies we met Debbie and Trudy downtown again and went to check out the Northern House. We had a very scary incident with the old fashioned elevator in the building and ended up getting stuck for quite some time. we even tryed prying the door open only to find a cement wall. anyways from now on when there is a sign saying "Ask for help with the elevator", I will be sure to pay attention!

Granville Street night life. It was great to see all the old sign`s lit up.

Neat display of lanterns on Granville st.

The famous Molson Hockey House, we only saw it from the outside.

Darren and I snuck out to watch the fireworks on one of the nights. They were spectacular, It was neat that they encorporated the water display as well.

View of the city from Stanley Park. We really enjoyed the excitement in the city during the Games.