:: Taylor, Rodney And Brad ::

On Sunday Kerry and I FINALLY got to go to our Brad Paisley concert! It was a long time coming but well worth the wait; we had such an awesome time! We took the 3:00 ferry into Horseshoe Bay and were in the city at around 5:30. We walked from the parking garage down to Moxie's and had a nice dinner. We had seats in the eighth row, 9th and 10th seats.......AMAZING. The concert got started right on time at 7:30 with Taylor Swift. This girl is the first country artist in history to have her debut album hit number one AND have writing credits on EVERY track on the album. Pretty darn impressive for 17. She was sassy and and flirty and super fun. The crowd had her on the verge of tears following one of her songs that she got us to sing along to. We must have cheered for a full 2 minutes straight and she was in awe.Following Taylor was Rodney Atkins (of whom NONE of the tonnes of pictures I took worked out as you will see) who came out in a Van Nucks hat and an "Official Canadian Drinking Team Hat". We had him in tears as well after he played "Watching You". It was pretty neat and kind of made me realize how crazy it would be to write songs because it's what you love and then you go to a stadium packed with people who are all singing along to the words you wrote; pretty overwhelming to say the least.

I tried numerous time to upload Brad Paisley's grand entrance but it just wouldn't work! But it was pretty cool, and very deafening. Couldn't even hear myself scream. He started his set with "Online" which is Trevor's favourite song.

Playing "The World"...........

One of the very few pictures that worked out. He's got a bunch of guitar picks in his mouth.

Brad did a great set of just acoustic songs and had a collage of popular stars that are no longer with us. It was really emotional and touching.

I have an explanation for this shot :) Kerry and I decided that for the last song we should wander over the the ramp coming off the stage and see if we could get a handshake. So we went and waited and he eventually came our way but wouldn't turn around! So I just snapped this shot to prove how close we were!

One last picture.......one last song.

Kerry and I had SUCH a great time and much thanks to Trev's parents for opening up their home for us to stay and for feeding us a fabulous breakfast Monday morning, thanks mom and dad! The best part is that we only have to wait a month until Aaron Pritchett comes to town in November! Yee Haa!

~ Happy Birthday Mom ~

On Tuesday, my dearest Mom celebrated her birthday. And if the birthday blog seems like a three times deja vu, we've got four birthday's in my family in October.

Anyways, we celebrated with a family dinner at Whitespot.

:: The Birthday Girl ::

Pa and MaRyan (birthday boy from last week)

Kevin aka Nubbin

Trev and I tried to get a nice picture but it took a few tries with two younger brothers.........the two hands on Trev's body are not mine :)

And again........I look like I am missing my front tooth.

.........and again.

Fourth times a charm!

So lovely.......

The whole gang minus Nathan and Bryce...

I couldn't have possibly prayed for a more wonderful mom. Thank you for being a support and a friend always. We love you!

Happy Birthday

:: Happy 17th Ryan ::

On Tuesday the 10th, my littlest brother Ryan celebrated his 17th birthday. We had pizza and ice cream cake for dinner at Ryan's request.I can't believe how fast he got big. We love ya Ryan and wish you many more birthdays to come!!

* Thanksgiving 2007 *

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving Everyone! Trev and I decided on our way home from the mainland that we were going to spend our time doing more productive things and starting working on some long overdue projects so I've neglected to update my blog! We had a great Thanksgivings! Our first was at the Verhoog house on Sunday night. My mom phoned and asked me to take care of dessert and you cannot have a holiday meal at the Verhoog home without Dutch Apple Pie so I opted for that and it turned out great!:: Our Thanksgiving Table ::

Turkey Lurky

Mmmm........Apple Sauce
My Hubby........watching football or something.

The parental units working the kitchen.

Little baby Scarlett.......so adorable.

And I think this little fella is Panda. He's the fluffiest puppy we've ever had.

Before.........
......after. The meal was SO good. We got to have ham and turkey!
Dinner at the Verhoog's was awesome as usual! Thank Ma and Pa, love you both!

