Birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's

On Dec 24th we had a birthday party for Madelynne and Grandma.  This time Madelynne thoroughly enjoyed herself!  Once I figure out how to load video's, you'll see just how much she loved it!   Her brothers were quite the helpers.... :) She loved the attention, the cake, the wrapping paper and the presents!  She LOVES Timmy from Timmy Time, so that is who is on her cake.  When she see's her stuffed Timmy, she says "baaahhhh!"  Not what you normally see on a one year olds cake, but it suited her!  :)  Grandma's cake was skor bar triffle with a flower in it :)

 

Madelynne's First Birthday

Dec 17, 2010
She was one sick girl, poor baby!  So she wasn't really into it, just made a quick cake knowing the real one would be a week later.  At least when she dug into the cake she had a smile on her face!  She's such a sweetheart, even when sick!

Just like 39 minutes...

Under water.

Ok, you can laugh now... Dad's joke, we'd hear it every year!!

We love you so much!

Seriously now :)

I have the best sister ever, I wish I could celebrate her 37th with her this year!
Have an ultra special day this year, may you be spoilt by one and all!  I love you heaps sis!

The Woman I Call Sister
by Marissa Gertmenian


The woman I call sister
Is someone who is there
The woman I call sister
Is someone who always cares.

The woman I call sister
Can make me smile when times are blue
The woman I call sister
Is someone very true.

The woman I call sister
By choice, is my best friend
The woman I call sister
Will be there till the end.

The woman I call sister
Is the blessing from God above
The woman I call sister
Is the sister that I'll always love.
  

Dec 25 means... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST SISTER!

Our baby is 1!

 Wow, is it for real?!!!  Our sweet pea / sweetie pie / dolly / pumpkin / princess Madelynne Elena is ONE YEAR OLD today!  The poor dear is miserable with a cold, yet smiles through it all!

Just remembering a year ago, so many emotions!  
-Going into labor 2.5 weeks early (okay fine - guess baby is ready!)
-needing an emergency C due to no amniotic fluid (no fluid - weird - water didn't brake)
-hearing "it's a GIRL!" (YAY! How special!) 
-Dr telling me the cord was wrapped around her neck once (not what I wanted to hear because of Esmee...)
-Dr telling me that there was a "mass" on her arm and not to be alarmed (are you kidding? completely scared out of my wits now)  
-getting to hold Madelynne for the first time and falling deeper in love with the baby I'd come to know the last 9 months (tears, happiness, seeing how beautiful she was)
-seeing the "mass" for the first time (choke)
-watching Daddy bond with his baby girl (choke - so sweet)
-showing Madelynne off to her brothers (choke - 2 excited boys!)
etc.

And so much has happened since these moments.  To keep a long story short, Madelynne is thriving in every way, no tumors have come back and we'll continue to monitor it with MRI's every 6 months until she's about 5 years old when the Drs and us would feel comfortable.

Madelynne you are an absolute blessing to our family, we love you soooo soooo much!!!

The Party in Pictures!

The boys had a fantastic birthday at Pump It Up!  It was so nice to just show up with cake and food, and leave without cleaning up!  A good time was had by all, including the parents!

Thank you for sharing the celebration

And being part of our special day!

Thank you for being a great friend

In every possible way!

 

One of my favorite pictures!

little musicians

On Sunday, Dec 5th, we stayed at Russ and Andrea's for lunch after meeting.  They got this picture of Trevin and Madelynne at the piano.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  Now to just video tape it one day.  Especially to catch Madelynne as she wiggles her bottom as she plays. :) 

Thankful on Turkey Day

Thursday, Nov 26 to Friday, Nov 27
We spent Thanksgiving with Ruben's family at his parents house in Kenedy, TX.  It was a lovely turkey dinner, then we had another early family birthday party for the boys.  Texas lost to A&M :( but there's always next year!  I attempted to get up early for Black Friday sales, have experts Christy and Marisa show me how it's done, but yet again I didn't get up at 4AM!  Maybe next year.  Thank-you Mary and Carlos for another special Thanksgiving!

FIVE!!!

Dec 2, 2010

I'm finding it hard to believe the boys are already 5!  How time has flown, yet wow, what a crazy 5 years it has been!  We've loved every moment, even the sleepless/exhausting/draining moments, but you forget all that as they are such precious boys!  We have loved watching the twin bond build and build, it's amazing.  I will try to post things about each one that makes them unique.  
Mason and Chase, we are so blessed to have you, we love you so much!  Happy 5th Birthday!

