HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dear Mom,

I wish you the best birthday ever. I hope you aren't too upset when people show up at your doorstep for the surprise BBQ and evening we planned for you. I think you will like it after you realize that they have all come equipped with gardening tools and gloves to help finish the flower beds and gardens :)

Mom, through the bad times and the good, even when I've been bad or grumpy (*cough*), you're still always there, whether we (think :P ) we need you or not. Thank you for all the hard work you do to keep the house and family and business running as smoothly as possible.

I love you,

Rachel

It's Over!

I have officially finished and passed my first year of Bachelor of Science in Nursing! Yaaay!

I am so relieved.
So happy.
So EXCITED! for the prospects and for the coming year...being in the hospital for the first time as a student!

It's going to be a good year :)

I'm not letting go of reality here.....I know it will be tough, it will take a lot of work.... but I'm happy to do it!

Strawberry Madness

It's strawberry season!

The strawberry's in our garden have to be picked once a day now, hopefully for a while yet too! They taste great on ice cream, in shakes, in pies and cakes, strawberry coolers......and the rest are being frozen for winter use.

We've got bags and bags of old milk bags filled with hulled strawberries ready for the freezer.

And can't forget the strawberry jam! Jessica made a big batch of strawberry jam. We use the mushier and older strawberries, as they make a great and sweeter jam! (aka less sugar.....which some of us may complain about...just a little!) *Grin*

Hopefully soon it will be raspberry time - My favourite! That means rasperry ice cream meringues are in order! (Smile)

Summer Randomness

Since I "technically" finished school in April, it seems like my summer has been busier than school!

I still have two more exams to write next week, and then I'm DONE for the year!!! I'm really excited to not have to worry about them and just try to enjoy the summer.

Nathaniel, ever the little cutie, makes us laugh every day with his antics and sayings. 

He adores attention and loves to make silly faces. So cute!

^ This is his "That's Right" pose... He'll do it wherever he can, including on the hammock, on peoples laps, laying on the ground, and on the sofa's.

Work in the garden continues on, but it make everything better when you have a grandparent that has a pool only 20 minutes away!



 

It's hard to believe that summer is already half over. It's actually pretty sad....

My little siblings are pretty adorable! (smile)

Cheers! 

Family Pictures

This is our family photo for this year. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate very well; it was cold but there was just a little bit of snow which made it brown and yucky.

My siblings above, and then I here at the bottom :)

In closing, a cute video I saw ;) Its in German, but the english lyrics are online on Youtube :D

Cheers,

Random :)

3 more exams and then the first semester is done! I`m really happy and relieved (to a degree...still exams to go!) to be almost done. Only 7 more semesters to go in the long run :)
I`m missing the warm sunny weather and the cottage. It`s not too cold today, but dreary, rainy, gray weather.

Yeah, I could use another week like that (above) right about now! :)

Cheers,

BBQ

BBQ season is slowly coming back! Since I'm off for the week from school, I thought it would be nice to have the family over for a bbq. They came yesterday and I made Hamburgers and potatoe salad. It was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it!
Next week starts school again, then busy busy busy until April when I'm finally done Pre-Health. A summer of work, and then starts nursing in the fall! I'm very excited to start that and get scrubs and a "scope"! ;)

cheers for now!