Bula from Fiji

We made it! And without too much drama. Well it was a drama alright, more like a comedy sketch with us and all our luggage, but our luggage all made it and so did we so I can't complain. The only delay we had was in T.O to L.A but it was only about 20 mins. I could only describe the flights and line-ups though as PAINFUL! I will have to Get Darryl to post about this b/c I will not be able to do comedic justice to our experience with the two kids and our fortress of luggage. The flight from L.A to Fiji was 10 1/2 hours. Insane.
We arrived here at about 5:30am Fiji time and our hotel suite wasn't ready so we had to wait a few hours. What better way to wait then to have an amazing buffet breakfast our door's by the pool and then head down to the pool with the kids. The beach is so beautiful too, dark sand, but so soft and the water is warmer than the pool's. The resort we are at is BEAUTIFUL and the people are so happy and friendly. Bending over backwards to make you comfortable. Lot's of entertainment for the kids and many many pool's to choose from. I will upload pic's as soon as i'm able.
We are heading to Plantation island today to another resort for couple of day's. And then off to NZ. I'm sure the kids won't be as excited to get on this airplane as they were in Canada. They are over the excitement of flying.
I better go as it is early in the morning here and D is waiting at the pool with the kids. This is a much needed and welcomed vacation after a tough few months of packing and organizing and long day's for D.
I'll write more later.

Off to the South Pacific

The next stage in our adventure begins. The past six months of our "travels" (ie. Southern Ontario... if you can call that "travels") have been fun but likely less evenful than the next 6 months. Although, I did pick up kiteboarding here, as Southern Ontario is somewhat of a hotspot for the sport with all the Great Lake beaches. And we did make some great new friends along the way, whom we are sad to leave behind. But tomorrow we depart for the real adventure. After packing up our house and travelling 26 hours with 2 kids, 7 suitcases, a kiteboard, 2 car seats, a stroller, and about 100lb of carry-ons, we'll start with 5 days of much needed relaxation in Fiji. It should be cool being in the first time zone to welcome the new year. Then we are off to New Zealand for 6 months, just in time for their summer. I'll try to post more in the New Year as Heather has been the main contributor so far. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. Got to go pack my board shorts (oh yeah, and I might need a shirt and tie for work).
-Darryl

Merry Christmas

 
 
 

Well, I can't believe that christmas is over again for another year. This one has been especially different for us but still wonderful. Kids make it exciting either way :)
We were able to relax a little bit and did enjoy a tasty turkey dinner compliments of my dad, mmmm, but then it was back to the packing. So far so good. Or so I think. Its always that last minute stuff that get's you. Luckily where we just did this 6 months ago we are pro's now and most everything we have is not really that valuable anyway. We had quite a few lovely christmas parties (thanks to my parents being here with the kids and helping with all the packing and cleaning)
with wonderful friends that we've made so that has made things feel somewhat normal too. Only two day's left in London and we are off. Tomorrow is litterally boxing day for us. Hope to get one more blog in here before we head out but if not i'll be writing you from across the globe.
Hope you had a wonderful christmas and have a great new years. Look forward to keeping up with you in 2009!

Gingerbread house #2

 
 
 
 

This was a much more professional gingerbread house because we let Loblaws do all the dirty work. We headed to the store for a gingerbread workshop with Grammy where for $18 they have everything ready for you including three color's of icing and a santa and his reindeer for the top of the house, all you have to do is show up, decorate it however you like with as much candy and icing as you like and leave the cleanup behind. My kind of gingerbread house. Its actually not that much more expensive and much less work.

6 DAYS!!!!

One week from tomorrow

Wow. I cannot believe how fast the day's are going. One week from tomorrow and we'll be heading on our long plane ride to Fiji. Yipeeee!
So far everything has been going really well for getting things done and having things work out in our favor.
My parents are here now so i'm able to get out and do errands or pack or make calls etc.
Three major things that were on our minds fell into place last week that we are extremely thankful for. We were selling our car but so far no buyers. The problem with selling it too early was that we wouldn't be able to go anywhere with my parents b/c we wouldn't all fit in the jeep. So I told Darryl that the reason it wasn't sold yet was b/c God had the perfect buyer in mind and it would be great if they didn't want it until boxing day or the day after when my parents leave. So...sure enough, one of Darryl's buddies ends up buying it and he's in no rush to have it b/c he doesn't need it until January!! It Could not have worked out more perfectly. God is not often early but he is always on time :)

We were also concerned about getting to the airport and where we were going to store our jeep. We had a plan but there were still some kinks in it. Well, that got worked out too. We are driving our jeep to T.O and then someone is driving it back to Ottawa for us and storing it, for free, for us. So awesome!

