Dear Santa

David's subtle way of asking for a camera

Christmas Day

Decorating the tree

We need LOTS of lights.  EVERWHERE.

Matthew is calm and thinking of his masterpiece 

And here it is!  A village under the tree!

All good here!

IHere is the calm after the storm. We still have no power but it is a beautiful day so Marc is washing his hair in the rain filled kiddie pool. Elizabeth has laryngitis, so is home resting.   

Of course, who should arrive during the wind storm?  The roofers!  I politely asked them NOT TO KILL THEMSELVES. 

And here is our repaired roof. 

No dead roofers, just a decent roof. 

Preparing for Halloween

Lucy's creation 

David's creation....Lucy's work

The school dance

Molly in the Halloween bin

Teachers strike

Franzi has looked after the boys through the strike

We did our best to keep little boys entertained

Daddy's birthday cuddles

Exploring the empty subdivision beyond shawnigan lake

September

Matthew had a pretty good birthday

School was back in, so he had to wait until after school to play with this

Zuke has an irritation on his back. Looks like she's here to stay. 

Franzi has gone home. Everyone will miss her!

We will continue to eat 'puck cakes'  

And run hard!

Montague

Relaxing in montague Harbour

Celebrating Franzi's 21st. The boys like her and call her "smiley"

A Trip Down Memory Lane

What started as a camping trip to Parksville ended by the Fellows visiting where Marc grew up.

 Here we are setting up camp at Pacific Playgrounds.  $42.00 per night, nice washrooms and a pool.  It is where Oyster River meets the ocean so you can imagine how much fun the boys had!  This is mid week, but by Thursday the massive RV's started moving in.

 We prayed for good weather as any drops of rain would finish us.  A few clouds Friday morning prompted us to pack up.  As it turns out, our timing was perfect!

 This is where the restaurant that Marc's mom and boyfriend owned used to be.  Now it's a church.  A "Fellowship"  (giggle giggle)

 This is the house that Marc lived in.  Right on the beach.  He used to gather mussels here for "movie night".

On our way home, as we were racing the rain clouds, we stopped in Parksville.  The boys had fun on the bumper boats, we ran through the sandcastle competition, and got out just in time for the wind and cold to settle in.

 Had a wonderful bike ride with David this afternoon.

 He's such good company!

 After another extremely hot day we made our way across the cow field for an evening swim.

The boys love this pond, not cold and close to home.

James bay, prevost island

Fabulous weather, we're all sunburnt!  Some suffered a little sunstroke too. ( Clive and daddy)

Hiking on this island is a pleasure. It is beautiful. Can't wait to go back and explore some more!

Sunset

It's that time again

This little one isn't doing too well, fingers crossed!

The other 21 are happy and healthy. 

Warm weather

Springtime at Saltspring island

May long weekend

May long weekend

Good times digging very deep holes at Sidney spit

Clive's only catch of the day

Easter

 We had a great Easter weekend, starting with a lovely meal on Saturday night.  Marc cooked one of our massive turkeys on Friday, Google helped, and it turned out superb.  Laura made all of the other dishes, YUM!

 The spa was closed Sunday and Monday, so we really enjoyed hunting for eggs and visiting with friends on Sunday.  The kids hunted for eggs over the entire property.

After checking out all of their eggs, we smashed a couple of piñata s that the boys had made.

As the sugar rushes started to crash, the rain moved in.  Perfect timing to close a fantastic day.
Monday was a day of rest, if there is such a thing??