Thursday 20 January 2022

Precious moments..

 Not so much a sequel to the previous blog...  more like

                             "a peek (through the camera) of our precious moments".

 Andy and I were thrilled to share many wonderful moments with the family over the past three months.  We stayed with Gordon, Lianne, Murphy and Rosie for the first two months and then Kenneth came out to join us and Andy and I moved into an airbnb with Kenneth for the last month of our stay.

We received many wonderful gifts, and not just from Santa. There was the gift of time spent together. The gift of laughter. The gift of play. However there was also an unwelcome gift of Covid. 

Lianne became unwell on Christmas eve, and was ill on Christmas. Boxing day Kenneth succumbed, me the next day, then Andy followed the day after that and eventually Gordon developed symptoms and we all tested positive.

I like looking at the positive aspects of things however the only positive thing I could see about Covid was my enforced leisure as I slept round the clock!


Now we are through it and looking back on all our precious moments, even more precious now...

Here are Murphy and Rosie having fun in the rain. Children can teach us a thing or two about having fun. Muddy puddles being an essential factor.

I invested in welly boots for the rain and furry boots for the cold...

As you travel through the photo album, that is this blog's offering you will notice that togetherness is the theme, with different combos at different times.


The girls

The boys

What are we watching!



Strictly fans.

preparing...

finished!   

Buckets ready
 and when Kenneth arrived...
woolly hats and Christmas jumpers

Engrossed

Brotherly love.


and two of my very favourites...

going for a stroll

well earned doughnuts


extended sojourn in Canada


Yep, that is how you spell the Canadian town, our son, Gordon and family stay in. We spent the last three months visiting them in Squamish and getting to know our grandchildren... and surprise, surprise I had no time to write the blog! Too busy enjoying the many exploits and adventures of the Canadian lifestyle.

 Now back a week and well recovered from jet lag, I thought an overview of our time away was worth documenting even if just for my own recall...

First of all though, Andy and I would like to wish everyone a healthy, happy and peaceful 2022. 

                                                  ......................................................

 Before we get to the story telling, here's photos of what the grandkids get up to - every picture does tell its own story...

Taekwando
Goggles essential



So many photos to choose from. Be grateful that the photofest is limited to the few that reflect the versatility of our granchildren.

As you can tell, we are so proud. 

Murphy loves swimming and has now added being a ninja warrior to his repertoire. 

However sledging in a basin is just being practical and using what first comes to hand, especially as Rosie has borrowed his snowboard!

 

Getting ready for acting class!
Now it's Rosie's turn to charm with her photos. Here she is ready to cast a spell...




Or maybe her bedside manner will help you feel better. Either way she will certainly brighten up your day.

It was a wonderful experience, becoming involved in their day to day activities. Getting to hear what happened at school or day care and joining them for Halloween was a real "treat"!

Our visit was to include not just Halloweeen but also Christmas and New Year. We celebrated Thanksgiving, Canada style, as soon as we arrived and Gordon and Lianne even hosted a 70th birthday party!

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We experienced the novelty of a Pumpkin Patch complete with rabbits, goats and horses. A highlight of this visit was Nonna (me) falling face down in the mud, and me dubbing myself as the "Goat Whisperer". (video available by special request)

Previously, when visiting Canada it has been spring or summer so a winter visit was always going to be a bit different for us. We just didn't know how different!

First of all, Squamish can rival Scotland for its amount of rain... and this year was especially wet with torrential rain and floods prevalent for most of November, however in December, the weather became chillier and the rain turned to snow - lots and lots of snow!

 However as Billy Connelly is often quoted as saying "there is no such thing as bad weather only the wrong clothes!"

I wonder what he would think of the following weather forecast for our planned Christmas and New Year festivities.

 

We were certainly going to have a White Christmas...




There is so much to tell about our three month adventure, I will save some stories for my next blog...

However, I will finish on what constitutes a "Date Night", when you are young and in lurve and then later on, much later on, but of course still in love!

The Young Ones.
 

 

 

 

The not so young ones!