The Foulds Family

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 29

2012-02-23T17:33:00.001+03:00

The Al-baydha project site. A permaculture project being done among the settled bedouin near mecca. Very cool might help rebuild the environment here. Check them out www.albaydha.org

Marin, the now 6 year old, on an amusement park ride on her birthday at Red Sea mall. Here in KSA pretty much every mall has a small amusement park and games area.

Road trip to Mada'in Saleh. Here it is camels you have watch out for not deer.

Nabataean Tomb carved into the rock at Mada'in Saleh. This is the same civilization that built Petra in Jordan.

The tombs are carved right into the sandstone in a giant circle around where the town was. This UNESCO world heritage site is really big.

Meda'in Saleh

2012-02-12T15:51:00.000+03:00

While (Uncle) Michael & (Auntie) Blair where here visiting us we all took a 3 day road trip to Meda'in Saleh. According to Google it was a 7 hour trip, we made it there in 6 1/2 and on the way home only 6. What awesome road trippers our children are! That and their Daddy may have a led foot...

I have oodles of pictures to share, but I'll first tell you some tidbits about the trip and then all the pictures will make a bit more sense, that and you should click on the Meda'in Saleh link above it will explain a few things and then I wont have to. :)

We saw many, many camels. There were lots of "watch for camel signs" just like we have watch for deer ones in Canada.
Jeriah was very impressed by the trucks we saw, and many times exclaimed (loudly) "Look at the truck! Mommy take a picture of the truck!"
We booked 3 rooms at the hotel, one for Jem, one for Michael & Blair and one for the 5 of us, we weren't totally sure what to expect, but figured we could make it work whatever we ended up with. Our room had 2 chairs and two single beds, and a door that we asked to be unlocked that went into Michael & Blair's room so... we pushed the 2 single beds together and into the corner and Jeriah slept against the wall and Ian and I in the bed with him. We then took the 2 chairs from our room and the 2 chairs from Michael & Blair's room and made them into beds for Marin and Corban. They loved and and called them their "nest beds".
The sandstone mountains are gorgeous and along with the blue sky and perfect temperatures it was refreshing and beautiful place to be.
The drive up there was also through some really neat dessert mountains.
The palm trees that are in Al Ulah, the town that is near Meda'in Saleh, are like "date orchards". Underneath them they grown many other things one of which is oranges. While filling up our SUV with gas we bought some from the man working there. Appox 40 fresh pick mandarin oranges, for 15 SAR ($4 USD)! They were tasty! We later learned that at this time of year the oranges and other fruit like that is in such abundance that they have a hard time giving it away. Guy who sold them to us probably thought "white people, they are not from around here, lets see if I can make a couple bucks" and then laughed at us as he stuck the money in his pocket. Ha ha! Oh well, they tasted great and $4 is nothing for that many oranges.
We where "mobbed" in a positive way by a group of local tourists wanting to have their picture taken with me, I was not wearing an abaya, and the women wanted their picture taken with me. Ian had his picture taken with one of their husbands as well. There were loads of kids too and they followed us around for a bit calling out the English phrases they knew. "Thank you very much", "I love you". They followed us around for a while taking pictures of us especially Michael and I (it's the blond hair and blue eyes) until the men called them all away from us. There was also a separate group of young men who asked for a picture with Michael.
Corban loved hiking up the sandstone hills/mountains. Ian and him where hiking buddies, it was to keep him safe! When it came time to listen to the history about the tombs Corban was not at all interested and played in the sand near our feet as we stood and listened.
Marin enjoyed seeing the small rocks embedded in the sandstone. At school her class was in the middle of a unit on the environment and geology type things so it was great for her to see things like erosion effect and the different rocks.
Jeriah was Uncle Michael's hiking buddy. You'll see a cute picture of Jeriah trying to copy Uncle Michael.
We drove up a crazy switch-back road to the top of a mountain plateau. (I may or may not have expressed concern about the craziness of the road and caused my daughter to almost cry... bad mommy...)While at the top we got to see a 180 degree view of the valley and a really pretty sunset glow.
We got to check out the (unfinished) reconstruction of the railway station that was there during WW1 and the whole Lawrence of Arabia thing.
We got to see old Al Ulah. Some of the houses have been built over top or turned into 'date orchards" but before they were all destroyed they were declared a historical sight and they are now protected.
We had a dessert roadside picnic on the way home, we tried to find shade by one of the shrubby trees but when we did it was full of camel poo. We opted to hang out in the shade of the SUV stand, and eat.
We also get to go see the elephant rock which is very neat. The English translation of the description below it is really good for a laugh. I took a picture don't worry. :)

I have many pictures to share, here are 4 favorites.

Corban's happy face always makes me smile. :)

Jeriah ran up to this tomb stood in front and said "Take a pictures of me mom!"

Gorgeous girl, gorgeous scenery.

Family picture at the elephant rock, what is not to like?!

I have divided the rest of the pictures up into 4 slide shows. You can pause the slide show to read the sign at the elephant rock.

These are pictures that Blair & Michael took with their camera.

Anniversary Greetings

2012-02-05T20:17:00.000+03:00

Happy 1st Anniversary to (Uncle) Michael & (Auntie) Blair!

Happy (belated) Birthday to Marin!

2012-01-31T23:02:00.000+03:00

Our girl is 6! Pretty exciting stuff. :)
We love you our Marin girl! We are very proud of you and how you are growing up, riding bikes, loosing teeth, reading, writing, and lately wanting to type and send emails! You are growing up so fast it is amazing to think and wonder about all the things that you will be doing by the time you have your next birthday. I feel the need to make a little list...
how about 6 things Marin loves (in no particular order).
1. Oliebollen
2. Playing with her friends
3. Stuffys
4. Going for breakfast dates with her Daddy
5. Going on adventures with her family
6. School
Here she is showing how old she is using her fingers/thumbs, see the thumb on her left hand, it is technically standing up.

We all had a really fun time celebrating her birthday. On the 18th, the day before her birthday we had a party with her friends from school. There were twelve 5/6 years olds in total, but with the help of Michael, Blair, Jemhalyn and of course Ian it went really well. We had mini pizzas, that they made themselves, and carrot sticks and apples slices for a snack. Then it was time for birthday cake, and after that straight out into the back yard for some games. Marin had loads of fun with her friends, the game they enjoyed the most was red-rover-red-rover.
On Thursday, the 19th, her actual birthday we gave her her gifts in the morning and she was very pleased. She loves gifts, giving and receiving, and when there are gifts to open she dosen't like to wait. :) (Any guesses where she get that from? ;) )

Then in the afternoon we hit the road and headed to Jeddah for dinner and to play in one of the many mini amusement "parks", there is one in pretty much every mall. (Auntie) Blair snapped this picture of the birthday girl and I at dinner. :)

The amusement park was lots of fun. The best part was seeing the kids have so much fun.

