A Night at the Opera .... house

It is not very often I get to use a Queen song reference in the title of a blog.

Last night Laura took me to the Kennedy Center to see the National Ballet of Canada perform their Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was wonderful. I had never been to the Kennedy Center so just being in the Opera House was wonderful. The ceiling is beautiful. Laura had gotten us front row seats in one of the best boxes so we had a fantastic view of the performance. When I checked the playbill I found out that the Artistic Director was Karen Kain, one of Canada's most famous, if not the most famous, ballet dancers. I think it showed in the performance. Their interpretation of Wonderland was fabulous - truly no dialogue needed to fully understand the story. The dancing of course was fabulous. It was a wonderful night and I give Laura all the thanks for that.

Thank you sweety

Some pictures for you to enjoy

Some pics from my last trip

This week I was in Vancouver for a day and a half - almost spent as much time flying and in airports. Anyway I did grab a couple of shots that I thought you would like to see.

Pictures from Laura's Birthday Weekend

Just a few pictures. I would have taken a picture of her cake but it is half-eaten now.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Laura pointed out to me that today is the 13th day of 2013. In my mind that is the luckiest day as it is her birthday.

Yesterday, what we now call Laura's Australian birthday, we went to Barrel Oak Winery somewhere we will go every now and then to enjoy a glass of wine and to just relax. Well yesterday was a bit different as I had worked with the people at the winery to have a Barrel Membership set up and ready for Laura. She was quite surprised and happy. We spent the afternoon having a personal tour of the barrel room with one of the vintners, had a picnic and some nice wine. It was especially nice that it was a warm sunny day and we could sit outside.

Today the girls and I will celebrate with Laura at one of her favorite restaurants in Georgetown ... and we may have some other surprises for her too.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Happy Birthday Sammy!!!!

So we were thinking about this yesterday - Sam is almost finished being a teenager. Little Sammy. Karate Champion. The kid who can save money for anything. Someone who makes everyone smile - an all-around goof.

You have grown up so much over the last couple of years. Now you have your drivers license. Getting ready to head into Senior year. I could say that I will miss all the little things that you would do when you were young but frankly you still do lots of them and that is what makes you Sammy. It is also what makes everyone smile around you.

We hope you have a great day today and have all kinds of fun.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

For those that missed it - a couple of pics from bowling with Sammy for her birthday

A Pause to Reflect

Tree of Life... Haiti 2010

2012 has ended and today is the first day I actually have a clear enough head to think about what 2012 brought.

There were some big things - We had a child turn 20, and move to her own place not college-related; we had our youngest get her drivers license; and a second child started her college years. When I sit back I realize that these are big things. Thankfully it appears all have worked out so far and of course we will do everything we can to make sure that they all have the support they need.

Myself and Laura had some fun in 2012. We bought a new Jeep and used it to transport our kayaks to go paddling with each other, with the girls or just for some quiet time and exercise alone. The new Jeep also did some traveling - a trip to Ottawa on business but also to bring some things to Martika for her new place; and a wonderful trip to Gatlinburg, TN. Laura had said she visited the area as a child and also wanted to have the opportunity to stay in one of the nice chalets in the mountains - so we did and had a wonderful week visiting the Great Smoky Mountains.

Laura had some wonderful success at work, getting her first patent award and having CareHPV pass SFDA testing thereby allowing it to be delivered in many countries where it is desperately needed.

I had a good year running - a couple of half marathons along with the 40th running of the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. In all cases getting better each time. Looking forward to more running in 2013.

The year did have some sad moments. In January a colleague of Laura's, John Sellors, passed away. John was one of the people that worked with Laura in the early years of Care. Also in January, Robbie, Laura's step-mom, passed away. Needless to say it was a long month. The year also ended with a sad note when Nan Bowering, the girls' maternal great-grandmother passed away. A year of some significant loss but I know all will be remembered fondly.

2012 also had some wonderful celebrations, Kris's graduation from high school and her start of college, our second anniversary and another Step-Mom Saturday. I know 2013 will continue to bring more cause for celebration and joy and any challenges along the way will be faced head-on.

For those that are wondering ... I included the picture of the Tree of Life since it is one that was given Laura by the women of Haiti. It shows their love and respect for her but also shows their resilience and their power to overcome. I think these are qualities that should be respected and remembered and I think the start of a new year is an excellent time to think about these things.

We hope you and your family have a prosperous 2013. Make time for the ones you love and whenever you can do the things that you can to help those that need the extra help.

Happy New Year!!!