skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Concluding our trip...
this post is rather long(ish), but filled with fitting photography (condensed) to keep our blogging scrapbooks filled with memories to cherish.
Our recent trip to Vancouver would not be complete without mentioning other very special times we were privy and able to partake of with extended family and friends.
We were invited and present to celebrate not one, but two birthdays;
Both birthdays were fabulous; good times, great people, good food and lots of loving. And cake!
My first cousins gathered for an Easter Vigil dinner and combined birthday celebration for my beautiful cousin (family, children, plus parents)
We were also honored (to crash the party, wink) to attend a family friend's birthday (a wonderful friend's daughter, our daughter's BFF ;).
How exquisitely lovely it was to witness the angelic and harmonious choral singing from her parents, grandparents and aunt offering a birthday blessing to her in song, so riveting and beautiful, it gave me goosebumps hearing them all in sync the way they were. How blessed you are my dear.
The girls have been collecting and writing their own icons, beautiful personal saint icons were shown to me, and these were on display in their prayer corner of their bedroom.
So lovely... One rotten part was missing any sort of snapshots of the adults present that day. Ugh, Next time K. & B. And I have to admit I missed other photo opportunities. Hugging rather than snapping was all too tempting.
How lucky we were to be able to spend time with precious loved ones when able, either for a large gathering complete with birthday cake and loving catch ups for an evening, a quick coffee time at 6:30 am (yes, this is true, I did this twice!), partaking of a beautiful brunch or luncheon, or just simply relishing in the splendor and whole idea of rekindling the flames of beautiful friendships we've been so sweetly blessed with over the years. 
Truly we are blessed to be honored by wonderful family members; ours and extended family.
We are humbled to have the blessing of uniquely kindred and long time friends, some whom we don't always get to visit with when we return west, but are always on our minds.
The sad reality is, our visits just never seem to be long enough. 
There is always a hope of a hug, a quick coffee time, or a long lingering local telephone call to say, "Hello, we love you". Two friends I especially wished to spend a long coffee catch up chat or luncheon with, just didn't/couldn't happen when I had to cancel on them, but such is the way for us when health issues managed to appear suddenly.
Next time friends...
At the end of the day, when I even begin to try to "absorb" and "reflect" on our time visiting in the west, I feel a deep sense of gratitude, to have been granted beautiful possibilities (and airmiles) for bonding with family, meeting our new grandbabe, celebrating not only Holy week, and then Easter, but also being able to attend milestone birthdays, and appreciate forever our most beautiful friendships with special people.
I'm also pleased to have made so many new family memories, our gang linked again most every day, however brief it had to be.
I'm only sad we encountered a surprising time when my husband's mother was very ill. It was touch and go if my husband would see her due to her illness, but he was able the day before we left. Next time mom B....
Our grandbabies were so dear to hang out with, and there will never be enough time to make up for, and accumulate all the missed hugs and kisses in between our times together.
First cousins together in the photo above, second cousins together in the photo below. 
Thanks again everyone --- for everything!
- Thank you for allowing your children/teens time to rekindle their friendships with our gang, our children who will never forget your kindnesses.
- Thank you to our big kids for taking time for your brothers and sisters, one at a time, two at a time, hosting overnights, tagging some along to see what your work days are like, rubbing elbows and showing them how real life unfolds after leaving mom and dad's nest.
- Thank you for allowing us to bug you for extra time with the grandbabes, steal babies, show up at your doors, doze off for power naps when necessary, do laundry at your home, steal your kitchens, invade your space, eat your food, steal your usual pew at church, and love you silly.
- Thank you to all those who lent us your camping gear for our stay in the empty condo; blow up mattresses and pumps, pillows, sleeping bags, sheets, comforters, towels, dishes, and a kettle.
Modern camping.
Ha! What fun we had!
How simple life was with no furniture. Actually, correction, we had two bar stools! Oh, and our daughter lent us two chairs for a few days.
Sitting on the floor or laying around on those mattresses had its merits and wasn't all bad, forcing restful horizontal times when necessary. :)
The only lousy thing, too bad the weather would not co-operate with us while we were there visiting. I've lived on the west coast for most of my life and wow, I've never been so WET, seen so much hail, thunder and lightning in one time span as what we were to endure while there.
Good thing for fabulous people who all made everything bright and cheery. So thankful to all!
Our time done, waiting at "Vancouver Airport" for our flight home
Soon after we exited the doors of the vehicle to take a closer look, we found one guilty young man hidden around the corner, grinning from ear to ear, proud as punch at his loving gesture towards all of us. How bored he was having to wait three hours after hanging it up, dodging a bit of rain in the process. How sweet.