Marin loved the mini roller-coaster, the river tube and the log flume rides the best. The funniest part of the night was when we all piled into the log flume ride, Ian, Marin, Corban and Jemhalyn went in the log in front and Blair, Michael, Jeriah and I (the 4 of us seated in that order) went in the one behind them. As we climbed the hill to go down the big drop we could see Ian and crew looking back at us with big grins on the faces and a look of anticipation. Once we got to the bottom we knew why. They were laughing and laughing at us, our log weighed more then theirs (due to the size of the people in it) and so Blair being the one in front received a hugs splash of water, and apparently the look on her face was awesome. It also needs to be mentioned that since she was wearing an abaya all the water pooled in her lap as it was like she had a big bowl on her lap.
Fun times and good memories. It was a great day hanging out as a family celebrating our special girls birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday Marin!

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 28

2012-01-14T08:30:00.000+03:00

Beautiful flower I found at a friend's house.Not sure how I got such a clean shot with my iPhone.

Through my eyes.

My gorgeous little girl enjoying a beautiful sunset.

The flowers on our front porch.

Corban painted his own face at Victoria's birthday party. He is a salamander.

Ian the Instagrammer ~Part 27

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000+03:00

Gazebo ceiling in old Cairo.

Merry Christmas! Kids are in bed, the turkey is deboned, Santa (aka me) brought the presents out and my little elf ( aka the tooth fairy, aka Kristin) arraigned them under the tree. We'll se how late the kids let us sleep.

The kiddos hamming it up in their Christmas PJs. We had a good day.

Happy New Year!

Ahmed during the festivities at his engagement party.

Rainbow Toast

2012-01-08T20:39:00.000+03:00

Yesterday the kids went back to school, they had from the 22nd of Dec to the 6th of Jan off. During their break from school we had lots of fun playing at home and doing special fun things. We went for bus rides (which they think are fun) to go get Popsicles, we went to the library to check out a couple DVDs, and we had a few playdates.

We also had rainbow toast for lunch. Marin had done this in her class at school and had wanted to show Corban and Jeriah. They liked it so much we did it 2 days in a row, one day I took pictures while they painted, and the other while they ate it.
This is Marin's rainbow toast Canadian flag.

I also enjoyed some time to play with my new camera. :)

This little sunflower is growing in our garden.

Also growing in our garden are beans, and Jeriah likes to eat them, he prefers them raw. He was helping me the other day, by holding the bowl, I looked down to see him sitting there with his mouth full, so I ran to get the camera.

I am sure you have noticed that he has a bandage on his hand. Right after Christmas he and Corban got bad coughs so we had the humidifiers in their bedroom. On about the 3rd night he got a steam burn on the back of his hand below his ring and pinky finger knuckles. We ran cold water over it right away, and he settled down and didn't seem bothered by it anymore. We all woke up the next morning though to see that it had blistered badly and he and rubbed part of it open in his sleep. It is healing well now though and it hasn't slowed him down. He has been really good about getting the bandages put on, during one of the first time I was putting on a bandage, he asked me "what are you tempting (attempting) to do?" He has also learned a lesson and knows now that steam can hurt you. He talks often about how you need to be careful by "seam", how "I got a seam burn on my hand". Cute kid.

On Thursday we took a trip into Jeddah and bought Marin a new bike. She had outgrown her first one, and even though the training wheels are on it still she can ride without them. Her new bike is cute and I think suits her very well. She has the training wheels on it too, she wanted to keep them on, it is giving her confidence, she'll want them off when she is ready.

We also got Corban a bike, he had gone back and forth on wanting one, but without one he can't learn to ride so... On Friday afternoon we took the bikes down to a big empty parking lot so Corban could start learning. He was having a hard time with it, but also wasn't that into it. We got him to ride a bit, but he really just wanted to run around and explore. Oh well eventually he will want to learn.

Pictures were taken though. :)

Happy 2012!

2012-01-05T20:27:00.001+03:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

This post is brought to you by pictures from Christmas Day and Boxing Day. :)

Ian took 3 days off, the 24th, 25th, and 26th, and with the way our week works here the weekend was on the 22nd and 23rd so we had a wonderful 5 days together. We relaxed, played, went for bike rides, listened to Christmas music and enjoyed the Christmas feel. On the 24th there was an evening "candle lit" service on the beach. There ended up being no candles though it was so windy, those of us who attended though still enjoyed the time to sing carols and read the Christmas story together. We also had our traditional sweet and sour meat balls dinner.
On Christmas morning we had fresh cinnamon buns for breakfast and then we dug into our presents. Before that though I had the kids sit on the couch to take pictures of them in their festive pj's (which were purchased here in Jeddah).
Darn cutes kids! And looking so grown up!

I took about 10 pictures the rest all looked pretty much like this. :)

We then moved on to opening our gifts. The kids were all very pleased with their presents, they got quite a few books and wanted to read them all as they opened them, so we did. :) Well except for Marin's chapter book, last year she got the Rainbow Fairies, and this year she got the Weather Fairies. We are reading through that together she reads 2 pages, then I read 3. She is very pleased with herself, that she can read it, we are of course very proud of her!
Here she is with her new Barbie, and looking more like she is going to be 16 not 6 soon!

After lunch, and putting the turkey in the oven, we opened the stockings. We had kind of forgotten about them, but Marin reminded us.
Corban was pleased with his magnifying glass.

Here is Jeriah with Ian's peppermint sticks.

My dear husband also bought for me a new camera! The picture of Corban and Jeriah(above) were taken with it. I am excited to learn to use it! :)
The afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying our new gifts. We then had a very tasty turkey dinner together. It was a really nice Christmas, just the 5 of us.
On Boxing day (the 26th), which when we call it Boxing day we get funny looks from most people as it is not something celebrated in all countries, we headed to the beach. Jeriah had been asking to go, he wanted to play with trucks in the sand and water. While we were there we walked out to the little island that is off the shore of our beach, on the way out there we saw a small stingray. Jeriah is still talking about it. " You have to be careful not to step on the tiny stingray" he will tell you as he points his little finger at you.
See how happy he was to be at the beach.

Corban always loves a trip to the beach, and never really pauses to look at the camera...

Marin of course had fun at the beach too, it is where they have her favorite slushy drinks. :)

We got back from the beach at about 2pm, and after a shower and a snack we watched a movie. Beach days are always fun relaxing days. :)

Here are some more pictures. I have plans to post about the rest of our "winter break", so more pictures are on the way.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 26

2011-12-28T22:01:00.000+03:00

The Foulds clan making cookies at a "seasonal party".

The wall and ceiling that I stared at while waiting for the graduation ceremony to start. Can you believe this was the only picture I took all day?

Pyramid between pillars at sunset. From my trip to Khaled's wedding.

Silhouette of a pyramid at sunset - got this shot last summer when I went to Cairo for Khaled's wedding.

Arabic coffee and Dates at Ahmed Alfadhel's engagement party.

