Our Little Bear

About to crawl any day now...

A model in the making

Daddy's Boy

Eat, Spa, and Be Merry

The girls lived it up today starting with a Sunday brunch buffet, followed by a trip to the spa, and topped all off with a nice family dinner. Talk about spoiled! Thanks to the hubbies for taking care of the kids and for letting us go have some girly fun.

The brunch was overwhelming with how much food they had. A diet is definitely calling my name after this weekend.

The spa at The Rosseau Marriot.

The location, atmosphere, and amenities were great, but I was a little disappointed with the customer service. I rarely say anything and I said something! And their response was not satisfactory whatsoever but I hope they strive to do better in the future. Having experienced a couple different spas since leaving the ones I've worked for has made me so thankful for my former employers. I've realized that Glen Ivy and the Four Seasons are leaders in the industry and that they definitely set the standard for an excellent spa experience that others should emulate.

Me, my brother-in-law's girlfriend, Ive, Sarah Hales, and my mother-in-law Alison. I love spending time with these ladies.

Their tea selection was good

The view was beautiful

Hugs and kisses at dinner

Muskoka Revisited

For Labor Day weekend, my father-in-law is treating our family along with the Hales family to a getaway back at Deerhurst in Muskoka. It has been wonderful spending time together and enjoying one another's company. Thank you Dad for all your generosity and kindness, we are so thankful for all this but especially for you!

The sunshines of my life

Holding his own...

The Halesies!

With Grandma and Grandpa Sylvester and Berkeley

Now for you non-Canadians, Swiss Chalet is one of those staple places like Tim Horton's. They are known for their roast chicken and gravy and house salad and dressing. Can you tell what Jet wanted for dinner?

Their classic dinner combo

Harvest Durham Soft Launch

When Matt and his guy BFF, Ian Hales, came out to Master's Seminary, it was with the goal of somehow using what they would learn to come back to Canada to serve the people here in whatever capacity the Lord saw fit. Well, a dream come true is happening where Ian will head up a church plant as our senior pastor in the region where the boys grew up and where Matt will serve on a volunteer basis functioning in a few different roles. This is such an exciting event, one which they and many people in the area have been looking forward to - to start a church that exalts the Lord and His word above all else. The official launch date for Harvest Durham is Sept. 19th, with a couple soft launches before then. If you think of it, please pray for us, that the Lord will empower us to be faithful to love and obey Him as we seek to serve each other and the community by preaching and living out the Truth. We are so excited for what the Lord has done and will do in and through this church - to God be all the glory!

We will be meeting in this high school; we are so thankful for such a nice facility

The Next Generation.

There are already 6 born, with 3 more on the way!

Setting up - everything went so well and looked so nice, go team!

Ian throwing it down!

Our awesome launch team!

The BFFs - back together again and couldn't be any happier

And to finish off this post, some pics of Monkey's bath hairdos!

The 'Hawk

The Don King

The Uni

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie

Better than anything I could ever cook up...

Jet's first time eating sweet potato - "He likes it Mikey!"

My sister-in-law (thanks Tara!) got Jet this outfit before he was even born. Unfortunately I don't think it will fit him when it's actually Halloween time so needless to say, Jet's kicking off the Halloween festivities now.

I could barely get the beanie on, and I couldn't even leave it on for long since I think it was cutting off the circulation around his head. Our big little boy!

Our little Pumpkin

Two Years Ago...

I married the man of my dreams. I am constantly in awe of the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with the most amazing and handsomest man I know and that he actually chose me, me!, to be his bride. What a privilege it is to live life side by side with you Baby, waking up next to you each morning is like waking up to Christmas. Thank you for all the ways you serve me and show me love, you model to me the love that Christ has for the Church and you motivate me to strive harder after Him. Thank you for being you and for bringing so much joy into my life - I respect and admire you most ardently and I love, love, love you with my entire heart. May we look forward to celebrating many, many more anniversaries to come!

Bracebridge

It was finally time to head back home today after an absolutely fabulous 2 day getaway. On our way back we stopped in Bracebridge, a cute little Muskoka town, and did some window shopping. I loved this area, so quaint and charming and I am looking forward to visiting again in the future.

I love old buildings, how cool would it be to have this as your public library?

A tribute to the Canadian soldiers who fought in WWII in Bracebridge's local park. It was funny, on the flight back to Toronto from Vancouver, I ended up meeting an actor who was one of the main soldiers in movies like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Flag of our Fathers," which was so cool since Matt and I love watching those kinds of movies. He was telling me about the importance of Canada's role in the war and how working in those films was so great since he had relatives who actually fought in it. The history surrounding WWII is so fascinating and I am definitely always wanting to learn more about it.

Strolling down the main street

I absolutely loved this store. They had the coolest antique items, everything from old authentic golf clubs to baking ware, I was so impressed with their vintage collection.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to be a millionaire just so I could buy cool decor stuff like this for a house.

This place is called "Marty's World Famous Cafe" and it's apparently their butter tarts that put them on the map. The place inside was so cute and of course we had to try one of their tarts!

I don't even want to know the calorie count for this