A Tokarev Visit

We visited Michelle, Alexei, Marisol and Amelie in the summer. Ken should have come with us, but he didn't. It was the first time I'd seen Michelle since her devastating accident just before Christmas in 2023. We'd talked about trying to figure out a visit, but Michelle's recovery from her concussion and brain injury was really difficult and unpredictable. 

Our August visit was so lovely. I'm not sure if we stayed too long and wore Michelle out too much, but it was a lovely visit. Seeing all of our girls together, catching up, it was lovely and perfect. It was a cold day, but Fiona insisted on swimming. She didn't stay in the pool very long, but she accomplished her goal!

During that visit we realized that Alexei had been to our house once and only once at that was in 2016 right after we moved. We penciled in a date for them to come to us, and that date was today! Ken made yummy food for brunch and we had such a yummy meal and such a lovely visit. 

When we planned the visit for November 1st  we kind of forgot that November 1st comes right after October 31st. The girls were all a bit tired from their Halloween festivities, but it was fine. They didn't stay for too long, but we had a soul filling visit like we always do. I just love Michelle and I'm so thankful for that Kindermusik class we took so many years ago in Tottenham.

And just because there's already a post, I took this at the lake near the bottom of Audley and I think it's really pretty.

AND, tonight when I went in to say hi to Fiona, this is what I found... !

I'm thankful for a good life and good friends!

All Things Halloween

Ken and the girls carved pumpkins on the 28th. I love their creativity. I was offered a pumpkin of my own, but I didn't take it. Maybe someday I'll carve my own pumpkin again. 

Fiona changed her mind several times about what she wanted to be. This is her final costume reveal after receiving all of the things that were ordered off of Amazon at the last minute. She makes an amazing Princess Mia from The Princess Diaries.

I was originally going to be a beanie boo with all of the other primary teachers, but when I tried on my piggy onesie I changed my mind. I decided to be eggs and bacon instead, and it was fully the right choice.

Alice was Kim Possible. Alice went to Noraa's birthday party and went trick-or-treating with her friends. 

Fiona and three of her friends went trick-or-treating together. They started at our house with pizza and ended at Aubrey's house. She had a really fun night.

Kate was Waldo. Kate was amazing. She handed out candy all night. 

It was a different Halloween this year. Neither Ken nor I had to accompany trick-or-treaters, and neither Ken nor I had to hand out candy. Our girls are all growing up so much. They are such lovely humans. Ken and I watched TV in the basement, and it was awesome! Halloween being on a Friday night was also the best!

A London EFY Conference for Alice = Wendy Hanging out with Shawn

When the opportunity came up for Alice to attend an EFY conference in London, Ontario I thought, that's fun, I could go see Shawn. But Alice didn't want to go. When it got closer to the weekend Melanee started bugging Alice that she needed to come. And kids needed rides. So Alice was convinced and a weekend with Shawn would actually be realized!

I had a P.A. Day on Friday which worked perfectly for me to be able to be ready and not overwhelmed from a day at work. We had a half day onsite and then a half day off site. I took a little detour on the way home and took some pretty pictures. I picked up Alice after school, brought her home, she and I got ready and then we picked up Limengo, we picked up Alexia and we picked up Alexia's bag, and then we were on our way.

After dropping Alice off at the stake centre I went and checked into the hotel and Shawn came over. There was a Blue Jays play off game - game 1 of the World Series in Toronto. The Jays against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shawn was wearing the shirt that she had gotten for free from Boston Pizza the week before after we went to Chudleighs. We turned the game on and just chatted until it was time to go get Alice. I had promised Alice that she wouldn't have to billet, that we could stay at a hotel. Oh and funny/fun fact, it was Shawn and Sean's wedding anniversary today. 

Shawn came with me to pick up Alice and she had the game on her phone from her sibling group chat and we were in the car together when the Jays exploded and basically won the game - game one. One of the young men from our ward Ryan LaFrance had been at the Rogers Centre part of the group singing the national anthems - totally cool. Shawn has also posted pics in her stories of her Mom ironing during the playoff games, because that's what helps them win! Lina loves baseball and it seems like the playoffs have been keeping her alive. (Shawn's sweet Mama is dying of PSP)

The next morning I got Alice breakfast at Starbucks across the street and took her back to the stake centre, just a little bit late, but it was okay. 

Next stop was mailing Joey's birthday package - his birthday was yesterday, oops. 

Then I went to Shawn's house. It had been too many years since I'd been and I needed to get my bearings for when she's poloing me so I can make sense of where she is! We sat and chatted and just hung out for a bit and it was lovely. 

Our first stop was a quick visit to her parent's place. We popped in and said hi to Fred. Lina was sleeping and no one wanted to wake her up, so we didn't. 

Our next stop was a bakery in Aylmer, Abby Mae's Gluten Free Bakery. We got there and there was no where to sit down and eat. We looked around at all of the fun things and then we asked and found out that they have a second location at a year round farmer's market around the corner called Old Imperial Market. It was so cute! We looked around a bunch, took some pictures and then eventually we picked some things to eat from Abby Mae's.

Our lunch was so yummy. I had a chicken hand pie and Shawn had a galette. They were delicious. After that we picked up a few things - Shawn an adorable wooden gnome to hang on her fence, and I picked up a little thing for everyone - Milo too. (Soap for Ken, a 3D printed dog for Kate, a wooden Christmas tree for Fiona, dog treats for Milo)

Our next stop was a Train Trestle bridge park in St. Thomas. It was so cute.

We drove past the Jumbo the elephant memorial and took a pic out the window. It's rather a sad story, Jumbo died here after being struck by a train.

We stopped off at one more place, a cute store with cute things and I bought a cute little thing for Alice - a ceramic dish that I envision her keeping jewelry things in and then I dropped Shawn back off at the Tiesma-Miller residence. (Side Alice story - I hadn't gotten something for Alice because I thought she might want to pick something, but that made her sad, and so I picked something for her.)

These days Shawn is part of my daily life. Our chats are silly, ridiculous, distracted, long, healing, and an extremely important part of my life. I'm grateful for my dear friend, and I'm grateful that Alice gave me a good excuse to see her in person beyond our yearly Chudleigh's visit. I love you Shawn!

Thanksgiving with a side of broken wrist and play off fun.

We were supposed to have Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, October 12th but we didn't. Andrew ended up getting Blue Jays play off tickets, and couldn't come, and Mom had surgery on the 6th, so it just made sense to postpone, so we did. 

Let's back up. On Monday, September 29th Mom and CJ thought it was a good idea to play tennis. They had barely gotten started when Mom tripped and fell on her wrist. At the emergency department they said her wrist was broken and they put on a big heavy cast.

Andrew went to go visit Mom on the Thursday, Oct 2nd. She was in good spirits.

I went to go see her on Saturday, Oct 4th. It was a really quick trip between conference sessions. Mom was still in very good spirits, even though she had surgery scheduled for Tuesday.  

I went to go visit Mom on the 12th of October - the day we were supposed to celebrate Thanksgiving together. She was doing lots better - the first few days after surgery were rough, but she was still pretty tired and worn out.

Ken had an adventure.

Andrew had tickets for the Sunday, but he also had tickets for the Monday. Ken got to go with Andrew to the game on the Monday. It was awesome. 

On Sunday, October 29th Ken made a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner and Mom and CJ came. Andrew unfortunately got sick, so we had dinner without him. I meant to take a picture at dinner but forgot. Mom keeps improving and healing well, but she's definitely tired.

I'm so thankful for CJ and the very good care he is taking of my Mom. It really sucks that she broke her wrist, but I'm so thankful that she's been healing so well!