Rian & Elia's Reminisces

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Rian!

My Dad came down for a visit in April for Rian's 3rd birthday!

Rian, my Mom ("Nanna") and I also went on an overnight trip to Harrison Hot Springs where we discover Rian LOVES swimming!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000

More Xmas pictures!

[Formatting the blog isn't going well but will try to figure it out!]

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:34:00 +0000

Xmas Party with the Sams, Jonah and Euan!

Dr. Sam!

Three pregnant women and one post-pregnant woman!

Amazing, we all look so happy!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:26:00 +0000

Christmas 2007! [Bear with me - having trouble formatting the pictures and text]

Decorating the tree requires concentration!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:53:00 +0000

Halloween 2007

Halloween was especially fun this year - Rian was 2.5 years old and was great at making the jack o' lantern!

Rian dressed as King

Arthur

and his mate Sam went as a "sam-wich"!

Trick or Treating was a huge hit!

This year our

house was on the parade route of the loc

al "Parade of the Lost Souls", a Commercial Drive festival hosted by Public Dreams

We bought a fog

machine, Pete borrowed a proxima from work to show scary movies on our front curtains and we decorated the front yard!

We were a huge hit and even made the local TV news!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:14:00 +0000

Rian and Elia! Brother and Sister!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:44:00 +0000

Seaview Lodge!

Our soon-to-be completed 16-month project has been building a wee little cabin in Sandy Hook, Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast!

When its finished, it'll have 5 bedrooms upstairs and a 1-bed apartment in the lower level, enough for a lot of visitors!

Trying to offset our super-sized carbon footprint, we've used a lot of green building materials including bamboo floors, non-VOC paints, 30% recycled fiber-cement siding, a metal roof, low-E windows, recycled kitchen and bathroom cabinets, dual flush toilets, etc.

Its been a long hard (and expensive) slog but its looking amazing!

With both sides of the family coming soon in August, it'll mark the start of a dream where Rian and Elia can grow up with a fun getaway home to have family and friends stay!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Woo Hoo! Welcome Back!

It's been a long time since I've posted - almost exactly 9 months! In that time, guess what we've been doing???

Hint:

Our beautiful daughter, Elia Makena Roberts was born June 26th at 8:14 pm!

Check out all that hair! I kinda thought she might be blond but just the opposite!

So far she's an awesome sleeper!

Do keep checking this blog regularly!

We've now got two wonderful children to showcase!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:59:00 +0000

The rest of the Thanksgiving pictures!

Mom hosted the big meal with us, lil' brother Kyle, Mike, our colleague Roy, his partner Alan and Carmen, who just started at the BC Centre for Disease Control as well.

Roy gave us a rendition of the Village People's YMCA!

Alan, Mom/Nanna and Mike!

And while Rian didn't eat much, he helped with the clean up!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:50:00 +0000

Finally, new pictures! Finally, the pictures of Grandpa Bonny's visit over a month ago!

Here are the three Bonny men!

And again!

Rian really loved seeing his Grandpa - and I think Grandpa loved seeing him too!

Do they look related?! It was a truly wonderful trip and so nice that Rian can know his family, even if they live so far away!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:02:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure in every culture there is a holiday that is solely implemented by eating food! Lots and lots of food!

For North Americans, Thanksgiving is all about feasting so we had a Sunday brunch with the Sams, Jonah and 7-month old Euan!

I love toddler parties - kinda hard to take oneself too seriously! AnneMarie and Dan - and yep, that's Jonah with a bucket on his head!

Rian looks good in orange!

Euan tried to pretend he didn't really know the other four...

Rian likes his mates!

Tammy!
Libby and Dan (with Jonah's lil' bro in there some- where!)

Eat well all!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:36:00 +0000

Grandpa Bonny's visit!

Pete's dad was visiting for latter-half of Sept! He had a great visit, going to ScienceWorld, Bard on the Beach, Kiri Te Kanawa concert, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, not to mention the beaches, playgrounds, Little Nest cafe, etc!

Rian also likes our new light....

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:21:00 +0000

Cabin Update! Pete went up to Sandyhook, Sechelt Inlet a few weeks ago and took this picture of our soon-to-be-cabin!

Its been a slow summer while we've waited for permits and a development variance for our entry steps but finally some action!

Our septic is in and our lil' cabin marked out in orange!

The foundation should be poured by now so we are hoping that by mid-Oct, the pre-fab house can be set up - not a moment too soon for my Mom who has been graciously storing all of my craigslist bargains, like cabinets, sinks, dishes, a bathtub, showerstall, dressers, etc.

