Mom & Dad's 29th Anniversary Weekend Getaway - Montreal

St. Joseph's Oratory - Sunday, August 14th ~ the day of their Anniversary

In front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Old MontrealCafe in Old Montreal

At the IMAX Theater in the Science Centre

One of the many artists in Old Montreal

City Hall at night

The Clock Tower Lighthouse which was closed for reno's after they walked MILES to get there.... so said Mom.....

For their Anniversary dinner, Mom and Dad went to Vieux Port Steakhouse on St. Paul Street in Old Montreal. The restaurant was four stories high (indoors) and an outside patio on the street. The food was great! Mom said you get more for your money in the restaurants there, always a plus!

Cousins!

My cousins Tabitha and Giardana stayed for a visit after the anniversary party on the 7th. They stayed for a whole week! It was really nice to be able to spend this time with them. We don't see them much.... they live near Toronto. This picture of the three of us was taken one day before I went to work - Uncle Clare was taking them out on the boat!
One afternoon I took the girls to Pakenham. I needed to buy some chicken feed (yes, I have chickens again... that's another post) I also just wanted to show them the sights! We had fries at The Chip Wagon and on our way out of town we had ice cream at Scoops.... they were not starved! We had a wonderful afternoon together :)
Giardana at the river
Tabitha exploring

Sisters! Bears that Erin "could not afford to buy for them" at the General store. :)Uncle Clare took them out on the boat on Friday morning. It sounded like they had a great time!

It was a joy to have you girls.... you need to come back very soon!

Welcome Eloise Marie!

Dear friends of ours, Jenny and Jeremie have become parents for the first time! Little Eloise Marie was born on August 11, 2011 - weighing in at 7 lbs 5 ounces! Congratulations!

Jenny had a baby shower a few days before Eloise arrived. Most of her family could be there which was nice. Here she is wearing the hat.
Jeremie's sister and her little baby girl were there.

Nana and Papa's 50th Wedding Anniversary

On Friday August 6th my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary! On Saturday (the 7th) we had a large party for them with almost all of the family and some close friends in attendance. There was about 78 in total people there. We had a professional photographer taking pictures. The pictures should be to us by next week - for now here is a picture of my grandparents giving their speech!

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

- Colossians 3:14

29th

Happy 29th Wedding Anniversary to my wonderful parents! I love you.

"Never despise meager beginnings"

- The Love Comes Softly Series

Natalie and Nate

On Friday July 15th my cousin Natalie and Nate became engaged. Nate drove 15 hours to surprise the love of his life with a ring and a question. Sounds like true love? It is.
Congratulations ! ! !

Josh Groban Staight To You Tour Ottawa!

This past Friday Mom and I went to see Josh Groban in concert in Ottawa. We had a wonderful time together. Thank you Daddy for buying us the tickets!

We had a great view. This picture taken with hardly any zoom

I have listened to most of his music and video clips and I thought it's the best I have ever heard him sing

He played the piano and drums throughout the concert - He has an amazing band.

The back stage..... still a great view!

Journey to The Father 2011

On July 15th - 17th, I went to Journey to The Father near Cornwall, Ontario. I was able to go with two friends from our church, Julia and Victoria. We had a great time! Part way to Cornwall we met up with our chaperon and then from her house we drove to meet the bus that would take us the rest of the way. Journey to The Father is a Catholic retreat. This is its 11th year! There has been up to 550 people there for this weekend retreat. It was a wonderful experience. I could really feel God at work in this place. I highly recommend looking into it.

The church that was here burned down many years ago and is now a historic site. They have since rebuilt a new church next to it. The old church is called "The Ruins"
Victoria & Julia

Our chaperon Leslie

Eating lunch

Our view from the lunch tables

Skits

With my friend Rosemary

Music Saturday morning in the ruins

self portrait!!

the view from the front... it's pretty big!

Everyone from our bus

The theme of the weekend was -

Patient, Kind and Merciful