The Monette's

Expecting a September 1st Miracle!

2009-03-26T13:42:00.005-03:00

I must apologize for not keeping this up to date for such a ridiculously long time! Things have been pretty busy and facebook seems much quicker and easier to update. But with the expected arrival of our little one in September I figured we better start updating on Blogger as well for the family and friends who are not quite Facebook enabled :)

I am glad to be back on blogger and to share our exciting news and preggo updates with you all.

Here are our ultrasound pictures from 12 Weeks:

And Baby's 1st close-up:

Here is the Belly to go with the Baby (3months):

More pictures to come soon...

Our Trip to Ottawa!

2007-05-14T16:57:00.000-03:00

This is getting to be quite a traditon, celebrating our Anniversary in Ottawa with friends and family! But to tell the truth we couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate. This year we headed back down in the Monette van for Kelly & Peter's wedding reception on Saturday, May 5th. It was a wonderful evening and Kelly looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress (Pete looked pretty good too!) and everything was decorated beautifully.We had a wonderful trip getting to spend time with family that we miss so much. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Sightseeing in downtown Ottawa at the Parliment buildings

The beautiful table arrangements Kelly designed!

Congratulations Kelly & Pete!

Family Brunch at Broadways (Table 1)
Family Brunch at Broadways (Table 2)

Beavertails!!- Connell, Victoria (she had never had one so of course it was our duty to introduce her to the most delicious dessert ever created), & Mark
The Tulip festival was just begining when we arrived.

We had a wonderful lunch with Dana & Olivia out at their gorgeous new home (which they have built themselves!)
I just love this dog!! So well behaved too!!
Thanks for having us over for lunch Dana & Olivia- we really enjoyed spending time with you!

Christine & Baby Sarah's Baby Shower

2007-05-13T21:06:00.000-03:00

Sunday, April 29th was Christine and Sarah's Baby shower at Glen and Shar's house. It was a fun time to celebrate both Christine becoming a Mom of three and Sarah's recent arrival. What could be better than 30 woman ooohing and ahhhhing over a beautiful baby- not to mention tons of gifts and excellent food :) Below are some pictures from the shower:

Goldie and I set up a little "Advice Station" where guests could write down some advice, experienced wisdom, prayers and wishes for Christine as she raises a girl, and also for Sarah as she grows up.

All the beautifully wrapped presents

A Very proud Rachel holding baby Sarah

An equally proud Rebecca during her turn for holding Sarah

Starting her off early as the princess she is- The Cinderella Chair!

A beautiful baby quilt handmade by Goldie

The "Bumbo" Chair- these are the neatest things and I just love the name!

A very special quilt made by Aunt Daphne just like the one she made for Christine when she was a baby.

What a great turnout!

Mmmm the food was wonderful-especially the trifle definitely my favorite (I think Shar made it!)

CONGRATULATION'S again to Christine on her beautiful baby girl we will love every minute of seeing her grow up to be the woman God has planned.

The Wildlife Saga: The Conclusion (Hopefully!)

2007-05-13T20:03:00.000-03:00

Another trap does it's job :) This time we skipped the wimpy marshmallows and went straight for the real bait- Sardines! One night later and it was caught- so now we know what works. We are now finally able to relax a little, hopefully the wildlife community hotel has been vacated permanently. We are planning to put some mesh up over the soffet tomorrow so hopefully that will deter any further animal guests. Hope you enjoy the pictures :) I think it looks quite cute (despite all the trouble it has caused)!

Ricky Raccoon:The Wildlife Saga Continues...

2007-05-03T16:47:00.000-03:00

So after the surprise that we had a pheasant living on our property we were even more surprised to learn that we had another creature living on our property...well I should say IN our property really. About three weeks ago when my parents were visiting we noticed that a piece of "soffet" (-piece of siding like plastic under the roof overhang) had come loose. We figure that the wing had just gotten to it and so just popped it back into place, this happened a few time until one night as Mark was walking past the back door and saw two beady little eyes staring back at him from the soffett- We had a Raccoon living in our soffet/attic!! You would really think we live in the stick with all this wildlife.
So we called for help and along came a professional trapper to set up a trap with Marshmallows for bait. Well to make a long story short the Raccoon managed to steal the marshmallows from the trap miraculously without getting caught for about two weeks but then he succumbed to the Chicken wings and Chicken & Rice casserole we put in there on Tuesday night and he was trapped! So here are some pictures of poor Ricky Raccoon (sorry about the poor picture quality- we didn’t want to terrify him with camera flashes!) Enjoy.

Some of you may be wondering why we titled this bog “The Wildlife Saga continues…” Well when we got up this morning we noticed that the soffet had come loose AGAIN! Can you believe it, we have ANOTHER Raccoon living up there! Word must have gotten out that the spot was vacant! So we are back to the trapping stage…I guess I will be making Chicken & Rice casserole again for supper and bait. If anyone has any other tips for Raccoon extraction please let us know!

A Figment of Dad's Imagination?

2007-04-23T11:14:00.000-03:00

What would you think if someone told you they saw a red and blue bird that was bigger than a cat walking through the trees in your backyard early in the morning? Well...our first thoughts were...uh huh...were you wearing your glasses?...was it a dog wearing one of those coats?.... it was probably just a blue jay....Or Dad, you must have been seeing things!

Well imagine Mark's and my surprise when we saw this walking through the trees a few days ago!! We are eating our words! Who would have thought we would have a resident pheasant living in/around our backyard :)

Baby Sarah's BIRTHday Party

2007-04-15T20:38:00.000-03:00

Today on the way to church Mark and I put up some pink ballons on the lampost outside Mark's parents house to Mark the special occasion of Baby Sarah's arrival. When Elijah came home from church he asked me: "Why did you put the ballons up?" So I explained to him that it was to celebrate and let everyone know that they had a new baby girl. I also happened to mention it was to celebrate her birthday- and of course Elijah caught right on and said- "So we are going to have a birthday cake and decorations and a party!!" After that enthusiasm how could we say no- so off Grampa, Greg, Elijah and Jospeh went to pick out the perfect cake for their baby sister, while Mum and I got cracking searching the house for decorations. Below are some pictures of Sarah's 0.0027 year old BIRTHday party. Enjoy!

The BIRTHday Girl!

I think Elijah likes his little sister very much :)

CONGRATULATIONS MATT, CHRISTINE, ELIJAH & JOSEPH ON THE NEW ARRIVAL OF SARAH CHRISTINE!!

2007-04-14T19:07:00.000-03:00

We are so proud to Congratulate the new family of five on the birth of their beautiful new baby girl- Sarah Christine. She was born April 14th at 3:02am weighing a very healthy 8lbs. 11oz. Not to say 'I told you so' but we knew it was a girl (beautiful girls always take time to prepare- and of course are fashionably late!)

We got to meet the new little one this morning with Mom & Dad Monette, Elijah and Joseph, and we are in love with her completely. Below are some pictures from today and don't forget to check out Matt & Christine's Blog for the first announcement and pictures!

Just a few Admirers!

2007-04-14T19:06:00.000-03:00

Obviously this baby is going to be lacking attention...;) Not even 1 day old and she already has people vying for her attention!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY BABY SARAH-

WHAT A BLESSING YOU ARE ALREADY

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T12:55:00.000-03:00

Happy Easter everyone! We hope you are all enjoying your snowfilled Easter Monday and have not had too much trouble shoveling your way out of the driveway :) -It looks more like Christmas out there rather than Spring!

We celebrated this morning with some Easter egg trails and then headed out to Church for the Easter Service.

Mark at the beginning of his Easter trail

The Finish Line- Mmmmm!

Mark SHowing off his loot (and Mine!)

Mom & Dad at the start of their Easter trail

Their loot!Mom & Dad surprised us with some Easter goodies too- South African Chocolates and a beautiful picture!!

Girls Weekend Away!

2007-03-24T14:33:00.000-03:00

These are some pictures from our Girls weekend away in Malagash at Cambra Sands Cottages. Sarah came up with the idea of us going away over March break to relax and spending some quaity girl time together and Christine and I thought it was a fantastic idea! So friday afternoon we loaded up the van (and I do mean LOADED...mostly scrapbooking stuff) and headed out to Malagash (luckily escaping the crazy ice storm that was heading for Halifax). When we arrived the cottage was gorgeous, very new looking and extremely well stocked with everything we could possibly need- even tea and sugar!