We're already taking bookings of friends and family! We may not be in by Xmas (unless we want to rough it and freeze) but definitely next spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:52:00 +0000

More Mayne Island pictures!

Nanna and Rian in the Japanese Garden!

We saw little frogs hanging out in the little trees!

Nova is a beach dog! Anyone who knows Nova might not recognize her from this picture - she is sitting patiently! But after 3 years, we have finally trained her to sit for 20 seconds and wait for the stick to be thrown! Yea!

And Rian is a beach boy! This pic goes out to my lil' sister Kelty... she likes his Rian-the-lion look!

Beautiful Mayne Island!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:14:00 +0000

Labour Day weekend on Mayne Island!

We borrowed our friend's cabin on now our favourite BC Gulf Island!

We helped a neighbour collect seaweed for her compost pile!

Rian is a natural talent at golf! The first step is to set up the shot!

Then whack the heck out of it!

If there is every a Father-Son golf league, we might have some contenders!

Action shot!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:11:00 +0000

White Rock! Canadians are so literal... there really is a big rock painted white in White Rock BC!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:39:00 +0000

The August 2007 pictures! Not sure what happened to Aug but it appears I was too busy to blog!

Rian is now 2 years and 4 months old! He can get himself up on the car at the playground!

The PNE Fair is pretty famous in Vancouver so we braved the crowds! Rian got to ride a tractor with Uncle Mike!

But I think Rian got a little scared of the llamas...

In no time though, he was feeling better and won at the swimming duckie game!

Nanna and Rian!

We had a lovely dinner with Alan, the partner of one of my colleagues! Pete also spent a Daddy Day with Rian at the beach!

Our cutie!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:28:00 +0000

Making Pizza! I read in one of my Toddler parenting books that I should involve Rian in cooking! Anyone who knows my parenting philosophy (or lack thereof) knows that I am a total sucker for any and all advice! So we made pizza!
Rian ate the sauce....

... he ate the crust....

... then he ate the cheese!

Take-out anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:34:00 +0000

Rian and his mate Sam! Hilarous video!!!

Part 2!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:14:00 +0000

More Holiday Pictures!

We spent the week on Mayne Island touring the amazing beaches!

And going for walks!

We had a BBQ at our (borrowed) waterfront cabin! Steaks, worcestershire sauce, expensive red wine, beautiful view and family... does life get better?!

Rian even helped!
Another incredible beach with rocks to climb on!

Pretty nice view, eh?!

And our wonderful little guy!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:38:00 +0000

Holiday at a cabin on Mayne Island!

Pete, Rian, Nova and I went for week to one of BC's gorgeous Gulf Islands (in between Vancouver and Victoria)

We LOVED the beaches!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:01:00 +0000

The Park Pictures!
Before Nanna went on holiday to Nova Scotia, we discovered a new playground!
Rian and Nanna have their swing routine down to a science!
Rian loves swings!
One day we hooked up with Sam and his Mom Tammy!

Everest next!!!

Rian got some help on the swings!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:53:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've updated some pictures so this was about a month ago, bicycling in North Vancouver with Nanna, Mike and Rian's driver (otherwise known as 'Daddy')!

Nanna and Rian! With the bikes and our lovely truck in the back- ground!

It wasn't quite as gruelling as the Tour du France...

But we had a great time! Rian kept saying, "Weeeee!"

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:57:00 +0000

Canada Day BBQ!

The Sams (and their parents Anne-Marie & Neil, and Tammy & John) came over for a feast to celebrate our fine nation's Dominion...

Nothing says party like ice cream cones!

Rian scarfed his down the fastest! This is his "Please... Moa... Moa please" look! Our in-house Oliver!
Sam did his best "impression of a 20th Century Dictator"!
Sam totally mastered the slide! He and Rian took turns... kinda...

Sam thought the digger was pretty cool... well, I think he called it a 'front-end excavator' as trucks are his thing!
Rian in the fort, saying 'cheese' for the camera! Its kinda cute, in a scary way!

Sam puts all his energy into his laugh! Talk about a big expression!

The other Sam has a pretty charming laugh too!

In all, we all had a wonderful afternoon... us parents doing what we do best - sittin' around, talkin' and drinkin'!

Anne-Marie!

Tammy and John!

Pete!

Happy Canada Day all!

noreply@blogger.com (Cataclysm) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 06:26:00 +0000

Rian and Nova at the local dog park! It was a beautiful weekend so we played ball!

How many parks have this kind of mountain view?
Nova is our wonderful family dog! She's not the most obediant (our fault for dropping out of doggie kindergarten) - but we love her to bits!