October Overview

Thanksgiving dinner was not the only special day this month.

The sentiments were threaded throughout the other days as well.

We celebrated Chris' 50th birthday with a dinner out as adults and

then they had us over to their home for his favorite dessert.

This was a pretty special!

Ah, the joys of having them near!

One beautiful weekend we watched Landon's soccer tournament.

It is fun to watch him grab that ball like he owns it.

He plays goalie position. 

We've also been to several of Lacey's volleyball games.

Watching her seriousness and joy in the game makes me smile. 

She loves sports. 

We celebrated Helmut and Dorice's engagement.

She is a lovely lady and I will be proud to call her my sister-in-law.

One Sunday the whole family was invited to Shaun and Kristal's for a Charcuterie/Faspa dinner.

They recently moved into a new home and so we also got a fun tour.  

We harvested the apples from our two young trees ... 

first the ones that fell and then finally decided to pick them all. 

The girls came over for a pie making morning. 

We made about a dozen pies and all of them went into their freezers. 

We celebrated Kristal's birthday with a lunch after we made pies.

This mom of four has worked hard this past year to get her real estate license.

She loves thrifting, decorating, and making a house a home.

She is now looking forward to enabling others sell and/or find their home.

We are so happy for her and wish her a successful career. 

♡♡♡

 

Thankful for Thanksgiving

 

I've relived the joys of family getting together 

through the photos captured on my phone. 

What a blessing to set two long tables end-to-end and 

bask in the idyllic setting of all the family home!  

We began with a few appies a few hours before dinner

and went outside to harvest the apples from our two young apple trees. 

Grapes, blackberries and several fruit trees 

are planted on a ledge between two stepped retaining walls,

as our yard slopes down to the back.

Girls just want to have fun! 

And the little farmer boy heads back to the house.

Turkey dinner was brought together by everyone

and set on the kitchen island.

It is always a good scramble to get everything out hot at the same time,

no matter how organized. 

The kids sat at the far end. 

They can more easily squeeze around us to go for seconds.

Times like this are a treasure to themselves!

It was so good to hear what each one was thankful for! 

I'm so grateful that we can still have our family in our home,

for a large kitchen 

and open space to share as we gather.

🧡🧡🧡

Back to School Dates

Natalie, Makenna and Lacey are heading off to Grades 12, 10 and 8 respectively.

Daughters from each of our own three children. 

There is something about being cousins that overrules the difference in age

and it is such a delight to see them have fun together!

While we were driving to the mall, 

Natalie expressed her sadness at this being her last 
  "back to school" shopping date. 

That's who she is. She loves traditions and she loves her cousins.

At one store they had fun choosing crazy outfits for each other, 

outfits they would never buy but just enjoy trying on.

It made for good laughter in the changing  rooms.

 Makenna even found an outfit for me. 

I bet you'd like to see it ... the comeback bodysuit with a skirt!

At home we made personal pizzas and watched a movie. 

On another day my H took Landon and Koen golfing.

But he didn't think to take pictures. 

Now I wish I would have reminded him. 

These two are heading off to Grade 10 and 8.

Meanwhile, I pretty well take moment by moment photos ...

too many! 

I had harvested some of my lavender, thinking that the girls might like to make sachets.

Jack figured his mom would like this, so he didn't mind joining them at all. 

These youngest four are going into Grade 6, 4, 3 and 1. 

Jade came with me to get sachets 

and we grabbed this night light craft idea as we scurried down the aisle.

I was surprised again, how Dollar Store crafts could turn out so pretty!

They all love to paint. 

This is a unique year in that it's the first year that Makenna is attending school in Canada

and that we will have nine grandchildren, grades 1 through 12 attending the same school. 

It will keep things simpler,

keeping up with what's happening at school,

attending events, and cheering them on,

which we are privileged to do. 

All I can say is, where have the years gone? 

❤❤❤

My Favorite Weekend in August

I didn't post this right away as it was almost too much to share,

 but as I look back I see it more as sentimentally precious ... 

to think that the family would plan a surprise trip to Seattle,

every one having made the effort to free their calendar for this one day and night.

Apparently it was planned for quite some time to make this possible.

It was my birthday weekend. 

He told me to pack for a night or two, but didn't tell me where we were going.

We crossed the border and stopped off at Wood's Coffee,

where, when I entered, there they were! What joy!

We filled up the place! 

We also celebrated Tehya's 21st Birthday. 

My thought was that if this is all we did, it would have been enough. 

My heart was full! 

From there we drove to Seattle and stopped off at the outdoor University Mall.