Christmas Greeting!

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000+03:00

Merry Christmas from the crazy Foulds 5!

Such Boys.

2011-12-19T20:30:00.000+03:00

I have a two videos to share. :) The first is of Jeriah, I took it at the end of November when I was just starting to bring out the Christmas decorations. He had found the train set that (Great) Uncle Don & (Great) Auntie Marjorie had given Marin and Corban, before he was born. I took the video for Auntie Marjorie to show her how excited and happy it made him. He was very impressed by it and spent quite a bit of time that morning watching it go round and round.

The second video is of Corban playing with playdoh 3 days ago. I was eating lunch a the table with him as he was playing. He was just getting started and I had a feeling it was going to be entertaining so I ran to get the camera. Sure enough he didn't disappoint me. :) I set the camera on a container full of cookies, and I don't think he realized I was taking a video (until the very end as you will see). He knew I was watching him, but with out the camera in my hands, I think that made a difference and so his behavior was totally natural.

He is such a funny kid, and his video is so him!

Ian the Instagrammer ~Part 25

2011-12-19T16:03:00.000+03:00

Corban flying in the sunset.

Marin the sailor.

Sunset over the KAUST marina.

Marin looking for pirates.

Old Saint Nick - Marin decided to turn her cat and sheep into Santa and Rudolph with construction paper and tape.

A missing tooth!

2011-12-16T20:30:00.000+03:00

5 years, 3 months and 1 week after getting her first tooth, Marin has lost her first tooth. On Dec 7th it fell out during dinner. She was very pleased and began to wonder if the tooth fairy would come.

During the rest of the evening before bed she talked about the possibility and that she was going to do an experiment to find out. She figured the tooth fairy was going to turn the tooth into a coin.

So as I was tucking her into bed she was talking to me about it and I asked her what kind of coin, from what country the tooth fairy might bring her. She thought and said, Canada, India, Germany... I gave her a small little jar to put the tooth in and tucked her into bed.

That night before I went to bed I found her a Canadian quarter and a penny. I put them in the place of the small jar with the tooth in it. The next morning she came to tell us, the tooth fairy was real and that she had received 2 coins.

At breakfast she began asking, Mom are you the tooth fairy? So I asked her, well what do you think? The more she asked the more she became convinced that I was in fact the tooth fairy. At bath time that night she was talking with Ian and the truth was revealed that I was indeed the tooth fairy. She is not at all disappointed and is already wondering from what country the coin will come from when she looses her next tooth.

And a little recent quote.
I: "Well done sweetie you figured that one out. You asked the question and then figured it out!"
M: "I am a scientist, but when someone calls for help, I am a superhero."

This Corban boy of ours... he is a complicated boy. So full of energy, and an imagination bursting with ideas. He is wild and unruly, but a minute later can be sweet and snugly. He is loving, caring, and gives wonderful encouraging words. He can play for hours at something he likes, like playdoh or in the sandbox, but if it is something he is not interested in, then good luck getting him to participate. If you know Corban then you love him, he is Corban.

A few Corban stories.
After being told to stop talking about toots, farts and all things related, because it often gets out of hand...Corban says: "Hey dad speaking of toots, maybe we should plant one in the garden and see what happens."

C: "Blood tastes like boogers."

I: "Blood tastes like boogers?"

C: "Umm, like boogers and fire!"
(What a handsome dude!)

This ones from a while back, but it's cute so...

While playing playdoh with Marin one afternoon, they were making "eggs".

C: "My eggs will hatch into caterpillars, and then one day they will go to raccoon's house and become beautiful butterflies."
This picture will explain all the sand on his face in the pictures above, and it is very much "Corban".

And not to be left out, the tiny one... Jeriahkins.

He is such a funny little kid. He is totally cute too, and he knows it. The other day Ian was going to take him for a ride in the bike trailer. He climbed in and put on Corban's bike helmet. After getting it on he looked up and Ian and announced "I'm so cute."

The grin, oh the grin, I love it!

The other night while playing on the playground, he bumped his head, it wasn't a hard bump at all, but he told me, "Uh I bumped my noggin." I asked him if he was okay he said very matter of factually, "Yeah I just bumped my noggin."

He likes to sing, and has a knack for remember the lyrics of songs. Right now one of his favorites is Feliz Navidad or "Feliz Navidaddy-dat" as he calls it.

He is squeezing the rocks in this pictures, hence the accompanying facial expression.

Along with knowing that he is cute, he also knows he is our "baby". If he is feeling sorry for himself, or if something has happened to him, that is not really all that serious, but makes him a little sad, he will of course some for cuddles and comfort. I will of course give him cuddles and will say something like, "oh you poor little boy", he will then reply sometimes with "ya I just a baby" and give a little pouty lip.

He has begun to play really well on his own recently, and I can see that he will be just like Marin and Corban when it comes to a big imagination. He was playing with the Fischer Price nativity set last week and had connected the 4 pieces of fence together and then put a animal or person on each post of the fence. He then picked it up and pretended it was a boat and sailed it around on the waves of the water, while the little characters had dialog about how it was a bumpy ride.

Well my post is at an end an I have no clever way of finishing it off. It's been a long week, it took me all week to put this post together so...

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 24

2011-12-13T19:36:00.000+03:00

While the kids back in Canada are making snow angels our kids are making sand angels.

Sunset on our last beach walk.

The view of the beacon from the balcony by my office.

Kristin and Jeriah in the light of the sunset. I am blessed.

Jurassic Plastic - its a dinosaur eat dinosaur world out there.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 23

2011-12-11T19:32:00.000+03:00

Fire gecko - a rather edited version of a picture of my little gecko friend on my hand.

"The moon daddy" - Jeriah seeing the moon on his first bike trailer ride.

Jeriah and I's shadows as we went on our first bike trailer ride.

Sunset and the moon rising over our Dr Seuss tree.

Silhouetted weeds - from our walk on the beach this evening.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 22

2011-12-09T19:27:00.000+03:00

Gecko. We have lots of these little guys around the house. They keep the bugs away, we like them.

Kites at #KAUST - some of the kites on kite flying day this last weekend.

Beware the dangerous blue tiger - Corban at the kite flying day where there was face painting.

One of our little gecko friends in the backyard.

Small flowers in our backyard.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 21

2011-12-07T19:21:00.001+03:00

Jeriah enjoying the backyard. He loves to play with watering cans.

No my daughter is not a vampire. There was some highly dyed Cotton candy at the bazaar this evening.

Our kite - it was kite flying day at KAUST.

Jeriah and I flying the kite.

Marin getting her turn to fly the kite all by herself, she is getting so grown up.

Finger paint, Face painting & Kite flaying

2011-12-03T19:30:00.000+03:00

That is what our weekend (of 2 weeks ago) looked like, and it sure made for lots of great pictures!

Aside from the clean up of the finger paint it was lots of fun too. :)

Corban requested to be a "blue tiger".

