Franklin Five

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Monday, January 28, 2013

Saturday, January 26, 2013

O Canada

One thing I will really miss when we return to Tennessee is the beautiful snow in the Great White North.










Just look at that face.  She was thinking, "No, Graham.  You cannot just throw a snowball at me and get away with it."  This girl can take care of herself.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

We have been having lots of fun around our house this week as my cousin, Andrew, was in town.  Somehow he always seems to make me laugh.  By the end of the week, Graham kept looking at us and telling us to stop laughing.

Unfortunately, Tim had to be out of town most of the time at two different auto shows, and Andrew had purposely picked this week to come so he could help me while Tim was gone.  Just shows you what a great guy he is!

We have gotten some snow which has been fun.  I was glad Andrew got to see some of the white stuff.  We also had a fun adventure going into Toronto last night and ice skating at an outdoor rink that overlooks Lake Ontario.  It is such a great place with a live DJ on Saturday nights and the CN tower glowing in the background.  We were having some mild temps so the place was very crowded, and we got a few giggles from watching a lady who was very serious about practicing her figure skating among the rest of us who were just trying to keep from falling.  Andrew, Graham and I skated although Lidiyanna would have been out there too if they had skates in her size.  Graham is finally getting the hang of it and but still spends lots of time laying on the ice mainly because he thinks that's fun.

We are continuing with our motto: If you gotta live in Canada, you might as well embrace the Winter and enjoy it.
 Love those rosy cheeks!

 Put this picture in so you could see Tim's "authentic" Canadian hat.  We are prepared here!!


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Bringing in the New Year

After Tim's family went home and we came back from Blue Mountain, we quickly did laundry and repacked our bags to head to Tyler to visit my family.  What a challenging day we had trying to get there.  We got up at 5am to make our 8:30am flight that did not leave the ground until 1pm.  We sat on the run way for five hours because of some problems involving the deicing fluid.  Thankfully the airplane had TVs and movies to help keep the kids entertained, but I got especially annoyed by the long delay.  We finally arrived in Houston late in the afternoon only to have more delays.  We had missed our connecting flight and there were no more flights to Tyler that day.  So, we rented a car and arrived at my mom's house exhausted and a bit grouchy around midnight.  To top it all off, our bag was lost and remains lost to this day.

Oh, well.  We were finally there and I was very glad to see my family as I had not been back in a year.  Earlier that week, my dad had passed out from the flu and damaged his eye so badly that it required two surgeries and several more procedures.  I am thankful he is doing much better now and his eye is healing.  He's had to be very patient as he's been on strict bed rest for over two weeks.

I was glad to visit with my granddad and spend some time with him but I was saddened to see how much his body and mind have gone downhill.  His short term memory has really declined so that it is no longer safe for him to live independently.  After I left Texas, he has been moved into an assisted living home.

Unfortunately, I took no pictures while in Tyler.  We did have a great time with my family, and I loved being pampered by my mom.  She cooked delicious food and helped so much with my kids.  She also watched the kids overnight so Tim and I could enjoy a night out on New Year's Eve.

It's always hard to say good-bye to my family and I felt a bit disappointed that our trip ended up being a bit stressful.  Canada is a long way from Texas and it is very challenging trying to travel there with three kids.  I think I have a greater appreciation for living in a place where I can drive to see my family in one day.

And, if you are wondering about when we will move back to Tennessee, we still don't know.  We could be moving back this coming summer or the move might not take place for another year.  We are still waiting.

Christmas in Blue Mountain

It's hard to believe my last post was at the beginning of November. I guess December was so busy that it just flew right by.

Tim's family came up to Canada for Christmas and we spent our time together in a condo in Blue Mountain, a ski village a few hours north of where we live.  They had a little snow when we arrived and a lot of snow when we left, so the kids enjoyed lots of sledding and playing in the snow.  Graham, Hayley, and Davis took ski lessons one afternoon while I took Wesley and Lidiyanna swimming.  It was a different way to spend Christmas and I think we all enjoyed our white holiday together.