Our last dilemma was all the luggage. We are taking 2 pieces each, a total of 8 suitcases, 2 car seats, a stroller and carry-on's. I know, CRAZY. It is not all going to fit in the jeep. I even looked into shipping a box to NZ but it would cost over $200 and take 6-8 weeks. So back to the suitcases. Darryl was telling a friend how we were probably going to have to tie them to the roof somehow and turns out that he and his wife are driving through T.O the day before us so they said they would drop the extra luggage at the hotel for us!!

God is Good.

Please pray that we will have a safe and uneventful travel to the other side of the world. I know that some drama would make for good reading on here but I'd really rather write about how unbelievably well it went:)

Last couple of days

Busy busy busy has been the last couple of day's for me. Lot's to do getting ready for Christmas and saying good-by to everyone and moving. But I am happy to say that we have been blessed so far to have everything falling into place nicely. I cannot believe that we'll be gone in only 10 days.
We had our connections group xmas party last night and they had a good-bye cake for us. We've been blessed to be a part of an amazing church and the lives of some pretty amazing people in the last 6 months. Here are a couple pic's. I will try and keep my blog updated as much as possible but its getting hard at this point to even sit down at all.

YIKES!!!!!!!
LESS THAN TWO...2 WEEKS LEFT

Great minds think alike

So if you read my blog from earlier today you will find this funny.


This is an email my friend Sarah sent me shortly after I did today's blog posting and she hadn't read it yet:

Guess what? I was at Costco this afternoon - you'll never guess what I bought - I totally reminds me of you and some afternoons we spent together - do you know?
Biscotti!!!! Turtle Biscottie! I had one just now and I was missing you and the cup of tea or hot chocolate - I was too impatient to get a drink -lol!

ttys!

Too funny.

Hanging in there

So my coat that doesn't zip up...just got worse. It now has a huge rip in the seam of the shoulder. Zaiah barfed on my boots a couple of weeks ago and D has no coat. We are roughing it this last couple of weeks. Its a good reminder though of how little we need and how much we have and take for granted.
The pressure is building on top of the excitement. So much to do and not a lot of time to do it anymore. Its annoying me that I can't have a veg night or day without feeling guilty b/c there are SO many other things I should be doing.
And after all the company we've just had all I want to do is just curl up on the couch with my friend Sarah and watch old romance movies all afternoon with Chai lattes and Costco turtle biscotti's :)
Every day that it snow's (which is pretty much every day here in London) I keep chanting to myself the number of day's left until we leave for warmer weather. Also to remind me that I need to wear a bikini in two weeks, yikes!

16 days, 16 day's, 16 day's, 16 days...

ps. I do know that no one is pitying me reading this, so no sarcastic comments please :)

update

Two great stresses were released from our minds yesterday as Jax arrived safely to NL thankfully, and our NZ visa's arrived!!!!! We are good to go and things are getting booked.
I'm loving my new counter and time clocks that I've added to our blog. So exciting to see every time I'm on here how many day's are left and what time it is over there.
BTW, once we're there, if you plan on phoning, don't call me before 2pm your time :)
So weird that it will be a whole day ahead too. Ella is dealing really well so far. She talks about leaving London very rationally and is looking forward to all the fun we've promised once we are there. Zaiah doesn't get it. She's going with the flow. Although her latest development in the stubborn department could prove to be challenging for travel, lol.

The excitement is building!!!!