I was surprised when Marin decided to be a more traditional tiger rather then a pink tiger...

Jeriah really got into the kite flying this year. It was his 3rd time at KAUST's now annual event, and now that he is a bit older he had lots of fun.

We have been enjoying lots of outside time, our "winter" weather has been awesome! In fact some may even say it has been "cold" here. Last Thursday at just after 7am it was only 14.5 degrees celsius! We have bought ourselves a second hand bike trailer and the kids have been loving riding in that to school, Ian pulls them. Jeriah and I have been going for morning walks along the beach or to the beacon, and he like to look for birds.

This past weekend we got out all our Christmas decorations, and so things are feeling really festive here. We are looking forward to Michael and Blair arriving in 12 days! Wow 12 days! That will be here in no time!

Ian the Instagramer ~ Part 20

2011-11-28T23:04:00.001+03:00

Marin in our swing.

Even his frowns are cute. Corban on the bouncy castle.

My wee boy and I. Not an awesome shot of the J-Man, but holding him makes me look better.

Someone should have failed math class. Seen while out shopping for a tent.

Sunset over King Abdullah Grand Mosque.

Ian the Instagramer ~ Part 19

2011-11-21T21:48:00.000+03:00

Corban the Barbarian - before we went for that dinner we played outside while we prepped our garden for planting. Yes in November!

Marin - a touch less dirty than her brothers, she got to hold the hose sprayer.

That's my boy! Corban loves to play in the sandbox the dirtier he gets the happier he is.

So ugly they are cute? We found this nest on one of our porch lights tucked into our climbing plant.

The hallway light.

Ian the Instagramer ~ Part 18

2011-11-18T21:42:00.001+03:00

Marin enjoying the shallows at the beach.

Jeriah enjoying the beach on his 2nd birthday this last weekend.

The many faces of Corban. Poor kid his dad pesters him for pictures while he is trying to watch a show.

Marin the humming bird.

Went for dinner at the harbor rec center and sat outside over looking the canal. The kids did great, and this was our view.

Ian the Instagramer~ Part 17

2011-11-15T10:30:00.000+03:00

"Lunch in Seattle."

"Picture by Marin - Don't know if you noticed but if you look close you will see that she even added some gray in my hair."

"The McArabia Chicken - a Middle Eastern Delight"

"Jeriah enjoying some Nutella."

"My gorgeous wife at the beach."

Happy Happy!

2011-11-12T09:30:00.000+03:00

It has been a "happy" time around here, there was of course Jeriah's happy birthday followed very shortly by happy Halloween, which was followed soon after by happy Eid (Eid Al Adha).

You can see that we were happy about all of this. :)

For Halloween we had 2 super heroes, or "super here-yos" as Jeriah calls them, and a blue humming bird. Marin's costume was her own idea, and a "creation" that Ian and I put together for her, she even won most creative costume in her age category at the community Halloween party. The party was lots of fun for the kids, and a nice time for us parents to see all the cute kids dressed up. After dinner we loaded up our heroes and bird into the wagon and took them around the neighborhood to the houses that were participating in the trick-or-treating, or "tick-or-teating" as the boys say...

It was a fun family time, and the kids have been enjoying their goodies a little bit at a time each night for dessert.

Next came Eid and with that a week off from work, for Ian, and school for Marin and Corban. It was a much needed holiday, things had been really busy and it was so nice to relax and spend some extra time together. We took a family trip into Jeddah to get some new shoes for Marin and Corban. We went to the beach, to the pool, to the pool a second time to play bouncy slide. We also had our Thanksgiving dinner, one month late. Since the beginning of Oct was so busy and Ian was traveling and had meetings we didn't have our turkey dinner on actual Thanksgiving. We then decided that we would wait for the holiday, and invite friends to join us too. It was of course delicious and a wonderful time with friends.

The weather here has turned into perfect "winter" temperatures, pretty much like summer back home. The timing was perfect as we notices the change a day or 2 before Halloween. During the week off we spent loads of time out in our backyard. The kids played in the sand box, and on the swings, they also had lots of fun with the garden hose and mixing all the water with the sandbox. It made a glorious mess and they loved it!

Ian and I also prepared our veggie garden after it's summer off. We planted on November 4th, and had sprouts popping out of the ground on November 9th! Our beans are now already 1-2 inches tall and it has only been 8 days. I am thinking we will have fresh beans from the garden for Christmas. :)

Our week off has ended now though and today things are back to the normal schedule. Time will be flying by for the next month as the semester finishes up and we prepare for Christmas and Michael & Blair's visit! All fun stuff to look forward too!

For now here are some pictures. :)

Ian the Instargamer ~Part 16

2011-11-11T20:30:00.000+03:00

“pretty pink flowers by the kaust library”

“Sunset on the Red Sea”

“Awesome sunset last night taken from our roof.”

“Marin posing for a picture on our way out for a breakfast date.”

“Couple of cute kids on their way to school.”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 15

2011-11-07T22:41:00.000+03:00

“Marin and Corban at the beach."

“Pretty Yellow flowers at the park."

“After a morning at the beach - You know your spray-on sunscreen has run out when...”

“The kids on the first day of school - Corban K1, Marin K3”

“Beautiful blue flower on the KAUST campus.”

Tiny Man's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-05T13:30:00.000+03:00

Jeriah's birthday was a fun filled day. It was on a Thursday which is our "Saturday" so that worked out nicely. We planned a trip to the beach, Jeriah loves to play in the sand and water and he also really likes to eat beach snacks aka junk food.

We of course took the camera along to snap pictures of the tiny man on his birthday.

Pointing out some seaweed in the sand.

Watching a boat on the water.

Back to focusing on the sand.

In the afternoon once we had shower off from the beach and had lunch the kids watched Madagascar. Jeriah loves the parts of the movie where one of the characters is getting hurt. That sounds bad, but if you have seen the movie then you know what I mean, like when Alex the lion has the spider on his back and his friends hit at it/him with stick to get if off. Jeriah laughs so hard at the parts like that, he dose the gut busting head tilted back laugh and it is so cute!

For dinner we had his favorite, fish sticks, cucumbers and homemade mac & cheese. Once dinner was over we were joined by Granny & Grandpa, and Oma and Uncle Mark via Skype. Together we all sang happy birthday to him, and then watched him open his gifts.

It was a great day with our wonderful, cute, sweet tiny man!

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 14

2011-11-03T22:29:00.000+03:00

“Marin at age 3 1/2. We found these cut outs at the grocery store in Jeddah.”

“Corban the tiger at age three. ”

“Apparently some censor at customs found even the word "pork" on the turkey bacon to be offensive."

“Dinosaur Knight - playing "talk-to-it" with the kids.”

“Facing down a half-naked member of the barbarian horde with only my bubble gun. ”

Happy Birthday to Jeriah!

