Most of what falls from our sky is rain, but on January 12th it was cold enough for real snow!! Our street was a real winter wonderland. Check out how much snow was on top of our van! Unfortunately for our kids, school district administration sees no reason to close schools even though no one in the Lower Mainland really knows how to drive in this white stuff.
For ten days in January we hosted two school teachers from China named Margaret and Ju. They were quite delightful. They were willing to tag along with us for all family activities including grocery shopping and church.
One Sunday after church, Margaret came to me and told me that as soon as she entered our meetinghouse that she was filled with a warm and peaceful feeling. I loved that! Even after observing the circus at our house on Sunday morning and hurriedly getting everyone out the door and into the car, she was able to feel the spirit. Neither Margaret nor Ju practice any type of religion in China, so this was a first experience for them.
Their first week at church they attended all of the adult meetings, but I think that was a lot of church for them especially in a foreign language so they asked if they could stay with me (I was the Sunbeam teacher). In the middle of sharing time, they pulled out their cameras and started to snap pictures! What could I say? They were so cute. Here is a picture of Margaret and Ju outside of our temple.
We got quite a kick out of the observations that they were making (and verbalizing) about our family and home. One memorable one was "You have many places to pray in your home," but the best one was "Your children are well behaved and skilled at housekeeping and cooking, but the most helpful of all your children is Spencer." When she said that, I responded, "Could you please stay at our house forever and never leave?" I think that someone in our family was trying to make a good impression.
The kids had such a great time last Christmas when Nanny and Grandad took us all to Mount Timothy, that they wanted to do some more skiing. In searching for the best bang for our buck, we learned about Mt. Seymour one night passes. Considering that the ski season was almost half over, they were much more reasonably priced than any other type of pass, so we bought them and chose Saturday night as our "one night". We had a great time. The mountain was close enough that we could get all of our Saturday errands and jobs done and then head out in the afternoon for some skiing. By the end of the season, the kids were whizzing past us on the hill. Awesome! For the 2011-2012 season we were able to plan ahead and buy the full season passes, can't wait to use them. Unfortunately night skiing doesn't lend well to photography, so we don't have a lot of great shots.
Last year Paul told me, "My friend Spencer is a lucky man. He bought he bought his wife a deep fryer and now she cooks him chicken wings whenever he wants them." I took the hint and bought Paul a deep fryer for Christmas. Now when he goes to hang out with his friends, the deep fryer goes with him. Spencer and Hayley have also been trying out deep fried recipes. Here's Spencer with his onion rings:
In March we had the opportunity to host Mao from Japan. Hayley was really excited about being a part of the International Club at school and very enthusiastically asked me if we could host a student for spring break. She might have been slightly enticed by the fieldtrips and activities associated with the Japanese students that would give her a legitimate reason to miss a few classes. Mao is from a city just outside of Tokyo and arrived just a few weeks after the devastating earthquake. Mao and Hayley became good friends quickly and she was a delight to have in our home.
more Hayley and Mao (and Jade too)
In April, Summer had the opportunity to travel to Banff, Alberta for a band festival. Banff is gorgeous country. She had a fantastic time with her friends and the band did really well. These are photos that she took with her camera, it's too bad that she is not in any of them.
Our Easter Egg Hunt this year got rained out, we had to do it inside. Oh well, the kids still got lots of loot.
At the end of April, Ashley made sure that I did not skimp on her birthday party this year. Birthday parties totally overwhelm me especially since April is extra busy with dance and everything else going on. One Sunday afternoon, I was taking a nap when I got a knock on my bedroom door. It was Ashley, she had written up a birthday party proposal and was slipping it under the door. Her proposal included the names of those she wanted to invite followed by a birthday party outline. First she would like to go to the swimming pool with her friends, then she would like everyone to go to the dollar store together where I would give them each a bag of money and all the kids could shop for their own goody bag, then we would return to the house where they would make home made pizzas from fresh pizza dough and other ingredients. Finally there would be cake, ice cream, presents and games.
I agreed to the proposal, it was an awesome party... a very long, awesome party.
April and May are busy months at our house mainly because of Ashley and Hayley's dance competitions. Both girls are taking two competitive dance classes this year. Here are some of the photos of what they have been up to.
Spencer says that he doesn't want to take any dance classes, but that doesn't stop him from prancing around in one of his sisters' dance costumes from time to time... okay, well once, but thought he was pretty hilarious.
Hayley was in two competitive dances this year; lyrical and jazz. In her lyrical number they came out as soldiers and then one at a time emerged as angels. At competition they performed after a group that danced to a song about a friend dying. I heard some sniffles around me and felt a little choked up. When Hayley's group performed it did me in. I thought about Grandad dying in the hospital and friends and family who are soldiers who have fought in wars and those that we know that have lost their lives and I just sat in the dark having a little sob and wishing I'd brought kleenex and feeling relieved that the friend who had come to watch her dance had come in late and hadn't found me.
Ashley competed in jazz and song and dance (musical theatre) this year. Her song and dance group performed to the song "One Short Day" from the musical Wicked. The costumes were amazing. They were sewn by a very talented mom from the group who gathered a lot of the coats, hats, fabrics and other costume elements from the thrift store. The group won first place overall in their level at one of the competitions and got to go on and perform at the showcase. It was a lot of fun to go and watch the best of the best compete.
Also in April, we were very sad to lose our beloved Grandad and Great-Grandad. He was our last living grandparent on all sides of the family, mine and Paul's. We feel fortunate that we have lived close enough to enjoy his company during the last years of his life. It was very bittersweet losing him because although we were happy for him to finally be reunited with his sweetheart, we knew we would miss him very much. Whenever we have a family activity that he always participated in with us, like visiting Santa, going to Sacrament Meeting (he was the greeter and always gave us hugs), the childrens' dance performances etc. we feel a void. We know we will see him again in the future. Here are some photo memories:
