Thursday, July 19, 2007

* Happy Birthday Amanda *

On Tuesday night Trev and I (and Damon too) buzzed down to Victoria for Amanda's birthday celebration. The original plan was for dinner at The Rooftop, a very cool rooftop restaurant right downtown Victoria complete with sand volleyball court, but because of the rain we ended going to The Keg.
Here's the beautiful birthday girl looking nothing but lovely!
Damon and Colin......and I have nothing else to say.Kerry, Steph and Amanda; three of my most favourite and dear friends. Love you girls!Damon and Colin again.......enjoying their "manly drinks". Colin had asked for his in a beer glass but that didn't happen. So cute!The whole gang just before dinner.
Colin trying to conceal his beverage to save some face. It's not working too well!
Trev and I. My face looks a little strange in this picture but it's the only one we got of the two of us that night!
Amanda blowing out her candles (that were actually two matches)........
And I think The Keg in Victoria is my new favourite restaurant for this reason. A four foot by three foot painting of my dear and beloved Frank Sinatra. It could have done without the cigarette in hand but I guess that captures his true essence. But what a great painting. What I would give to have that hanging in my living room!
Anyways.......we weren't able to stay too long because of work but we had a lot of fun, some goods laughs and made some great memories.
Amanda, love you so much. Can you believe it's been a year on Sunday since you and Steph masterfully MC'd our wedding? We are still so grateful! We wish for much success, joy and blessings for this next year and that God would grant you the strength you need to follow His path for your life!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Happy Birthday Momma Jo!

Last Sunday Trev crossed the waters for mom's birthday! I was not able to be there because of church engagements but he took the camera and got some nice pictures that I was able to enjoy.
Yummy Yummy Birthday Cake........I think Shawna'a blog said it was a tuxedo cake. Looks delicious.
The whole gang minus myself, Paul (taking the picture) and Baby No. 2 (in Shawna's belly).Jacob helping Grammie blow out all the candles on her cake......Jordan playing airplane with his very favourite nephew. He and Lindsey are leaving for a trip around Europe in a few weeks! Lucky Lucky!Dad, Lindsey and Jordan just relaxing.
And Jacob helping Grammie open her presents too. All the kids were thinking along the same lines because we all got her patio umbrella accessories!
Gramma spending some time with the family too!
And who could forget Tucker, the family pet.

So sorry it took me so ridiculously long to get this blog posting up! It's so amazing that as soon as it's sunny we are driving out the lake everyday and are never home for more than 20 minutes or home before 10:00! Good times though. I so wish I could have been there with the rest of the family to celebrate mom's birthday. We love you so much and praying blessings upon blessings for this year and the many more to come!

Monday, July 9, 2007

Amber's Birthday - An Adventure On Tent Island

This past Wednesday, my good and dear friend Amber hit the bit 21! Since weekdays are very hard for people to do because we work, on Friday , thanks to Nathan and his zodiac, we all got boated over to tent island for a bonfire and some swimming. The weather was perfect and the company was even better!
Here's the beautiful birthday girl........I was playing with the color setting on my camera.

The last two thirds of the group waiting for their ride over..........Cody is looking EXTRA excited!

Just a random shot of the BC Ferries Dock we were sitting beside.

The only thing I asked of Devon is that he not fall out of the tree.......Just after we got there a boat load of the boys took off to go cliff jumping. I would have joined them but the last time I was on Tent Island a very good friend of mine was killed after he fell off a cliff onto the rocks below. The guys had fun but I stayed behind with the others and played in the tide pools!
Trevor found a "recliner" in the rocks and was lounging in the sun........not quite leather but it'll do.

This rock was shaped just like a helmet of sorts. I'm trying to look like I'm carrying a gun, so much for that :)So we found these two crabs, one was a spider crab and the other was some other kind of crab and we made them fight. The purple crab wouldn't let go of the spider crabs leg, it was pretty fun.
I'll have a Jeremy, on the rocks.........(I made that one up myself!)
The gang around the fire. We definitely had plenty of food but we were severely lacking in the bug spray department. The mosquitoes were so bad it was ridiculous. I didn't get bitten too bad because I had on pants and a sweater but I was one of the lucky ones.
Brad and Ryan were determined to lasso this huge tree branch from this steep hill for firewood........
.......and they succeeded, after getting four other guys to help them haul it up the hill.
The sunset was so amazingly beautiful and I took so many pictures so it was hard to pick just one, but here it is. I should have uploaded a bigger shot but it's just a great reminder that I live in the most beautiful place in the world and I could never imagine leaving.
Ryan, Christan and Amber chillin' munching on hot dogs!
Brad was telling us stories around the fire......
The fire.......the end to a great night.
Trev and I headed home at around 11:00 but apparently the party didn't end until close to 2:00am when they packed the remaining 12 people into a 13 foot zodiac.
Amber, we hope your 21rst year is full of love, memories, joy and friendship. We love you!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

:: HAPPY 140TH CANADA ::

On Sunday afternoon, Trev and I and a whole group of our friends headed down to Victoria for the annual Canada Day celebration. Our car was packed full of stuff so we drove down by ourselves along with 6 other cars full of people.
Eric and Amanda are in the Jeep, and Devon, Julie and Christopher in the burgundy accord..........

..........and Amber, Cody and Christan in the Dodge. You can't tell from the picture but Cody is waving out the window and Christan is making funny faces.

We ended up on Willows Beach..........fairly quiet spot on the ocean with gorgeous soft sand also a nice grassy field for boccie and ultimate Frisbee.
This is a neat structure made of driftwood that was on the beach.Tim and my brother Ryan looking..........cozy.
Amber, Stephanie and Kerry just relaxing on the beach. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.
Adam's smokin'.............
The gang all waiting for their burgers..........
The lovely Amanda and Julie. I snuck this picture while someone else was taking a picture of them. I think it turned out pretty well!
Trevor - Chef Extraordinaire. We bought that BBQ at Canadian Tire for $20 and it worked like a dream and was the perfect size.
Cody taking a picture of me taking a picture of him taking a picture of me.................
After we had all eaten Stephy, Kerry, Lisa and myself grabbed my football and had some fun throwing it around on the beach. It was so amazing how soft the sand was......I think I actually dropped this pass :)
Steph giving me a beautiful pass.....
Amanda being Amanda.........love ya girl!
Kerry, me and Steph hanging on the field reading and watching all the boys play ultimate Frisbee.......
A rousing game of Frisbee......the guys just LOVE this game. Us girls, we prefer to watch.Lisa had my camera for a while and got some great shots. It's kind of nice having someone else taking pictures so that I actually get to BE in some of them! And if you were wondering, yes it is a good book.........
A neat shot of Jeremy........also taken by Lisa. She found the color setting button.
My dear sweet Kerchung (Kerry).........her book was really good too!
And I think this might be the most ridiculous picture ever taken of me but I love it!
And maybe the second most ridiculous picture.........but don't worry, there is a reason I am wearing this helmet.
Kerry's brother Tim recently bought a Suzuki GSKR and never having been on a street bike I asked if he would take me for a spin. And spin we did.......to say we went fast would a horrible understatement but man was it fun!
I rode with Tim back into Victoria where we parked and met the rest of crew to hang around until the fireworks. The harbour was absolutely packed with boats of all kinds decked out in Canadian flag paraphernalia.
Let's see here, from left......Jeremy, Lisa, Christopher, Devon, Colin, Kerry, Amber, Steph, Eric, Lewis, Damon, Julie and Me. Trevor and Christan were busy snapping the pictures.
This picture actually reminds me a little of Waikiki.......ahhh Hawaii.
My Bubby and I............
We didn't really get any great pictures of the fireworks but here is one anyways.........
Trev and I headed home right after the fireworks but we had an amazing day to say the least. I just felt so full of love for my friends and life and all the people that surround me and how much they bless me. We made some really special memories full of laughter and fun and fellowship that I will always treasure!

Happy Birthday Canada and May God Bless Our Beautiful Country!

PS - I think this has to be the record for the longest blog posting ever.