7 posts tagged “auntie”
Yesterday Jonas got some mail: Thanks for the postcard and shirt from Uncle Angus and Auntie Brittany who are currently spending time in Brisbane. Lucky ducks. (For those of you who'd like to see some shots of their trip so far, check out their vox site; it's linked on left hand side here.)
The shirt's a perfect size: a bit big right now, but wearable, likely for the next several months. He's a slow grower, this cute boy.
My parents arrived from Fort St. James the morning of New Years Eve. They had spent the night at a hotel after seeing enough vehicles in the ditch through the Cariboo/Chilcoton on their way down. Jonas acted a bit shy at their first meeting. He `does shy` now. Usually he just shrugs his shoulder up to his head. However, within an hour he was quite comfortable with Grandpa and Graci and had a good time with them while they were here. I enjoyed my time with them, too, limited as it was. Sadly, I came with the flu about the same day they arrived. They had generously agreed to babysit so Chris and I could go out with friends for New Years Eve, but we were home and in bed by 11 pm since I was feeling so wiped out. I spent much of the next couple of days in bed, or lounging on the couch. The day before my folks left, my sister, Logan, and her boyfriend, Jared, arrived to visit for a couple of days. Again, Jonas started out shy, but warmed up to both Logan and Jared very quickly.
With the arrival of family came a new set of gifts for Jonas. He's been flipping through more books and has more wooden cars to play with! Thank you!
For those of you who want to check out Brit and Angus's adventures, they'll eventually be posting them here. And Uncle JT, I hope this satisfies your picture craving for the time being... though I do have some good ones - they're especially for Grandpa Timothy, that need to get up soon!
Having fun with family on our trip north. (Gotta remember to get more shots of Jonas with Grandpa and Graci - Mom, you have any you can send me?)
Our Easter weekend began with Good Friday. Our church annually joins with a couple others in town for a Good Friday service and it was our church’s year to take care of the brunch. I had made 4 dozen banana muffins and bran muffins for the event and showed up early to help set up. We had been concerned that a small church like ours would have trouble gathering enough people and food for the meal that last year had over 400 people in attendance. But God provided and plenty of people from both our church and the host church arrived to help out, many without being asked. In the end we were able to relax for the last 30 mins before others showed up! The meal was followed by a service most of which I missed since I had to take Jonas to the nursery where he as free to roll and crawl beneath the feet of several other toddlers in the room.
We fed Jonas at the church and then hopped in the pre-loaded
car and hit the road to Tsawwassen.
We arrived in time for family dinner Friday night. As well as all us 'regulars' present, we were surprised to see Auntie Robbie, too. She had made the trek -complete with transit! ;) - from Victoria for the overnight visit. It was late afternoon and we enjoyed the lingering warmth of the day out on the deck. We set up Jonas's jolly jumper on the deck which he enjoyed, only if I wasn't around. That was the story of the
weekend: Jonas deciding to be clingy - if I was around. It he couldn't see me or hear me, he was fine. Otherwise he was fussy until he was on mum's hip with one thumb in his mouth and the other holding her hair. Case in point: My sisters drove out from Abbotsford Saturday morning to say hi and a family friend of my in-laws dropped by to meet Jonas, too. In order for them to be able to actually play with and see his smiley-bouncy-crawling (not booding-clingy) self, I hid out in the dining room behind the laptop, listening to the conversation and throwing in my two-bits - but not too often, otherwise Jonas's ears would perk up and he'd look around for me. Everyone became great at screening Jonas's view over those days!
Saturday was spent, as indicated above, at the house spending time with friends and family who were able to drop by. This was great for us since we didn't have to juggle Jonas's nap schedule and still go to visit with people. Saturday night we took advantage of Ross and Dawn's offer to babysit and went into Vancouver for a visit with our friends, Brianna and Mike. We couldn't stay late for both their and our sake. It was also in the back of my mind that Jonas would likely be awaking 'soon' and I guess I still have to continually remind myself that Jonas will be fine and the Grandparents will be fine without me for a few hours and don't always need me to swoop in and save all. We ended up getting home later than I had anticipated and - the kid was still sleeping!
On Sunday morning Chris and I went to Chris's old home church in Tsawwassen and again, left Jonas at home since the service was scheduled right over his nap time. The service was celebratory and reflective and I was thankful to be there for Easter; it was good for me to, in all the busyness and visiting, to remember that without Easter Sunday - or more specifically, celebrating the risen Jesus Christ, - there would be no reason for my faith.
After the service we visited briefly with some other friends there and then headed home, knowing for sure Jonas would be up by then... but no! He had decided that that would be the perfect day for his rare 3 hour morning naps! Well, I figure this is good: he softens up the grandparents who'll figure that this babysitting gig will always be this good for future visits! ;)
Sunday afternoon included a visit to Granville Island. I love it there. There are all sorts of shops and markets and music, and art. I love how this place has been built up - under a bridge, on the water, sharing the land there with a concrete company whose trucks roll through the streets along with pedestrians and cars looking for a rare parking spot. My favourite place is Paper-Ya. I could easily spend hundreds of dollars there on beautiful paper and cards and journals... sigh! Jonas did well being carted around and before we left we let him 'spread his legs' in the back of the minivan. The downside came when the overtired boy was strapped back into his car seat, an action he greeted with cries and screams. I was able to calm him a bit, bending next to his seat and letting him hold onto my hair, but the trade was a woozy headachey feeling for me. (Sometimes it doesn't take much for me to succumb to motion sickness). We had to stop in Richmond and there Chris and I traded spots and Chris just covered him up and, eventually, he fell asleep.
The stop in Richmond was to drop off something with Dustin and Belle. Dustin (Chris's brother) and Belle are engaged and are looking at a wedding next year. It was our last chance to see Belle who we very likely won't see again until the wedding. She leaves for the Philippines next month to start med school. We'll miss you!
Sunday evening we watched Bon Cop, Bad Cop - an great French/English flick that I'd recommend (warning if you're queasy about violence.) We headed out Monday morning timing our departure with Jonas's nap and stopped in Hope to visit with our university friend, Jeff, and meet his new wife and daughter. After a couple hours of their hospitality, we headed out again and it was good to be home. We heard it had been unseasonably warm (up to 25 degrees on day!) and the wash of light green on the tress were an indicator of that. Spring has sprung, indeed.
