Late November

Here are a few pictures from our first American Thanksgiving weekend. We went to a potluck dinner with some other postdocs and it was a lot of fun. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at home for the most part.

Playing while waiting for Thanksgiving morning pancakes

Cleaning up the yard

Making sugar cookies with Dad after church

39 weeks and counting!

The kids are excited about the baby too. Bronwen keeps asking when the baby is going to be born. When asked what we should name him or her she always says, "Bezelia". A creative choice?

We are excited to see what this little one makes his or her appearance.. any day now!

Finally, an update

Here we are in Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.. we've been here for about 2.5 months. Lots of change but things are good! I'll post some more thoughts soon, but first.. some pictures! Our first few weeks here, and a house tour. To be honest I haven't really taken out the 'big' camera much.. I need to work on that!

This is one of the first weekends we lived here.. went down to the WHOI Exhibit Centre where they have lots of fun ocean-related things to look at. Here are Brian and John inside a replica of ALVIN, the 3-man mini submarine that has become quite famous!

Our little explorer

          

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium... the touch tank was a big hit.

Exploring the lighthouse on Nobska Point

Real sandy beaches here!

Fast forward to October and November..

I had a surprise mini baby shower for a new friend of mine here.. it was a lot of fun.

3 out of 4 pregnant ladies..

And now for the house tour.. here is our lovely little home on Gifford St. Notice the wood pile.. there was a dead tree in the yard that was cut down the day before we moved in. Brian split and stacked all the wood for future use in our fireplace and firepit. I want to plant flowers in the little flower boxes underneath the front windows next summer.

Our yard is pretty big... it wraps all around the house and quite far off to one side.

Brand new deck off the dining room/kitchen

The backyard needs a bit of work.. but we have a fire pit. And hopefully a garden next summer!

Back of the house. The walk-in basement is great for storing bikes and strollers.

When you come in the house, there are stairs right by the front door. This is the upstairs bathroom at the top of the stairs.

Our room, I love the skylight. We can see the stars at night, they are pretty amazing here as we are not really in the big city.

The 'baby corner' of our room.

The second bedroom upstairs is the kids' room. This is Bronwen's bed.

And John's bed on the opposite side.

When you come in the front door the living room is on the right.

There's our fireplace! Lots of windows everywhere and we get a lot of natural light.The house is very cozy too.

Kitchen attached to the living room.

Our bright and sunny eating area

Main floor bathroom

The third bedroom is downstairs and it is split in half by French doors.. one side is the playroom shown here. The kids love their little bookshelf..

The other half of the playroom.

The office and guestroom is on the other side, complete with pullout couch.

So that's our house! It's slowly becoming more homey and we are enjoying it here so far. :)

NL to ON in pictures

 

Almost exactly 7 weeks ago we left St. John's on a quiet cloudy Sunday morning and began the first leg of our move to Cape Cod- getting to Ontario. Here are some pictures from that adventure.

A rare nap at the same time... overall they are just catnappers in the car.

First night- camping in Gros Morne National Park. It was a beautiful evening.

Guitar serenading

We did the beautiful Tablelands hike the next morning

Second night- Cheeseman Provincial Park, getting ready to take the ferry to Nova Scotia the next day. No pics from the ferry because I felt too seasick :(.

Beautiful Nova Scotia beaches

Spent a lovely evening with some old St. John's friends in Kentville, NS

We had to stop at That Dutchman's Cheese Farm

Picnic lunch overlooking the Bay of Fundy

"Stay behind the trailer"

Burning off some energy at a park in eastern Ontario

Finally arrived in Grimsby! Spent a great weekend with Mum and Dad B.

Ice cream lessons with Grandpa

Then we flew out to Terrace, BC to spent two weeks with the Claus family
Here is Brian selling Dad Claus's veges at the farmer's market.

Sorting potatoes for market day

Mom celebrated a special birthday!

Claus Family Reunion on the August long weekend

All the kids- John is the youngest at age 2, Jacob and Abi the oldest at age 8

With their goody bags from Auntie Joanne

Playing 'chess' with Uncle Matthew

Day trip to Prince Rupert on the northwest coast

Beautiful Lakelse Lake

Lots of fun with cousins!

River Mist Farm, where Mom and Dad Claus live

Happy birthday John and Grandpa! August 17.

Camping at Macgregor Point with Uncle Harold and Aunt Donna

Meeting up with some old friends from elementary school and their little girls

Lisa's baby shower!

The handsome Samuel

After a great time of visiting and catching up with all of both of our families, which was pretty special- and seeing some friends we haven't seen for a while, doing some camping and relaxing, and a lot of paperwork and organization thrown in at the end-- we are ready to cross the border on Sunday for more adventures!

 ps- there was one more very important event- Chris and Kristin got married! After our BC trip we travelled to Kleefeld, Manitoba for the lovely occasion. Congratulations Mr and Mrs. Chris and Kristin Bergshoeff! It was a beautiful day.

sneak peek of the family pic..almost everyone was happy

 

Not easy to get a family picture, but this is real life. :)

 

My brothers and I.