thankful

We have so incredibly much to be thankful for! Yesterday Ron and I (and Kazan) went canoeing in Frontenac Park. Glorious. Our favourite island was unoccupied, so we were able to let Kazan roam safely at will. After a brief exploration of the island, he spent most of the afternoon doing this - standing perfectly still, watching fish, trying to figure out how to catch one. In her book "The Culture Clash", Jean Donaldson writes that the most defining characteristic of dogs is that they are "social predators" - and yesterday we witnessed that fact, as Kazan spent hours not moving a muscle - just standing, watching, waiting, completely and utterly absorbed in the movement of fish in the water. And as if we needed more evidence of Kazan's predatory nature, at the end of the day, as we were driving out of the park, we stopped to watch two porcupines at the side of the road. Kazan's window was partially open. In the blink of an eye, he was through it! A flurry of activity ensued, and somehow, miraculously, Ron was able to catch Kazan and get him back into the car, uninjured and with no souvenirs of his encounter! Now that we know Kazan is capable of spontaneously leaping through a partially-open car window, we have learned an extremely important lesson!!! We are so thankful for the beauty - and safe ending - of a perfect day!

more milestones

This week we celebrated Heidi's 4th birthday. But I think what I felt most like celebrating at her birthday pug party on Saturday, were those big beautiful eyes of hers. Dear little Heidi, we are SO happy to see that you have been restored to health and happiness!!!


Calvin and Sharon, I hope you don't mind my plundering these pictures of Heidi and Beatrice, but they are just so special. I love how this photo captures Michaela's love for animals. She is fascinated by, and loves, every moving thing, from the lowliest fruit flies in our compost pile, to the great whales and wildcats in our nature videos.


Another major event this past week was the Women's Art Festival, where Cara and Meghan spent the day together selling the gorgeous jewelry they have been busy creating over the past few months.


We also took a trip out to Bath to see Mom and Dan (Nanie and Pop), and to go out for lovely dinner together.


And finally, another major milestone! Micah's tooth had been loose for quite a long time, and when he arrived at Nathanael's nameday party, he surprised us with THIS! Our first grandchild lost his very first tooth!!! And this happened the very same week that our youngest grandchild got his very first tooth - congratulations, little Justin!!! And also the same week that Michaela got her very first loose tooth. What a coincidence!

Happy Nameday, Nathanael Josh James!

One year ago, on August 14th, 2007, our beautiful grandson officially changed his name as one of the legal steps towards becoming a forever member of our family.  Nathanael Josh James, we are so happy that we were able to celebrate this milestone anniversary with you!




What a delight you are!  I chose "Blues Clues" as the theme of your cake, because it reminds me of "Puppy", your beloved naptime companion that Michaela gave you on the day you met.




On Nathanael's nameday, we went to Kingston Family  Fun World, and had a blast!  You particularly liked the carrousel and the train, because we could be there with you.





Your Grandma and Grandpa love you with all our hearts, dearest Nathanael Josh James!

wild and crazy

Thursday's wild and crazy hailstorm wreaks havoc at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Tuesday's babysitting, just two days earlier! Micah and Elizabeth both passed their swimming levels this week, and Grandma was there to witness it - great job, guys!!!

Micah LOVES the high board!

Elizabeth and Micah love it when I "one-two-three-ROCKET" them on the swings, followed by their flight through the air! I never cease to be amazed at their wild and crazy love of action and adventure! Your Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of you, Micah and Elizabeth!  And thanks for all those extra hugs this week!!!

plunder

Great photo, Josh!  Here we all are at Les Miserables!

After plundering your forgotten/lost camera for copies of photos such as this one, we are sending it back to you today.  Once again, the lost has been found.  Wonder if you will be so lucky next time your camera tries to escape!?

and finally...

Happy Birthday, Jonathan! I remember when we first met you, we wondered how anyone could possibly be as nice a person as you appeared to be. Somehow over the years we have seen that if anything you are even more wonderful than we could even have imagined. We just want you to know how very much we appreciate all you mean to our daughter, to our grandchildren, to our entire family, and to us. Thank you for being such a great son. We love you.

holy-days together!

walks in the woods...

love and laughter...

fun and games...

coos and cuddles...

...and a 6-month birthday celebration at Kingston's Family Fun World!

 This look on Justin's face reminds me of a picture we have of Elizabeth taken at the same age and at the same place! May have something to do with teething? Adorable!

together

family photo

grown-up time

brave dads

grandpa and the birthday girl gone fishing

the two-year-olds making grandma feel very special

1st annual

First annual Christmas-in-July family reunion weekend! Our Christmas gift to our adult kids this past year was the promise of an evening out in the summer - dinner and theater (Les Miserables) in Gananoque. The whole weekend felt like a family reunion, crazy-busy but sooooo meaningful, with uncles and aunts and nieces and nephews and cousins and kids and grandkids and moms and dads and grandma and grandpa, all of us weaving our way through each other's presence throughout the weekend. And having my entire family gathered around so close to my birthday was so very special for me. Rumour has it that this may become an annual event. I dearly hope so! Meanwhile, here we all are leaving the Thousand Islands Playhouse together...

Heather and Josh

Jonathan and Cara

Aaron and Meghan

Sharon and Calvin

Michaela Joy's very big day!

From east and west they came, the whole family gathered together for the very first time since baby Justin's birth six months ago. Our weekend together began on the very day Michaela turned 5 years old! Happiest of Birthdays to our beautiful, kind, thoughtful, creative, loving Princess Michaela Joy!!!


Jamie loved learning all about life and bugs from nature-loving cousin Michaela.


Meanwhile Michaela loved trying out her brand-new snorkel set with a little help from Uncle Josh and Auntie Heather.


Micah and Elizabeth joined in the excitement as Uncle Calvin brought out his latest children's book written and illustrated just for Michaela. Calvin's hilarious story about Bum-Bum the dinosaur is based on a dream Michaela has about a dinosaur coming to her door one day to take her for a ride on his back.


Amazingly Calvin's story (about Michaela's trip around the world on a dinosaur's back) and Grandma's cake (shown here) shared a coincidentally similar theme, bringing together Michaela's long-standing fascination with dinosaurs, with images of planet earth! What are the chances?! Michaela, your Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of you! We love seeing how interested you are in EVERYTHING around you, and we love your incredible imagination! May the joys of discovery and imagination continue to inspire you all through your life!