Ballet

Shaylah had her last ballet class on Saturday.  The teacher brought different costumes for the girls and they put on a little "show" for the parents, as much as 3 and 4 year old girls can.  Caelan enjoyed helping her get ready.

Miss Lemonie

I have talked about my amazing friend Melanie before....she has taken many of the photos of our kids that we have framed up on the walls.  She is a wonderful photographer and has finally decided to share her talent with others.  Check out her new Etsy site.

Shaylah's 4th Birthday

This post is about a week late, but I think I am just trying to forget the fact that my baby is growing up!  She on the other hand, lets everybody know.  Friends, strangers....it doesn't matter.  Everyone knows that she is now FOUR years old.

I had to work last Thursday, but luckily she had Grammy and Grampy there to make the day special.  When Johnny and I got home, we took the kids out for their first ever bowling experience.  Shaylah thought it was fun for a while.  Caelan did not want to give anyone else a turn.  Ashlyn was not even interested in trying. 

After bowling, we came home for cupcakes and presents.  Now Johnny and I have always known that birthdays mean DQ icecream cakes.  We have come to expect this and look forward to it.  Shaylah had her won plans though.  She was very specific that she did not want icecream cake, but rather had her mind set on Princess cupcakes.  I was not expecting that with age would would come a mind of her own!  :)  She got her wish.  A princess crown with 3 princesses.  She was quite impressed.

Presents followed and she was one happy girl.  Her favorite present was her new Tinkerbell watch, which she helped picked out.  It matches the one she gave to her best friend a few weeks ago.

Happy Birthday to my BIG girl.  You are growing up so fast and we love you very much!

The Paralympics

Today at work, I was lucky enough to get to meet a Paralympic torchbearer.  Torie was part of the relay yesterday and was chosen because of her work in helping others learn how to sit-ski.  Notice that the torch and her uniform are grey, instead of white like those of the previous Olympics.  Next week, we are going to be visited by the Olympic medals, so stay tuned..... 

Johnny's Birthday Cake.

Shaylah chose the design this year of our traditional DQ birthday cake for Daddy.  Unfortunately we didn't get seconds because Mommy forgot to put it in the freezer after we were done and it melted all over the place.  Oops!  Good thing we have another birthday in our house in just a few weeks.  :)

At least Caelan enjoyed it while it lasted.

Victory Ceremony

The most amazing Olympic experience that Johnny and I had was when we went to a Victory Ceremony to watch the athletes receive their medals.  We did not get to witness a Canadian winner, but it didn't matter.  It was great to see how emotional these men and women were to win a medal for their country and to hear their national anthems played while their flags were raised.  Awesome!

The Opening and Closing ceremonies stage.

The stage before the show.

Our pre-show hosts, Tamara Taggart and Ben Mulroney.

We went to the very last Victory Ceremony at BC Place.  Our night was the Newfoundland/Labrador Celebration.

Men's Aerial champions.  Gold - Alexei Grishin from Belarus; Silver - Jeret Peterson from USA; Bronze - Liu Zhongqing from China

A gold medal

Ladies Parallel Giant Slolom champions.  Gold - Nicolien Sauerbreij (NED); Silver - Ekaterina Ilyukhina (RUS); Bronze - Marion Kreiner (AUT)

Our musical guest of the evening - Great Big Sea!

Leaving the evening.

We are sad the Olympics are over.  What a great experience these past two weeks have been.  Thank you Vancouver!

Curling

We had the opportunity to go to a couple of curling events during the Vancouver Olympics.  What fun to be there!  I admit I don't know a lot about curling, but the energy in the building was amazing.  We watched a women's qualifying round, as well as the men's bronze medal match.  Here are a few photos.

Cheryl Bernard (our silver medalist!)

The bronze medal Swiss men.

The podium where our Canadian men would stand later in the day to receive their GOLD medals!