Happy Birthday Eli!

I cannot believe my 'baby' is a year! And I don't really like to think back to this time last year...well I guess I have mixed emotions about that. Anyways here are a few pics of Eli enjoying a birthday treat. Happy birthday Little Man. We love you and can't imagine our family without ya.

For Jacki

This post is dedicated to my friend Jacki. She's probably the only one who still checks my blog. And because of her faith in me and her rebuke I decided to post some pictures of the last 2 months' activities instead of baking Christmas goodies tonight. So here you go, Jacki. You better leave a comment.
The pictures are straight forward: some at the aquarium, some at home, some halloween, and one pumpkin patch. Sorry this took so long. I know how annoying it is when you want to see new stuff!

Too Much Chocolate?

Well, maybe. A couple weeks ago we finally got around to going to the chocolate buffet with our friends Colby and Lori. We had a blast....and lots and lots of decadent, rich, satisfying, chocolaty goodness. I suffered from a chocolate hangover the next day. My run felt quite sluggish and slow....but so worth it. I didn't get any pics of the buffet (I even felt awkward taking the picture of the mouse) - so here a just a couple of us happy customers.

September

An other month over already? Where does the time go....
Sorry (Jacki) that I've been doing one post per month the last three months. Things have been busy! But I think they'll start to slow down a bit now.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all the highlights, I wish I had shots of the following September events:
-Eli crawling (he's been at it almost a week and there's nothing stopping him now!)
-Jed and Elly out of the house (without the kids) every wednesday night
-Jed and Elly addicted to 'Friday Night Lights', season 1
-visiting with Uncle Nate who flew in from Whitehorse to coach the mighty Wariors in the UBC tournament
-our new nephew/cousin Liam Schoepp (who we haven't met yet)
Here's what I did manage to catch on film/the digital camera:
1. James and Eli and I at the Ladner Leisure Center looking at bunnies. More and more bunnies are making their home at the pool. They were pretty tame too, almost dangerously tame. I thought one bunny was going to charge James... We didn't hang around him for too long.


2. Eli looking cute in the living room.

3. Some shots of the boys at our last trail run of the season. It was gorgeous! A run around Buntzen Lake on a beautiful day. There were tons of bridges, steep hills, different terain, rivers, cliffs, etc. It was my favorite run of the year. We didn't find a sitter in time so Jed hung out with the boys while I ran. Then James and I went for a swim afterwards. It was really cold. The best part of the run, as usual, was the food/free stuff afterwards. I hope we're able to do more of these again next summer.



4. Eli eating. He's so picky. All he'll eat (without a huge screaming fuss and spitting it out) is yogert and avacado. Everything else seems revolting to him. Once we shove it in and he tastes it he usually will eat it for a while, but not without a fight. Here he is between rounds. Jed and I are taking a break and eating our own dinner while he mocks us with the spoon in his mouth.

More Time at Keats

We got to spend a lot of time at the cabin this summer (it feels like it at least....well, I got to spend a lot of time there). We had great weather for the most part and some great times! August is a sweet time to be at keats: the water is warm, the berries are ripe, and the island is busy - lots of people are up.

We hit a hot spell (not too common at Keats) and Eli spent a lot of time for a couple of days out in the shade on the deck in this tub:

James and Papa:


James hiked all the way to Salmon Rock and back (we carried him up the big hills). Here he is right at the entrance to the open rock:

Our favorite breakfast was blackberry pancakes:

On our way to 'Great-Nanny's House' - James really enjoyed heading over to my Grandma's place for visits:

Canoeing to 'Great-Nanny's House':

Eli had enough at 'Great-Nanny's House':

James went for his first swim off the government wharf - he loved it and hated it at the same time...:

July

July was full of good times for the Schoepp family. We did a lot around Ladner, and took a few trips.
The lamb roast at keats island was great. We were glad to be able to make it and catch up with lots of family. Here's a shot of James getting better acquainted with the beach:

We had some great weather at home, too, which called for lots of lounging in the nude:

Here we hike up Cypress Mountain. I had just handed Eli off and was tired! Jed didn't have the luxury of sharing his load. He got very sweaty and very tired.
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The boys and I took a trip to Kelowna while Jed was at creation fest. Our first flight (for all three of us). It went a lot better than anticipated.

While in K-town we caught up with cousin Hana:

and spent lot of time at the beach:

At the end of the month Sonya ran the third trail race with me (Jed was still gone). It was at Cypress and was hard but beautiful! Here we are before the run - clean and energetic....

Sorry this has taken so long Jacki - I know you've missed me and the boys. Now that summer is over (for the most part) I'll be a more faithful blogger.

Barnabas

Jed and I decided to spend one week of holidays at Keats - but not the usual. Instead of staying at Fairview (our cabin) we were 'guests' at Barnabas Family Camp. We had a great time, and are saving up for next year. The staff was amazing, the speakers were great, the food was a huge treat (no cooking, no dishes, no thinking about what to make for dinner)!
The best thing was that there was something for everyone: lots of learning (adults only - sessions) so we were 'fed', the kids were well taken care of, we got to spend some time together and had some good chats as a couple, and there was lots of 'family time' where we had lots of options of what to do with our time.
Here's a shot of the building we stayed in. Our room was on the lower level looking out over the ocean. It was beautiful.

The view from our front window:

Quality Time:

James' favorite free time activity:

James' second favorite free time activity:

Behind us is the store - where we got our ice cream and hung out as adults at night while our kids were being baby-sat by some great staff. They also have an esspresso machine in there! Nothing wrong with sipping a great cup of coffee and overlooking the ocean...

Oh, I think this was actually James' favorite activity - there was a big boat-sandbox full of trucks and buckets. If we lost sight of James we could always find him here...(don't worry, Dix, we didn't let him run wild)

Eli enjoying the view and the breeze:

Some Keats island flora: