Halloween 2010

I know this is long overdue but better late than never. This year we were pirates for Halloween, mainly because Simon does the cutest "argh" with his one closed eye. The boys had so much fun, Halloween fell on Sunday this year and honestly we were tired after class parties at school and didn't really think the kids needed more candy to aid them in being unruly only to go on detox on our shift. So we opted for the Trunk or Treat in our church parking lot with just enough candy to be fun but not linger more than a day or two.
The boys came up with pirate names for each of them complete with an imaginary nautical pet. Biel was "stinky purple pirate Pete" - pet sea turtle, G-man was "red beard" - pet squid, Seichi was "slime" - pet shark and S-dog was "golden eye" with a pet seahorse.

 Argh me hearties, best be swabbin' the deck and walkin' the plank em scurvy pirates!

Hasta Luego Jo-man!

Last Wednesday we took my brother Jo-man into the MTC (missionary training center), he will spend 3 weeks there and then 6 weeks at the missionary training center in Lima, Peru. Jo-man will be serving a mission for our church for the period of two years in Lima, Peru.
I let the boys take the morning off of school so they could travel with me to take him to the MTC, they really wanted to have that experience. Here are a couple of video clips of the boys right before we are dropping him off.
As we were dropping him off Biel just began sobbing, so sad was he to be saying goodbye for two whole years. He cried the whole way to school saying "these are both happy and sad tears Mom but I'm just going to miss my favorite uncle!"...G-man exclaimed from the back seat "Biel it's times like these that we need to take a deep breath and get a hold of ourselves"...Biel responded "G-man, that's not at all helpful!"
Needless to say, Biel did not go back to school with tear stained cheeks and puffy pink eyes!

We miss Jo-man very much but we are excited for the amazing experience that he will have serving the people of Peru. We are anxious to hear of his adventures, growth and of the amazing people he will meet...not to mention the interesting food he will encounter! You can read Jo-man's blog which will be updated with his news.

Veterans Day / Remembrance Day 2010

On November 11, 2010 my brother Jo-man came into town. The boys and I picked him up at the airport with just enough time to make it to the boys' school for the Veterans Day concert where Biel was singing in the choir. They sang 3 songs, one of which was "A Tribute to the Armed Forces". It was a beautiful medley of songs outlining the different Armed Forces that protect our nation (Army, Air Force, Navy, etc.) When each segment was sung the members of the audience that have served their nation in that section of the Armed Forces would stand and the crowd would erupt in cheers and applause. By the end of the song I had tears streaming down my cheeks because the song was sung so beautifully yes, but mainly out of gratitude for the sacrifice that was represented by the veterans in the audience.

Jo-man also brought poppies for us all to wear. In Canada we wear poppies on the days leading up to Remembrance Day (Nov 11) reminding us of the sacrifice of our those who have served/are serving in the military. At the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the nation pauses for a moment of silence in honour of these amazing individuals and the freedoms we enjoy. G-man is showing off his poppy!