Olympics

February has been a busy month and we missed going into Vancouver while the weather was nice but my mom came for the weekend and the two of us went down town on Saturday for some quality time together and just to take it all in.

We took the sky train and as most trips where myself, my mom or worse both of us together are in charge of navigating we started off lost but that didn't dampen our spirits any. We walked a lot... took in the sights and the atmosphere and almost did the zip line. No, we didn't chicken out. We had about 3 1/2 hours until we planned to head back and pick up the kids at mom and dad's. We were told the line up for the zip was 3 1/2 - 3 hours long at that time. We got in line and waited for about 30 minutes at which point we reached a marker that said it was a 4 hour wait from that point... so we decided to go watch the mascots on ice instead... which was very cute.

I didn't take a ton of pictures and we forgot to check out the cauldron but we had a good time. Oh, we also got to see the Women's curling team with their silver medals and mom got some pictures of that.

David's pictures of himself...

David has always loved camera's and he has had his own for a year and a bit now but lately he likes to use ours. I never know what I am going to find pictures of when I upload the camera onto the computer. Just now I found these to pictures of David which he took of himself along with about 30 pictures of the pink highlighter which is sitting on our desk???? Anyway I thought the ones he took of himself were clever and cute so I wanted to share them.

Celebrating Angeline's Dedication

Today we Dedicated Angeline and had a Celebration at our place afterwards with some family to celebrate her dedication and her upcoming first Birthday. Angeline is sporting her lovely pink princess dress that Aunty Mandy got her when she was born. I made her a carrot cake in the shape of a bunny and I also made pulled pork for lunch. I was happy with the way everything turned out. Here are just a few pictures from today. Jared was able to video tape for us (thank you Jared!) so we may also add a video of the actual dedication at a later time.

Angeline. Your name means "God's Messenger"... and you certainly are our Angel. God has blessed us with a daughter and today we thank HIM for the gift you are to us. The scripture we have chosen for your dedication reflects our spiritual aspirations for your life. Psalm 34... reading verses 1-7 & 11.

"I will praise the Lord at all times.

I will constantly speak his praise.

I will boast only in the Lord;

let all who are discouraged take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness;

let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me,

freeing me from all my fears.

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;

no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and he heard me.

He set me free from all my fears.

For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him,

and he rescues the.

Come, my children, and listen to me,

and I will teach you to fear the Lord."

We pray that as you grow these words written by the psalmist David would become your words. We pray that you would praise God through life's difficult circumstance, that you would come to Him in prayer bringing all your fears before Him, and that as you do He would set you free from all your worries so that you can reach your full potential as a daughter of God. We ask for God's wisdom as we guide and support you in your walk. We love you.

Hockey

Last time Grandpa took David skating he was able to get some pictures. David really enjoys this one on one time. I was going to put David in skating lessons but decided it was better to leave it up to Grandpa. It is a good time for the two of them... David always comes home with french fries and even learns new words like "unbelievable." Thanks Dad!

David

I just wanted to post a few new pictures of David taken yesterday. He is often to busy to let mommy take his picture and I had to work for these but I thought they turned out nice. I gave him a hair cut this week... a bit shorter then usual just for something different and because it grows so fast. What can I say about my David? He is getting so big. He is about the age now that the twins I nannied in Switzerland were when I moved there. I am often reminded of my little Philipp and Peter when we are playing together.

Go Canada!

On Tuesday morning the torch came to our neighbourhood so we got out nice and early in our Canada gear to watch it go by. It was cold and the kids probably won't remember it but it was still a fun thing to do together. I also let David watch the opening ceremonies with me.

11 month birthday

Happy Valentines day to everyone! Besides Valentines day we are also celebrating Angeline's 11 month birthday. Next Sunday we are having her dedicated at our local church. She has recently taken an interest in walking... as you can see from the video below. She especially likes to walk when we hold her hands but a few weeks ago she had no interest in this at all. She is starting to sing now when she hears music and when I sing to her... it is really cute. She eats what we eat... even better then her older brother. There are some things that I still haven't given her that have to wait until she turns 1 but she does enjoy a huge variety of things. Her hair is growing longer... we could put barrettes in it except for the fact that she would take them out and eat them. She is fully weaned now and she does not take a bottle but she does take goats milk from a sippy cup. She is definitely becoming a toddler. It's hard to believe she will be walking soon... making her all the more independent.

almost 11 months old

Noah

Today we are celebrating 2 years since Noah's birth. It is hard to believe that he would be two years old, though I am reminded of that often. We wish he was here to hold... to watch grow.

Nearly 2 years have passed since his death and we have learned to live a "normal" life... which we once thought would never be possible. Most days we continue on but every now and again the darkness of being left behind creeps in. Last night was like that for us. Thinking back to Noah's life and death we were overtaken by grief once again. My thoughts went back to the morning after he died when Jonathan rolled over sleepily and asked "where are the boys?" How I wish that we could again say "the boys."

Today we are celebrating. Celebrating Noah's life. It's a day when we refuse to ask "why?" and "what if?" It's a day dedicated to him, the memories we share, and the time we had. So far today we made birthday pancakes and went out for ice cream.

I just want to say a special thanks to those who have phoned, e-mailed, sent cards, and given gifts. Your words and encouragement mean a lot to us. We appreciate every acknowledgement of Noah and what his life meant to you.

February 8- March 6 is a bit of a time of vigil for us. We like to keep white roses around during this time as a symbol of Noah's life that lives on. If you feel a sadness in your heart this time of year we would encourage you to do the same. And if you ever just want to say "we remember" but can't find the words... a white rose is a symbol of that for us.

Mommy's Photo Shoot