OK, so having looked at the blog after about 5 years I realized how cool it was to keep the story going.  

It is now March 2017.  Olivia is playing hockey, Miah ringette and Loc is swiming.   I went from the Air Force, to IMP Aeropsace, and now to Iriving Shipbuilding.

Trading in my phone... here are a few photos I just took off:

Catch Up

OK I'm so far behind I'm never going to catch up so I'm going to try to pick a few moments from each month instead.

In October we headed down to the Valley for Thanksgiving. We had dinner with my parents and my sister's family. We went apple picking and pumpkin picking, and for a lovely walk in the research station too. We then had so many apples we ended up having a mini factory to deal with them: pies, dumplings, apple sauce and more. The kids also had their first Canadian Halloween that they remember. They had a great time and ate candy for weeks. We also raked leaves for the first time in three years. I had a lot of help but most of it was destructive rather than constructive. The kids had a blast!

November brought more activities, hockey tournaments, parades and Olivia's birthday. Olivia and I continued playgroup and swimming and I started skating with both girls for the first time. They love it and we go once a week now. Lochlan had a hockey tournament at the Metro centre and it was a fun day for the whole family. We also went to the Bedford Light Up which kicked the Christmas season off. Olivia's birthday was a skating party with my family followed by food and drinks. She had a fabulous time and she was the last one off the ice after an hour and a half!

That brings us to December which has been a swirl of parties, concerts and more. Mark hit the big 35 and we celebrated at his DND Christmas party which happened to be the same night (haven't downloaded any pics yet). We are looking forward to the arrival of Mark's parents next week for Christmas. I am finally done my shopping and only have a few other things to finish getting ready. The kids are uber excited and it should be a wonderful time this year.

Hope all is well you! L

Back in Canada

We're back and settling in. The move was relatively uneventful(thankfully)and our stuff only took three weeks to come.

About a month after we landed we headed out west to catch up with Mark's family. It had been three years and it was great to see everyone. Mark's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary party with a big bash so we had a great time partying it up with everyone. We headed to the Lake of the Prairies where although the weather wasn't great we had fun with camp fires, a bit of tubing, water skiing and fishing, and of course more visiting. We finished our visit in Oakbank with Mark's brother and family at their new home. We went to a beach not far from their place at a lovely provincial park, did some hot tubbing and the kids had so much fun with their cousins (the entire trip), definitely the highlight for them I think.

We are now back in our new home and loving it. Mark's Mom came for a visit and was a great help getting us organized. We still have some stuff to finish around the house but it is mostly nitpicking now. Mark is enjoying his new job at Shearwater and is starting to find his groove. Lochlan has started school is settling in. Miah loves her new preschool even more than old one and wishes she could go everyday and Olivia is kicking it at home with me. Miah and Lochlan have started music lessons for the first time and are loving it. It's a really great program aimed at making it fun for young kids (what a novel idea) and they actually enjoy practicing. Something I never did! Lochlan will also start hockey this weekend. We have sorted all his gear and it should be fun to watch, he's quite excited. I am getting my bearings and getting on top of the new schedule. Although I plan to look for work eventually I think I'll give it a bit of time to let everyone get settled and start slowly to figuring out for what and where to look.

So that's us in a nutshell. Hope everyone is healthy and happy! Some pictures of our adventures below:

Loc's 6th Birthday and Our Last Days in Cornwall

Today is our last day in this house. I'm not sad to leave the house but I am sad to leave Cornwall. There has definitely been some adjustments but it is such a lovely place to live and great for young families. Our last days here have been busy as the ladies at the community centre had a going away party for Olivia and I, and our church had a going away party yesterday for us as well. Top that with Lochlan's birthday party Sat and the packers being here Friday and things have been movin'and groovin'.

Lochlan is six today. Six! When did that happen? As I said we had his party Sat., we went went bowling. The kids had a blast! A little scary to see some of them biff the ball down the lane (they were the big Fred Flintstone type) but a lot of fun for them. It was especially nice for Loc as he said on the way home the only thing he's going to miss is his friends.

Mark recently went for his last surf in Cornwall. The girls and I tagged along to catch some of Daddy's moves. I have to say pretty good! We went to his favourite beach Gwithian and I took some pics to remember.

This is my last blog for a while as our stuff will take three weeks to get to us on the other side (if we're lucky, cross your fingers). Take care all, here are some pics:

Time is Slipping Away

Well we have 4 weeks left in England...wow that is hard to believe. Our last few weeks here have been packed full of things and we are getting excited to go home (and a bit sad to leave).

About three weeks ago we had some Canadian friends come and visit from Ottawa. It was Sheridan and Erin's 10 year anniversary and they came to stay with us for a week before moving on to Paris. We went to the beach, visited Land's End (which we hadn't visited)and they did some touring of they're own. Overall, I think they had a good trip.

A couple days later we went for a last visit to our friends Neil and Justine and their kids Ellie and Owen outside of London:( We used to be neighbours until they moved last Oct. and it was so great to see them. We went for a bear hunt in the woods, played garden cricket with the kids, drank Pimms and Moose Milk and went to Legoland. Legoland was a huge hit with the kids and we all had a great time together in the garden.

We returned home to have our family photos done on our favourite beach here and a mess dinner. I even had a great girls' day out shopping with Mandy in Plymouth (because that's how far you have to go to shop around here....literally).

This week it is back to the grind (Lochlan and Miah had half-term last week). We have moving stuff to complete and lots of social events planned and are looking forward to a visit from Mark's brother Clayton in a week's time. We also have Lochlan's birthday to celebrate our last weekend here, which will be nice for him as we'll be able to have a party with all his friends.

Here are some pics from our activities:



PS I commented on the pics but they may not be showing as I'm having trouble with that lately, so double click on the slide show to enter the album and see the comments.

Miah Turns Four!

Miah turned four last Thursday, April 22nd. I have really seen a change in Miah in the last few months. She has stretched up and has matured as well. She loves to take charge and do whatever possible. She is still enjoying her activities and moved up to the next level in both gymnastics and swimming, she even skipped a level in swimming. She's very proud of her badges:) Miah loves preschool and has made lots of friends there. She has the most contagious and hearty laugh so that you can't help but smile at and is very thoughtful. She still has her red hair and is our beautiful porcelain doll. However, don't call her beautiful or princess!

To celebrate her birthday we had a picnic at the boating lake for tea and went to the park there. The kids and I had a fantastic time. Unfortunately Daddy had to miss out as he was away for work. Sat. we had her birthday party at the football club. It has a nice size room and saved the house from massive damage! We had a bouncy castle and a pinata and all the kids had a great time. Miah was really excited about her birthday and insisted on handing out the party bags at the end. Here's some photos of the birthday girl and party. L

Birthday, Easter and House

We are back from our house hunting trip and are very happy. Happy to have it done and happy to have found a house we like. We bought a place in Kingswood, Hammonds Plains and it seems like a really nice neigbourhood. The commute for Mark will be about 30-40 mins. as he goes to work early. Lochlan is registered in school and we found a preschool for Miah. We even drove some vehicles as it's been a few years in the North American market. All in all a productive trip.

I turned 34 while I was there. Mark managed to somehow bake me a cake in the chaos and my family had lobster for dinner...truly spoiled..gotta love the Maritimes:) We also found our house and had our offer accepted at 10:30 pm the night of my birthday, something to celebrate! It had been looking grim the night before as we had seen everything in our price range and the only two that suited us had major problems. Imagine our elation! My hubby also wrote me a beautiful poem in my card. Wow, I can't express how I felt..truly loved and in love, after almost nine years of marriage, a gift!