Granny Lewis

On November 9th, 2010, our dear Granny Mary Lewis passed away.  She was 94 years old.  Granny and Granddad embraced the gospel in 1945, and because of it we have so so much to be thankful for and now accountable for.  I'll miss our fits of giggles and remember the songs she used to sing to us, stories told and one-liners!  She will always have a special place in our hearts.  A word to describe Granny is regal, but she wouldn't like that as she was so humble.  Also graceful, loving and had unfeigned faith.  There is so much more I could write, I will another day, but just wanted to add this now.  We took 2 weeks off and drove up to the funeral.  2000 miles each way!!!  It was so nice to be with the family and extended family.  I love you all!

Oct 2004

July 2010

See these links too:

Our visit in July 2010 with Granny 

Duggan

Musings about Ireland - Nationality's

2 things I thought interesting.  

First:  I never noticed until our trip when in a different country- that when you ask a Texan where they are from, they say Texas.  If you asked a person for Oregon or Montana, they'd say the United States or America.  Quite interesting and so not surprising eh!! (Hey I can type this and dig on Texans cause I married one!)

Second: 6 times with shop keepers this happened, and I was soooo impressed!
Shop keeper: Where are you from?
Lori: Texas, United States
Shop keeper: But you do not sound like an American, I thought you were Canadian.
Lori: I am Canadian!
I could just about hug them!  They get lots of tourists so I guess they pay attention to accents!  Very very rarely do I get asked if I'm a Canadian here in Texas.  Maybe just maybe if they hear me say "again" or "eh".  I'll never forget the driver instructor in California when I had to take a driving test there for a CA license.  He asked which side of the road we drove on in Canada.  I think he was even confused as to where it was.

I just really really appreciate people who know a bit more about other countries than just their own!

Deep thoughts

I'll try to keep this short.  If you are pregnant or have a newborn, please don't read this! Serious.


This weekend a mother, father, siblings and extended family are laying to rest their 2 month old baby.  I can not stop thinking about it.  It brings up memories like it was yesterday even though it's been over 2 years.


Something I couldn't talk about then.  As a parent, you never think for a baby or child that you would have to choose a burial plot and where... what makes the most sense for the future... and do we buy plots next to the little one for oursleves, etc etc.  You never think you will be looking at tiny caskets and picking one out for your child to lay in forever.  You never think you will be putting together a memorial/funeral/burial.  It's not supposed to happen in youth, but it does.  And because it does, I cannot be thankful enough for a comforting God that through all the gut wrenching pain emotionally and physically, he does comfort and give you peace.


As I rock Madelynne to sleep whether it be nap time or bed time, I look up at the shelf and see Esmee's photo and the blanket sitting there that she was wrapped in for the few precious precious hours that I got to hold her.  I feel very selfish as I look at Esmee's picture because I want them both, here, with me, now.  My heart still aches for Esmee.  But then at night I thank God again for the short time I knew Esmee and that she is always ours, always loved, never replaced and such a huge part of our family still.  And thank God that she brought Heaven closer to us.  I love that every day when I pray to God, I feel close to Esmee as she is with Him in Heaven.


So as I think of this precious family saying good-bye, I know they will feel God's love, comfort, tender care and peace wrapped around them, even in the pain.  I want to let them know my heart goes out to them 100% right now.  My heart aches for what they are going through, and I am praying for them.

Musings about Ireland - Roads

The roads... well I like the North American roads better!  But these have character.  Unless you are on the 4 lane motorway, the roads are hurting.  And narrow.  Most rural roads are only fit for 1 car, but are considered a 2 lane road. 
People park where ever, even if it now blocks a lane of traffic, you just drive around when you can!  
Bridges tend to be one lane when not in the city.
Roundabouts seem to be preferred over traffic lights.  Galway is a city of roundabouts.  It's especially fun when there are super big roundabouts with traffics lights in them!  I think we can say we concurred the roundabouts, they even became fun!  Keeps you alert.
No texting or talking on a mobile while driving.  On the main roads, they have a side lane to pull over if you get a call.  I loved this.  Cause really, how attentive are we when texting and driving?  Not very.  And with the roads there that are windy and narrow, it's just plain not safe!  
The roads are bumpy and windy!  I know it has to do with economy, not able to fix the roads, but even the roads that get fixed, the big tour buses come along in drooves and you get a bumpy new road!
The boys threw up a few times!  We soon becamed prepared in the car with bags and paper towels just in case!  The boys became very careful to not look down when driving now, it was cute :) but I think that was one of the main reasons why Mason wanted to go back to Texas!  We definately do not eat while moving in the car! 
Very common to share the road with a tractor, be it a rural road or motorway.  We don't get to see this much living in the city so the boys thought that was great! 
I wish we got a picture of one sign.  It said "temporary dip ahead" but it was a permanent style sign!  So temporary may mean quite a few years! 
On the topic of roads, the absense of trucks hit us at first!  I think we saw 5 trucks total that have a "nose"!  Like our typical trucks.  They have flat nosed ones out on farms, but otherwise it's cars, SUV's and people movers (vans). 
I guess the last big thing about the roads is the side they drive on!!  We did ok, it was just in parking lots that I had the biggest problem remembering!