All in all our weekend was filled with: scrapbooking, card making, and great conversations (I can officially say Sarah has been bitten by the card making bug!)

Amazing food with no preparation time (we prepared everything before we left so all we had to do was put it in the oven!- I would highly recommend this!) Just in case you are wondering from the picture we did have more than strawberries! The strawberries were to go inside our crepes with the bananas and Chocolate Hazelnut spread. Mmm!

And of course site seeing- I had never seen Malagash bible camp before so Christine and Sarah gave me the grand tour of the camp I have heard so many good things about- It looks like a wonderful camp! We also headed over to the Jost winery, and then Tatamagouche on the way home on Sunday.

Thanks for a wonderful weekend away Girls- We will definietly have to make it an annual event!

God's Goodness!

2007-03-12T20:09:00.000-03:00

Today was one of those days that you want to repeat whenever possible. What could be more fun than spending a day off with a girls afternoon on the town. Thanks Sarah & Goldie for a fabulous afternoon of Good friends, Good Conversations, Girly movies, and of course Surprise Scrapbooking Sales! I had a blast-we should definitly do it again soon :)

Joseph is 2!!!

2007-03-12T19:42:00.000-03:00

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY JOSEPH!

Joseph's second birthday bash was a hit with Curious George as the theme chosen by the little man himself. Complete with the amazing cake made by Christine and the Curious George Pinata from the Bulk Barn. Who knew that 1-3 year olds could gain so much enjoyment from wacking at poor Curious George with a baseball bat (a soft one... but still!) MacDonalds for the Kids and Pizza for the big kids (aka adults) was on the menu along with cheesies, sunchips (which have more fiber than some crackers) and of course "Get Dressed Chips" as Elijah calls them. It was a great party and we are SO happy to have the Walshs back in the Maritimes and to have been able to celebrate Joseph's 2nd birthday. We love you little man- Happy Birthday!

Baby Isabelle has arrived!

2007-02-27T19:47:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Sarah, Johnnie & Helena on the arrival of the newest member of their family... Baby Isabelle Jane born February 23rd, 2007 at 7 lbs 9oz. We are so glad that God has blessed you with another happy healthy little girl and that Mom, baby and all are doing so well. How great that Helena seems to be adjusting to life as a big sister so easily! For anyone looking for TONS & TONS of wonderful pictures of the beautiful baby girl and family check out Sarah, Johnnie, Helena & Isabelle's blog at http://familybloggernearyou.blogspot.com/

They're Back!

2007-02-19T22:20:00.000-04:00

What could make Valentine's Day any better than the return of people you love! Mark and I are so excited to have Christine, Matt, Elijah, Joseph, and tba back from the the Frozen west (Dad Monette has dubbed it the March of the Penguins). We missed them SOO much! Here are some adorable videos (I'm not biased at all...) from the other night at the Penguin Palace.

For some reason the videos came out sideway and I have tried everything to turn them but to no avail- you can get the true affect by turning your head sideways :) If anyone know how to correct this please let me know!

Valentine's Day 2007

2007-02-19T21:49:00.000-04:00

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to everyone, we hope your V-Day was a special day enjoying the love of friends and family. This year Mark and I celebrated Valentine's Day several ways. Firstly the saturday before we celebrated with Dinner out for Kim's Birthday/ Valentine's Day (see previous post for pictures), then on the Monday before we had the opportunity to attend a Fundraiser for a High school group from our church who are heading down to Ecuador over March break to support a Kids Camp that our church runs there. So we had a wonderful night at Fiasco with some really interesting people and fantastic food as always :)

Then on the actual day Mark and I spent a wonderfully romantic evening at home starting off with a surprise of beautiful flowers for me from Mark, then onto a special steak dinner for two followed by a chocolate fondue for dessert and then to top it off a great movie called "One Night with a King" (which by the way I would definitely recommend!) It seems that Sarah and I have very similar tastes in Valentine's Day evenings :)- We even have the same fondue set! lol

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and we are very thankful for all the Happy Healthy Hearts of our friends and family especially Joseph and My Dad.

Scrappin' Challenge!

2007-02-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Here are two pages I started on thursday (I did scrap on thursday this week!) and finished tonight :) I must say I am impressed with everyones pages- it's amazing how everyone has their own unique and creative style :) I am also really enjoying the Supper with the scrappers blog. Mmmm! See you all next thursday on the web :)

Happy Birthday Kim!!

2007-02-11T16:02:00.000-04:00

Last night we had a wonderful dinner out with Kim and Dave to celebrate Kim's Birthday. We went to a restaurant that niether of us had tried before called Saege Bistro on Spring Garden Road. It was a really neat place and a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. It has quite a modern atmosphere to it and the food was really good- especially the Chocolate Torte! Mmm. Anyway we had a great evening and were glad to be able to celebrate Kim's special day with her and Dave.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!

Chocolate Torte! What a neat presentation!

Celebrating Happy Healthy Hearts :)

2007-01-27T09:37:00.000-04:00

Its amazing really how central our hearts are to our health and how we tend to take our hearts for granted until something goes wrong. Last February we had a Happy Healthy Hearts Party around Valentines Day to celebrate 1 year of healthy heart reports since Joseph had his surgery. This February we will have 2 healthy hearts to celebrate.

On January 12 my Dad went in for Quadruple Bypass surgery- it is just amazing what the medical professionals and technology can do! Dad was in ICU for about 4-5 days after surgery and then he was moved to the Special Care unit for a few days before he was released to go home. He was very happy to move out of ICU as it was a sign he was doing well, but quite sad to leave behind the most wonderful nurse who cared for Dad on the night shift in ICU. Her name was Brenda and we are sure she was hand picked for Dad by God himself. She knew just how to encourage him, explain things to him, and get him moving on the road to recovery even on the days he didn't think he could eat another bite or breathe any deeper- she believed in him. We are so thankful that this was caught early and that Dad is doing so well in his recovery. He has been walking every day at the Gander community center's indoor track, and walked over 1 km the day before yesterday! He still has a way to go until he feels back to normal or hopefully better than normal with his "new" heart- but he is definitely on his way and feeling very positive about his progress.

And until he is ready to get back to work I'm sure the DVD seasons of 24, Alias, Jag, and Prison Break are helping to keep him & Mom occupied in the meantime ;) (and I thought we were bad for watching them so quickly!)

Thank-you to everyone for your prayers, support, and encouragement during this past month, it was deeply appreciated and felt.

New Year's Eve at Last!

2007-01-26T17:20:00.000-04:00

My Mom just sent me some pictures from New Years Eve in Gander so I thought I would post- better late than never! We had a great time with my parents at the Hotel Gander New Years Eve dinner & dance. What better way to ring in the new year than eating fantastic food and dancing up a storm.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

We wish you all the best in the new year and all God's richest blessings!

Mark also had some fun with the streamers...or should I say Mom and I had fun with Mark and the streamers!

Back to Scrappin' Challenge!

2007-01-25T22:08:00.000-04:00

I would like to apologize to my faithful Scrappin' buddies who have been posting all their fantastic pages over the last month or so. Life has a way once in a while of throwing things at you all at once. Things are finally settling down after a crazy few weeks. Friday Jan 12 my Dad went in for quadruple bypass surgery so Mark and I flew back to NL to be with my parents. It has now been almost two weeks since his surgery and he is doing wonderfully walking everyday and taking it easy watching "24" & "Alias" :) Thank-you to everyone for your prayers and support- it was truly appreciated.

So on to the scrappin Challenge... these are actually two pages I did last thursday while the boys (Mark, Bryan, & Greg) were watching a football game and playing Madden football on X-Box 360. I must say it took a little while to get back into the scrappin mindset after my few weeks off :)

Newfie Christmas!

2006-12-29T15:00:00.000-04:00

December 25th, 2006:
Being our second official Christmas as a married couple and since we spent last Christmas in Fall River this year it was time for Mark's first Newfie Christmas. So off we went on our trip to central Newfoundland- Gander here we come!