Until we meet again ..... Love to all
xox
(just bumping this up because I realized I forgot one photo, now uploaded with everyone else present for the photo happenings.)
Easter Sunday with our family.
Our four youngest children, the ones living with us here in the east had not traveled back to their birth area for over two years, and when an opportunity arose to make it happen, my fingers did the walking and the airmiles made it all possible.
"Whirlwind" - best describes our days but we wouldn't trade our memory building moments while walking western grounds out there for anything!
Time completely escapes us when able to plunge deeply into the ever-emotional midst of warm embraces, gentle hugs, sweet mushy kisses and yes - even when surrounded by screaming grandbabies who wondered who we are for a time.
Family - an incredible blessing.
We are family, we are.
We will allows look forward to a "regrouping and a rekindle" of what first began as a nucleus of two very humbled and blessed parents with our eight children, those forming this family in the first place.
In essence, we live and breathe for these times when all are afforded precious time to come together again, whenever possible, however possible. We'll take whatever we can get. :)
Our eight children together at one time, first time in three years.
How difficult it becomes to gather everyone for a few photos... but once this session first began, all were motivated to update a few fab oldies to more current ones.
How fun it was, especially to see them all manage to form their pyramid once more.
Note the bottom row...brave but cringing with the weight upon them.
And, waiting in the wings were other family members, some though were not present for this photo below;
Having arrived in Vancouver four days prior to my husband and one son, the rest of us decided to roll with the flow, having no set agenda for the most part beforehand.
Late Saturday afternoon after visiting our post surgery daughter, she offered a suggestion that we should all invade our oldest son's home (pending permission naturally), porting along food goods to create a very simplistic meal after mass, the main intention to gather and visit together would be the highlight and goal.
Pancakes, Waffles, Eggs and juice were to be the order of the afternoon, which meant everyone shared supply gathering for the meal. I was in charge of the pancake supplies while others ran out for eggs, juice or other staples, coffee included (and boy did I need coffee!).
All hands on deck in our son's kitchen, everyone gathering on the spur of the moment after mass, my parents included.
It was time to relax and recover from the previous days' time zone changes and celebrate the day - Palm Sunday. It was also a time to unwind before having to pick up the rest of our family at the airport later this night. 
Our oldest son began to roll up his sleeves and rev up his waffle maker, others of course offering their assistance around him.
It was quite rewarding to note his attention to the meal preparation at hand because when younger while still living at home, meal making was his least enjoyable activity. :) I loved observing the pay off from those early year teachings in action. Love you son - so proud of YOU for making more than a whole chicken in my oven roaster (snicker)! 
As per a usual fun acknowledgment, there were back to back head/height comparisons between brothers and also between my father and our sons. Fun! 
Our daughter who was still recovering post surgery had endured a tough night the evening before, her medication not performing well for her and seemingly making her ill. She was a good sport though, eventually needing to nod off for a time while everyone gathered round later on to watch a movie together. Actually there were many eyes beginning to close about then.
By early evening, all were sacked and eventually it was time to leave. Our son and his wife graciously offered to pick up his father and brother from the airport, allowing the rest of us to chill out back in our lodgings.
First and foremost though was the discovery by our youngest daughter, that of her older brother's toy (grin) the one that fast became quite fascinating to her.
A Light Saver!
Wow, and don't be kidded about this being an actual toy, for it is an adult gadget recreated to make authentic noises when moving it about, or first pressing the button to make the lite part shoot out ever so quickly and brighten up for usage.
Oh yea, this thing was quite something alright, quite a mimic of a real one seen in movies!
Cool!
The evening following our arrival, it had been previously agreed upon to meet up and spend time with our two grandgirls over a dinner and shopping excursion. One thing about living so far removed from our growing grandchildren is the simple joy when able, to spend any type of stolen moment with them, if only to become reacquainted - face to face.
Even at the best of times, it can often become truly difficult to gather with some of our family members when we venture west and plop ourselves into already existing and busy schedules, so we at least make the attempt to seek out availability and await responses for whatever time frame we can get, or not. Sometimes it isn't much, other times it's more, all depending of course on the time of year and the length of our stay.
On the morning of this "Girly Night", I wasn't able to attend our young grand-daughter's dance competition, the reason for her poofy and very fluffy hair here (grin). It was so great to receive a text message later in the day to find out that they had taken the gold for their dance. Yeah.
