phenomenal fourth!

Happy Birthday # 4 to our little phenomenon! As I thought of words to describe our beautiful little Michaela Joy, this is the list that came instantly to mind (each word needing a superlative modifier): brave, curious, lover of animals, resourceful, smart, sense of humour, playful, imaginative, loving, affectionate. And so many more...



Due to a power failure (go figure), I do not have access to my photos from Michaela's birthday party. So instead here is a photo of the birthday present we gave her. Michaela LOVES animals, and she LOVES movies, and she LOVES role-playing the animals in her favourite movies. I chose these animals because they represent some of her favourite imaginative role-playing: "Madagascar", "Brother Bear", "Lion King", and "Night in the Museum".


And finally, here are some of my favourite photos from a recent visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dearest Michaela Joy, Grandma and Grandpa and Kazan love you and miss you so much! We can't wait till our next visit with you - very SOON!

snapshots of a sense of humour

Snapshots of ourselves by the water, on the last morning of our week together. Micah's sense of humour is legendary - as a baby, just able to sit up on his own, he sometimes laughed so hard that he fell over backwards - and kept laughing!

beautiful boy

Micah, our beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... beautiful boy!

Grandma and Grandpa were blessed with the opportunity to spend this past week with Micah, rediscovering the treasure of his tender heart and WILD sense of humour!

Fun at Great Nanie and Pop's house.

Grandma and Micah drove to Montreal to celebrate Michaela's 4th birthday. Here they are at the Ecomuseum together. As they took delight in watching the amazing animals, I was looking on with delight at the beauty of their friendship.

When Micah finds something funny, he is beside himself with laughter. This turtle's nose really had him in stitches!

Woo-hoo!

tiny little miracle

Here is a testimonial I sent in to a Canadian pet product company (http://www.newtrix.ca) last week: "I can't believe the difference this collar has made for me and my exuberant, enthusiastic, happy, head-strong 70-pound (and still growing) leonberger puppy. Despite puppy training classes and countless hours of heeling practicing, my walks with him were becoming more and more of a struggle, to the point where it was affecting our relationship with each other, and I think would soon have become a safety issue for me. Three days ago I went to a pet store and asked for advice. The saleswoman suggested the easyway collar, adjusted it to fit our puppy, and helped us try it out. When I got home, I took him for his first walk. It truly was like a miracle. He walked beside me perfectly, with a slack leash! ... I still have trouble believing the instantaneous change in him. I really would not have believed it had I not experienced it for myself. ... "

counting the years

Jamie's favourite question, sure to bring glee to her eyes: "How old are you, Jamie?" Here's her answer! We had the joy and privilege of babysitting this weekend, while Mommy and Daddy went away to celebrate their 5-year anniversary.

Happy Anniversary, Josh and Heather - we're so happy for you, and so proud of you, and so grateful that at last you live close enough for weekends like this!!!


...fun and games with Grandpa and Grandma...




And to top it all off, a delightful convergence in London to visit Great Grandad together!

friendships

Micah and Michaela's friendship is a joy to behold! Here they are hamming it up in celebration of Cara and Jonathan's 10-year wedding anniversary! Congratulations, Jon and Cara!!! And congratulations also on your lovely new home - you astonished us all with what you have managed to accomplish in just a few short days, creating such a beautiful and welcoming space, and sharing it already with your family and friends!

Kazan's very first play date!!! Introducing Kazan's brand new friend, Everest! Truly a mountain of a dog!!! Everest belongs to Micah's Kindergarten teacher. Everest is 3 months old, absolutely adorable, and weighs TWICE as much as Kazan did at that age!!! They had a BLAST together! This was their very first opportunity to play with another leonberger since they left their respective homes. (Their humans had a terrific time visiting with each other, too.) We hope to arrange many more play dates for Kazan and Everest in the future. Here you see them taking a break from their alternating wrestling and water-bowl-sharing escapades. We were delighted to witness what we had only read about before this - Everest plays like crazy in his water dish, immersing his face, blowing bubbles, spilling it all over the place - so cute!

Kazan taught Everest how to swim!!!

Kazan and Ron have so much fun together! They especially love swimming together. Here they are yesterday at Frontenac Provincial Park.

We introduced Kazan to the canoe this week, and already he's beginning to understand that he must sit or lie down quietly and patiently. He's such a good boy, and brings so much joy and fun into our lives. We love him dearly.