Christmas Day arrived with a beautiful blanket of snow covering the ground and the sun shinning- we were so worried that there would be no snow on Christmas Day but we worried in vain as you will see by the some of the following pictures :) It was beautiful and has gotten quite cold in the last few days (it's hovering around minus 11-not including the windchill!) So Christmas morning we set to work on the mountain of stockings and gifts that had found their way under and around the Christmas tree.

We then set to work on Christmas dinner which consisted of a turkey, a lamb, a ham, roasted potatoes, butternut squash, stuffing, and all the trimmings plus Cheesecake and a merengue dessert! You'd think we were feeding all of Newfoundland! Luckily the four of us plus our friends Nelzanne and Jurgens and their little boy Stephan had big appetites and at least put a dent in the mountain of food (we may still be eating left overs until March...). After our company had returned home we called home and wished Mom & Dad Monette, Connell and Greg all a very Merry Christmas and to say how much we missed them! All in all it was a wonderful Christmas Day and we are excited to hear how everyone else's' Christmas went!

(Left to right: Mom, Lauren, Mark, Nelzanne, Stephan, Dad, and Jurgens took the picture!)

Now you might ask what is the difference between a Nova Scotia Christmas and a Newfoundland one? Well the following are some of the differences we found this year:

1. Snow vs. 8 degrees on Christmas Day!

2. Apparently Newfie feet are REALLY large!
3. Christmas Fun with the new member of the Thorpe household- Abby the Labby!
4. Mummers! The Mummer Song -

(For those of you who are thinking "What on earth are Mummers?!")

Hark, what's the noise out by the porch door?Dear Granny, there's mummers, there's twenty or more.Her old weathered face lightens up with a grin.Any mummers, nice mummers 'lowed in?
Ah, come in lovely mummers, don't bother the snow,We'll wipe up the water sure after you go.And sit if you can upon some mummer's knee.We'll see if we knows who ye be.
Ah, there's big ones and small ones, tall ones and thin,There's boys dressed as women and girls dressed as men,With humps on their backs and mitts on their feet,My blessed we'll die with the heat.
Well, there's only one here that I think that I know,That tall fellow standing alongside the stove.He's shaking his fist for to make me not tell.Must be Willy from out on the hill.
Ah, but that one's a stranger, if ever was oneWith his underwear stuffed and his trapdoor undone.Is he wearing his mother's big forty-two bra?I knows, but I'm not going to say.
Well, I suppose you fine mummers would turn down a dropOf home brew or alky, whatever you got.That one with his rubber boots on the wrong feetAte enough for to do him all week.
Now I suppose you can dance? Sure they all nod their heads.They've been tapping their feet ever since they came in.And now that the drinks have been all passed around,Sure the mummers are plankin' 'er down.
Ah, be careful the lamp! Now hold on to the stove.Don't you swing Granny hard, 'cause you know that she's old.And never you mind how you buckles the floor'Cause the mummers have danced here before.
Oh my God, how hot is it? We'll never know.Allows that we'll all get the devil's own cold.Good night and good Christmas, mummers me dears Please God, we will see you next year
Ah, good night and good Christmas, mummers me dears
Please God, we will see you next year
Please God, we will see you next year

5. Food and Fun with great NL friends :) We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all the best in the New Year- we look forward to hearing about your Christmas adventures!

Rockin' Stockin's!

2006-12-26T11:29:00.000-04:00

December 10th,2006

This year since the Monette clan was going to be scattered across Canada for Christmas Day Mom & Dad Monette planned a get together before Christmas so the Halifax Monettes & Walsh's could do our stocking exchange- this year's challenge--a $20 limit! But I must say (besides some who went blatently over the limit... lol) everyone was pretty creative with their stockings. Here of some pics of Stocking Night at the "Inn on the other side of the lake"

Cars Movie!!!

Thomas The Tank Engine pillow!

We Hope Your Stockings were just as Fun!

Merry Christmas!!

Oh No! The Big 3-0!

2006-12-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

Happy 30th Birthday to my wonderful husband and Happy 28th Birthday to Matt Walsh! Sunday night we celebrated two special birthdays in the Monette household complete with Christine's amazing Merengue dessert and the boys help in blowing out the candles :) We had a great time! Thank-you Mom and Dad Monette and Christine for a wonderful supper.

Let the Celebrations Continue!

2006-12-16T20:45:00.000-04:00

Cowboy Grub and Bowling- What could scream Happy Birthday Mark more than that! So last Saturday night Bryan Wiens and I schemed and connived together to come up with Mark's surprise 30th Birthday party. Thankfully we were able to pull it off and Mark arrived at Montana's with no idea there were 16 people waiting to celebrate with him- you should have seen his face, it took him a few minutes to realize what was going on! Lol. Thank-you to all of you who were able to come and to those who sent along their birthday wishes!

The Boys Team

The Girls Team

Bowling Buddies!

Scrappin' Challenge!

2006-12-01T00:08:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's thursday again- It's amazing how quickly a week can go by! But I'm glad it is thursday once again now that my scrappin' buddy is back from Montreal- what better incentive to get two pages doem than quality time scrapbooking with Christine :) Even though our thursday nights scrapbooking together is coming to an end (much too quickly) I know we will still be scrapbooking together on thursday evenings- we will just be a little farther apart. It will make the thursday night blog postings all the more important!

These pages are of our adorable nephews at Easter and the second is of one of the many concert performances put on by Elijah to U2 and Il Divo- Enjoy!

Good Bye to "Raft Dinner"!

2006-11-20T16:43:00.000-04:00

After all the fun and games of it's first summer, Saturday was raft dinner's last Hoorah! as the boys set out in one of the Warnika's canoes to unhook the raft and bring it onto shore for the winter. I thought it only fitting to take a few pics and also include one of raft dinner's finest moment from the summer :) -Hopefully next summer will be just as fun! Hope you enjoy!

Scrappin' Challenge

2006-11-16T23:01:00.000-04:00

Here are tonight's pages... :) Hope you enjoy!

CONGRATULATIONS TO BENJI & LEE-ANNE ON THEIR NEW BABY:

2006-11-14T16:17:00.000-04:00

KYLER BENJAMIN BARRETT

Kyler Benjamin Barrett arrived 7:46 am Sunday, November 5,2006, weighing in at 7 lb 14 ounches, and measuring 19 inches tall. We can't wait to meet this little bundle of joy!

Scrappin Challenge!

2006-11-09T23:18:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone! I am excited to be joining the ranks of the thursday night Scrapbookers in the Scrappin Challenge!- Thanks Christine :) I think this is a great idea to keep accountable and keep current. I look forward to seeing all the great pages to come!

So here is my first contribution to the challenge after a wonderful night scrapbooking with my sister-in-law Christine :) These are some pictures of our recent vacation- Hope you enjoy!

Dad Monette's Birthday!

2006-11-08T15:29:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD MONETTE!

On Sunday we all got together to celebrate Dad Monette's birthday- we had a great meal, thanks to Mom Monette, and Christine did a wonderful job on the Carrot Cake- it was delicious! As you can see in the picture Elijah and Josep had a great time helping Grampa blow out his candles!

Happy 25th Birthday Andrea!

2006-11-08T15:23:00.000-04:00

We had a great time on Saturday night celebrating Andrea's quarter of a century birthday! We all went out to Lonestar first for dinner (Mmmm Fajitas!) and then we headed over to Corey's brother Brandon and his fiance Terry's home for cake (my poor sad little cake that didn't rise quite as much as it should have- at least it still tasted normal) and drinks. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA- we hope this year to come will be filled with new and excitingadventures.

Tara and Aaron's Visit!

2006-11-05T22:15:00.000-04:00

Last weekend it was great to spend some time with Tara & Aaron as they were down in Halifax for a conference Tara was attending at the IWK. We kicked off their stay with a fun-filled evening of games at Margaret & Tyler's on Sunday evening and then continued the next night with dinner at Eastside Mario's and then on to the IMAX theatre for Open Season. Mark and I both had a great time visiting with you and we can't wait to see you again (P.S. We also want to thank Aaron SOOO much for chopping a huge pile of kindling for us out of the goodness of his heart!) Hopefully the ext visit will be a longer one (either in Miramichi or again in Halifax :)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO AARON for November 3rd and HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY to TARA and AARON for October 22- we were thinking of you and praying it was a great 1st Anniversary of many and the best birthday yet!

