The boys...

I'm mostly laughing about the influence a person can have on a child's interests and activities. I guess Brady has been picking up on my never ending search of the perfect house plan. I thought the boys were coloring jeeps and hotwheels this morning, but when Brady came and showed me the house plan he was working on, I had to chuckle, of course only after telling him what an amazing house that was going to be!

When I came across these monstrous marshmallows, we just had to get a bag and try them out. They're ridiculously huge, but since it's one of Brady's favourite 'foods', I thought it would be fun!

It makes for quite a mouthful when you add the smores cookies!

And everything basically ends up squishing out!

And you kinda end up with 2 cookies and a trace of marshmallow left between the cookies!

And really, they're so huge, you really can't get them nice and toasted and gooey all the way through! They were more successful in the 'layer roasting' technique - just peel off the outer layer of toasty goodness, and then stick it back over the fire and roast it again!

Nate's been enjoying life too! Putting his feet up and taking it easy!

And being coy...

And eating corn!

Have yourself a great weekend!

This 'n that

The Harvest Festival was a bit cool and soggy this year, but we were still able to enjoy the parade, some rides, mini donuts and fireworks (the essentials, I suppose!).

This is the first year Nate joined in on the late night fun! The boys loved the fireworks!

There are a few projects going on in the house right now. The boys have always had their own room, but recently we put them together in one room (in an effort to improve night time issues....still working on that!). That freed up an extra room upstairs, so we are turning it into a play room. Here, the boys are working on a project to help contain lego! More pictures to come!

On a totally different note, I've been asked to share some of our experiences through Nate's journey at the Winkler Bible Camp's Women's Retreats, coming up on 2 identical weekends in September. For information, click here. I sure would appreciate your prayers as I 'go back' to that time with my thoughts and emotions, and prepare what I hope will be the right words to share with the ladies.

Good Times!

I got home just about 24 hours ago! What an amazing weekend! There aren't enough words to describe how incredible the time away was - all thanks to my dear friend for all the extra special memories....

Here is just a very small glimpse into some of the adventures we found ourselves on!

I haven't eaten such wonderful food in the most relaxed atmosphere in forever. We're talking about eating at our leisure.....with music playing in the background.....and cloth napkins. Enough said, I think!

A fun day at Granville Island in Vancouver - discovering the talent of so many artisans, and undoubtedly, some of the tastiest food!

This was definitely one of the coolest things. During the Olympics, I remember watching a feature story during the coverage. They told the story of this man who, amazingly, had a talent for balancing rocks. He did this down at the beach with rocks of all shapes and boulders! It was incredible to watch. So imagine my surprise when we happened to meet up with him along our walk by the water. Take a look - it doesn't seem possible!

Here he is teaching the basics with some small stones to an amazed boy! With great detail, explained the physics of it!

A day spent in Fort Langley was full of shops and treats! We enjoyed some incredible macaroons at this very cool Parisian cafe called Little White House - and yes, everything was black and white. Adorably cute!

Some tasting at the Fort Wine Company - red and white cranberry wines and some tasty dessert wines.

And a trip out to White Rock, right on the coast.

But it appears I wasn't the only one having fun! Don quite capably took care of the boys and did a lot of fun things with them - from mini golfing and the dinosaur museum to the world record breaking Harvest for Kids! Here are a few shots Don took during their 'boys time' together!

Okay - some explanation is needed on this one. Don thought it would be really funny to do some photo editing on this one, all on his own. As he played around, he started to like the muscle definition he was giving Brady. He took the liberty of emailing this to me while I was away. It did make me laugh (and groan at the same time!).

A+ Patient!

Nate totally impressed me today! We had a great ride in to Winnipeg right after lunch today (ie. Nate slept!). It meant he was happy and ready for his 2:00 appointment.

For the first time ever, he did great for all the diagnostics! We were just getting ready for the EKG, when Dr. Soni popped in and told the technician (whom we'd never seen before) that she shouldn't worry or push it if Nate starts acting up (Dr. Soni is quite familiar with Nate's response to these tests!). But, like a calm and experienced pro, Nate just lay there with only a little bit of distraction required. Getting his blood pressure even went alright. After a short wait we were ready for the echo. Once again, he lay there and I just talked and played with him through it. He stayed so nice and still and they got some great diagnostics as a result! Maybe a few extra months made the difference, or maybe after Edmonton, he realizes that this is pretty easy!

Here's the summary of our talk with Dr. Soni:

• No change in the leakage, still severe
• The band is not as tight as they want, so not affecting the heart they way they want it too, but the heart is growing so the band will start putting more of a squeeze on that artery as the artery gets larger
• The ventricle (pumping chamber) that is having to do the hard work and compensate for the leakage is not showing signs of distress or failure at this time (yay!)
• The 'electrical system' or cardiac conductive system, responsible for heart's beating and rhythm is good. Complete heart block is an issue with many L-TGA patients.
• She has conferenced with the heart centre in Toronto. They feel that as long as Nate is clinically 'well' we should hold off on redoing the banding, and let him 'grow into' the existing band. If at any point in the near future Nate starts showing signs of heart failure they would go ahead with the surgery right away.

That's it in a nutshell! We are happy that there are no immediate changes needed - it feels like we just now are getting our old Nate back! Also so relieved that there aren't any negative issues right now or new issues - heart, or otherwise - to deal with.

Thanks for praying! Off to pack now! Saying good bye to the boys in the morning before I leave for work, since I'll be driving right to the airport after work. I'll say 'hi' to the mountains from y'all!

Whirlwind!

Literal: We had a great weekend camping with great friends - and are very happy that the crazy whirlwind of a storm that whipped through East Grand Forks (and our campground in particular) only lasted 20 minutes and that we were all kept safe!

Figurative: A whirlwind of busyness, fun and adventure is where I find myself at the epicentre of! A busy night yesterday of unpacking and cleaning up, and busy day at work today, a trip to see Nate's cardiologist in Winnipeg tomorrow....and then after my work day on Thursday I'm taking off to enjoy an extra long weekend....away from home! A weekend initiated and coordinated by a sweet husband, and hosted and planned by my dear friend!

I'll be sure to update the blog after Nate's appointment tomorrow.

Our version of 'Sunday School' on Sunday morning!

One of the best play structures we've ever seen!