On Monday morning we were up bright and shiny to catch the 7:45 boat for Thanksgiving with Trev's family.

I was attempting to catch up on some reading so Trevor was amusing himself with the camera!

Dad carving up the GIANT turkey.

Jacob hanging out with Auntie Lindsey and playing with his new toy drill.

The whole gang at the table (minus Trev of course).By far the cutest one at the table.......

All the kids, including baby number 2 in Shawna's belly!

Jordan and Lindsey......Such a great shot of the two of them!

Just checkin' Shawna.........Yep your good to go!

The lovely Laderoute Family

This one was taken with Jordan's super nice camera and I LOVE it.

Dad and Mom. Another great shot.

The Ma's, grandma's and great grandma's.

After dinner Dad, Paul, Jacob, Trev and I got out to enjoy the beautiful day.

We are so thankful to have the blessing of two great family dinners, among many many other things we are thankful for. God's Blessing To All!

:: UPDATE ::

Trev and I have started two painting projects this week so blogging has been on the back burner but I will try and get things refreshed this week. I've got two Thanksgivings and two birthday's to put up so check back. The status on my dad's co-worker is he is good. He is up and moving around, the leg injuries were not as bad as we had heard. He is having some memory problems and doesn't remember anything about the accident but praise the Lord that he is moving and doing well. Thanks for your prayers!

:: Prayers Needed ::

I got a horrible phone call at work from Trevor today who informed me that my dad had called him at work with some bad news. Some may have seen on the news about the bad accident involving the rig carrying three cement slabs in Langford but it was my dad's co-worker. Currently he is in ICU in Victoria General and is heavily sedated. The doctors have also drastically lowered his body temperature to try and reduce any swelling on the brain as they fear brain damage. His legs were both apparently crushed as well but the hopes for that recovery are good.
Sometime early today, the driver had to slam on his brakes (for a yet unknown reason) and his load of cement broke loose and shifted sending the tonnes of cargo smashing into the cab of the tractor.
If you have a moment please offer up a prayer for Richard's life, that God would use his hand of healing and have mercy and save him. I have heard that if he makes it until tomorrow his chances of survival are good. Thanks.

Happy 25th Birthday Nathan

Today my older brother Nathan, turned the big 2-5!

:Nathan and his lovely girlfriend Brice:

Because he is currently training for Afghanistan in Wainwright Alberta, we were unable to have a proper birthday dinner. However we did send off a big care package full of goodies and presents and cards.

Love you Bro! Can't wait to see you again. May this next year be full of joy and peace and here's to many more birthdays to come!

:: Happy One Year Anniversary Elmo ::

Yesterday, October 2nd, was our little man Elmo's one year anniversary with us. We adopted our boy from the SPCA and he is truly our family.

This guy will play with anything.....we've only bought him one toy.

This is his lazy pose. When's he's feeling sucky he will lie on his back until you rub his tummy.
During the summer, when he was allowed outside.

Happy Anniversary Elmo-Bean, we love you!

~ Artiste Extraordinaire Chelsey Dollman ~

Ever since the day we were visiting at Dustin and Chelsey's a few months ago and I first laid eyes on this work of art, I wanted it in our house on the wall at the top of the stairs. And today my vision was realized. We were over at D&C's last night and I reminded her again that I still wanted to purchase the painting that she had done for her art class in school. This morning she brought it over and this evening Trevor and hung it and, wow. It's more than I could have hoped for! Chelsey may have to correct me on this but I believe it is called a drip painting done on a 4x3 canvas and I LOVE IT.

The angle you would see it coming up the stairs.........

And how you see it coming from our master bedroom.....This is the official professional shot taken with no flash that gives you a good idea of what it looks like.
The one thing the pictures don't show is texture. This is truly a 3D piece that you can run your hand along and feel the paint raised from the surface.
This piece is also exciting because it's the second piece of original local abstract art work that we have in our place!
Check out Chelsey's website to see more of her art and photography at........ www.freewebs.com/chelseysartstudio
Thanks for the honor of being able to dorn our walls with your talent Chels!