I had to post this pic because it is just too cute. That's our friends Shawn and Celeste and their twin girls Ana and Alyssa. Don't you just want to pinch them they are so cute! 

And these are our other nephews, Austin (in blue) and Braeden. Dave and Sue's boys. 

These are our nephews Gavin (in red) and Trevor. Bryan and Andrea's boys. 

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Belle

One more thing....

I forgot to add that she must have been chewing on a stick or something outside last night and when she came inside she was like choking. It freaked us out cause she was trying to breathe and we didn't know what was wrong with her. So we decided to make her throw up with hydrogen peroxide. And she seemed fine after that, so whatever it was must have went all the way down or something. The peroxide reminds me of our incident with her last week....

So Sunday a few weeks ago, we come home and I am making dinner, Chris is watching tv and well Belle is sitting at the top of the stairs like she always does. There are dogs up there so I think that is why she always wants to be up there. Anyways so I go to get her and find her chewing on a "rat and mouse bait" package. Of course the package was empty, but the question was, was it empty cause she ate it or was it empty cause she just found an empty wrapper outside or something. So Chris called the poison control number on this package and they told us to make her throw up using peroxide. So we poured it down her throat and she hated every second of it. And within 5 minutes she threw up alright, she threw up a lot. And it smelled WRONG! So in the midst of gagging myself and not wanting to throw up as well, I had to leave poor Chris to clean up the mess. It was so gross. But the good news is there was no bright blue or green colors in it, which means she did not injest any and she is fine. But it was a scary experience regardless. Of course the whole vomit thing turned out to be very humorous!

My crazy dog!

So normally when Chris goes to bed, Belle follows him and she snuggles in under the blankets and goes to sleep with him. Normally she likes to sleep in between us under the blankets, but after a while it gets to hot for her and she gets all panty and stuff so she has to come out and lay on top. So last night like every other night she did the same, she was snuggled between us when she had to come out for air. But instead of just laying at the end of the bed she decided she wanted to play. So she went and got her squeaky bone and was in my face with it, so we got mad at her and took it away and told her to lay down. So she did. For like THREE SECONDS. After that it was up and down, lick your face, like your feet, under the blankets, on top of the blankets. ARGH! Finally she decided to settle on top of the blankets but directly in between us, which doesn't work because when she does that all the blankets end up in the middle and Chris and I are left on either side with a very big draft. It was so frustrating, but finally she crawled back under the blankets and assumed her position snuggled between us and finally we all got to sleep.

Lori, thought she was nerdy in the other pic, so here is a non nerdy picture,hehe! What a beautiful picture of their family. 

This again is an older pic of my mom and dad. I am not sure when this was taken, maybe 94 or 95. These were the only ones I had on the computer! 

This a birthday pic of my mom from a long time ago. I think it was her 40th. 

Happy Birthday Mum!!!!

So today would have been my mum's 58th birthday. So I thought it fitting that I write something here about her today. Out of everyday of the year today is probably the day I think of her the most. They say when you lose someone you love over time it becomes easier, which is most definitely true. But you don't ever stop missing them. And I definitely miss my mum everyday. For those of you who knew her, you know what I mean when I say she truly was one of the most generous and caring people. She had a faith and love for God that was so incredibly strong, that even when she was sick and right before she passed away, that love and faith NEVER faltered. Which is something that has helped me so much in my own life. My mum was my best friend, my rock and everything about who she was is who I have always wanted to be. We all lost someone so special and amazing the day she passed away, but what wonderful memories of her we are left with. I could tell you a million stories about her, and about how incredible she was and how blessed I was to have 19 years with her and having the most amazing mother I could have ever hoped for. It is because of her and all she taught me in her life that when I screw up and when things get tough I remember her faith in me and how much she believed in me. So happy birthday mum, we all miss you and love you more than we could ever express. I think about how wonderful it would be to still have you with us...but I know you are in the most amazing place and free of all the pain that you went through. And really, how awesome to be with Jesus.

For some reason one thing that is really sticking out in my mind today was my surprise 16th birthday party that my family planned for me. I remember the look on her face and her making fun of Lori and I when we wanted to have brussel sprouts and cheese sauce instead of all the chips everyone else was eating. It really was funny, a moment though I am sure only Lori can really see the humor in;) For those of you who don't know Lori, she has been my best and most constant friend for so many years. Her and my mum were SO close and Lori was like a daughter to my mum. And just for Lori I must say....don't get mucky dirty and cheerio;)

This is Lori and her husband Steve and their 2 adorable kids, Emma and Oliver. 