The "Fun Ship" Carnival Valor!

2006-11-03T13:11:00.000-04:00

I want to apologize to all our faithful blog watchers who have been patiently waiting and asking us when we were going to post pictures of our recent vacation- Sorry we took so long, but here they are! We had an absolutely wonderful time on our Caribbean Cruise with Mom & Dad Thorpe! Our cruise departed from Miami, Florida on Sept. 24th at ~4:30pm and then headed to Nassau (Bahamas), St. Thomas/St. John, St. Maarten and then back to Miami after seven fun-filled days! Here are some pictures of the ship and some of the shore excursions and activities we did during our trip. These are some pictures of where we would eat supper most nights: The Lincoln Dinning Hall The food was amazing ( some of my favorites were the lobster, caesar salad, french onion soup, and most of all the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake!) and we had two of the most wonderful wait staff for our trip (Diva and Ludmyla) it was really neat getting to know them and hear all about how they came to work on the ship. We would look forward to dinner each day to seeing their smiling faces :) This was one of the shore excursions we took while we were visiting Nassau, Bahamas- The Pearl Island Snorkeling tour & Stingray Encounter. It was amazing to be right in the water with the stingrays (a little scary too in light of what just happened to the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin!) Thankfully our guide Tiko was very knowledgable and knew just how to handle the Stingrays. This was my dad's first attempt at snorkeling and I must say he did wonderfully!

These are some pictures from St. Thomas/ St. John and St. Maarten where we visited Coral World, Magen's Beach, and did our last Shore excursion Catamaran & Snorkeling at Shipwreck cove! It was really neat seeing all the shipwrecked boats.

Every night when we returned to our cabin after supper we would find our bed turned down, chocolates on our pillows and a towel animal waiting for us! They were so adorable we wouldn't wait to see what animal we would have the next night. We hope you enjoy the pictures- we had such a wonderful vacation with Mom & Dad Thorpe, it was great to be able to share this experience with them. Thank-you Mum & Dad for suggesting the cruise!

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T20:17:00.000-04:00

Our first Halloween in our new home was a lot of fun. I ran all over town this afternoon trying to find a pumpkin (not an easy task on Oct. 31st) as ours choose to expire early. Then Mark & I made some caramel apples as a Halloween treat after supper. We had about 18 kids come to our door tonight- not too bad for being on a cul-de-sac off a side street.

Elijah and Joseph were our 2nd "Trick or treaters" of the evening and had decided they didn't want to wear their original costumes but consented to coming as "The Walsh Hockey Team". What a cute pair they made!

We hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Moving Day!!

2006-09-16T22:54:00.000-03:00

Saturday, September 16th was our moving day- the move went very well and everyone worked so incredibly hard to get us moved into our new home.

2006-09-16T22:39:00.000-03:00

We would like to say a BIG THANK-YOU! to everyone who helped us this past weekend with our move. We had quite the crew: Mom Thorpe & Mom & Dad Monette, Bryan, Andrea, Tom & Lori, Kim & Dave, Margaret & Tyler, Matt, Christine (and Elijah & Joseph too!) We appreciated the support and we couldn't have done it without you.

Our new house!!
We are so excited to finally be in our new home- now all we have to do is get unpacked!!

Peggy's Cove

2006-09-09T23:33:00.000-03:00

I just love Peggy's Cove! So on Saturday night after hours and hours of sorting & packing boxes and boxes of our belongings (it's amazing how much stuff you find that you never knew existed or haven't seen in years!) we decided we needed a break and so we called up Margaret & Tyler to see if they were up for a trip to Peggy's Cove. It was a beautiful night not too cold and not too windy, we even got to see some waves crashing on the rocks :) It was too dark to take any pictures of the Cove, but we hope you enjoy this one. Thanks Margaret & Tyler for a fun evening. We will have to do it again soon!

Shediac Cottage

2006-08-13T17:10:00.000-03:00

After our family reunion in Fall River Mom & Dad Monette, My Mom & I were invited to spend the weekend in Shediac with The Irvines and Johnnie, Sarah & Helena at their friend Ann's cottage on the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful spot and we had a great time with you all touring around Shediac, playing on the beach and of course eating lobster & crab! Thanks for a wonderfully relaxing weekend away everyone!

Mark & Johnnie surviving the terror of the Shediac Lobster!!

2006-08-13T17:09:00.000-03:00

2006-08-13T17:08:00.000-03:00

The Monette & "Outlaws" Family Reunion!

2006-08-07T18:04:00.000-03:00

So the last few weeks have just been jam packed with fun, excitement, and wonderful times with family & friends :) This is why I have gotten a little behind on updating our blog! But here goes an update of the last two weeks or so :) Hope you enjoy!

Friday, Aug 4th - Monday, Aug 7th was the culmination of weeks of planning &amp;amp;amp; preparation for the Monette & Outlaw Family reunion...(Mom & Dad Monette did so much to get their home ready for a perfect weekend, Thanks Mom & Dad Monette!!) So at 6:00pm sharp on friday Mom & Dad Monette, the 5 Monette kids and their spouses & children, and their in-laws arrived in Fall River for dinner to kick start the reunion. We had a great time on friday catching up with family who came home from Calgary, Toronto, and Moncton.

Saturday- Fun on the Lake!

2006-08-07T18:02:00.000-03:00

Saturday the fun continued with Glen, Shar & Josh adding to the fun by allowing us to make use of their beautiful boat to go cruising around the lake (calmly in the boat or a little more adventurously in the 3-man tube!) It was a perfect day for having fun on the water- even my Dad took the plunge and went for a ride in the tube (now for you who know my Dad, he is a VERY cautious person-what a surprise it was when he said he wanted to get in next!)

I survived!

More Lake Pictures!

2006-08-07T18:01:00.000-03:00

Saturday- Helena's 2nd Birthday Party!

2006-08-07T18:00:00.000-03:00

Saturday afternoon we celebrated Helena's 2nd Birthday! Her birthday is actually on August 29th but we thought since we were all together it would be a perfect time to celebrate our precious little niece. It was so special to see how much she has grown up since the last time we saw her- she is quite the little dancer too (I wonder who she got her moves from?!?) In fact one evening we pretty much had our own little "So You think you can dance" with Helena (Hip Hop) and Elijah (Contemporary) duking it out on the deck! It was priceless :)

Saturday Evening- Turkey Fry & Bonfire!

2006-08-07T17:08:00.000-03:00

Saturday night we all ate like kings (& Queens) thanks to Mark and the yummy turkey fry! Then we all headed down to the waterfront for a bonfire and amazing fireworks (Thanks to Greg & Josh who set them off from the raft!)- What a treat it was!

Sunday- Fun on "Raft Dinner"

2006-08-07T17:06:00.000-03:00

Sunday was then spent enjoying time in the water on the new raft (Affectionatley dubbed "Raft Dinner" by Elijah) The kids and the braver of the parents all joined together for fun and games like sink the raft! (see pictures below!)

Hang On!

Too Late!!

Alice chose the safer way to have fun!

Monday- Family Pictures!

2006-08-07T17:04:00.000-03:00

Mark & I had such an amazing time at the reunion seeing Connell, Johnnie, Sarah, & Helena, as well as Sarah's parents who we don't see all that often as they live away- it was just wonderful to spend time catching up on all the news and exciting things happening in their lives. We miss you all when you are away and we are looking forward to seeing you again in the not too distant future (Who know's maybe we will make it up for the Calgary Stampede one of these days!)

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that encourages, supports, and loves one another no matter how far apart they are in distance. This is just one of the many reasons we love Blog pages- it is so great to get all the updates on happenings in the family as well as pictures so quickly and easily!
Mike, Helena, Sarah (& Baby Monette), & Johnnie

Back Row: Joseph, Matt, Elijah, Christine, Dad Monette, Mom Monette, Helena, Sarah (& Baby Monette), Johnnie Front Row: Connell, Greg, Me, & Mark (Wow, what a family!)

Mom & Me!

Bonnie, Helena & Sarah- 3 generations!

