Fall Update!

Ok, ok, so we have been bad bloggers… but alas we are finally seeing the light and wanting you to catch up with us…. So I have the top 25 exciting things that have happened to us since we got settled into the new house.

(No particular order of excitement – just random thoughts that have come to my head)

1. We have a new pet, his name is Lewis – Hayden named him. He is a pheasant that has decided to call our back forest a home. You often find Abby sitting for long periods of time with Hayden’s binoculars watching for him. He has a big brother named Billy, and a girlfriend name Lucy that we see ever so often. We see Lewis daily, he finds our bird food quite delectable, since we have plenty of blue jays that spill seed over so he can easily get food from the ground. The boys often rush home from school to see if Lewis is out there. What a good pet for us!
2. We get to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year, which I don’t mind since I like turkey dinners. Any holiday that revolves around food is ok in my book. Canadian thanksgiving was on October 12th, and we celebrated with a great family from our ward named the Penny’s. We look forward to hosting the American version in November for the missionaries, since they are the only “American’s” we know.
3. We are finally getting use to the metric system, and can safely drive 100 km and are ok with buying milk in 1 litter bags. (not jugs, bags, which you put in a pitcher to pour – I know I know)
4. The boys have built strong muscles hauling firewood into the garage so we can use the fireplace this winter to help warm the house.
5. Hayden started Basketball season and we hope he enjoys it!
6. Aubrey can now say uh-oh, Mama, Dada, na, na, na (no, no, no – which of course she still shakes her head) and has recently added WOW!
7. We had three glorious trips to the apple orchards – once for Abby’s preschools field trip, once with Lori for a great photo shoot, and once with my Dad. We came home with a new love for honey crisp apples, and have made plenty of applesauce and apple crisps!
8. We added stickers to our world map that tracks Ben’s world adventures as he went to Chile and Argentina. We now get to add Australia, Mongolia, China and Singapore (well the China and Singapore are just long layovers but the kids think that counts!)
9. The kids started back to school – Hayden is in Madame LeBlanc’s grade 4 class, Ethan is in a 1/2 split class with Madame Gallant (yes they call them Madame, since they are both French speakers) and Abby is in Mrs. Allerston’s preschool at the Triefes Israel Preschool at the Jewish Synagogue downtown.
10. Aubrey is pulling herself up to things, crawling up the stairs when no one is watching her and getting into a mess everywhere she goes. We need some gates and locks fast!
11. Hayden, Ethan and Abby finished ice skating lessons. Trying to be like the locals, we will have the boys skate for a year before they attempt playing Hockey! We had to buy skates for them all, and when purchasing them Abby looked up at the guy who was trying to find her some skates that would fit her tiny little feet, he grabbed the smallest skates he had (which were hockey skates), she then looked up to him and said, excuse me, don’t you have any girl skates? We walked out with Hockey helmets, two hockey skates and one pair of figure skates.
12. Aubrey after eating one Oreo (which we had to smuggle good American ones from my trip to Maine, the Canadian ones are gross – what a shame) figured out how to pull it apart, lick the frosting and chuck the cookie onto the floor! She didn’t learn that from me, but is a crack up to watch such a little thing do that! She loves them!
13. Ethan started Karate lessons. He loves it and looks to cute in his uniform. It’s a crack up because his teacher teaches in French and Japanese, both which he doesn’t know, so it’s all new to him. For all he knows they are speaking Greek!
14. Aubrey is cutting all four top teeth right now, fun for us!
15. Lori and Ashlyn came up to visit with us! What a treat for me, we had a blast – thanks Lori for keeping me company while Ben was in Chile!
16. The kids are continuing to make friends, and it’s interesting not having friends close by. Abby came home with a little scrap of paper in her pocket with preschool scribbles on it, and told me, Look Mom, I have Emma’s number, can we call her. How sweet, she is trying so hard to make new friends. She had the right idea, just not quite there. Good thing I had her number and we could arrange for a play date!
17. I was invited to a Mom and Me playgroup, which I am so glad to have a time to get to know more friends. It gets lonely with no one to talk to. I gladly go to playgroup on Mondays and enjoy a time with them sipping hot cocoa or Diet Coke while they enjoy their coffee. (They are so sweet to cater to my non-drinking coffee and always accommodate me!)
18. We had a glorious and colorful fall, and oh man was it pretty. I was in photographer heaven and got some great pictures. Thanks to Lori having impeccable timing on her trip to enjoy the colors in their fullest we had a fun photo shoot and now have priceless memories! Unfortunately it lasted about two weeks and now it is barren and dead, waiting for the snow to fly. Mark your calendars to come visit during that time; it would be worth the trip….
19. With fall, came pumpkins, and I have an almost one year old who is petrified of them. Gladly soon the pumpkins will soon be replaced with pinecones and holly, so the terrified screams will soon be over!
20. We no longer have boxes, which is a miracle, but it is nice to be settled and know where things are. That was a chore, but will gladly do it again in three years, but not again after that!
21. The boys both had birthdays and we now have a 10 year old and a 7 year old. Where has the time go! We now have more legos, wii games and a couple of extra pounds due to lots of cake, but we had a great time!
22. We had a wonderful visit with my Dad, who came in October to make sure Canada was an acceptable place to be. We had a great time at the apple orchard, beach, chocolate river and even had a lobster dinner! I am so glad to have had such a good visit and I am sure the kids will never forget it! We love you Dad!
23. Abby’s new favorite snack is Challah Bread, which she gets to eat each Friday at school. It is fun to see her learn about other cultures and religions since Challah bread is a Jewish bread they eat on their Sabbath, which starts on Fridays when she is at school. She even knows a new little song about helping mom make bread. To bad my bread doesn’t come with a song or I might get more help making it!
24. We both got new callings in Church. Ben is the new Ward Mission Leader and I am the Enrichment Leader as well as on the Activities Committee. Ben keeps up with the two sets of Elders, and one couple missionary set in our Ward. While am frantically helping put on a Christmas card class and plan our Ward Christmas party! It’s good to busy.
25. We figured out we are approximately 10% done with our three year commitment to Canada! 90% more and we can head back home!