Eddie, Chewie and I took a road trip to Massachusetts to have turkey with Nance & George and the family. It was a nice break for us. Our family time was great - we had delicious food, did some Black Friday shopping, took in a vampire movie and truly had a wonderful visit. My “GREAT” niece, Erin, turned seven the day before Thanksgiving so we had were able to wish her birthday blessings. She was totally smitten with our little Chewie and renamed her Chewie Chaser Chu and was completely in charge of her the whole time we were together. As you can see from the video, Dr. Erin gave Chewie a good check-up with the new veterinarian kit she got for her birthday from Papou. It was nice to see Allan and Olga and Patrick and Dorothy again too. It’s always special when we see KO and Eleni and Erin and of course, Nance and I had a B L A S T as usual - much to the enjoyment of George ad Eddie. I love the holidays and spending them with family makes them so much fun. This weekend we are off to TO again to celebrate Eddie’s mother’s birthday and be with the family there. Busy times and wonderful memories.
My goodness how time flies! October came and went and now we are more than half way into November. I can’t keep up with my blogging but I’m going to try to remember all that has happened since my last post. Thanksgiving was a blur. Jason and Irene were here in Ottawa and we were joined by our friend Adam for a big meal. It was a relaxing family time together and we made some special memories. The next weekend I had a church bridal shower for our friend, Margie, who is now a married lady. Here are some pics of our party.
The first week in November Eddie and I celebrated our 37th anniversary in Toronto with our friends at Qualicare. We were there for an intense week of training for the Managed Home Care Franchise we purchased. I’ll have more on that in a later post. Because we are so busy starting up this new business I have had to pull back on my work at the lovely Christian book store (Salem Storehouse) where I have been working part-time for two years. To see more of the store check out this YouTube. I still continue to meet with some lovely ladies there every Monday morning for our knitting group (the Salem Purls).
For our American friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving. Eddie and I will be celebrating with my sister and her family so stay tuned for some pics!
Eddie and I celebrate our birthdays just six weeks apart. This year we enter a new (and better!) decade and our kids wanted to do something special for us. They ran some ideas by us and we decided the thing we wanted most was time alone with the two of them. So, a couple of weekends ago Eddie and I drove to TO where they put us up in the guest suite at the condo building where Jason lives. They treated us to all our meals and then gave us TIME together. No rushing around, no needing to meet with people, no stressful schedules to keep. Irene was having a furniture delivery so the four of us relaxed together at her place while it arrived. We leisurely walked through IKEA and Walmart and ate and chatted about life and God. Irene and I talked a bit about knitting and recipes and Eddie and Jason discussed technology. Even little Chewie behaved for us. She wasn’t allowed in the guest suite on the 3rd floor but she was allowed in Jason’s suite on the 16th floor (go figure) so she stayed upstairs and bonded with her big brother - hahaha.
Guys, you really spoiled us and we loved every minute of it. Thank you for giving us your time and all the other things as well. We love y’all and feel loved in return. Y’all are the best!
My friends Randy and Chelsea are expecting the the birth of their little boy, Noah, any day now. Our Saturday morning Ladies Group along with other friends had a surprise baby shower for them on Aug. 11 at our home. It took a lot of organizing and was so much fun. And, while Randy was in on it, Chelsea was completely surprised! Enjoy the pictures!
Yesterday was my birthday. In this picture I’m on the phone with Irene as she wishes me a Happy Day. The beautiful sunflowers and roses are from both Jason and Irene along with other gifts. It was special to have Jason with us for the weekend. Irene is touring Eastern Canada with her choir and we’ll all be together again in a few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who sent cards and left voice mails. It was a great day. Here are two smileboxes my sister sent me from Greece. Click HERE and HERE.
After 36 1/2 years I finally did it - I became a Canadian Citizen! On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, I was officially sworn in along with 79 other people from 60 countries. A special thank you to our friend, Megan, for joining Eddie and me on this special occasion.
Saturday, July 23, 2011, was a very important day for our dear friends, Carol and Garry. It was the day they officially said “I DO” and tied the knot. Eddie and I were honored to be part of this special day. We drove to Bracebridge, Ontario (4 1/2 hours) to witness their marriage. It was also a mini reunion for us as many of our friends from our beloved BPC were there. The wedding was lovely. The next day we out-of-towner’s got together for brunch at Carol & Garry’s beautiful cottage home and then we drove back to Ottawa.
We are so happy for you guys and pray God’s blessings on your future together. Enjoy the pics!
Eddie and I were delighted to have Ginny and Terry Bridle visit us last weekend. We spent most of the time floating in the pool and eating. On Sunday we were sitting in the outdoor patio area ofLapointe Seafood Restaurant when the wind picked up quite quickly and starting blowing things away. We quickly moved indoors and later learned that the stage at Ottawa’s Bluesfest had blown down. This news was actually on CNN where my mom in Florida saw it and phoned to see if we were at the concert! Despite that our visit was relaxing and most enjoyable and we look forward to having the Bridles visit us again soon!
The 4th of July was a work day here in Canada so we celebrated it on the 3rd with some fellow Americans who are also Floridians! Ryan and Rachel and their children came to Ottawa to help with our church for a year and will be returning to the Sunshine State the end of August. We had a lovely time celebrating together - we ate, swam and then watched movies. It was a picture perfect day and to prove it you can check out our photos (both mine and Rachel’s).
On June 9-11 we went to TO where Eddie did some networking and we visited our family. On the 11th the four of us went to a show at the ACC. If you are a GLEEK you will probably enjoy THIS VIDEO of the show. Irene and I did our part in the “Knit in Public Day” by knitting before the show started.
Here we are having dinner together with Ronnie and Nancy just before heading back to Ottawa. It was a packed several days. Thank you, Alice, for letting us stay with you and for watching Chewie for us.