We also had Easter while we were there. It was great. We had my whole family at Mom and Dad's, had an egg hunt and Turkey dinner and 24C weather. Luuuuvely! We also had a combined Birthday Party as my, both my parents, my niece Emily and Miah's birthday all fall within 24 days of each other. We were able to visit both my brother's and sister's families at their houses, which was a nice treat. The trip would honestly been a horror if it weren't for the help of my family. Having to take the kids and sort it all on our own would not have been fun!

We are truly looking forward to moving home. We've enjoyed our time here but being home makes us realize again how much we miss our family and friends. We're really looking forward to our trip Saskatchewan this summer to catch up with the family we haven't seen there in three years! Here are some pics:

Catch Up

Well, it's been a while. There has been lots going on and at the same time it's the regular routine. We have received our posting message and are exciting to moving back to Canada and to Halifax.

What's new...the kids are doing well and are wrapping up another term at school (there are three here). Their activities are the same and they are enjoying them and doing really well. Miah has received her first badge in swimming and her second badge in gymnastics and she is just glowing. She deserves it as Miah puts her all into things when she does them. Olivia....oh Olivia. Is it the age or stage? Not sure. She is very independent these days and very communicative. I have to say also very cute, hard to get after her some times. We are enjoying a lot of one on one time lately and it's really nice. Lochlan is about the only one of our children who really gets that we're moving and is really excited. The only thing he isn't fond of is the thought of a new school and leaving his friends behind.

We are heading to NS this weekend to find a house. We are both excited and anxious. Lucky for us we have lots of family to lend a hand as we complete our search.

Football is on the down slide for Lochlan and myself. The season ends in May and that will be it for "football" as we know it here. I've really enjoyed it and will miss the munchins! I think that is all for now...honestly my brain is other places but thought I'd do an update as someone recently pointed out that I've been a little slack:) Here are some random picks of the kids. L

PS Put in captions below a couple pics.

Growing Up

It seems like my children have all "grown up" all of a sudden. I have noticed differences that make me realize my babies are hitting new stages.

Lochlan has taken to making breakfast for him and his sisters lately. Although he has done this before, he has progressed... he used to just get cereal and milk for everyone but has moved onto cutting, toasting, buttering english muffins as well. He has even given porridge a crack (successful but a bit messy). At the same time he helped his baby sister get off her nappy when she proclaimed "poop potty!". Mark and I listened to it from our bed. Really sweet. He made his bed this morning as well. I haven't shown him how to do it and he did a pretty good job I must say. Getting older and taking responsibility.

Miah likes to help dress her sister in the morning. She's become the mother hen and loves look after her little sister. She also sudsed up her legs in the bath tonight and used Loc's play razor to shave (oh oh!). She loves to set the table for dinner and help in any way she can.

Olivia is potty trained and doing fabulous. My quickest yet. I have to say I'm glad the hardest was first and the easiest was last. I hate potty training! She talks constantly and I am amazed with some of the things she comes out with. Like laying blame on her sister! Her vocabulary is growing all the time. She takes on everything her siblings do without a thought that maybe it just isn't going to work out. She's a cheeky spitfire!

Here are some pics of my "big kids".

What Do You Wanna Be When You Grow Up?

That was the question that the kids were talking about on the way home from school today. I love listening in on their conversations. Anyway, Lochlan was talking about how he wanted to be a policeman (that's the new thing)when he grows up. Miah piped up and said she wanted to be a ballerina. Miah asked me and I explained I was already grown up and an engineer. So Lochlan asked Olivia what she wanted to be to which she actually replied "I want to build a snowman". I thought it was really funny! First of all that she answered at all and second her answer. I thought it was a pretty good goal for a 2 year old! Just wanted to share the moment. Hope all is well, with everyone. Mark is in London for the week, so I am flying solo. So far so good! L

Snow Day!!!

Today is our second snow day in a row! Unheard of around here. Lochlan has had only one day back to school and now 2 off. The kids have been uber excited. I think Lochlan would live outside in it if he could. He loves to make snow balls. Miah just had to make a snow man and everyone enjoyed eating it! Here are some pics from the last couple days and a few others.

