Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna has been a very welcome addition to our family as our Au Pair.  We feel blessed everyday that we we happened across each others paths.  Today she celebrates 25 years of life!

She is a long ways from her family in Germany, so we wanted to make sure she felt a little love on her birthday.  I enjoyed making a special birthday cake for her, without candles unfortunately.  So, I threw in a few coloured crayons just to make it look a little more like a birthday cake:)

Wishing you the best Anna!  We hope your year is filled with amazing life experiences, lots of love and great health.







Sunday, July 28, 2013

Vancouver Through My Camera Lens

There are 'firsts' that come along in life every so often.  And my trip to Vancouver yesterday marked a first.  Not the first time in Vancouver, but my first time wandering aimlessly for hours with only one task at hand.  Take pictures.  Lots of pictures.  Of people, places and things.

The day was perfect.  The weather and company was everything I could ask for.  No children along with many requests and demand for attention.  Just me, my camera and MWAC.

The point of the day was to step away from taking pictures of our families and all things familiar and step out of our comfort zone and bubble and take pictures with a whole different mindset.  We weren't looking so much for backlighting, smiles and all the normal things.  We instead looked for raw moments of people and things we didn't even know.

Five hundred pictures were snapped just on my camera alone!  Many I love, some I like and two hundred I immediately deleted.  Four hours later, I have my favourites all edited.


I look like I was the leader of the group.  Only because I forgot my shirt!

 Reflection. 

 This man asked us to take pictures of him while we were in Chinatown.



Just a picture of something out of place.


Such an amazing day weather-wise.

 Reflection again.

 Something out of place.

 The bus and train terminal on Main.

 I was asked to email the pictures I took of this man to him.

 We witnessed a few brides in front of this Catholic Church. 

 From the outside looking in. He was happy to have me take pictures of him. 

Tourists.

My practicing of panning.  Totally cool but could use some practice.

Alpahbet: O 

 Something bright.

Graffiti Alley.

 Everyone loved the pee smelling alley on Cambie.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Another Party In The Park Night

Another summer brings another season of music and festivities in Downtown Chilliwack on Friday nights.  This year has started off with the perfect weather for such a wonderful event.

We made our way through the Kids Zone first.  After some kid-decorated cookie, jumping jacks, jumping in the inflatable castle, arts and crafts, we made our way down the streets to check out the food trucks, karate show, and bull-riding.

Then came time for me to stand in a half-hour lineup for ice-cream while the family enjoyed lounging on the grass slope listening to the live band in front.

A few hours of fun and it was time to go home.  Looking forward to many more beautiful evenings hanging out in Central Park enjoying all the music and festivities a few more times before the summer season ends.












Sunday, July 21, 2013

Drama Queen In The Making

All I wanted to do was practice taking pictures with my camera.  All Peyton wanted to do was pretend she was shy.  I know that this certainly is not the case.  Already at 2 years old Peyton is a pretty good little actress:)








Sunday, July 14, 2013

Kentucky Lake Memories

We made our yearly trek up through the mountains to a destination known to few.   The few who know it, know they have found a little piece of heaven.  The place is Kentucky Lake.  A little piece of paradise here in our own part of our amazing country.

It is here the Elgersmas, Williams, and McEacherns go to cherish some quality family fun.  Free of cell- phones and internet.  The one time a year I go slightly off the grid.  Just slightly.  I did find a small pocket of cell-service the last night we were there:)

Some favorite memories for 2013:
     -an attempt for 5 boys to sleep in tents all alone-fail-all ended in trailers by 1:00am.
     -Anna's look of amazement at the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains.
     -Peyton and Jess trading hats.
     -biking and more biking and even more biking of boys and girl.
     -Peyton's giggles of laughter at all 'Aunty Suzanne's' antics.
     -many walks with Peyton being the leader.  Didn't get anywhere fast, but that was the point.
     -lots of reading, conversation and plain old downtime.