Hello Mr. Blue Tractor!



2 lane main road through downtown Athenry.



The road heading towards our house,
I scraped the bushes on the left soooo many times as it narrows at the corner!




Just an extra view from the road picture on our way home.  Loved the stone walls/fences.



Musings about Ireland - People

People are super friendly, everyone is.  
They are quick to help, don't expect tips.
When out for a walk, everyone you meet says hello, it's nice.

I really enjoyed the people, perhaps I can go out on a limb and say it's the friendliest country I've been too.  (I've been to many.)  The Lewis brothers (my dad and uncles) are super friendly, and I believe it's the Irish in them, not the English!  :)

Musings about Ireland - Toilets

Toilets... the system is old.  Hey, it's an old country!  (This is not just Ireland!)  A lot of times when you go to use a toilet, it's not flushed!  The tank takes a long time to fill.  So unless you hang out in the bathroom for 30 minutes, you end up not flushing yourself!  You get used to flushing first :)  Thankfully the toilets at our house didn't take too long!  But a lot of older houses and shops, well, you just deal with it!
 

Musings about Ireland - Houses

As an architectural junky, I love looking at houses, wishing I could knock on the front door and ask for a tour of certain ones.  This remained true in Ireland.  I loved looking at all the neat houses, and the yards were well kept at all times too.  The window flower baskets added the sweet pretty touch!  It was common to have a sun room sticking off to the side of the house.  I really liked that idea.  Also common to have a bright colored front door - LOVED that!
Within the houses, every room has a door (yes that includes the kitchen and living and dining) so that you can heat up individual rooms.  No central heating that I saw.  We could leave the windows open all the time.  The sea air was lovely!
The house pictures below are random ones on the way to our house.  All taken while driving by so quality isn't the best!  Enjoy!

Nicola and Abby

Friday, Oct 15

As Julie and Laura drove away, Nicola and Abby drove up!  Nicola kindly let us use their cot (aka crib), exersaucer, toys, etc!  It was a lifesaver, Madelynne slept well in it, where as a playpen she would not!  We packed up all the baby things in their car, and then went to one more place Ruben was telling me all about that I would love!  Talk about checking things out last minute!  It's the g hotel in Galway.  It's strange, it's fun, it's colorful, and it was the pink room that drew me to the hotel!  It was a very tastey lunch!
Thanks again Nicola and Mervyn for letting us use all the baby goods, and we loved our playdates with Abby.  Come see us!!!!



Nicola and Abby




Nothing like letting your kids play on the floor of a posh hotel!  Hey, it was a cool rug, can't blame the kids!





Our lunch spot in the Pink room.



One last cup of tea... for now!

Friday, Oct 15
In the morning, Julie and Laura stopped by for a quick cup of tea and chat.  We just couldn't say good-bye earlier in the week, (sniff sniff!) so we were sure glad they came by one last time!  Writing now a couple weeks later, these 2 special ladies are missed by all in this house!  Chase constantly says he wants to go back to Ireland because he misses the sister workers!  He told me today that the workers are waiting at the airport for us wondering where we are, and if we don't get there quickly, they are going to leave! 
Thanks Aunty Laura and Aunty Julie for the encouragement you've been to us and for the great work that you (any many others) lovingly do.  The words of #405 come to mind.  You will always have a special place in our hearts!


Julie, Laura ~ Mason, Chase



My silly helpers!

Thursday, Oct 14

Eoghan

Thursday, Oct 14
Time in Ireland is disappearing!  It was a day of packing, and that included the laptop!  The boys gave Eoghan some birthday presents and then his mom organized a quick birthday supper for the boys.  Eoghan turned 6 two days after we left.  They loved it, they still miss their buddy Eoghan whom they almost played with everyday.  I'll venture to say he misses them too!  (FYI, this is the boy we thought was named Jake for the first 6 weeks or so!)




 

Then we quickly went to check out a house one of Ruben's employee's rented.  We almost choose it, but due to location and being in the country, it scared me a bit especially since I'd have no vehicle, has a creek running thru it's 1  property and neighbors not so close by!  But boy was it a sweet house!

Stove that's half electric and half oil.

Great art.

Fancy front entry.

Best I could do for an outside pic.

Chase having fun with the camera taking pics of Mason.

Chase on piano, Mike on guitar!

Living room.