Christmas English Style

We had a great Christmas Eve and Day despite some challenges. By challenges I mean, Tonsilitis, ear infections, full body rash (chicken pox? the doctor thought so), conjunctivitis, nits (yes I mean Lice) and of course the good old seasonal flu/cold. Who thought you could pack so much into one week:) Anyway, despite all that we thoroughly enjoyed our last Christmas in England.

Christmas Eve the kids and I walked downtown with our buggy (wagon) and collected our turkey from the butcher(Olivia in the back, turkey in the front), Mark "manned up" as our friends like to say and made his Ukranian Christmas Eve meal even though he could barely swallow it, we spread reindeer food on the lawn (compliments of Auntie Heather), put out cookies, "hot chocolate milk" and carrots for Santa and the reindeer and opened a few gifts. Lochlan even heard reindeer on the roof:)

Christmas day we opened presents, went to mass where Lochlan read a prayer (very confidently) and the kids sang a new Christmas song. Miah stood shyly with her finger in her mouth, but was very brave going up;) We then played with toys and finished with English Christmas dinner, which means we added sausage stuffing, pigs in a blanket (sausages wrapped in bacon), Christmas crackers and Christmas pudding with Brandy Butter alight to the regular fair.

Hope you all had and are having a wonderful Christmas holiday! All the best as we look towards 2010! L and the gang

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

No it hasn't snowed here. Although we have had sub zero temperatures and it called for snow on Thurs. Well, it did...now it's calling for rain. Ah well, next year! We had loads of Christmas activity this past week and bought and decorated our tree this weekend. One of the highlights was Lochlan's Christmas play. It was too cute! Lochlan did a fabulous job and we all throughly enjoyed it. The girls even sat through it all.
Loc and Miah had their swimming parties and Olivia had a Christmas party at her new playgroup. Mark went out for a "Christmas curry" on Tues and served dinner to the junior ratings as is the tradition on Wed. I went out with Mandy after Mark got home on Wed. to catch up. After picking up our tree and wreaths we went to a friends place (Tracey and Bill's) for dinner and some hot tub action Friday night. Sat. we decorated our tree and Sunday the kids had another party (Lochlan actually had two at the same time so missed one). So between all the Christmas activities and the addition of our tree and wreaths, it definitely seems like Christmas around here. Hope you are all in the Christmas spirit too! Mark would just like to note that he went surfing the day we picked out our tree. Not likely to do that when we return! L

Happy Birthday Mark!

December 4th was Mark's birthday. He had cake, presents and a relaxing day. The next evening we went out to celebrate at a place called Country Skittles. Mark has been wanting to go there for a while to try it. Skittles are bowling and they have three lanes there. They also have a restaurant, bar, games room and board games to play while you wait for your meal. I'm not sure who had more fun Mark or the kids! L

Two Years Old!

Olivia turned 2 on November 28th. As we already had a party when Grandma and Grandpa were here, we had a melow day and some leftover (frozen) cake. What to say about our Olivia. She's 2 going on 20. She talks a mile a minute, tries everything her siblings do and accomplishes most of it and absolutely will not be ignored, even if it involves screaming...which it usually does. She doesn't sleep much, although sleeps well at night unless she has napped then we have an early wake up call. One morning it was 4:30 am ... for the day. She's cheeky, cute and knows it. One of her favourite sayings is NO WAY. She's still small weighing about 24 pounds. She likes Dora and loves the park. She adores her siblings and wants to do everything they do. She's our blond haired blue eyed bombshell! Here she is: L

Travel, Friends and Christmas Tree Lighting

A couple days after Mark's parents left we headed to London, actually, Surrey, just outside, for the weekend. We stayed with our friends the Howe's (Neil and Justine) and had a great time. They have a little girl Ellie who used to be in Lochlan's class and a little boy Owen who is Miah's age. After a melow Friday night we headed into the Natural History Museum in London on Sat. I had no idea it was so huge. It had real dinosaur bones (whole dinosaurs), a space area, different mammals, etc. The kids loved it, except for Olivia who slept through almost the entire thing. I was really surprised at how interested Miah was, I thought she might be too young. Anyway, we headed back, put the kids to bed and had some adult fun. A really nice diner compliments of Neil and some Wii action. Turns out I'm not so shabby in the Wii sports. The kids had a blast and the adults too.