2011-10-27T07:04:00.000+03:00

Today is Jeriah's birthday! He is 2!!
I took a look back at the pictures of our little peanut, what a cute and happy little boy. I picked some of my favorites out, what surprised me is that he used to actually have a tiny bit of plump roundness to him.
Brand new.

3 Months.

6 Months.

10 Months.

12 Months.

13 Months.

14 Months.

15 Months.

16 Months.

17 Months.

18 Months.

19 Months.

23 Months.

24 Months.

A couple months ago I had a harder time thinking that he was almost 2 years old, now that it is his birthday though I am ready to accept the fact that he is already 2 years old. He acts very grown up. He talks so well and tells us everything, it is very easy to understand him.
Yesterday when I was making dinner he came into the kitchen, he came over to me and put his hands up "Mommy pick-it up." So I did. He wanted to see what I was cooking he took a look in the pot and asked what it was. So I told him it was beef and pasta florentine, to which he replied "That's fantastic!"
He absolutely loves to read books, and loves to cuddle up and we read through a stack at at time.
His favorite Bible story is Noah's ark, he talks about how "God toad(told) Noah build a ark! Flood coming!"

He loves to do everything that Marin and Corban do. One evening while reviewing Bible memory verses at the dinner table we were working on 1 John 4:11. Marin and Corban had both recited the verse and Jeriah wanted a turn. His version was, "Dear friends! Love a other!"
Before dinner when we pray, Jeriah says as his prayer "Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you. Amen"
One of his favorite things to do right now is to play in the sand box, "Go out and play in MY sand box." He also loves to play with trains and cars.
Jeriah is an adventurous little guy, and doesn't really appear to have too much fear when it comes to climbing, he can climb onto the kitchen counter, without using a chair. Slides and jungle gyms are no match for him. He loves to be chased and tickled, and he likes to be surprised, like when you pop out from behind a wall and say boo!
He will try most any kind of food, he may not like it, but he tries it. He uses his fork and spoon really well, often using both at the same time, one in each had, both shoveling food into his mouth
He is a funny kid, and can be a little clown, he likes to make us laugh. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and he likes to be cuddled. A couple days ago he brought me a blanket and asked "wrap it up, wrap up baby". So I wrapped him up like a baby and gave him cuddles and pretended that he was a baby. The he said to me "baby wants juice" so I took him to the kitchen and gave him his sippy cup. I then started to carry him out of the kitchen, he was still all wrapped up in the blanket, and he said to me "baby want chocit (chocolate) chips." I just started to laugh, funny little turkey!
Jeriah has many nicknames. Tiny, Tiny-kins, Jeriah-kins, Peanut, Teeny peanut, Tiny-love, and J-dawg. Many of the names are in relation to him being little and that is not just because he is the baby in the family, he really is quite small. He weighs in at 23 lbs and 32 inches tall, so he really is our little Teeny peanut. He is growing though, and continues to get bigger, he is just not at all a chubby kid, and he is very active. Soon enough he will grow into his eyelashes. :)

So Happy Birthday to our totally sweet, totally adorable, super funny and super cute Jeriah-kins!
We love you so very, very, very much! XOXO.

Dance Time with the Kiddos

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000+03:00

The kids were entertaining us the other night with their dancing. Hope you enjoy it too. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 13

2011-10-22T20:43:00.000+03:00

“Aquarium at YVR”

“Jeriah through a block arch.”

“They smell as good as they look.”

“Playing trains with Corban.”

“Dinosaur dressed up as a knight for Halloween - by Marin”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 12

2011-10-08T21:20:00.000+03:00

“Kristin and the kids checking out the aquarium at YVR”

“Kristin and the kids watching a show while we at the emergency ward of Hillingdon hospital”

“Marin gazing out the window at breakfast after our impromptu stay in London.”

“Jetlag strikes back”

"Tiger Lily at frog falls."

A chat with the tiny man.

2011-10-06T17:47:00.000+03:00

Jeriah is becoming quite the conversationalist. I love listening to him, he is too cute and is only made cuter by the way he talks.

Can't believe he will be 2 in 3 weeks!!

Beach Days

2011-10-04T12:53:00.001+03:00

We have been to the beach a couple of times since we got back from our summer in Canada. I know some of you may be thinking, why only a couple times, well... It is hot, when there is no wind it feels even hotter and the sun is intense. The kids love playing in the water and the sand so I think we will be spending a lot more time there over the winter. I took the camera along on one of our trips so here is a look at some of our fun. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 11

2011-10-02T13:04:00.000+03:00

“The Burger Turk - had to have lunch here.”

“Sun setting over Hagia Sophia”

“Goodbye Turkey we had lots of fun.”

“Wedding dress and bouquet by Marin”

“Jeriah playing with a wind chime at Dorothy's house”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 10

2011-09-30T12:51:00.001+03:00

“St. George ”

“Pastor Mark teaching us in the Amphitheater in Pergamum”

“Kristin & I in the gymnasium at Sardis”

“It's all Greek to me”

“Pastor Mark preaching at the Celsus Library in Ephesus”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 9

2011-09-28T13:08:00.000+03:00

“Can't wait to see you in Turkey my love!”

“ Church of St. George in Cairo”

“Grave marker in Cairo at a St. George's”

“Another grave marker at Church of St. George”

“Yet another grave marker at Church of St. George”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 8

2011-09-26T12:41:00.000+03:00

“Wild Frog at the Zoo”

“Tiny Man's first Tim Bit”

“The Jiffy Abaya”

“Tasty little peaches from the north of KSA”

“Leaving Van Last Week”

The Tiny One.

2011-09-19T21:44:00.000+03:00

So now that Marin and Corban are both at school it is just Jeriah and I until lunch time when Corban comes home. We have been having lots of fun reading books, playing with blocks, doing puzzles, baking, going to the pool and out to playdates.
He is such a funny little kid, he is a chatter box and we have lots of conversations most of which at this point involve him asking "why... why... why..." Most of the time when the why conversations happen I give him an explanation and he will ask why again, I give another and he asks why again, and this will happen about 4 times. Finally I run out of explanations and have to say "because that is just the way it is" He now turns it around and give us the "because" answer, hmm.
He is very good at telling us what he wants, and dosen't want. Little bum is also really good at "crying wolf", and does a very convincing fake cry and sad face. He is so stinkin cute though!
He also is becoming quite good at giving encouragement. The other day we were playing with some of his cars, the kind that you pull back and then they zoom forward. I got one of the cars to go a very far distance and he said to me "Aweshome mommy!" Then he gave it a try and when it didn't work so well for him he humphed "oh man!"
The day before school started we all made a big batch of Welsh cakes for the kids to take as snacks in their lunches. Jeriah loves Welsh cakes, he could hardly wait for them to cool off before he started eating them.

I thought it appropriate to take a video of his Welsh cake eating cuteness.

In this picture he is showing his "puzzle train", after finishing each puzzle he would add it to the line up and then decided it was a train.

