The 2nd Honeymoon

Hola! Just over a week ago Mark and I got home from Mexico. What a fabulous time we had! It was so wonderful to be just together. We flew my cousin Alicia, in from Saskatoon. The kids could not wait to see her. They had a great time with her. She went above and beyond in the call of duty and even thought she felt lousy while she was here (she always gets sick in BC) she made an amazing board game with the kids. It was a great memory maker for my kids. I really hope she enjoyed them. This meant so much to have her here and be willing to even do this for us. I was so relaxed and it was great to have the kids in their own home altogether.
My parents treated us to a night at a hotel by the airport so we could leave our truck for the week and go in the evening before our flight. We flew direct from Vancouver to Cancun and then got a bus to our resort in Puerto Aventuras. We were about 20min south of Playa Del Carmen. We soaked up the sun, snorkeled, ate great and just enjoyed each others company. We did not do any excursions. We both just wanted to hang out and relax. At home we do so much and are always on the go, this was just nice to sit. No responsibilities...aaahhh! We did go into Playa once to check it out, do abit of shopping and drop some presents off at the hotel where my mom and dad stay and have made friends. Our resort was amazing and we would go there again. It was perfect for the price and what we wanted. The kids called this trip our 2nd honeymoon...sure...call it what you like, I would strongly recommend a 2nd honeymoon!

Happy 15th Anniversary

Yesterday Mark and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. We are actually headed to Mexico for a week but last nite after soccer practice and all were in bed we had dinner by ourselves. We used to do that weekly and we both said we need to start doing it ok more regularly. He came in from work and surprised me with flowers and a Pandora bracelet. This really did surprise me because I didn't think we would exchange anything since we were going on a holiday. The kids call it our 2nd honeymoon. I am so looking forward to some undivided time together but at the same time if I think about it too much I get all teary cause I still find it hard to leave the kids. My cousin from Saskatoon flies in tomorrow nite. Hope they have a great time with her and don't make her too crazy. What a blessing, that she even was willing to come.

Mark, thank you for a wonderful life. I am so proud of you and love being your wife. Thank you for all you do for me and the kids. I love being your best friend! So thrilled to walk this life with you. Praying God continues to lead and guide our family as we continue to lay our desires before Him.

Mark is home!

Success! Mark got home late Friday nite from a week long hunting trip up past Prince George. They got 2 moose so there is lots of eating to be done. We are happy he is home and thrilled he is filling the freezer!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Monday

I am still in my PJ's at 10:30 had a great visit with my neighbor friend till after midnight. What a blessing that family is to ours. I fed the kids breakfast in the back lane and they are all enjoying a beautiful morning with friends. Jess has gone to mom's to help with dinner prep and hang out. I have plans to get some things done in the house today, so here goes. The pic is from last Thursday. We went to the zoo with friends for the start of our science co-op in the diversity of life. Hope to get a fall family picture when Mark gets home.

Bringing us up to date!

It has been has great year this far and here I am on 10-10-10. Thanksgiving really helps you reflect on how much we have to be thankful for. God is good. We are blessed as a family in so many ways. Today in church Nash made a list of all that he is thankful for on his hand, he ran out of room, I love that, so he got home and made up a longer one. This is the week that Mark always goes hunting. We miss him but also enjoy the unstructured-ness of this week. Well, maybe I do cause meals aren't as big a deal when Daddy is not coming home for it. We did our turkey dinner with him last Monday and one tommorrow with Grama. We just have an extra long Thanksgiving weekend.
The following photos are just some of the highlights of this past year. This helps me feel OK with moving on and blogging. The kids also enjoy reading this like a short story or journal of the Shipton Crew.



This summer flew by. It seemed like we waited for it to come and then it was over. Here the kids are playing in the sand in Long Beach, Wash. We went with Mark's parents. We swam in the pool and flew kites. We also went to Oliver and the Shuswaps for a few nites
Nate celebrated his 5th birthday in July. It was a hockey theme. He wanted his 2 friends Jesse Peters and Jesse Peters. One is a wee bit darker than the other that is how we tell them apart.

We went to the Canada Parade. Our new neighbors came too. They have 3 children that are great friends with our kids. The Peters family has been a wonderful addition to our neighborhood!
Nash played baseball in the Tadpole II division. They had a great group of boys on the team. They came in 1st place this year! Jess turned 11 in May. We had a swim party with 10 girls at the pool. We also had a family party. These clothes were for her Maplea doll.
Mothers' Day we went to Harrison for a picnic lunch. The kids played and got wet in the lake.
We went to the park for a picnic with my brother's family and mom & dad. Here is the 7 grandkids!
Faith turned 6 in May. She had a Tinkerbell theme party with a group of her friends. We did crafts and played games. She had a great time.
We took Grampa John to the Abbotsford Heat game for his birthday. We ate good food, cheered hard and saw some fights. Nash was there also but at his friends birthday party across the arena.
Our new addition....Nash got a hamster for his birthday. Never thought I would allow it but I caved and he is so cute.
Nash turned 9. He had a swim party with all the neighbor friends. They all came here for pizza and then we took them all to the Walnut Grove Rec Center. We also had a family party.
The Olympic torch came to town. The kids got in their olympic gear to watched it run by.
Faith performed this year at Malanka in January for Ukrainian New Years. It was so adorable and they did an amazing job.

And the school year begins....

Our first day of school...had French Toast for breakfast, did an art project on Van Gogh and went to a Not Going Back to School Party at the wave pool with about 100 other friends.

I have not blogged all year so I don't know where to start. I may just bring my year up to date in point form and pictures and move on. Life is flying by. We are into our 4th week of school. Grade 6, 4, 1 and K ...aaahhh! So far so good. Feel pulled in all different directions but would not have it any other way. The kids still want to be at home, so that is a blessing. We are back into soccer and piano lessons too. We have a new school room this year, still some finishing touches to happen but it is great to have all our stuff in one room and all together.



September 7 Grama Selma's Birthday. We love you Grama!

Happy 2010

Had so much fun with friends last nite. So much to blog. More to come later.
Happy New Year Everyone!!