Drama this morning

Its only 10am and I feel like I've had a whole day. It was supposed to be relatively simple this morning. Zach and Christina had to catch the bus at around 7:30am and Jax had to be at the airport by 7:30am for his flight to NL. D was planning to drop them at the bus, Jax at the airport and on to work. Didn't go as smooth.
I get a call at around 8am with D telling me they are not recommending Jax fly from T.O to NL b/c the cargo area of that plane is not heated and it was going to be like -7 degrees for a 3 hour flight... too cold.
To get Jax on a flight home to NL I had minimal options in the first place b/c they only have limited flights that are heated enough this time of year and after Dec 15th there is a block-out for flying any pet's in cargo. So please, tell me why I had this issue this morning. Who is the person that booked him on a flight in December that wasn't heated.
So anyway, D is dealing with them trying to find alternate arrangements, i'm on the phone trying to get somewhere with it and then all of a sudden they say "oh, its not as cold in TO now. He should be okay. But if you had a sweater or something for him it would be even better".
D has to get to work, Ella's crying b/c she's just realized that her puppy is gone and she misses him, she has school at 9am, they haven't had breakfast but we rush out the door to drive 20min. to the airport to bring Jax his sweater. And Ella got to say good-bye.
In the end the guy there was nice about it all and gave Jax his flight half price, lol, and had Jax sitting next to him with a bowl of water waiting for us.
Ella arrives at school only a half hour late but with no lunch, oops.

The funny thing about all this, is that when I got up this morning I was telling Darryl that for the last hour or so I was stressing in my sleep about Jax being too cold on the plane today. I hadn't thought about it at all in the day's leading up to him leaving but that was what was on my mind in the wee hours this morning. A little foreshadowing to the mornings events I guess. Poor puppy, I hope he's okay.

Winter fun with company

Only 19 day's left to this cold wet stuff here in Canada. Our time in london is dwindling fast. Having so much company and it being a busy season anyway is speeding the day's up even faster. We've just had Darryl's parents here, and now my brother and his girlfriend are here, leaving tomorrow. It was so nice for the girl's to reconnect with them before we head out.
Here are a few pic's from the last couple of day's. Victoria park at christmas is especially beautiful with all the lights and the little skaing rink. Not quite like the canal in Ottawa but still fun.

Christmas Grace or something like that...

I'm embarrassed to say that today I somehow was obviously not paying attention enough while driving b/c I 'tapped' the back of this man's car with mine. I was stopping behind him at a red light and somehow looked away or something and didn't notice how fast he was actually stopping or how little pressure I was applying to the brake and...oops. Thankfully it really was just a little tap but I was sure he was going rake me over the coals.
So we pull over and I begin apologizing and wait for him to asses the damage and ask for my info. There was only the slightest nick out of the paint on his bumper. He looks at me and asks "what happened?" I explain my carelessness. He Say's "How old are you?" I'm not getting where this is going but I say "29". He Say's "Really? You look a lot younger" (This is due to my new short bangs and minimal make-up I'm pretty sure :). I say "Well, thanks" He asks me where I am going and I tell him home. And, here's the great part...He gives me a hug, kiss on the cheek and Say's "Merry Christmas! Don't worry about it" And walks back to his car!!!!

Yipieee!!!

I was so flabbergasted that I don't even think I wished him a merry Christmas. Yes, the kiss on the cheek and hug in the middle of a busy street were a little weird but I will take it.
I'll have to pay this one forward.

Well, maybe not the kissing and hugging part but definitely the grace :)

Life Links- this christmas for us

If you have not seen this video yet titled the "advent conspiracy" you should check it out.
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

This christmas is really different for us this year b/c we have no stress related to it. No decorations, no gift buying frenzy, what gifts I wanted to give, I have it done. We have no expectations with each other, so the pressure is off there and... its nice. Relaxing. And yes, it does help that we are heading to FIJI and NZ 3 day's later ;)

But seriously, I love not having the pressure. I only like to give gifts if I see something that I want to give you. I don't want to have to rack my brains and stress about what to give b/c its expected. And then, did I give enough b/c "they" always give us a lot ....its a little insane and definitley out of control b/c its lost it meaning. Thus, i'm not a big fan of gift cards all the time either. Certain circumstances are acceptable for me :)

I love christmas decorations but i'm loving not stressing about having them all up just so. We have a little christmas tree that we borrowed though and it is so cute. Ella and Poppy picked out decorations for it at the dollar store and had fun decorating it just how they liked. Its perfect.
We made a ginger bread house last night, I let Ella throw the candy on however she liked and it was perfect. She LOVED it. And then we ate it today. Which I loved :)
I am looking forward to all of our christmas parties and the time that we will be able to spend with all of our friends and family this time of year.

How will it change things for us next year?
I don't know.

Maybe we will be able to keep it simple and not get caught in the pressure of all the christmas marketing, we'll see.