Family Time

Sunday found us in Seattle - delivering Mark's parents to his Sister and Brother's homes. It is always fun to spend time together: lots of yummy food, a lot of "Rock Band" and time to relax.

We also got to celebrate our dear Shalynn's birthday (here all her little cousins surround her with adoring eyes!)

I just love this shot of Lucy and Gracie - they always have a great time together! Our kids often express the wish to live even closer to their cousins!

An Outing to the Aquarium

Last Friday the kids had no school, so with Grandma and Grandpa in town, we decided to have an outing to the Aquarium. It was such a gorgeous, sunny, blue-sky day. We haven't had a lot of those around here, so it was so great to spend some time outdoors! Most of Shirley and Thoburn's visit has been hanging around and tagging along to daily routines: school, soccer, piano, ballet, church... but this day was special! I love this Bill Reid sculpture of the Orca out front.

Joshua liked the Jellyfish the best!

Whereas Lucy enjoyed the Amazon Gallery, and the seahorses. Oh, and the otters too! And the dolphins were cute, and the baby beluga was really SO cute too! (My girl loves her animals and sealife!)

After the aquarium, we enjoyed lunch at the White Spot, then took the scenic tour of Marine Drive and up to Cypress Mt for some great views! We had such a clear view of not only downtown and Stanley Park, but of the Georgia Straight across to Vancouver Island.

It was a perfect Vancouver day! I hope we have clear and crisp weather like this next year for the Olympics!

Chef Mark

For Christmas this year I made a book: "Cooking with the Caldwell's" - our year in photos with our favourite recipes. I SO wish I had this photo in that album. Doesn't Mark look so happy in the kitchen? And an update: in the first 5 weeks of healthy eating and daily exercise, Mark lost 22 lbs! We are very proud of him!

A week with Grandma and Grandpa

This week we've had Grandma and Grandpa here visiting from Quebec... What have we done? A trip to the Rec Centre for the "Spirit of B.C." week... 1 year until the Olympics start here !

Many games of UNO...

Watching Joshua play Soccer...

and many crafts and stories!

Nancy's Birthday Party in Bellingham

Last Sunday was another gathering of the West-Coast Caldwells.... to celebrate Nancy's birthday. Special guests were Grandma and Grandpa, in from Quebec, and Jimmy, en route back to China to teach ESL.

The kids always have a ton of fun being together... although in public places they can get a bit noisy (just a little). It's nice that we can find a good half-way point to meet, but it's easier when they have room to move around a bit.

The second purpose of the visit was to "hand off" Mark's parents. They flew into Seattle, and are staying with us for 2 weeks before they head South to Blake's and Nancy's, with a side trip to Disney world thrown in!

Such a special evening... wish we had more celebrations with Grandma and Grandpa included!

Meeting Benjamin David

Our dear friends Anne and Stephen welcomed their baby boy into the world last week... we are so delighted that Benjamin is finally here!

All the Caldwell's got a chance to say hello to this adorable little boy. Joshua was very excited that Auntie Anne had a boy - he says he's going to teach him how to play soccer and hockey in the back yard!

Lucy thinks he's pretty sweet too...