Summertime!

Well the summer has just flown by and I have hardly been at the computer at all.

We have been up to quite a bit this summer. Mercy went with us to another wedding this year.

We had a family brunch in May and a birthday party in May, July, and August to go to.

We had a big family reunion on the Neuman side in June and a summer reunion with our travel group. No wonder it has flown by!

Vacation Time!

We had a wonderful trip to visit family in Florida in April. We visited with Warren and Rachel and the cousins Ben and Jason. We all had a ball!!! We took Mercy to the Jungle Island where she imitated the parrot's sound. She enjoyed the petting zoo and even the slide in the playground.

The funniest part of the visit was when Mercy climbed in a china cabinet (top part only on the floor - which was being sold) and did not want to come out. I guess that is why they call it a china cabinet - where the "best china" is kept!!!!

Mercy had her first experience at the beach with the cousins and enjoyed the water and sand and digging and splashing. She really loves the water!!!

We had a great jam session with the boys and Mercy joined in with her tambourine and even played the real drums!!!

We moved on to St. Pete and had a great visit with Aunt Lynnie. We visited the pier and saw the aquarium there and the pelicans. Mercy was fascinated by the fishes.

These are memories we can cherish for a long time!!!

Easter 2008

We had a wonderful Easter this year when we did finally celebrate it. Unfortunately mommy and daddy were down with the flu and couldn't celebrate Easter weekend at all, so we postponed our Easter dinner until the next week.We had my brother and his family over for dinner and Nana and Aunt Sheila. The kids did an Easter egg hunt and had lots of sugar!!!! Mercy did her first Easter egg hunt and did very well. She caught on pretty quickly with collecting eggs in her little basket!! She even had little Easter bunny apparel for the occasion.

We even celebrated Nana's birthday as well.

Just Being Mercy!

Mercy finds the simplest things to play with these days. Her latest is cardboard boxes. She takes rides in them and even put her favourite stuffed giraffe in them!

She also loves to try on hats and play with her favourite rocking horse. We are trying to teach Mercy to smile for pictures and she almost has it right - except her eyes close!!!

Visit with Cousins

We had a great visit (long overdue) with cousins Mike and Lori and Olivia and Ali in February. Mercy enjoyed meeting the girls especially and got along with them right from the start. Mercy even took a shining to Uncle Mike. Lori and Mike have two animals - a cat and a dog. Mercy made herself right at home with their dog Dakota. I think she thought she was her big stuffed dog at home!! The cat didn't even mind having a little girl around.

Aunt Lori made a great dinner we all enjoyed. She out did herself!!! I think the cousins were sad to see us go. They wanted us to leave Mercy with them!!

O Canada!

Well it finally arrived. Mercy is officially a "Canadian Citizen". Hoorah for Mercy!!! She was a little excited too as you can see. Should we teach her the song???

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The True North strong and free!

From far and wide, O Canada

we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

We trust that Mercy will be at home here in Canada and enjoy the benefits that we have during her lifetime living here!!!

Snow Day!

We had a chance on New Year's Day to take Mercy out for her first taste of snow. And I mean literally. She lost her balance with her snow boots and heavy snow suit and ended up face down in the snow. I think she realized it is cold!!!! She tried to help Daddy shovel the driveway, too but the shovel was too big!!

I think she liked the overall experience and we can't wait to take her out on a tobaggon or sled some day in the future!

Domestic Diva!

Mercy has become quite the little domestic helper these days. She watches mummy and tries to imitate what she does. Mercy helps me with laundry putting in and taking out and even tries to work at the oven. And if I ever need anything from the tupperware drawer or fridge!!!!!!

And she can sure sweep up!

Every day she seems to want to try whatever we do. Even if she can't for her age!

First Christmas for Mercy

We were all excited to celebrate our first Christmas together as a family. Mercy was very good at opening the gifts. She was truly blessed by many friends and family members with some very nice gifts. Mercy was in awe of the Christmas tree ornaments and angel.

We had our first Christmas gift opening with our friends Laurie, Jamie and Sophie. Mery got into it very well.

So did Sophie!!!

We then moved on the next weekend to celebrate Christmas with the Toman family. It was quite chaotic with all of Liam, Katie and Mercy's gifts all around the floor. Who knew who got what and whose was whose gifts!!! One of Mercy's many gifts was a wonderful new purse from Nana!

Our Little Elf!!!

Christmas Day at our house came upon us very fast. Mercy even helped Daddy open his gifts.

Our next Christmas was with Grandpa and Nanny and Auntie Lynnie and Uncle Steve.

Mercy got to meet and visit with Auntie Lynnie for the first time!!!

She enjoyed having fun with her.

Mercy loved getting up close and personal with her new musical penguin!

Mercy loved teasing Uncle Steve with his Canadian Crispy Crunch bars!!!

Grandpa even tried to show Mercy how to play crokinole. She had to also try on his hat for size!

Needless to say we had a wonderful First Christmas together. We hope that all our friends also had a great Christmas season. Happy New Year 2008!