It was such a beautiful day to walk around.

The littles came with us. 

Jack must have been with Papa when I took this photo.

The ultimate destination was the baseball game ...

a fun family sporting event we've attended in the past. 

Watching, cheering, visiting, moving about, 

waiting in line for a hot dog and just enjoying the atmosphere. 

We had rooms side by side - like family camp.

An older girls' room, a boys room and several adult rooms.

These two stayed with us. 

The next morning we met for breakfast, included in our stay - 

another favorite memory of times gone by. 

It also happened to be Paeton's 19th birthday.

So many reasons to celebrate. 

I think of how our family with married kids began to grow,

a little girl and then a boy ..

and here they are all grown up now! 

Just looking at this room filled with the people I love

fills my heart with a gratefulness I can hardly express.

I think of Jacob meeting Esau after being separated for many years,

and when Esau saw Jacob coming with his clan, he asked him who these people were.

And Jacob responded with, 

"These are the children God has graciously given to me ..." 

Genesis 33:5 

🤍🤍🤍

 

Actually One More Last

Chris and Julene were last to come ... and what a beautiful sight! 

Secretly, I hope to never see those red bags again. 

When words are not needed.

The happiest crew at the airport.

Chris' parents from the island joined us for dinner.

And our family the next day. 

Tehya and Rahul got time off from camp but we had to send them off with plates to get back.

The week started with a pajama party for two girls who couldn't wait.

Chris and Julene moved things in storage over to their townhouse.

Some furniture got set up.

Some of us enjoyed a pedicure,

and a trip to IKEA.

Jade came over early one morning and felt pretty special to hang out with her big cousin,

even if it meant coming along to the doctor's. 

The sight of cousins not concerned about personal space warmed my heart.

I don't expect all of the adjustments to be this easy,

but we are off to a good start. 

 

One Last Time

I have looked at the tiny video edition of this over and over ...

in a way making the cycle complete, 

remembering the first time Tehya  (three years old)

came running to us at the airport.

In between there have been many happy first hugs, 

such as the visit when Makenna decided to dress in her prettiest dress 

to meet us at the airport.

And now it was a similar run in her torn jeans, just as beautiful,

Paeton in tow with the luggage. =)

Another sweet lasting memory to keep.

There were happy greetings at the door the next day.

Twin cousins in age (17 days apart) compared growth.

And I flipped crepes for ten while Papa made sure everything flowed. 

There are always some who think it's a race to see how many they can eat

and the variations to create ... 

plain sugar, cinnamon sugar, apple filled,

jam, nutella, bananas, strawberries and whipped cream to top.

No one asked for syrup. 

One more pick up and then everyone will be home. 

Let a new season begin. 

🤍🤍🤍

 

All Because Two People Fell in Love

Since we had not had an extended family gathering on my H's side for seven years,

there was a decision made by some that it was time -

and it's always good to have those in the family who make things happen.

Honestly, it can be daunting to plan for over 100 people.

It was up to the old guard to reserve a venue,  

and then some nieces and nephews got involved, 

by planning the meal and decorations, sending out the invitation, planning games

and a program with an MC. 

Kristal and Natalie came over the day before and we had fun

making garden flower arrangements.

I decided that this was a good time to update our family tree 

and found out that we are now186 people in the family,

not counting those who have gone home. 

This would be nine Friesen siblings and their families

who extend out from the tree in clusters. 

This tree became a grounding point for many who studied it.

 

We were four generations together ranging in age from 87 down to 6 months.

The farthest away came from Prince Edward Island,

others from Calgary, Kelowna, Vernon and Bellingham. 

Pretty special to see them make this effort. 

Need I say ... there was a lot of food! 

I won't have everyone on my pictures, but these nieces

grew up with our girls, they were like sister/cousins. 

We sat with our oldest nephews and some of their family,

some of their grandchildren now in school with our grandchildren. 

How does one explain that relationship? 

After some singing and sharing of memories, the kids were happy to head out to be entertained with games while the adults brought out lawn chairs and caught up with each other. 

And if the only thing the littlest ones remember is chasing the candy man,

it will still be worth the memory of being part of this. 

We ended our time with a true Mennonite Faspa of lunch leftovers, 

Zwieback and lots of desserts. 

What a blessing it is to be part of an extended family,

not perfect, but working things out,

praying for each other, 

caring and reaching out where we can. 

Some have lost a dear family member in the last few years,

making us so much more aware of seizing the time we have. 

Until we meet again, 

happy times like this are the best way to meet.