Look what I found

I had saved this post as a draft so I could re-read it- and then never posted it...

I am totally in shock, completely, totally and completely in shock.

I just got a call from Emily to tell me that our friend Ernie passed away today - suddenly - they think it was a heart attack - I cannot even completely comprehend this - how can this be.

Ernie (for those of you who don't know) is family to us - in every sense of the word that matters. Ernie was always there for us when we needed someone in Calgary - he was like a dad to me and a grandpa to the kids. Being displaced in a different city is not always easy, but friends who love you and care about your life like Ernie did for us makes it that much better!

I don't know what we are going to do, I know that we want to go to the memorial, but Greg is in school, he can't afford to miss time - especially in this stage - I suppose it will depend on the day it is on.

For almost the entire time we lived in Calgary, Ernie was there for everything. Birthdays, Easter dinners, Thanksgiving dinners, even a couple of Christmas dinners, talent shows, ballet recitals, to babysit, to talk to. He was here when Olivia rode a two-wheeler for the first time. He bought Grace her first ever bike. He got them their first ever Barbie movie - he was one of the only people in the whole time we lived there who would just 'show up' for coffee - which I always loved. I can't even believe that this is really happening.............

I was doing pretty good there for a while....

but then I fell off the blogger wagon (can you even really say that?). Anyway, it has been busy since my Grandma's funeral.



We finished off our unit on Ancient Greece by having an Olympics and celebration. We had a Grecian feast and had some events for the kids to compete in. For flexiblity we had a limbo competition, for accuracy we had a sock throwing competition, for hand-eye coordination we had a balloon tapping competition, and for team work we had a balloon relay. Of course, the other Mile family stepped in to help us out - and the kids all received awards for their efforts.
here are some pictures.....

Singing the national anthem during the medal presentations....

Carrying the flags they designed for themselves.

We also had company for a couple of days. While Clay was renovating his kitchen, Tracy and the girls came and stayed with us! It was such a fun time - Tracy and I got to have a movie night and the kids got to giggle WAAAYYY too late into the night and get in trouble all together! Here is Abbey and Erin, I am sure they thought they were sisters by the time that Erin had to go home.

And then our 'blended' family having lunch together! It was a fun time. Because the girls were here during the day, we did take advantage of that by having them design their flags for the Olympics so they wouldn't be left out, and Grace also had someone to play sightword bingo with - so they even got some school in!
Now we have begun our unit on Ancient Rome, and will be studying Rome, Rocks and Minerals and Handel's Messiah. The kids are memorizing a new passage of Scripture - heh that reminds me, I should make a video of them reciting the part of Psalm 139 that they learned...add that to the to-do list.

We do have to fly off now, Abbey has a cardiologist appointment today - can't be late!