He also thinks pushing buttons and trying to make the computer mouse work is fun. On a side note, how is it that he (and Corban was the same way at that age) is able to make things happen on the computer as far as settings and what not, that I was not even aware was possible just by randomly pushing the keys...)

We set the pool up on the patio again. He decided that he likes wearing goggles. He started by wanting to wear Marin's. I found him another pair (that are not pink) and now Marin can have hers back.

Jeriah is so good a giving hugs, he wraps his arms around your body just under your arms and squeezes, usually while saying "skeezzz". He likes to give hug attacks, when I am sitting on the couch he will hop up onto my lap and sit facing me and leap forward to give me a hug, then he will sit up and repeat the leap/hug action over and over. Very sweet! :) He is also like a little monkey or lemur in the way he will climb up and hold on while being carried. He likes to snuggle in under an arm and wrap his legs and arms around my body.

And now I am going to jump from all the lovely huggy stuff to show you him in action with a water gun. He is really good a making it work and thinks shooting water at other people is really fun.

It is crazy to think that in just over a month we will be celebrating his 2nd birthday, even though he is becoming so much more grown up he still seems like our baby.

Love you sweet tiny man. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 7

2011-09-12T12:35:00.000+03:00

“Off the plane and on the move.”

“Welcome home!”

“Jeriah and Grandpa”

“12 pounds and almost ready to harvest.”

“Caged”

First day of school for two!

2011-09-03T22:11:00.001+03:00

Today was the first day of school!

For Marin is was her first day of K3 (Kindergarten)

For Corban it was his first day of K1!

Here they are posing for the Sears catalog. Ha ha!

They had fun being silly for the camera so here are some more cute pictures of them.

They were both very excited to start school, and both had great first days. Corban was not the least bit worried or shy of going into the class or being left. He has the same teacher that Marin had for K1, which we are very happy about. He also has his little friend "Toria" with him in his class. Marin was "only a little bit worried, but mostly excited" about going to school today, this is what she told me as we walked across the parking lot this morning. She had no problems jumping right in though and settled right in with her new teacher. She has 2 friends from her K2 class with her and 4 other kids in her class she went to K1 with. I think they are both set to have a great school year and we look forward to seeing all the changes they will make as the year goes by.

Here is Marin on her first day of K2 last year.

And here she is starting K1.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 6

2011-08-30T12:28:00.000+03:00

“Jeriah enjoying a welsh cake.”

“My guitar”

“My guitar rosette”

“And check out that backside... - of my guitar”

“Marin on the airplane”

Anniversary Greetings

2011-08-26T09:18:00.000+03:00

Happy 33rd Anniversary to Mom & Dad/Barry & Alison/Oma & Opa!

Ian's Instagrams ~Part 5

2011-08-22T09:17:00.001+03:00

“Super Corban”

“Ah Gooood!”

“Another day another lovely sunset.”

“Marin's eye”

“Hello pizza”

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 4

2011-08-19T09:08:00.001+03:00

“Marin's crab”

“McDelivery”

“Little Beachcomber”

“Dad are you instagramming at the dinner table?”

“Sunset”

If you missed my explanation for Ian's Instagrams click here.

Summer 2011 ~ The first part in Salmon Arm

2011-08-17T22:33:00.000+03:00

On June 30th, the kids and I went with (Uncle) Mark (who had driven down the night before and got stuck in a line up for a detour that added 3 1/2 hours to his trip to pick us up with my parents van) and caravaning with Granny & Grandpa drove to Salmon Arm. We got stuck in two detours on that trip and 3 hours was added to that trip as well. Blah! Poor (Uncle) Mark, thank you for coming to get us. :)

Ian that same day hopped back onto a plane and went back to Saudi Arabia to work for 3 weeks.

So ya our time in Salmon Arm...

It was a time of relaxing, and hanging out with family. The kids got oodles of time with Uncle Mark, Oma, Opa, Granny, Grandpa, Auntie Blair & Uncle Michael.

They loved helping Opa & Oma with the chores around the farm.

They had water fights with Uncle Mark and wrestled with Uncle Michael and Uncle Mark and did fun crazy things that one does with Uncles.

Like this.

I love listening to them in this video.
(Video taken by Mark on his cell phone)
They played with playdoh, and blew bubbles with Auntie Blair, Uncle Michael and Uncle Mark.
They read books, and played with Ace (Blair's cat) with Auntie Blair.

They went on trips to the playgrounds around town with Granny & Grandpa, and out for treats at Tim Horton's and McDonald's, and had sleepovers at their house.

Marin got to go to a week of day camp at Broadveiw E. Free, where Granny & Grandpa were both helping out.

Marin and Corban got to go for horse rides, Jeriah didn't want too, but he sure did like petting the horses and giving them hugs.

We went for a little hike a Margaret falls.

Had some visits with my cousin Lynda and her son Dylan who Marin and Corban had fun playing with.

We had a fun playdate with Kristy and her 3 cute kiddos (I forgot my camera!)

We took a walk around McGuire with Anna and her 2 cute kiddos, and fed the ducks and turtles. (I for got my camera again Boo!)
Some pictures. :)

And a cute video of Jeriah helping Opa weed the garden.

Some cute stories.

Corban was Opa's little shadow. He loved going out in the afternoons to help with all kinds of chores and whatnot. He thought that peeing out in the barnyard was great, and he was afraid that if he had to come inside to pee he would miss something.

Jeriah loved going to see Roxanne the goat. One day he had been out in the barnyard and had passed by to visit her a number of times bringing different things. The last time he was being a bit of a bum and was trying to pester her and when she bleated back at him he turned to her and pointed his little finger and said "Bad sheep" in away that was as if calling her a sheep was an insult. Little bum.

Marin at the end of day camp found out that next years theme was from China and was called Panamanian. As she and I were walking out to the car she told me that she didn't want to go to day camp next year. I was puzzled by this because she had had so much fun. I asked her why not. She replied, "Cause I want to go to China next year." I quickly clued into what she was thinking and explained to her that the theme was from China, that day camp was not in China. Funny girl. :)

Corban called Auntie Blair's kitten whose name is Ace "Eeece".

Jeriah called Auntie Blair "Inty Bear". He often called Grandpa "Ganny!", with much enthusiasm. And for about the first 5 days in Salmon Arm he called my parents big black dog (a bouvier) whose name is Poppy, "Fluffy". What was even better was how tiny little him would point his little finger at her and yell "Ky-et (quiet) Fluffy" in a very commanding voice when she barked.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 3

2011-08-16T09:03:00.001+03:00

“My little girl enjoying the sunset.”

“Shadow in the Shallows”

“Crab”

“Marin by the mosaic”

“The Beacon”

I you missed my explanation for Ian's Instgrams click here.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 2

2011-08-13T08:49:00.001+03:00

“Thumb sized hermit crab.”

“Watchin' the sunset”

“Boys on the beach”

“My Crew at the Beacon”

“My big boy at the beach.”