Instead I headed out deeper into the Valley for an impromptu yet prioritized visit with my mother in law on her exact birthday, which was wonderful, despite the fact she wasn't feeling her best. I'm happy to say after taking her to the doctor later on that day, all began to improve for her. So thankful! Happy Birthday again Mom B.
Heading back again later, off we girls went for our dinner and shopping evening. 
What fun it was to catch up over dinner, chat heartily and giggle loudly while munching down our food.
We took our time and really enjoyed everything, including taking photos using my iPod Photo Booth App. (left photo here)
I was forewarned about how one was a super shopping lover. Oh, she isn't a
shopaholic per se, she just loves to see what's out in the girlie world, and finds the simple pleasure of a window shopping experience fabulously enjoyable.
Her mother tells us she once tried on dozens of shoes, for fun. In my mind (and our daughters') it seemed rather fitting to take the girls window shopping just to see her in action. :)
Meandering through a few select shops and a bookstore, the ones they suggested visiting while talking about it over our dinner, I have to say I very much enjoyed the expedition myself, just allowing them to lead me on, showing me a whole host of likes and dislikes, favorite colors, assorted styles, favorite authors, certain hobby favorites and more.
Naturally, we were well prepared in advance to go ahead and plunge into that shopping abyss activity, mostly so I would become familiar with particular infatuations when wanting to gift them from the east.True to their mother's word, all did in fact enjoy the parade through the fashion world thrills, especially with the youngest one whizzing through aisles so quickly. Once in a while she would stop suddenly and offer a "ohhhh, or an ahhhh", and then onward ho she continued to pace herself.
Wow, she was a "Fashionista Shopper" for sure! We often snickered and loved watching her enthusiasm, amazed at her energy and the way she just came alive in a shopping environment. 
Simple pleasures, that's all this was for her.
And at such a young age, she surprised me by not asking for one itty bitty thing. What child does that? Not her. At least not this day, that is until near the end of the night.
Girlie Night Out
Really you know, at the end of the night - our outing together had zero-nothing to do with shopping. And it wasn't at all about the dinner or the gifting either. It was all about time spent together, just enjoying their sweet personalities and reacquainting ourselves again in person. It was also about grabbing a small window of quality time with them, that is until they would again be available later the following week.
The other gals...mall photo booth hunters
Okay, true confession time. 
Vancouver Airport - B.C.
We did in fact fly to the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics - Vancouver, B.C. where we ourselves resided before moving "east".
Vancouver - Home of the 2010 Winter Olympics
Our family has not been able to make such a trip all at one time for almost three years. It was time. No, it was overdue actually because our four children here in the east have all but forgotten much of their roots, especially rubbing shoulders with their big family and grandparents out west, all at one time.
(Psst..That is my husband's painting in the background)
Oh yes, they soon found where there are siblings and nieces/nephews, there are good times, lots of gatherings and many hugs and kisses awaiting them.
It seemed when family gathered over the course of our trip, there were many opportunities for stealing kisses from wee ones around every corner and copious amounts of affection shown every time a familiar face came to call for yet another hug. 
Grandchildren came to sit on my knee often, and our sweet newest bundle lay in my arms as often as I could steal her from another. (grin) Yes, I had to share, but then, we were all in dire need of loving these family members once more. 
While I was over there, I continued to pray for Tracy and her new baby boy, and about the fact that I, like her, was finally meeting a wee one, (though mine is a little older), my newest Grandbabydoll - face to face.
And I thought about Charlotte and her recent announcement.
Congratulations to both of you and yours! How blessed we all are!
Highlights were many over the course of the next two weeks, including two birthday celebrations and plenty of catching up with loved ones, both family and friends. 
It was the perfect time of the liturgical year to be able to attend all of the Palm Sunday through Holy Week celebrations, including Easter Sunday - all were so spiritually uplifting and reverently beautiful.
Alleluia! He is Risen! Returning back home again this week, we are hoping for a grand finale to the dreaded jet lag and loss of three hours from time zone changes. Wow, we've been dragging fairly well this past few days, surely there is a light at the end of the tunnel. grin 
Yes, he was born and raised in British Columbia! (That is until we moved east)
I hope you don't mind me sharing our trip with you, my blog world family and friends (especially our family out west), as I have many posts about to explode with postdated timing, complete with a plethora of photos and their accompanying story telling notations.
Stay tuned, here they come....
.jpg)
Our time done, waiting at "Vancouver Airport" for our flight home