Day 8 Saturday September 25th

We spent most of Saturday at Ben and Hannah's. It was their little boy Asher's first birthday party. It was a fun time, and he is one of the cutest kids. We headed out from their place pretty early in the evening and before we knew it we were finally almost in Boston. We arrived at the Richarde's house (the people we stayed with until we found our own place) in the early evening and were so happy that we did not have to wake up the next morning to drive.

Driving 3000 miles is very tiring and very tedious. But it was a wonderful experience and I would do it again. We saw so many things and went so many places we had never been. Some of the bigger cities we traveled through were....

Denver, Colorado
Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
Indianapolis, Indiana
Columbus, Ohio
New York, New York

So there you have it to the best of my memory. We did have an actual journal we were keeping on the road, but we have lost it so I am sure there is a good chance I have forgotten some things here.

The family we stayed with while we looked for a place were absolutely wonderful. We had a great time getting to know them, they really are just awesome people.

We were there with them for about 3 weeks until we found our own place. We live in a basement suite in Boston, the area of the city we live in is called Hyde Park.

Things have been great. When we first decided to move we weren't sure how things were going to work out. But things have really fallen into place for us and we love it and are so happy. God has provided in everyway imaginable since we have been here, and we are so blessed to have this new opportunity in our lives. If you asked either one of us 2 years ago if we thought we would be settling in Boston we would have laughed. But you never know what God has in store for you.

Just a sign for New York we took a picture of having a hard time believing we had driven so far east already.

This is a pic of the outside of our place here in Boston. 

This was the welcome sign driving into Ohio, and we took a picture of it. 

Day 7 Friday, September 24th

We got up in the morning, had some coffee and were excited in realizing how close to Boston we actually were.. So we got our stuff together and it was back on the road for us. As we headed onto the highway and into Pennsylvania, we started seeing signs for New York. Which we were both like "WOW, we have actually driven so far east we are actually seeing signs for New York.

So we drive...I think by far my favorite state that we drove through was Pennsylvania. Although the roads were pretty crappy, all the hills and trees changing colors were so pretty. It sure made the drive through so much shorter.

New Jersey was also very uneventful and finally we reached the George Washington Bridge. Which crosses into New York state and Manhattan. Not long after we crossed the bridge we could see the outline of the city and most noticeably the Empire State Building. So as crazy as we are, we decided to get off the highway and drive straight into Manhattan. Now THAT was an experience.....driving in Manhattan and through Times Square at 8 PM on a Friday night. It was crazy, but definitely worth it. There were SO many people everywhere and all the lights were incredible. It was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. As we were driving through Times Square, all I could keep saying was "I can't believe we are in New York City". It really was awesome.

Finally we made our way back to the highway, drove through Connecticut and into Massachusetts. It was getting very late so we decided to spend the night with an old friend of Chris's in Amherst, MA.

Today we traveled in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Day 6 Thursday, September 23

This day of traveling was pretty uneventful for us. Again we spent all day driving, we only stopped for gas and food. And of course to let Belle go the the bathroom and run around and stuff.

Chris's mom has a friend in Youngstown, Ohio, which is near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. So we decided to spend the night at her house. We drove all day and arrived at Sue's house around 8 pm. Of course Sue fed us, and she had a wonderful time entertaining Belle. We had a very nice visit with her, Sue is a riot and there is never a dull moment with her around.

Today we travelled in Indiana and Ohio.

This is a picture of us at the castle ruins at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. 

Day 5 Wednesday September 22

We spent the afternoon hanging out with Tab and her mom. First Chris, Tab and I went to a State Park not too far away where they had these old castle ruins. The park was called Ha Ha Tonka State Park. Check it out it, it was very pretty there. Check out the photo galleries on that website. After we left there we headed back to Tab's place and had pizza with her and her mom. It was so nice to relax without having to drive. But alas, we had to get on the road. Around 5 pm or so we headed out. Unfortunately when we got into St. Louis it was already dark so our pictures never turned out. But we did go see the arch and it was awesome, that thing is huge. Well because it was dark we didn't spend too much time in St. Louis, but we did drive around the city a little bit and saw the Savvis Center (hockey) and Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals).

And so yet again, we were on the road. We drove for quite a while into the night. Through Southern Illinois and into Indiana. Once we both started to get really tired, we pulled into a town in Indiana called Cloverdale for the night. Which I found kinda funny because I used to live in a town called Cloverdale in the Vancouver area.

Today we traveled in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.