Great News!

Well, we've finally heard the report. Paris made it through her first night in jail.

I know.

I was relieved too.

New Adventures!

Well, there's been a lot going on around here.

First of all Zachary, Darrell and Aaron along with Jeni's brother, went to one of the Canucks playoff games. Obviously it didn't work out so well for the Canucks but the boys had fun.



Last Saturday we had a garage sale to get rid of the stuff we had leftover from the move. The kids each made $20 so they were thrilled.

Then just yesterday Brooklyn said she wanted her training wheels off so she could try riding without them. Darrell literally pulled off the wheels and she rode away. This was a bit shocking to us because with Zachary this was a week long process with many falls and tears. Quite funny!

I'll see if I can get the videos working:

Frustrated....then Sore....then not so Frustrated

So the Times Colonist 10km race went off without a hitch. However, it was a frustrating one for me. As a run it was not good - I started having pain in my right thigh, aggravated by jumping onto a curb to overtake a slow lady. So, at about 7.5 km, and after having run with Steve Yeats that whole way, I had to start walking. I'd walk for 30 seconds then run for 2 minutes. Walk for another 30 seconds, walk for 4 minutes. Frustrating as I usually run straight for the hour.

Needless to say, I crossed the finish line feeling a tad dejected. Race was still fun, but didn't feel victorious if you know what I mean. Imagine my surprise to find out I had somehow knocked off 2 1/2 minutes from my time last year! Doesn't make any sense, except that maybe I started out too fast. Truth is, I don't have the mental game to be highly competitive. I just don't operate that way. Some people would be extremely focused and push through the pain. I prefer to live the next day.

So, I took it a bit slower but still had a p.b. Once the pain in my leg leaves my body I'll give it another go. Maybe at the one in July, we'll see.

Anyhoo - not much else going on around here. Literally relaxing on the couch a bit. Singing at PAOC district conference tomorrow night and Brooklyn's dance recital on Saturday. Should be fun.

Fast update

Ok - this will be quick because...... well I shouldn't be here right now.

Easter was fun - beautiful church services, kids looked for eggs, adults stuffed ourselves silly. Visit from Louise & Myles from Saskatoon. Good time had by all.

Recent baby shower for a friend, good girl chatter.

Had a great BBQ with a few friends on Monday night and watched the Nucks win - on our new big screen TV - wine flowed, ribs were broiled and there was enough apple pie to feed a Catholic family.

I haven't been here so much because ....well, I am facebook-addicted. It's easier than email people! No really, if you haven't tried it yet, you should.

So - prepping for the 10km race on Sunday. This will be my 2nd and thanks to the renos I skipped about 3 months of training. So, my only hope is to beat last year's time for myself. Which, with the lack of consistency might be a bit difficult. Falling short of that, it's not to be injured. Too many friends have had disappointing body failures this past week or so. It's horrible to train so hard for something only to have your body give out. Anyways, the race is lots of fun with bands playing along the way and people cheering. Our church has entered a team of 61 people! And we're getting lunch at GT after the morning service (after first having to go on stage wearing our running bibs). So I will peace out from here and catch y'all soon.

A Mother's Musings........Happy Easter

Our Only Begotten Son

I know it’s a bit early for Mother’s Day and parental musings but this blog is spurred on by two recent thought-moments. One of them echo-ing our upcoming Easter season. One was a blog I recently read and the other was upon realizing it is only 2 weeks until my son’s 8th birthday. The two thoughts, it seems, are linked with small similarities.

I was touched recently by reading a blog linked to my sister-in-law’s. From what I can tell it is by a woman who recently lost her son and this blog is partly in memorial to him. She writes beautifully and touchingly.

I can not fathom the grief that must come upon losing a child. Whenever my mind starts to wander to thinking what that must be like, I have to sharply pull it out of those thoughts as I am immediately brought to tears. This blog shows the pain and yet amazing strength and courage shown by a woman who has gone through the worst type of loss. I was brought to tears upon reading it. Whenever I hear of someone who has gone through this I feel the most painful twinge in the pit of my stomach. No, actually in the pit of my heart. The death of a child in human terms seems to be the worst tragedy that one could have to endure.

I lost a child through miscarriage a few years ago. It is not the same thing; that child was not born, although it was loved. I spent months agonizing over what would have been had the child been born, and felt that its conception was a miracle of God which made its loss so much more painful and harder to comprehend. But I did not get to see him/her crawl, walk, run, laugh, cry, hug. This woman’s writings show me what I have always believed. That is must be nearly impossible to go through that kind of experience without Jesus at your side. Jehovah Rophe, our healer, is the ultimate source of comfort in times like this. What a friend to be able to turn to, cry upon, and wail our most despairing thoughts to. God, the Father, knew the ultimate pain that comes from the loss of a child.

This brings me to my last and final thought. As I pondered Zachary’s upcoming birthday I was thinking about the day he was born. It was the best day of my life (I’m tear-ing up now just writing about it….). He was the best present I had ever received and opened up a whole gap in my heart I never knew existed. I said something to my Mum and Darrell that day to explain how I felt. I felt like I finally understood the crucifixion. Don’t misunderstand, I never claimed to understand God, but the crucifixion suddenly made so much more sense to me. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. In a million years I could never give up my only begotten son. Even after he had only been born 5 minutes. The love for him was that instant. God gave up His ONLY SON. For you. And for me. And for my children. How can you reject such a gift as that?

Is it finished yet??

Ok.I am seriously OVER the rain now. We in Victoria have been dealing with incessant rainstorms, windstorms, bizarre snowstorms and more rain. It has been such a wet winter that now the weatherman/girl grins with glee when they can see "And today, we only have light winds and an overcast grey, dreary sky". Yes, very exciting forecast isn't it? And don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people prone to SADS or anything like that. My joy in life comes from a much deeper place and is not affected by the weather. But, I must admit that even I for a brief moment have dreamt of moving to Greece and can honestly see how sunlight-deficient humans could become prone to SADS.

So, as you can see this is simply a rant about the rain. And to cheer myself up I'm going to post a couple photos from our Awesome European vacation 3 years ago. The first one is Steve, Darrell & myself at the top of the Spanish Steps (right before I fell down them!) and the last one is Darrell & I outside of the Coliseum (which we're facing in the picture). You may have to click on them as I'm too tired to crop them for you. Ahhh.... memories of beautiful architecture and beautiful sunshine......

Signing off.

Yes - a new post (even though it looks like the video doesn't work, click on it, it does)

Ok, Ok, Ok.... I know, I've been lame in the blogging department. Since people are probably bored of me saying I'm busy let's just say....I've been tied up.

Brooklyn turned 6 ! How did that happen? We took a few little girls bowling, it's weird when your children reach an age where their friends are now people you don't know. Should this be allowed? Inviting people I really know nothing about to my daughter's birthday? When you feel like your babies are growing up, it's a really strange sensation.

Anyway, they had a good time so I'm going to try to post a video and a pic of the cake. Again, birthdayexpress.com was a great place to get the party favours.