HOLY COW look who's FIFTY NOW!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!

My mama and my auntie Carrie

Little Mum!

1978 (grade 11)

Baywatch!?

Hot Stuff!!

My grandma (at the top), Auntie Rosie, Mum and me, Auntie Carrie and Karly, Baba Annie

Me and my mum! 1988

With Auntie Dot, Uncle Bob and Jackie...1994??

Photobooth fun!

Mum and Garry's wedding. 2006

Happy birthday mama!!!!! I love you and hope the next 50 is even BETTER!!! xoxoxoxo

A look back at 2010

Wow... 2011.
This year has been SO full of laughs, tears adventures and ... well ... misadventures.
Here is a look back at my 2010....

We started January off on a good foot. We were living in Chemainus and had a beautiful 6 month old baby. She was dedicated at Warmland Church in Crofton on January 31st with her  great grandma, grandparents, god parents and a few aunts and uncles in attendance.

February was taken over by Olympic fever. This is where the 'misadventures' were had - no matter how fun they were. Hitting both Vancouver and Whistler, I got to embrace the patriotism that was OVERFLOWING in our beautiful country and witness it all first hand. We also had a new addition to the Blenkin family as Jettaya Riley joined Daron, Shauna and Emry on the 26th.

March, April and May were spent working, hanging out and basically relaxing in Crofton.
In May, we moved to Crofton. Not a big move and not into a very big place... Sonia and I also made a trip out to Lethbridge to meet her new cousin and my new nephew Kyle!!

June was pretty ho-hum (Jackie turned 21 - but more on that in a minute..) but was followed by a whirlwind month. July was kicked off with Sonia's FIRST birthday! We had friends and family from all over come out to celebrate her big 0-1 with us. July also brought our beloved Kitchen's back to BC!! We got to welcome Kim, Jamie and Penny to our little adorable Crofton bubble! Later on that month, we celebrated Jackie's 21st birthday properly...by going to Vegas. We had a freakin' blast. Nothing is better than a trip filled with slushy jager-bombs, cirque du soleil and bitch slappings...

August was consumed by my friend Angie's wedding. It was full of planning, primping and PARTIES!!

In September we moved up to Victoria...Throughout the fall there were many get-togethers and parties including my birthday and Halloween...and one very very EPIC  thanksgiving at my dad`s house...

With November came the first snowfall of the year and a lot of planning for the month ahead...

...December was a very overwhelming month. For Christmas we drove out to Lethbridge to spend the holidays with Dave`s family. A great trip with even greater weather! Sadly though, on Christmas Eve, we said goodbye to my Uncle Richard and Dave`s Uncle Art.
We spent the remainder of 2010 in Vancouver with my family mourning our loss and having great talks and laughs with family as we went through my uncle`s billions of family photos.

Dave and I rang in 2011 at my sisters. The rest of the group went to the Mountain Shadow Pub but since we had a little sleeping Sonia, we stayed in. It was a cozy and lovely night.

Happy New Year everyone.

Oh..the Christmas Season..

Christmas this year brought our family a lot of ups and downs. On Christmas Eve my Uncle Richard passed away after a short, gallant battle with cancer. It was really hard to be away from my family during this time (as we were in Alberta) but it was comforting to know that there were friends and family surrounding my aunt and cousins at this time. I am also glad that Sonia was able to have a fun filled Christmas. (Especially since you could tell that she could feel the emotional vibes we were all giving out when we did finally get to Vancouver.)
I miss my uncle terribly already, but I know that he wouldn't want any of us to dwell on the sad parts of this, but to look to our futures with joy and anticipation.\
CLICK HERE to see the obituary.

This year Christmas was spent at my in-laws. All of my husbands brothers came with their wives and babies (and baby bumps!!). It was a very full house. Sonia ADORED playing with her cousins and her aunties and uncles and Dave and I loved hanging out with the family. We had a BIIIIIG dinner on Christmas Day with some of Dave's extended family (adding four more kids under 8 to the equation!). It was a blast.

It was great to see all the friends and family out there in the prairies. I miss them all so much...I do not miss Alberta. ;)
We had only planned on being gone for the week, but with everything happening with my family in Vancouver Sonia, Dave and I stayed there for another week. It was a very emotional time but it was awesome to see everyone. I had felt so far away from them during my time in Alberta and my heart really ached for them.

I spent New Years with Dave (and a sleeping Sonia) at my sister's house in Burnaby...although not with my sister. Jackie, Kyle and their friend Marlee headed to the local pub to tie one on. And that they did. I won't go into details. (hahaha) It was a nice quiet night.

The next day was spent planning and preparing for my uncles Celebration of Life at Meadow Gardens Golf Course to be held the following day. It was so nice to see how many people love uncle Richard as the room was FILLED.
The service was beautiful and very very emotional. Following that, we all went to my uncle's favourite restaurant where they had closed half the restaurant to us. We ate, drank and visited. I got to spend the night with my cousins dancing and talking. It was very therapeutic. Since I wasn't around for all the chaos it was really good to be able to spend time with them.



Now we look forward to 2011...
My mum's 50th, Dan and Nikki's baby, Sonia's second birthday and a two ft expansion...

Now that Sonia is inching closer and closer to 1 and a 1/2 I realize that I haven't posted anything from her birthday!! So here it is!!

Sonia's birthday brought along a lot of fun visitors from all over. Uncle Glen came all the way from Winnipeg to see Sonia juuust before her birthday! We had a lot of fun with him and can't wait until the next time Glen (and puppy Juno!!) come out to our beautiful province!

Soon after Uncle Glen headed back to Winterpeg, we had a flood of fun friends and family out to celebrate Sonia's 1st birthday! Among those were Uncle Joe and Uncle Chris on a summer road trip from Lethbridge and Aunty Sarah (Sonia's godmother) from Vernon! We had a blast with (and without) the small people around.

Daron, Shauna, Emry and Jettaya also made the trek out from Salmon Arm along with Grandma and Grandpa Blenkin from Lethbridge!

Sonia's birthday theme went along with her baby shower theme which was a fun and tropical Hawaiian theme! We had TONS of fun with the cut out monkey and with the new swing that Papa and Baba put up! Grandpa Bud came over from Vancouver,with Sonia's cousin Ella, to join the party and so did Uncle Richard, Karly, Wade, and Dom! Sonia`s great grandma and grandpa Legault also came!

There was lots and lots of gifts to open and to play with and a yummy chocolate cake to eat up! Grandpa Bud had a lot of fun giving Sonia her first piece of cake and helping her make a big big mess.

We had SO much fun celebrating with Sonia and can`t wait until next summer when we get to do party number TWO!!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who came out! We love you!!!