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6.28.14

Meant to be friends…

A couple of weeks ago, my bestie Lisa D. came to town with family in tow.  This is a big deal.  BIG.  It had been almost exactly 5 years since we’d laid eyes on each other. It was also the first time we’d each met each others sons and it was just generally way, way, way too long between visits.  I was missing her something fierce.

Her stay was short.  But I soaked up every damn second that I could.  Catching up.  Filling each other in.  Laughing our butts off.  When you don’t have a lot of time together, you don’t dwell.  You soak.  And in my case, you smother.  😉

As much as I cherished our few hours together, watching our littles fall in love with each other might have been my favourite part.  Although both boys had never met and the last time Jaia and Pearl saw each other, Pearl was taking her first steps, they became fast friends.  And by fast, I mean within 10 minutes the girls had disappeared upstairs and the boys were already trading (potty) jokes in the sun room and neither pair showed up until food was served.

This photo makes my heart grow 10 sizes.  It reminds me that though there are miles between us, that our time together melts them away.

Make the most of the time you have with the ones you love.  Breathe in the moments.  Snap the pictures.  Hug extra long at the hellos and the goodbyes.  Tell them you love them.  Then tell them again.

The visits might be few and far between, but it’s making the most of the time when you are together that really matters.

Missing you guys so much already…Until next time, sweet friends…

xoxo

 

Filed in: Family | Friends | Life | Travel
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July 3, 2014 - 12:05 pm

Mrs. D - You have 2 wonderful children, Shannen & thanks for spending time with Lisa and family. You have a real gift in how you put your feelings into words!! You should consider writing as a second career!! Don’t be a stranger

Love

Mr.Mrs. D

5.16.14

Birthday boy

I recently read that if you can do something in 5 minutes, you should do it then.  If you wait, it won’t get done.  Or it’ll just pile up with all the rest of the things that you don’t find time to do.

So this year. I am not waiting 6 months to post birthday pics.  In fact, some years I’m not sure I ever got to them.  And then when I’m feeling nostalgic and I go back into the archives, huge moments are missing.  And for me, birthdays are HUGE.  I love them and I make sure we celebrate the hell out of them.

On Monday Wesley turned 4.  I could tell you that time is passing too quickly, and that I miss my baby – all true – but mostly  I am totally and madly in love with my 4 year old boy.  He Is hilarious (truly), clever, cuddly and sweet.  His personality is huge, but his heart is even bigger.

What’s funny, is that while adults typically wish they could slow down time, Wesley has been aching to turn 4 for months. Almost daily, he would ask how long until he would be a big boy.  And to Wes, a 4 year old = a big boy.  As soon as it was reasonable, we made a countdown chain.

And then, suddenly, it was here.  And with Grandma and Grandpa in town, we celebrated in style.  As Fullertons do, Wesley started off the day with a cupcake.

And he was not at all sad about it.

Happy birthday, sweet Wes.  Let’s enjoy 4 for a little while before we start counting down to 5, ok?

xoxo

Filed in: Birthdays | Milestones | Photos | Wes
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3.23.14

Honoured

They say cousins are our first friends.  For me, my cousins were my whole world.

As kids, we all lived fairly close to each other (at least the same city, for awhile).  Growing up was as it should be.  Surrounded by family, on any and all occasions.  Some of my best memories had me playing with my cousins at Christmastime, sitting on the floor in front of my Pappy as he recounted stories of Christmases past from his chair in his living room.  At the time I was the youngest in the family.  And I was also very cute.

 When I was 6, my cousin Jennifer was born.  I remember the sheer delight I had felt that I would finally have a younger cousin but, even better than that, was that she was a girl!  It was the next best thing to having a little sister.   I had hit the jackpot!  I remember loving on that kid.  I adored everything about her.

Two years later, there was more to love.  My aunt had another baby girl.  My cousin Lindsay was wickedly cute.  I simply adored both of those little ladies.

But life happens and our families both ended up moving (too far) away from each other.  Over the years the visits were fewer and farther between, as it happens with busy lives, but somehow, when we would get together, it was always just…easy.  There was always something comforting about spending time with them.

A few months ago, I got an email from Jen to tell me she’d gotten engaged and then she asked if I would photograph her wedding.  Obviously, I said yes.  And obviously, I was completely honoured.

The wedding is this weekend and though I’ll be standing behind the camera trying to capture this important day for Jen, I’ll also be bursting with pride as I watch one of my favourite people in the world walk down the aisle toward her very own happily ever after…

Congrats (a few days early), Jen and Bogdan.  I can’t wait for your big day!

xo

Filed in: Family | Life
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3.11.14

Frozen Solid

I never realized how down in the dumps I am by February/early March until I feel that first warm breeze as Spring attempts to push its way through.  And that might be an understatement.

This weekend I felt it.  Jackets were unzipped.  Kids played hockey at the rink in t-shirts.  Puddles formed at the end of the driveway.  Windows are rolled down.  The 6′ snowbanks that line the streets started to melt.  There was hope in the air and it was swirling all around me.

And then today the forecast is for a winter storm for later this week.  Awesome.

I, like EVERYONE ELSE (even the crazy winter-lovers who swoon at the sight of the first snow in October or November) am done with winter.  Done.  Done.  Done.   In fact, Environment Canada states that this has been the coldest winter in 2o years?

According to an online countdown, and at the minute of this post, there are 9 days, 3 hours, 41 minutes and 32 seconds until Spring arrives.  9 days.  I can do that.

Until then, I can dream of better (warmer) days, right?

 

 

Filed in: Jaia | Photos | Summer | Weather
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