If you missed my explanation for Ian's Instagrams click here.

Summer 2011 ~Our time in the lower mainland

2011-08-11T06:00:00.000+03:00

Ahh-haa!

Here I am to shock you all by blogging about our summer 2011 before it is over!

I will first just quickly write about the incident that happened at the very very end of our trip for those of you who have head little bits about it and are wondering what happened.

Our flight from London to Jeddah left at 9:50pm, our gate # had just been announced and we had made our way there. There was not much time before boarding and so Ian and the kids sat down to watch a Backyardigans. I figured it would be a good time to use the bathroom that was very near by to give Jeriah a quick diaper change. He was not to happy about that he didn't like that he was missing the show. As soon as he was done I opened the door for him so he could go back to Ian and then use the bathroom myself. I called to Ian to let him know that Jeriah was coming. The distance from the bathroom door to the chairs they were sitting on was about 12 feet away with one row of chairs between the door and Ian. Jeriah went running and he had about reached Ian when he tripped and smashed his face on the floor (or it could have been the leg of the chair that Ian was sitting on that is how close he was). He immediately started crying. Very soon after his nose starting bleeding a bit as well as a bit of blood coming from the inside of his upper lip. Then soon after that his poor little nose started getting bigger and puffier. He kept on crying and was very upset. Ian went to get the airport first aid. They arrived as well as representatives of British Airways (we were flying with them) and we were all in agreement that we should not fly that night.

It was too hard to know if his nose was broken as well as the risk of concussion. The ambulance was called, and our bags were removed from the plane. I then went with Jeriah in ambulance (mine and his first ambulance ride) to the nearest hospital which was about 15 min away from the airport. Ian, Marin and Corban where taken through immigration, which is very easy and quick if it is for emergency purposes. At no charge we were booked on the same flight to Jeddah the next day, and our 5 large suitcases were held at the airport for us, thank you BA.

Once in the ambulance Jeriah was given a bit of medicine for pain, he had been trying to fall asleep, but that was more due to the fact that he was tired after our already 18 hour long journey. At the hospital the paramedics took care of checking us in, they were very kind and took good care of us. Jeriah kept sleeping, and I poked him every few min to make sure he was still okay. We had arrived there at approx 10:30pm.

It didn't take long for Ian and the kids to arrive. Ian had called a couple hotels on the drive over but hadn't yet found a place to stay for the night. It was the weekend and things were booked up. Ian continued finding a place for us to sleep that night, the kids played, and watch shows on the "devices" (ipad, iphone, laptop, thank goodness for them!). Jeriah and I were then called in to be seen by a nurse, he did not like that and got very upset again. She told me that it would likely be a long wait as they were very busy, she figured it would be about 1am by the time we saw a doctor. Yikes! We were given a room to wait in that had a bed and a window that was open with a nice cool breeze, all five us piled into it, Ian read his book and the kids and I watched movies on the laptop. Jeriah's nose was still looking very puffy and bruised.

The nurses prediction was right and a doctor arrived about 12:50am. Jeriah did not like it, that little boy can put up quite the fuss for a 21 lbs little peanut. It took three adults to pin him so the doctor could have a good look up his nose and at inside of his mouth above his front teeth. She found that his nasil passage were clear and normal looking, she determined that his nose was not broken, and that mouth was also not affected. She said that if he showed no signs of nausea, and had no vomiting, then he would be okay to fly the next day. He was given IBUprofen to take with us for pain, and we were sent on our way. We went to reception to call for a taxi and find out the billing procedure and were surprised to find that it was all free! We of course have medical insurance, but Wow!

Our little Jeriahkins was okay and we were/are very thankful! His nose has followed the normal sequence of bruising going from purple to blue, to greeny/gray. He is doing very well and is his normal self.

Anyway this is were I will stop, I will go back to the rest of our little London adventure at the end of our summer tale. Back to the beginning.

We left our KAUST house early in the morning on June 25th and arrived in Vancouver that same day after a 24ish hour long trip. Once again the kids did an awesome job of traveling. On the plane they played and watched movies. During our layover in London we had breakfast at the Giraffe restaurant, which has become a favorite of the kids. On the flight from London to Vancouver the kids slept for most of the time, for them it was night time. We were met at the Vancouver airport (and I will say again, it is the best airport in the world!) by Granny & Grandpa (Barry & Donna) with big hugs, and help in getting all our luggage and whatnot into their car and the rental van. Then it was off to Dorothy's house where she met us with more big hugs, hospitality and waffles. :)

We stayed at Dorothy's until June 30th at which point Ian flew back to Jeddah to spend the next three weeks working and the kids and I went to Salmon Arm.

Ian had to do some work at SFU while we were at the coast, but we still had lots of fun in the four days we had in the lower mainland.

How about we start with our trip to the Vancouver zoo and a self family picture of us about to go on a train ride!

We had all been looking forward to a family trip to the zoo, we had a wonderful time there, the train ride is always a hit with the kids. We caught a "Radical Raptures demonstration" that was lots of fun as the birds fly up into the stands and come within inches of touching you with their wing tips. The kids thought that was totally neat! We went on the bus tour to see the black bears, had a picnic lunch and spent most of the day walking around checking out all the animals. We also by chance ran into my friend Mandy, and it was great to get a big surprise hug from her.
We did a little bit of shopping, got new passport pictures for the kids taken, and played at the park.
We had visits with Ash and Mike (and family) up at SFU. We had dinner with the Davis family, Marin and Corban always have so much fun playing with the "big kids" and we of course had a visit with (Great) Granny Foulds. (Great) Uncle Mark was also there and the kids had fun with him when he took them down to the creek to check out that baby salmon and feed them worms, the fish not the kids, ha ha. As usual (Great) Granny fed us tasty treats and we had a nice little visit. We took some pictures with her and although there wasn't one picture with all four of them looking at the camera, it produced a funny, cute bunch of pictures.
Here are some of them are along with others from our time in the the lower mainland.

As always is was nice to be back in Coquitlam, and the surrounding areas, it is one of our many homes. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 1

2011-08-10T08:42:00.000+03:00

Ian is not one to blog, or be on Facebook, but a while back he decided to try Instagraming. He has stuck with it and I think he is really good at it. He has taken some really neat pictures and some cute ones of the kids.

I thought that since this blog has been lacking so much the last while that I would post the links to his Instagrams so that those of you who don't FB or Instagram can see them too. There are many Instagrams at this point so I will post 5 at a time starting at the beginning until we are all caught up.

“Dates in a palm tree”

“Inside the beacon"

“Weed on the beach”

“Two cute kids on the sea wall.”

“Stranded Jelly Fish”

These 3 And The Things They Say

2011-06-18T22:21:00.000+03:00

Marin.
While putting together mouse trap game. A game that she and I have played together, but Ian has not so he has never had the job of assembling it. It has an involved set up, which is he totally capable of doing, but Marin was getting a little impatient.