November 27th was the annual Tree Lighting here in Helston. For a little rural town they do a pretty good job. Live music (drums and singing), stall with food, candy and games. Even rides and fireworks. The kids had hot chocolate, a ride and loads of fun. It was quite nice. Lochlan and Miah were even in the West Briton (local paper) in a picture with a couple of buddies. Here are pics. The ones from the museum are a bit blurry as they're taken with the

video cam. L

GO RIDERS!!!

Hey everyone,

The big game is tonight, but since it would start at 11:30 p.m., we are going to watch it with some Canadian friends tomorrow. Please, please do not call us between the end of the grey cup and bed-time (your time) Monday.

GO Riders!!!

M

Grandma And Grandpa Come to Visit

Mark's parents came to visit us for two weeks. We had pretty good weather and a great visit. The kids loved having Grandma and Grandpa around! They couldn't wait to take them to all their activities. As it was their last visit to Cornwall we did a bit more touring including Heligan Gardens, a walk to Looe Bar and Kynance cove, a last visit to Porthleven and their favourite pub there. Grandma kept the kids busy baking and Grandpa and Olivia bonded while mowing the lawn and playing football (soccer). Needless to say the kids are sad their gone. We also got a sitter one night and went to dinner to a newer place down the road for some adult time.

We had some celebrating to do as Susan had a birthday while she was here. Won't say how old but you might be able to figure it out from the pictures:) We also had an early party for Olivia as Grandma and Grandpa were here. All in all a good time. Oh and the girls owned the boys at cards! Here are some pics. L

Halloween and Half Term

Last week as Mark mentioned was half term (kind of like March break) here so I had all three kids home for the week. It was nice to have a break from the regular routine. The weather didn't cooperate so I had to get creative in my entertainment. We searched for leaves and nuts (in the rain), made pumpkin muffins, made leaf imprints with paints once the leaves dried, rode our bikes between showers and went to the duck pond amongst other things. Nothing fancy but it kept everyone busy.

Our last Halloween in England was the quietest yet. We usually have loads of children but only had about 40 this year. However there were more houses that participated overall so the kids had a great time. Olivia was surprisingly interested. She caught on quite quickly even saying trick or treat. Of course she also managed to dip into her candy before we hit home. Here are some pics from the last week and of our bat, ladybird and Angelina ballerina. L

Surf's Up

Hey Everyone,

Today was a great day... we are definitely getting wimpy and used to the warm weather in Cornwall (20 C today). I made the most of it and managed to get a few hours of surfing in.

It is half term, i.e. the kids are out of school all week so Laura is super busy. Opposite for me... since almost everyone at work took this week off, things are super slow.We are looking forward to Grandma and Grandpa Kotzer coming out next week!

Don't forget to ring Grandpa tomorrow as he turns 61, and I won't say how old Grandma will be when she is here in England, but you can phone us at home at (dial this exactly) 011 44 1326 560 423.

The only sad part about their visit is that they will probably be the last Canadians to visit us out here... there is still time! Come on out!

Our good friends Justine and Neil moved away this week, so it was a bit sad. They have 2 kids (Ellie and Owen) who are the same ages as Lochlan and Miah. They moved out towards Surrey (about 5 hour drive), so we hope to get down there before Christmas if we can.

Hope you all are well.

BTW, the convertible isn't mine, just a loaner as my car was being serviced that day. Too bad... it was a lot of fun.