This Season's Addiction

2006-07-25T19:54:00.000-03:00

Sarah I agree with you completely- Mark and I are SOOO addicted to this show! The dancing is just amazing now that "the heat is on" in the final few weeks. We have our favorites as well (well I do anyway , Mark likes making fun of my favorites just to get a reaction from me- I'm very defensive of my Donny & Benji!!! )

So here they are my favorite out of all the dancer left:

Benji Schwimmer
AND

Donyelle Jones

I just think Donny is an amazing women and dancer with both the talent and the personality to make it all the way to the top & then Benji...what can I say about Benji... he is just an amazing entertainer and has such a fantastic personality (and he's a Christian to top it off!).

Sarah I will agree with you though as well Travis is technically the best dancer out of them all . Heidi is my second favorite out of the girls she's such a ball of energy and is alway smiling!

Who are your favorites and who do you think will win?!?
Let us know what you think :)

What's your score?

2006-07-24T09:43:00.000-03:00

Yay! I am not too nerdy!!! Lol

JULY 21 st:

HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD MONETTE!!
&
HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY MATT & CHRISTINE WALSH!!
These two couples are such an inspiration to Mark and I in their love and support for each other as well as others in their lives. We are blessed to have such great examples in our lives to look to for advice. We love you all!

Happy 25th Birthday Christine!

2006-07-15T15:25:00.000-03:00

July 15th, 2006: Welcome to the Club Christine- A quarter of a century old! Lol
(it's amazing how many times you will hear that now that you are 25)

Today is my sister-in-law Christine's 25th birthday and so we headed out to Fall River to celebrate the special occasion with Mom & Dad Monette, Greg, Barrie, Alice, Christine, Matt, and the boys. I had to work so I arrived after supper (just in time for dessert!Mmmm Merrange triffle!). After dessert Christine put Joseph to bed, opened her gifts and then we all headed down to the Lake for a swim and to inaugurate the new fire pit! We had a great time (although the water was a little chilly- at least we were stylishly clothed right Christine! And no-more senoir citizen jokes Gregory!) Elijah had a great time watering the Warnika's plants and roasting (but not eating) marshmallows and the rest of us had a wonderful evening making smores and chatting around the fire until late into the night. Mark and I had a wonderful time and we hope you had a wonderful time too Christine!

(pictures coming soon!)

Our Trip to Crystal Palace!

2006-07-09T17:37:00.000-03:00

July 1st: Happy Canada Day

Yay another trip! This time Mark and I were invited to join Andrea, Corey & Andrea’s little sister Nancy on a trip to Moncton. Nancy had come from Newfoundland to visit for about a week and we thought what could be more fun than to go to Magic Mountain for a day and have some fun in the sun. Andrea was very good to do all the searching for accommodations (it’s great to sit back and have someone else do it for a change-thanks Andrea!)

I had to work Canada Day until around 3pm so we decided to head out right after I finished work, stay over night and spend all day Sunday at Magic Mountain. So off we went into the beautiful sunny day and drove the 2 ½ hours to finally arrive at the Crowne Plaza in Moncton. (There is actually a little story behind our reservation- we thought we had made a reservation at the Holiday Inn in Moncton but when Andrea called to confirm the reservation the day before they had no record of us there, but they did at the Crowne Plaza, now since the name sounds quite high class we were a little petrified that the cost would be outrageous, but we were happy to hear that the price was the same as the Holiday Inn, phew!)

This sign was in the Hotel lobby advertising all the hotel perks (Complimentary lavender linen spray, Eye Masks, and a sleep relaxation CD!)

Mark giving his seal of approval on the mattress quality
So after settling in to the hotel we all headed down to the hotel’s saltwater pool for a swim (by now it had started raining and we were starting to doubt that we would be going to Magic Mountain the following day). We then went on a quest to stockpile some junk food to eat as we watched one of the hotel’s PPV movies. We found this really neat little convenience store run by a Korean family- they had all kinds of interesting Korean chips, candies, and snacks (Corey bought some “Shrimp” flavored chips- not something I would recommend by the way…). Then on the way home we were treated to some beautiful Canada Day fireworks! So back we went to eat junk food and watch the cheesy (and I mean CHEESY) horror movie “Slither”.

Corey and the Shrimp Chips!

Sunday (still raining like Cats & Dogs…) we made the decision to go to Crystal Palace instead of Magic Mountain. Here are some pictures from our day at Crystal Palace (sorry there aren’t too many but we couldn’t bring the camera along on the rides!) But we had a wonderful time on the Rollercoaster, Laser Tag, the Carousal and the Swings (our favorite)!!

Thanks for a wonderful time Andrea, Corey & Nancy!

THE SWINGS!!

Andrea & I flying high!

Sunday Morning Brunch (complimentary with our reservation!)

Your system has been hacked!

2006-06-22T11:16:00.000-03:00

The red menace from Wolfville!

What A Weekend Away!

2006-06-19T22:28:00.000-03:00

Friday, June 16th: Our Trip to Lunenburg

(Here goes for the 2nd time! I blogged for two hours a few nights ago and lost everything! Arrgh!)

A while ago Mark and I sat down together and planned out some of our summer plans as I had to request my time off from work for the summer pretty early, so we decided to try and spread a couple vacation days over the summer as long weekends- the first of these holidays was last weekend!

Mark and I both took Friday off and decided that we wanted to get away from the city and go exploring! So, Friday morning came and “the world was our oyster” where would we go? What would we do? So we sat down in front of the ol’ computer and headed for our favorite info site Trip Advisor. (this site is great, you just type in the name of a place and it lists all the different hotels, B&B’s etc and shows comments from people who have actually stayed at these places) Two hours later and we had found it- the perfect getaway location…Lunenburg!

For those of you not familiar with Lunenburg, click here for a little background info :)

So we hopped into the Corolla headed off into the beautiful weather arriving in Lunenburg at around 2 O’clock (we weren’t expected to check in at our B&B, The Mariner King, until 4pm so we decided to do some exploring down on the waterfront first. Lunenburg’s waterfront is beautiful, we really enjoyed walking along the boardwalk and looking at all the locally owned small businesses, cafes and gift shops. It is a really unique town in that it is the second urban community in Continental North America to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List (the other is old Quebec City). This World Heritage List includes over 470 cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value. Old Town Lunenburg was recognized as an outstanding example of British colonial settlement in North America, because of the town’s preservation of the original layout and buildings and its determination to keep shipbuilding & fishing as its main industries. You really feel like you have stepped back in time! :)

Anyway, that’s enough history, now for some pictures! Here is a little taste of our weekend away in Lunenburg we hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed being there.

St. John’s Anglican Church

This church was originally built in 1753 and tragically was severely damaged in November 2001 when vandal’s set it on fire. Its restoration was recently completed in June 2005.

The Jessen Bell
This bell hung in the tower of St. John’s since 1814 and served as the tolling bell for over 185 years until the fire destroyed the tower and damaged the bell making it no longer usable as a working tolling bell.

If you look closely the ceiling over the pulpit is
covered in tiny gold hand-painted stars.

Now you don’t see this everyday!

The Homecoming of the Picton Castle

I must say that this is one of the parts of our weekend that I enjoyed most. At breakfast on Saturday morning we were talking to Joan (the owner of the B&B were we were staying) and she suggested that if we didn’t have any plans for the day we should head down to the dock at 2pm for the arrival of a ship called the Picton Castle.

What is so interesting about this ship is what it does on its world voyages. As it travels around the world visiting 20 or so countries throughout the tradewinds (e.g. Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Pitcairn Island, Rarotonga, Palmerston, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Bali, Mauritius, Madagascar, Cape Town, St. Helena, a Caribbean island or two, and Bermuda) the crew deliver much-needed books and school supplies to many of the islands they visit through A non-profit educational foundation called Worldwise. Then they go shopping!! Well, they go into all the local towns and villages and buy tons of local artifacts and souvenirs (supporting the local economy) which they bring back to Lunenburg and sell at the annual Picton Castle Cargo sale. This voyage was her fourth world voyage which departed on May 29, 2005 and returned as luck would have it on June 17th, 2006!

