Happy New Year!

Well this is going to be a mishmash of things.
First from Little Man A a couple of his Favourite things!!

PIZZA

   Pizza is good and is topped with many things and   flavors and cheeses like Swiss medium and homemade and many more some have cultural cheese on top and some have cultural flavors that are eaten by many like Hawaiian and more

Rugby

Rugby is like football but with a different ball and no chest plates and helmets and leg protectors but you have a mouth guard and you throw a rugby ball differently and many know about the game and many play it now and will in the future until it is unknown 

I love bugs and birds!! Even spiders. I know I am a little strange but I am excited when I discover the exoskeleton of a spider who has left it behind to continue on living in ‘his’ own skin. (click on the exoskeleton word to go to the link and then scroll down to life cycle to see some photos of  spider leaving his old skeleton.) This past summer we had a fun time finding caterpillars that we have discovered today are called Lophocampa maculate. They grow to be Spotted Tiger Moths. The real treasure in finding the caterpillar was that we found not just one or two but 5! And we brought out the camera for some upclose fun!

Every winter there are Merganser birds living in the bay. Drew and I took a walk along the water front last week and discovered a little community of Hooded Mergansers. A couple of males and mostly females. There are a couple of flocks of geese overwintering in town. The mostly visit the track and the elementary school field. Thank goodness they haven't found our park behindo our home. First the White fronted geese arrived and a few weeks later a few Canadian Geese arrived. Here we are into Jan and they are all still here. Lastly I put more sunflower seeds in the feeders and now I am waiting to see which birds will visit our yard!

Stay tuned for more faves from our family!

What a year this is going to be!

Life here is constantly on the go with 4 growing boys. This upcoming year will bring a unique opportunity for our family.

By the end of February we will have a Deacon, a Teacher and a Priest in our home and each will be the only member of his Quorum. We will conclude the year with Alick turning 8!

The responsibility for overseeing the Sacrament portion of Sunday meetings passes from the Hope family to ours. They are a family in the branch that have 5 boys. Their youngest will be going on a mission soon. Our lives have been blessed for the time we have spent here near the end of the earth, or so it seems at times.

Carter is in Grade 11, turned 16 and is working toward getting his learners. He is officially taller than Drew. He likes his new adventure with the Junior Fire Fighters and continues to work on gymnastics.

Dexter is in grade 8 and will soon be 14. He loves life and drawing his cartoon critters. He joins Carter twice a week for Gymnastics at the high school they go to.

Hyrum will be 12 soon and loves the outdoors. Anytime someone goes outside for a walk or some adventure he is often found there. Our home backs on to an enclosed park. He has climbed the trees out there many times. 2 days ago we biked out on the highway to a beach 11 kms away. He and Dexter attend Scouts and look forward to exploring new sites this year. They went out to a place called Bonanza lake and went to the caves there. Hyrum said the cave crickets were huge and had long, skinny legs like spiders but they looked like crickets.

Drew has a new utility trailer and has been wanting to try it out on the highway. He met us at the beach a couple of days ago for a walk and carted the bikes home. It passed the highway test. Drew is working on his Masters in Science Education in Curriculum Instruction and Assessment. He will be done the program in May! He continues to teach Grade 6 students and Hyrum is in his class this year. He will be celebrating his 10 years as the Branch President by performing my brother's wedding in May.

Alick is in Grade 2, turned 7 a month ago and says writing is hard. He loves the authority of being the youngest. His newest interest is skating. He still likes to give hugs and is a love to be around. I am busy with all the things the boys are involved in....and more.

I love to dress up and go visit preschools, daycares and kindergarten classes to sing and read stories to children as "Mother Goose". Children are so easily entertained and happy to have me there. It warms my heart to see their happy smiling faces as I walk in the door. Some of them don't want to see me go...and we say good bye for almost 5 minutes. I won't list all the things I do but I will mention that most afternoons and some Saturdays I am fortunate enough to have home time. Travelling with the Literacy Bus to some of the school district's elementary schools a couple of times a month, Beavers, the weekly high school concession supply orders, twice a month storytime in Alick's class, running a weekly playgroup called Toddlertime are some of the things I am involved in. As busy as I may be I am loving the time as the boys grow up. I make time in my schedule for my favourite time of day.. it is nice to be home waiting when the boys come for lunch and bring a friend or 2.