New Year's Eve

One thing that has surprised me about Peirc as a teenager is how much he hangs out with friends. He was always so quiet when he was little. I expected him to be a little shy as a teenager. Truthfully, he is still quiet and he is very kind. Maybe that is why he has so many friends.

He decided to have a pre-dance party for New Year's Eve. That meant ice  cream and games and lots of kids. It was great. 

 

 

 

Harley

Neil's dog, Harley is visiting us.  Neil and Rachelle are in India so Harley is staying with the Nelsons. Today she came to visit us.

She is very energetic!







She will very patiently wait for someone to notice that she is ready to play.

We finally found someone who appreciate Aunt Shirley's knitting. (Chico would not wear it!)

 

 

Love, Dodie

This day is dedicated to Dodie. She was my sister's step mother in law and she passed away late last night. She had a blood disorder and her body rejected the transplant work they did to fight it. She was a great lady - always happy and very kind. She will be missed greatly by many.

 

Boxing Day

Today was another day of visiting. We drove to Lethbridge and visited with Brad and Jill for a bit - but I forgot to take any pictures!  Oops.

We spent the afternoon visiting at the Letourneaus. It was a great visit.

Letourneau's dogs (Leo and..?) are some of our favorite "people" to visit with. 

Teenage talk with Zoe, Soleil, Peirce and Jill. 

Gil, Jeremy, Sarah, Golden and Jill loved the challenge of this game. 

Jill and Gil and Peirce spending some quality building time together. 

They figured out that if you place your face a little higher in the hole, you can get the whip cream right in your mouth. I was so proud of them for their innovation. 

All this visiting can be exhausting....and these dogs are just so nice. 

More  resting. 

I think they're trying to get hit now. 

Christmas Dinner

After church, we got changed, packed up and headed off to Sparwood. The roads were so so. We just took it a little slower than usual and we we're fine. We had dinner at the Nelsons,  it first we got to Skype Jordan who is on a mission in Guatemala.

 

Everyone was keen to get in on the conversation. 

 

He called from the church building, which apparently doesn't have very good wifi. It kept cutting out. He would just call back again. 

 

It's just about as fun to watch the parents as it is to talk to him.

He wowed us with his Spanish.

 

Next visit will be on Mother's Day!

Bobby, Jill, Jamie and Peirce just being the cool kids they are. 

 

Jill has really missed Jamie while she has been living in Edmonton. 

 

Chico found a quiet spot. 

 

Trudy Ray, Jean and her husband, Jim. 

 

Allen and Duane cutting up the HUGE turkey. 

 

Chico paid close attention. It smelled so good! 

 

Buffet style. The food was sooooo good! Good job, Gaylene. 

 

Front: Jamie Ray and Jill

LEft to Right: Bobby, Peirce, Sydney

 

Ready, set....

Pull!

 

The anticipation is always better than the reality. 

 

Bobby and Sister Barlow learning new Canadian tricks. 

It was a great day. Lots of visiting and lots of laughs. 

The Camera

Peirce started being interested in photography a few years ago. He is really good! Check out his Instagram account: http://instagram.com/_.xpa

 

He would scout out the best places and best ways to capture photos on the disposable camera we brought for him to play with. 

 

This year his YM president gave him his fancy camera to use whenever he wanted....and use he did! We realized he really needed his own.

A

Christmas Morning

I think everyone got just what they wanted: 

 

Jill got some great clothes and a funny book she can read quips to us from. 

 

Bobby is stumped by a couple puzzles. 

 

Peirce has a new camera to figure out with multiple lenses!

 

Allen's TV Box gives him no reason to ever leave the couch. 

And I think I will go back to bed. Merry Christmas all!

That Isn't Supposed to Happen

Every day I exercise. Today was a little slow because my nose kept bleeding. Weird. 

 

Bobby

I borrowed this picture from Bobby's Instagram account. Bobby is a boy from China with a dream. He wants to graduate from high school in Canada and go to engineering school. It isn't easy. His English is good, but really doing well in school is a big challenge when English isn't your first language. He has been seeing a tutor everyday over the break. I admire him for how hard he is willing to work. We are grateful to be part of his experience.

 

Bobby and Carter Hudson at Carter's open house before he leaves on his mission to Mexico. 

Deluxe Waffles The End

Our BroKin Yolk experience had some benefits. 

Days With Peirce

Sometimes the best thing to do with Peirce is to feed him - especially if you have a job in mind for him to do. 

My car has been telling  me that two tires were low. When it was super cold last week, I wasn't about to try to fix it. It is much warmer now though so I thought I'd try to be a responsible car owner and a good parent at the same time by giving him a chance to do some work.

He can be so helpful. 

Now only one tire is low,

Strangely, he didn't want to finish the job....so I had to lock him out. Tough love is tricky sometimes. 

It worked! No more low tire pressure messages. Good boy!

Zoo Lights

So glad it has warmed up! Zoo Lights was great.

I have never seen blue poinsettias before! Beautiful! 

Mary, Did You Know?

Today I went to a play called, Mary Did You Know that was put on by the Salvation Army Church. I went with the ladies that I visit teach. Someone from their church wrote the script! The set was amazing. I am glad we went.