So off we went to its arrival, it was so exciting to all the crew’s family and friends waiting anxiously with banners, signs, and cameras to see their loved ones who had been away for a year!

At 2:20pm she arrived, sails billowing, straight towards the harbour- what a sight!! To top it off we even came away with some souvenirs of our own a set of Bamboo wind chimes from Bali and a handmade cloth from the Galapagos Islands.

Finally, we ended off the trip with a fabulous lobster dinner at Rissers restaurant. What a treat!

A beautiful sunset to end a fantastic weekend away with my wonderfully dedicated, hardworking and loving husband :)
This goes to show that you don’t have to go far to find amazing adventures and beautiful sights! We had a wonderful weekend away and would recommend Lunenburg, The Mariner Inn, and seeing the Picton Castle’s arrival/departure to you all! Maybe we will see you there when it returns from its 5th Voyage!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2006-06-14T23:29:00.000-03:00

June 18th, 2006:

As I realized that Father's Day was approaching I found myself thinking about what the word Father means to me. My Dad is one of the strongest and most dedicated Men I know; a man who despite hearing challenges went on to be the first hearing impaired student to graduate from the University of Cape Town as a specialized Physician; a man who had the courage and faith to move his family to Canada, away from friends & family, to do what was best for his family's saftey and to provide them with greater opportunities. I respect my Father so much for the choices he has made and for his perserverance. His Love and support mean the world to me.

Secondly, not only am I blessed with one Father who loves and supports me, but with two! Dad Monette means the world to me, a lot of times when I have talked to other married girl friends the common theme with In-laws seems to be "Don't get me wrong I care for [In-laws], but we have our life and they have theirs". I am so blessed to be able to say that my relationship with Mom & Dad Monette is so much more than this mere co-existence. Not only do they show their love, support and encouragement in their words, it is evident in their actions. Dad Monette is always the first ask to pray for me if things aren't going well or to offer to help if something needs to be done; he is a doer, and he has a such an amazingly big heart. He is a man that loves his family more than anything in the world and will do anything for them- I am so blessed to be apart of his family.

Dad & Dad Monette, I just wanted to let you know that everything you do and say to encourage and support me is truly appreciated and I love you both very much.

I found the following poem online as I was pondering what the word Father means to me; it seemed to fit both Fathers perfectly:

My Hero

As I ponder the love that I saw in his eyes,

A Godly love, given without compromise....

I recall many times that he stood by my side,

And prodded me on with great vigor and pride.

His voice ever confident, firm and yet fair,

Always speaking with patience, tenderness and care.

The power and might of his hands was so sure,

I knew there was nothing we couldn't endure.

It's true, a few others provided insight,

Yet, he laid the foundation that kept me upright.

He's the grandest of men to have lived on this earth,

Although he's not royal by stature or birth.

He's a man of great dignity, honor and strength.

His merits are noble, and of admirable length.

He's far greater than all other men that I know,

He's my Dad, he's my mentor, my friend and hero.

-Poem by Debbie Hinton Young

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE TRULY AMAZING FATHER'S OUT THERE! I would love to hear your thoughts about what the word "Father" means to you :)

"While Greg was Out"...In Ecuador

2006-06-14T21:41:00.000-03:00

June 2-11th, 2006:
... a homeowner (Mom and Dad Monette) sneakily sends their youngest Son out of town for a couple of days (to Ecuador on a 10 day mission trip from June 2-11th in this case) as "While Greg Was Out" host Mom Monette who is a talented designer signs up two additional handypersons (Lauren Monette & Julie Rudolph) and the floorist David Bryant...as well as manual labourers Dad & Mark Monette for heavy lifting and moving... to work around the clock to create a new look for Greg's room.

All of which leads to the big surprise at the end of the week, when the stunning transformation is revealed and Mom Monette announces, "Look what happened While You Were Out!"

BEFORE...

AFTER...

SOME MORE PICTURES...

For those of you who were wondering where we had disappeared to for the last week or so :) this is the answer! Lol I have to say I had an absolute blast out in Fall River with Mom Monette sanding, filling, priming, painting and pretty much getting excited for Greg's reaction---who ever said girls weren't handy! So if anyone's looking to contract out some home renovations give the While Greg Was Out team a call!

Please let us know what you think of the room- is it worthy of the TLC While You Were Out show?

Elijah is 3 Years Old!!

2006-06-07T22:47:00.000-03:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH!!

How fast time flies! It's amazing how fast our nephew Elijah is growing up-it seems only yesterday I was meeting him for the first time at 4 months old. It is so exciting to see how much he has grown and developed in a year- it is especially easy to see coming back to Roo's Playhouse to celebrate his 3rd birthday; last year he thoroughly enjoyed himself when he was there, this year he was so excited even before the day of his party- anticipating the fun he would have!

You could just see the absolute joy on his face as he ran from one activity to the next and especially when his Mom brought over the fantastic Thomas-the Tank Birthday cake which she had made for him. His smile couldn't have been any wider. Christine really has a gift for doing those kinds of things, cake making/decorating, srapbooking, and so much more!

We had a great time at Elijah's birthday party and we are so proud of the little man that he is growing up to be-full of hugs, kisses, love, and kindness. We love you Elijah!

Elijah's Thomas-the-Tank Cake!

What a Smile!

The half of the gang we could get to sit still :) lol

Happy Birthday Boy & Lex!

2006-06-07T22:31:00.000-03:00

Greg's 22nd Birthday!!

Sunday, May 21st: Today was Greg's 22nd Birthday and we all got together in Fall River to celebrate! This year Greg's birthday theme was Ecuador (in preparation for his mission trip on June 2nd) so there were beautifully coloured ecuadorian table cloths for decoration; I love the bright colours! Greg's choice of food was a major hit with Ribs smothered in Montana's Apple Butter BBQ sauce, corn bread and Heavenly Pie for dessert (this dessert definitely lives up to it's name! Mmmmm). As you can see in the pictures below everyone REALLY enjoyed the food choice. It was a great party!

Mmmm Beef!
HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY GREG!!!

A Week of Birthdays!

2006-06-04T13:04:00.000-03:00

Mom Monette's Birthday

Sunday May 28th we celebrated Mom Monette's Birthday out in Fall River, we had a nice relaxing BBQ for lunch after church and then it was time for us to make sure that mom did nothing but relax until her Birthday supper that evening....so the girls (mom monette & I) headed out into the beautiful 25 degree sunshine to relax and read on the deck for a few hours while the boys hung out and got things ready for the party that evening, e.g. BBQing the lamb (Mark's fantastic idea-It was delicious!). Christine, Matt & the boys arrived mid-afternoon and we had a wonderful evening of family time and watching "Larry Boy", "Minesota Cuke", and "Gordon". It was great to see everyone again for such a special occasion!

The Birthday Girl and her little helper :)

Elijah testing Grannie's cake-just to make sure it's okay...

Mark and Joseph enjoying some R&R

Happy Birthday Mom Monette!!

Ottawa Trip 2006

2006-05-21T20:16:00.000-03:00

Saturday May 6th: Julie & Jeremy's Wedding

May 6th at 3 O'clock in the afternoon Mark's cousin Julie and her fiance Jeremy were married! Congratulations to the both of you, you both looked fantastic and I don't think I've ever seen a Bride so excited :) It was a beautiful wedding held at a beautiful old Catholic Church outside of Ottawa.

Julie Rudolph & Greg Monette sang "All I ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera. The Monette family was blown away (especially since none of them knew Greg could sing!)

Congratulations Julie & Jeremy Lendvay!

Sunday, May 7th: Our I year Anniversary!

It is amazing to me that a whole year has past since the day we were married in St. John's, NL. What an exciting and wonderful year we have had; learning so much & growing closer to God & together as a married couple. It's really true that "time flies when you're having fun!" Our anniversary was spent away from home in Ottawa with family and friends.

First on Sunday morning we celebrated Grannie Minion's 90th Birthday with a fantastic lunch at Swiss Chalet & then back to Grannie's home for Cake and coffee.

Happy 90th Birthday Grannie!

Sunday afternoon Mark & I went off on our own to Celebrate our 1st anniversary. Aunt Debby & Uncle Murray were very generous and let us have their house for the day complete with their newly renovated Master bedroom & ensuite! All in all we had a wonderful anniversary- 4 days off spending time with family friends whose love and support of our marriage means the world to Mark & I. We love you all!

