Pumpkin Patch

We switched things up this year and headed to the lesser known Pumpkin Patch in Delta. There was no hay ride or apple at the end, and due to the torrential rains in October it was a muddy mess. All in all the kids enjoyed it though. Here are a few pictures.









We went over the Calvin and Shannon's house to carve them:

Cranberry Harvest

Every year we see the cranberry fields mature in the fall. I always seem to miss the few days where they flood the field for the annual harvest. This year I was lucky enough to catch a dry day and take some pictures with Malcolm. I had hoped that we'd get some amazing reflections with the flooded fields, but that day happened to be clear without much cloud cover. Well anyways, it was fun to try and capture some images at sunset. Here are a few:

Apple press event at our school.

It was Apple Fest at our school on October 2nd. The kids got to see first hand how to make fresh apple cider. We even brought a big bag of apples we picked from Mr. Goto's yard. They washed them, peeled them, crushed them, and then pressed them. Some of the other volunteers pasteurized them and then distributed the cider. It was actually quite delicious.

September Belt Test.

September marked another belt test for the kiddos. Here are a few from the test. I'm happy to report they both passed with flying colours.









Yay!

Our 11th wedding anniversary.

11 years, it's very poignant considering that's how long we had Obi. We celebrated by going to see the Picasso exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I'm very lucky to share the life we have built together with my best friend and partner. I couldn't ask for a more supportive and loving wife. Here's a few pictures from our day together.

September PNE

To be perfectly honest, keeping up the blog has been tough since we lost Obi. I really did write it for him. Now that a few months have passed, coupled by the fact that we've decided to get another dog. I feel a bit rejuvenated by it all. In fact, we're going with the same breeder and obviously the same breed. We're actually going to pick her up in one week's time. I'm still going to keep the name of the blog the same, but soon enough it will be written from her perspective. You'll soon get to meet our new dog. So to pick up where we left off from the last post, I'll be trying to play catch up.

We missed the PNE this year so to make it up to the kids we went to Playland instead. A great time was had by all. We're all amazed that the kids can be so brave about all the rides. Here are a few pictures from our visit. We were lucky to be joined by Matthew, Lucy and Tamara.

Our trip to Kelowna

This post is a bit late, but with all the things that were happening with Obi, I delayed posting it. Also, truth be told since Obi's gone the motivation I once had to post has diminished. Perhaps it will be renewed once we get another dog, but for the time being post will be more sporadic. Here's our slideshow from our multi-family trip to Kelowna.

Obi rest in peace.

On August 12, 2016 we said good-bye to our beloved Obi. I haven't written an entry in the blog for so long for this reason. Obi was such an important member of this family. It's amazing to think how such a little dog could leave such a big hole in our hearts. Obi's cancer had gotten to the point of no return. In his last days he stopped eating and drinking, we knew it was time to say good-bye. I looked in his mouth and the two tumours had more than doubled in size, preventing him from opening his mouth. In truth, he had been suffering for several weeks, but you would never know it. He loved us very much and put on a brave face everyday. In his last days we brought him to work with us so we could spend as much time together as we could.

I've been writing this blog for over 10 years now and it all started with our wonderful dog. It had morphed into more of a family blog, but definitely he was my inspiration. We gave him the best life we could. He couldn't have been loved more by anyone else. We did our best to give him a wonderful home and the best care possible; in return, he gave us his loyalty, trust, love and happiness. That's more than we receive from many of our friends and family.

The one thing that we've noticed the most is the quiet, we miss the pitter patter of feet down the hallway, the greetings we would get when we came home, and the urge to go out for a walk in the mornings and evenings. Having a dog just becomes part of your daily life and once they're no longer here, it changes things. Again, it's the quiet... the gaping hole where we feel it the most. He's no longer sitting at the end of couch where we can pat him, he's no longer at the foot of the bed where he'd hog the bed. We miss him dearly and he'll never be forgotten. Rest in peace Obi, thank you for being a part of our family for the past 11 years. Here are some recent photos. P.S. the second most worst thing when you lose your dog, everyone else comes up to tell you their dead dog stories and then you feel much worse. :(

End of year field trip for Malcolm.

So Malcolm ended up with four B's and three A's when all was said and done. B's in Language Arts, Science, PE, and Fine Arts. A's in Math, Social Studies, and Health and Career Development. All in all we were happy with the results, but there are still issues of motivation (or lack thereof) and continuing bad attitudes. We hope that he'll turn it around in Grade 5 and to make sure Roger and Tracey have enlisted the services of a tutor. After this week, they're going to bring the tutor in at least once a week to at least keep up good study habits. Melody is now reading at level 17! That's tremendous progress for her. Grade 1's should be reading at levels of 14-16. The kids have grown a lot since September: link. Here are some pictures from the end of the school year including Malcolm's trip to Cultus Lake Waterpark with his class.

Melody's first tooth!

Melody felt her wiggly tooth, she tried to pull it out because it felt strange. She got a tissue, wiggled it back and forth and pulled it out! As blood streamed down her chin, she was very excited about it all. Unfortunately, Melody had bad dreams about the tooth fairy. She saw millions of tiny sparkles in her room and thought the tooth fairy was there to take her tooth even though she had written instructions not to. Malcolm's first tooth had to be extracted due to an abscess, which happened when he was six as well. Here are some pictures of the milestone.

Choir and sports day!

As the year winds down, so does the academic rigor. As far as we know, report cards have already been submitted and we're now heading for the home stretch. Malcolm even has a end of the year field trip to Cultus Lake waterslides! Malcolm also had his end of the year choir concert this past Thursday. He belted out the tunes and looked good up there. Friday was sports day, Melody representing the Green team and Malcolm a member of Red team. They paired up the intermediate kids and primary at each event to balance things out. Here are the pictures: