Simon's First Birthday!!! Cake, Crumbs, and Chaos HERE!

Happy August Birthdays you two

miracle surprise dream orange kitty born unto Em moving day morning

So, a kitty we kept from last year's litter was acting all grown up this spring and like the good, responsible, ex-southern manitoban country folk with a white-trash twist we are, we made a appointment to get her spayed. But then we forgot all about it. And then we kept reminding each other to re-make it. And it was during that time when the kitty's tummy began to swell and there were less screaming cat noises in the bushes reminding us to phone the vet, that Steve had a funny little dream. Baby kitties frolicing in a field. Big whoop, well, get this: a furry fluffy foo-foo calender style orange kitty pounces up from behind the rest! So, Steve tells me about his "silly" dream and we just kind of decide to put off fixing her and her obvious load. And why should this silly dream prevent us from not allowing more kitties to enter this cruel world? Because for years we have heard about how much Emily loves her cats, but "if only i had an orange one". So, being too busy to call vets and transport prego cats during our packing and moving month, we left it. And sure enough, moving day morning, little striped babies all over the upstairs. We carefully bundled them all in a big kennel with mama cat and kept loading our u-haul while they waited in the carport. Many hours after the trio of stripeys had been born, Steve and Tommy were having a hamburger in the carport and shooting the breeze beside the kennel when Steve started shaking his head and writing off the orange kitty dream (not that he had really thought more than twice about it in the first place). Just then, while sunlight gently flooded the kennel, the most spectacular orange fur popped out and it was then that Steve said "cool." and then told me and I cried and danced for joy!!! What about Emily?! She was at her best friend's house and I decided that orange kitty's purpose was to take the edge off the difficult good-bye they would have, so I waited until after that event to show her that.......are ya ready for the punch line of this rambling story, are ya?.....to show her thaaaaat....dreams really do come true.

(That was her clever Great-Grandma's response, by the way)

The End

Shyanne and Peyton

niece and nephew for me

also arrived on my island to stay, on moving day

honeymooners pat and susie-love them

a trippy walk on the docks

Best Friends for 3 years

Come back soon Cheyenne

holy crap, i have 3 kids!

(still hasn't hit me)

Simon John Franklin and the man who started it all...well, not really...what?

Um, hey gorgeous, you're distracting me from the peach tree I wanted to document. Yeah you there, you mind moving to the left?

I need to photoshop some white wings on that last one...i love you Thomas the Bruce.

more to come...

My beautiful baby turns one later this month. He loves it when the sun shines on the floor at a certain time each day. He sits on his bright warm spot and alerts us to his discovery with loud Goo's. Amazing how each of our children display personalities that are %100 their own. What made me think one would ever be the same as the other?
Oh, Simon.

Hi!


Here's something a little less disturbing than that last photo to look at while I take yet another break from my blog.


I just want to say that I miss "us"! The little comments and emails my blog stirred up always made my day. But our computer is all bunged up and I don't even have the patience to turn it on anymore. By fall, I'll have a little punkie in Grade 3, some free time and hopefully by then we'll be enjoying the high-speed Internet we're paying for.


Until then, we're taking millions of photos as always and we'll be straightening out our new home and life here in Qualicum Beach. Not a day passes without me feeling like a child-hood dream has come true for me living here. I feel this new wonder for God's tender-heartedness. But, not a day passes without me feeling like the challenges of having 3 kids is way beyond me. The good moments really are out of this world even when not compared with the miserable ones. The name "Coasting" applies again but I'll need a new slogan thingy because now we're not living at as much of a dead end anymore, geographically speaking . I'll be back to change it soon.

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A certain 8 1/2 month old took their first steps yesterday. Bring it on Simon. Show your bro that you're not some boring lump of slobber that stole his mommy.

Daddy Daughter fishing season started again last night. Wish them luck. Maybe this year they'll catch something legal and I'll be allowed to post the photos!

click for twinkle buddy

click for muffin man

Thanks for the birthday shirt Uncle Harold!

Yes we need vids of Em on here but this 8 year old doesn't favor the camera in her face so be patient.

Tommy look'n seriously cool at our latest running and rolling around the grass hang-out.

Hey, I know that kid!

Remind me to ask Santa for a new scanner.

i

love

you

little

boy.

To my family and friends who don't know Jeremy Hiebert, as you're about to see, he is far too nice. He recycled this blog into one awesome post today. Love it, thanks Jer!

Heaven will probably be gun-free, so top-up now!


Cougar Salvo 07 kept me very busy and very interested and very cold for a week.






Thanks to 39th Brigade for all the guns and all the fun.
The lady in the one pic is the Lt. Governor of BC. Check out her website for some more pics.
Also, "Truth, Duty, Valour" will be doing a show on the exercise, (I got some screen time... famous!) check it out this June.
Rock on.
Stv.

PS. Cougar Salvo 07 was a three-block-war exercise; peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and warmaking. The main goal was to flush out the insurgents while promoting good relations with regular village folk. The ex involved the Vanc. P.D., RCMP, Vanc. ERT, Navy, Air Force, 39th Brigade (Army), and the Canadian Rangers!
Far out.
Special thanks to my lovely wife for herding the wee ones for a week while I played in the big sandbox!