VON WALK , RUN, ROLL For Healthy Communities!

2006-05-21T16:05:00.000-03:00

Saturday May 13th, 2006: Celebrating 108 Years of VON Servicing the Community
This Saturday Mark and I headed out to the Halifax Commons bright and early for the VON walk , run, roll kick off event. We both donned our VON t-shirts & pedometers (part of the registration package), joined the crowd for the warm up excercises and then headed off on our 3km walk to raise funds for the VON (twice around the commons). My team "Wilson's Water Waders" won the prize for most funds raised by the kick off event! In total over $8000 was raised! We then enjoyed a fabulous BBQ lunch before throwing the football around and heading home.

What's an event with out Cake!

Coordinating Committee

Warm Up!
Hamburgers & Hotdogs, Mmmm!

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me for the kick of event and for your continued support in the 108 day fitness challenge to follow!

Finally Some Easter Pictures!

2006-04-22T12:46:00.000-03:00

April 22nd, 2006

Sorry the pictures are so late in coming, but better late than never :) I hope eveyone had a wonderful Easter. Mark and I were blessed to be able to spend Easter out in Fall River with Mark's Parents, Greg, Christine, Matt and our nephews, Elijah & Joseph. We had a wonderful Easter Lunch and then spent the rest of Easter Sunday chatting with Sarah, Johnnie & Helena on the webcam and playing with the boys-it was great to talk to you guys! With a few stellar song performances by Elijah Walsh (or Should we say little Bono!) All in all we had a great Easter and we hope you enjoy the pictures!

Elijah Opening his Easter Treat with his Dad & finding
his surprise Toy- a puzzle!

Joseph enjoying his Easter treat- PB&J and fish crackers!

The Youngest #1 Bono Fan!

Il Divo has become a new favorite for Elijah too

Joseph enjoyed the performances too as you can see!

What a little Cutie!

Enjoing some quality time with the boys

We had a wonderful time with everyone Easter weekend. How was your Easter?

Happy Easter!

2006-04-14T10:22:00.000-03:00

April 16th: Easter Sunday

Happy Easter Everyone!

I just wanted to wish you all a wonderful Easter weekend and thought I would include some interesting Easter facts :) Did you know:

In medieval times a festival of egg throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg

By tradition, it was obligatory (or at least lucky) for churchgoers to wear some bright new piece of clothing - at least an Easter bonnet, if not a complete new outfit.

This the Our Daily Bread devotional for Easter Sunday I found it wonderfully encouraging so I thought I would share it with you:

Who is not inspired by the competitor who makes a comeback after being down and seemingly out of the running! The runner who stumbles while coming off the starting blocks but moves gradually into the lead stirs the imagination of us all. The team that can come from behind in the last moments to win excites us even more than the team that constantly wins by scoring big in the first part of the game.

Jesus made the most amazing comeback the world has ever seen. After being humiliated, insulted, spit upon, whipped, beaten, and nailed to a cross, His executioners claimed victory and declared Him dead. A military guard secured His tomb. How could anyone be more down and out than that?

Yet the struggle was not over; it was only the beginning. Three days later, He rose from the grave and reappeared as the victor over sin, death, and hell—a comeback like no other in all of history.

Are you feeling out of the running today? Have you stumbled badly? Think about Jesus' suffering. Ponder His resurrection. Ask Him to give you the victory. Just imagine what He has to offer you, no matter how far down you are now!

No one has overcome like our Lord. —Mart De Haan

Jesus died to save us and lives to keep us.

Happy Easter!

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

2006-04-04T12:38:00.000-03:00

April 4, 2006

I found this neat litle quiz online and I thought I would share it with you :) What does your candy Heart say? Let me know!

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out.
Your heart is open to where ever love takes you!

Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out

Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking

What turns you off: fighting and conflict

Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Sable River View Cottages

2006-03-18T19:59:00.000-04:00

March 10-12, 2006: The Perfect Cabin!!

Mark and I have been talking for weeks now about going away somewhere for a relaxing weekend, and in passing we mentioned it to our friends Tom & Lori (who were also interested in getting away for a weekend). So, Wednesday night last week we got together and did a search on the net to find the perfect place…after several dead-ends (i.e. Disconnected phones, no vacancies, not open for winter, etc…) we finally came across something that looked promising…Sable River View Cottages. So on Friday night after work the four of us piled in the Jetta and began the 2 hour trip to Sable River (20 km from Shelburne)…the trip down was pretty uneventful (aside from a bout of carsickness from me along the way) and we arrived in Sable River at around 8pm and found “The Compound” (see picture below-pretty scary looking late at night, it kind of reminded us of Jurassic Park!).

When we arrived, our cottage was all lit up and the door was open with the key inside waiting for us. We were really curious to see what was waiting for us as there were very few pictures on the website but we were wonderfully surprised… it was beautiful inside- a perfect little log cabin (extremely neat, clean and well stocked with dishes, cutlery, towels, linens, etc.). So we got settled in, started supper (Mmm, homemade hamburgers and Garlic bread- Thanks Tom & Lori!), and then we relaxed and chatted in front of the fireplace (electric) for a bit then headed to bed.

The next day we started the day off right with Eggs, Bacon & toast and then decided to go exploring around “the compound”. There were 4 cottages all together, as well as a playground and a beach with a gigantic covered firepit- And that wasn’t all! We had seen on the web that there was a recreation facility on site too, so we headed over to check it out. What a treat! It had table tennis, Air hockey, fussball, darts on one side and on the other….a Hot tub and Sauna!! Of course from then on the Hot tub was the only thing on Mark’s mind…lol.

Next we headed in to Shelburne to explore the area, what a beautiful & quaint area! Then we headed back to the cabin for “the decathlon”- a 10 event competition including ping-pong, fussball, table tennis, darts, bathing suit hunting (this event was already completed in Shelburne), badminton (very hard to play with strong winds & kiddie rackets- I’m sure we would have looked completely drunk if anyone had seen us) & sliding competition.

The remaining three events were completed after a short break including a game of Double 15 dominoes and supper (BBQ chicken & fries). The boys headed down to the beach to start the fire (the girls stayed behind to clean up and chat) when the fire was a-blazing (thanks to the Aldo shoebox and a pad of notepaper we scrounged up!) it was on to the next event Marshmallow roasting & Smore making! We also did some star-gazing as it was a

beautifully clear night.

After all that we headed up to the rec. building to warm up in the Hot tub and Sauna (it was pretty windy down on the beach), and the final event was completed by the boys alone (crazy as they are)…the challenge – what was the highest temperature they could achieve in the sauna! The girls made it to 50 degree for 15 minutes but the boys were aiming at 90 degree (they were pretty disappointed at the mere 70 degrees (!!) they achieved (it didn’t seem to want to go any higher- much to my & Lori’s relief). We ended of the day watching “How to Lose a guy in 10 days”.

Sunday morning we set about packing up and getting ready to head out by check out time at 11AM, and then began our trip home via the very scenic Lighthouse Route stopping along

the way at various lookouts and inlets and took the cable ferry from LaHave to Lunenburg where we stopped at a neat little pub called “The Knot” for lunch before heading home to Halifax. All in all this was one of the most relaxing weekends I have in a long time, we had a blast with Tom & Lori and the Sable River View Cottages were beyond what we could have hoped for. Thanks to Sabine & Detlev (the owners) for a wonderful weekend!!

We look forward to heading back there in the near future and hopefully bringing any of you who are interested with us! Let us know!

Late Night Supper after we arrived!

This is the Beach area-less than 100 m from our cabin door!

The Fire Pit

The Hot Tub!

Double 15 dominos

Mark the Explorer

Sliding!

Pub Fare!

Sable River View Cottages (Comments)

2006-03-13T13:37:00.000-04:00

Joseph's 1st Birthday Party

2006-02-27T15:56:00.000-04:00

Well as of last night, Feb 26th at 11:06pm, Our little nephew, Joseph, is officially 1 year old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH!! On saturday we had the pleasure of attending his Birthday party at "Roo's Playhouse" in Greenwood. What a fantastic place for kids!! (and Adults too!!- although they really should allow people over 12 on those climbing gyms/ball pits...).

Elijah was also so excited to be going to Roo's again (His 2nd B-Day was there too) and he had a great time helping his baby brother open all his gifts and blow out his candle. Here are some pictures from the party:

Joseph's Non-Cheese, Cheesecake! He loves marble cheese!

Joseph's First Experience with Cake
(or anything sugary for that matter!)

Free Kisses for Uncle Mark!!

Birthday Boy and Mom Christine!

All in all we had a great time and we are so thankful to be celebrating our happy & healthy nephew. It seems a life time away that we were all crowded into the "fish bowl" at the IWK praying for little Joseph's heart. What a miracle he is! (For the full story you can check out the link to The Walsh's Blog site)

Valentine's Day Party

2006-02-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

Celebrating Happy Healthy Hearts!

Saturday, Feb 11th, 2006: Today we all met out in Fall River for a Yummy Valentine's Day Breakfast! Christine, Matt, and the boys were there as well as Mom & Dad Monette, Greg & Julie. Mom & Dad Monette certainy out did themselves again with heaping platters of Scrambled eggs, bacon, crepes with choclate sauce, bananas & strawberries, Mmmm! Now that's a breakfast. About a week before we recieved our fun invitations, which had asked us to think of one "Fond Memory" and one "Fun Memory" about a secret person who had been picked for us out of a hat. So after breakfast we all sat around the table and shared our fond & funny memories with each other; what a laugh we all had!

The rest of the party was spent playing with Elijah & Joseph (a great rendition of Stompin' Tom's "The Good Old Hockey Game"-Elijah loves it!) and visiting with one another until it was time to go.

Christine & Mom Monette were off to get their hair cut (Christine is going REALLY short this time!!), Matt, Elijah, & Joseph heading back to Wolfville, and Mark & I headed home , and then off to Hockey for Mark, and here I am writing to all of you!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

All Snowed In

2006-02-01T12:26:00.000-04:00

Well today is definitely what you would call a snow day...except for the "lucky few" who are considered an essential service... So it was off to work with me this morning, braving the awful 20cm of snow covering the unplowed roads and zero visibility with Kim & Dave in their SUV, only to get to work and find out 10 minutes later that our hubbies are happily on their way back home as the roads were too bad and/or the office was closed due to the weather. And to top it off we are busy wasting away to nothing as we have no food for lunch- the mall is closed :) The vending machine has become very popular in our office today...I hope everyone else is enjoying their snow day all cozy at home! (The image is courtesy of Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works)

CAT Quote

2006-01-26T08:55:00.000-04:00

Today's post was inspired by a CAT calendar I have on my desk at work that my parents gave me for Christmas. It has a cat quote on each day so I thought I would share those with you :)

Today's cat quote:
"Toys allow cats to satisfy their impulses to stalk, climb, pounce, bite, and simply feel superior." Workman Publishing. New York

Oh and Happy "Australia Day" to you all! - The things you learn from a calendar!

Keltie's 20th & Uncle Jim's 60th Birthday!

2006-01-24T15:33:00.000-04:00

Last night was Keltie & Uncle Jim's Birthday Party at the Cox's house (Only Uncle Jim didn't know we were celebrating his birthday too!). We all arrived at around 6:30pm and walked in to the delicious smell of roasted rosemary & herb red potates and beef tenderloin, expertly being cooked by Aunt Debbie (Aunt Debbie & Uncle Murray- Keltie's Parent's- are visiting from Ottawa until Monday). The guys proceeded into the family room & the girls into the lounge in front of the beautiful fireplace to chat and to catch up on the latest news.
Dinner was fantastic, what a treat!

Then it was on to the presents, Mom Monette had even bought gifts for everyone, so no one would feel left out :) Thanks! We alternated opening gifts with Keltie until it was time for the cake. Then Aunt Debbie brought out the cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Keltie... and then to Uncle Jim! He was very surprised! to top it all off Julie sang one of her recital pieces and Greg joined her in the duet "Welcome to this world" by Chris Rice. All in all it was a wonderful family evening.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
KELTIE & UNCLE JIM!

My 25th Birthday

2006-01-18T18:59:00.000-04:00

Tuesday Jan 10th: Mark's Parents were very kind to host family party for my birthday! Matt, Christine & the boys were there and Greg too. Christine and Mom Monette deorated the kitchen so beautifully! For dinner we had Steak, Baked Potato & Caeser Salad and Christine made my favorite dessert Meringue Triffle!!

Next it was on to the cards & presents!! I recieved this beautiful Thank-you so much everyone for all the wonderful creative memories scrapbooking materials!! I can't wait to get started again!

Finally it was time for my Birthday Meringue Triffle. Elijah was such a big help with blowing out the candles! He was so excited, we got to blow them out twice!

What a fun time I had! Thank you Mom & Dad Monette, Greg, Christine, Matt, Elijah, Joseph & Mark for making this such a special evening!

Friday Jan 13th: I am now officially 25 years old (a quarter of a century as Mark keeps reminding me!) How incredibly lucky I am to have two parties! Mark did such a good job of keeping this one a surprise! All I knew was that everyone was coming back to our place after the "surprise event" for a BBQ. So at 6:30pm sharpe we headed down to the car and Mark told me I had to close my eyes. So we drove for about 15 mins...stopped to ask directions...then drove about 5 mins more...then when I opened my eyes, We were at Hatfield Farms!!

Mark had organized an hour long Horse drawn Wagon Ride (...we couldn't have a sleigh ride since we have no snow!) for about 15 of us! I had a such a fun time!

We then headed back to our place for a BBQ and snacks. It was so great to see everyone again.

Thank-you again everyone for the Birthday wishes and for making my

25th Birthday such a special one!

"24" Premiere

2006-01-18T15:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday & monday night was the 2 day, 2 hour premier of 24 ! What a night it was, Margaret, Tyler, Bryan and Jon all came over to our place eagerly awaiting the season premiere. Well I must say I think we are all now addicted to the show once again, and there is no hope for us now...we will be helplessly glued to the TV every monday night until the season is over :) See you next 24 night after the election (Jan 30)!

And just for the record...I still think President Palmer is Alive! lol

P.S. Thanks for the 24 picture Margaret!

"Our First Christmas" 2005

2006-01-11T11:49:00.000-04:00

As I'm sure you have guessed this Christmas was our first as a married couple! It was wonderful, and we had the pleasure of having Mom & Dad Thorpe visiting over the Holidays for 10 days! What a blessing it was to be able to spend Our first Christmas with both sets of parents, although I have been told that next year it will be our turn for a Newfie Christmas ;) (Bring on the Mummers!).

Well our Christmas Eve was spent out with Mark's parents in Fall River after the Christmas Eve service at FRCBC for snacks and the traditional opening of our Special Christmas Ornaments.

Christmas morning was then spent at our place with my parents opening gifts, making Koeksisters (south african treat-basically fired dough, braided & covered in sugary syrup, Mmmm) and eating way too many Christmas mince pies!

This is our poor undecorated Christmas tree, why is it undecorated you ask? Well Little Miss Casey (our Kitten) has this obsessive fasination with climbing the poor tree. We collectively decided we would like our ornaments to survive a few more Christmases thus-- Poor undecorated tree... :)

Wow Santa Brings Big Stockings!

We love our limited Edition Springbok Scarves, Go Springboks!! (South African Rugby Team)

And a couple Pics of Our Christmas Kitties!

Casey (Grey) & Jake (Brown)

Two Happy Campers: Mom & Dad Thorpe!

Next it was off to the Fall River Monette's to spend Christmas Day with Mom & Dad Monette, Christine, Matt, Elijah & Joseph Walsh, Connell, Greg, and Matt's parent's Barry & Alice Walsh. Wow, 14 Family Members for Christmas Dinner!!

Monette Stocking Tradition: Youngest to Oldest!

Matt & Joseph

Elijah

Greg

Christine

Lauren

Mom & Dad Monette

Connell & Elijah

So that is how we spent Our First Christmas together with our families. It was a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to Next year in Newfoundland!

I'm just going to add this little picture of Mark & I to our blog so I can add it to our profile!!