Marin said "Mommy we need your help."

Ian said "Your Daddy is a man and an engineer I can put it together myself."

Marin's response: "Okay fine then do your man thing."

While disobeying one day shortly after getting her ears pierced by touching her ears (not supposed to touch them while they are healing).

Coming in part way through the conversation...

Marin: "I'll just put toilet paper on my ears."

Ian: "Marin don'ttouch your ears, don't put toilet paper on your ears, don't put tape on your ears, don't touch you ears, don't do anything with your ears."

Marin: "I think I am doing something with my ears..."

Ian: "Marin don't touch your ears!"

Marin: (In a super sweet voice) "I am doing something with my ears, I am listening to you."

Ian: (In a slightly defeated voice) "Yes that is true, that is the one thing you are allowed to do with them."

While in the bath one evening.
Marin: "Dad, when will I get those swim things mom has under her shirt? Right here." (Touches chest)

Ian: "Ahh..." (Not really sure what to say)

Marin: "I call them dukees."
As I walk into the bathroom. "Mom show daddy your Dukees!"

Other things she says. "I just watched the show inside my head." or "My tummy is getting full, I will switch to my other tummy." wiggles body around "Ahh, better, now I have room for dessert."

Corban.
While on the toilet. "My pee is golden. It is like treasure!"

While wearing 3D glasses. "When I put these gasses (glasses) on everything yooks (looks) rainbowy." As he tilts his head from side to side with a look of aww and wonder on his face.

While eating breakfast with our small group on Friday (like Sunday). He was eating a hard boiled egg and when he got to the yolk inside he exclaimed "There is cheese inside!"

While talking with Ian and Marin about what the kids wanted to be when they grow up. Ian asked "Corban what do you want to be when you grow up?" "A big guy, with no soos (soother/pacifier)." He replied.

While saying goodbye to our friend after dinner one night.

Corban: "What is your name?"

Brian (who was wearing a nice yellow shirt): "Brian"

Corban: "That is too much yellow for a man to wear."

All the adults burst out laughing...

Jeriah.
The way he says some words.
Zebra = Zeebee

Gecko = Geeko

Look = wook

Leaves = weaves
bathroom = baffoom
Mountains = Maatins
Marin = Mawin
Corban = Cohbin
Ryhmes with mush, Pushles = Puzzles

He also says "Eww Gross!" at both appropriate, like when I am changing his poopy diaper and inappropriate, like when he is eating dinner, times.
He can also be head saying this "No mine, yet (let) go, yet go!" I am sure you can figure out when he uses that!

He loves to do the actions to "If your happy and you know it".

While doing some yard work one afternoon, Marin asked "What is this?" and showed Ian.
"That is a tomato," said Ian, "Where did you get that from?"
"From Jeriah." she said. Ian looked over at the garden to see Jeriah at the tomato plants.
"Jeriah! What are you doing in the garden!" Ian called as he went over to him.
Looking startled, but oh so cute, he held up a tomato and said "Apple, apple." He had picked 4 partially ripe tomatoes and taken a bite out of every one of them.

Singing Happy Birthday to Ian.

In the below slide show you will see:

-Marin and Corban playing playdoh, note the modified dinosaurs with fairy wings that have been attached using playdoh.

-Marin making glowering lion faces out in the backyard

-Marin with her recycled art creations at her K2 finale assembly.

-Corban being Corban, can you see the twinkle in that boy's eyes, what a kid!

-Corban crashed out on the couch after a morning at the beach.

-Corban at the KAUST marina.

-Marin and Corban looking down one of the ladders for fish in the water.

-Jeriah watching his big sis and bro.

-Jeriah on the table, pretty pleased with himself.

-Jeriah with a book.

-Jeriah playing with some of the dinosours.

-Jeriah trying to get close to the camera and see himself on the screen. I had flipped it out and turned it around so he could see himself while I was taking his picture.

Birthday Wishes

2011-06-14T14:08:00.003+03:00

Happy 90th Birthday to (Great) Grandpa Phillips!

Birthday Wishes

2011-06-10T13:55:00.004+03:00

Happy 24th Birthday to (Auntie) Blair!

Photo Fun from Summer 2010

2011-06-03T21:22:00.001+03:00

So yes I said I was done talking about last summer, but I am not going to talk about it in this post. I am just showing some of the neat pictures we took, that aren't really about anything. Just pictures.

A Blast From Our Summer 2010 Past Part 5

2011-05-29T21:01:00.116+03:00

This post will conclude my telling you about our summer 2010, I am cutting it pretty close too, because it is almost June!

Anywho, the pictures in this post begin on August 4th and take us to our final day in Canada (last summer) August 17th.

To start you will see pictures of the kids with to kittens. Oma and Opa were in "need" of a couple new barn cats so what better time to get some then when the kids were there to enjoy them. :) One Sunday (I think it was) afternoon Opa called a number from an add in the news paper for free kittens and then the 4 of them, Oma, Opa, Marin and Corban went and picked out 2 kittens. Both were males, and as you will see one was black and the other gray. Marin wanted to call them "Blackie" and "Grayie", hmmm... We all gave a few other suggestion and then I suggested to her that we name the black one Jet-Black and the gray one Gray-Sky and then for short just call them Jet and Sky. Thankfully she liked that idea and so they became Jet and Sky. They were both very tolerant kittens, and have remained so because they were both still very friendly with the kids when the saw them at home in Jan/Feb. Going out the barn to play with the kittens was a highlight for them over the summer, and they are both talking about seeing Jet and Sky again soon.

Next up is a second trip we took to Harald Park, this time with Granny and Grandpa. It was of course another fun time of digging in the sand and playing in the water, gathering rocks and sticks and all that fun stuff.

After that will come pictures of our hike with (Uncle) Michael & (Auntie) Blair at Pillar Lake. It was a fun adventure off into the country side to this little lake and a hike up to see the pillar which gives the lake and area its name. It is a compliantly natural pillar (approx 90 feet or 28 meters tall) of rock and sand and whatever else makes up the soil in the area, with a giant rock on the top. Very cool.

Then came our trip to RockRidge Canyon, a gorgeous camp/resort, in a beautiful setting. We went to visit with Andrew & Sarah and the kids and got to see first hand how Young Life camp works. It is/was awesome! I wish we had more pictures, but unfortunately I don't. You will see pictures of Corban with a snake, thankfully I was off taking care of Jeriah and missed that part. *shudder, shudder*

The pictures after that are of a bunch of fun the kids had playing and helping out at Oma & Opa's. That is the one thing they are looking forward to the most, helping feed the animals, Marin is pleased that, with it being summer, it will much easier to go outside to help because she wont have to get dressed in all the snow gear like when we were home in the winter. She is also talking about how she will get up early in the morning so she is ready to help, we are trying our best to tell her she wont have to get up early, Oma likes to sleep in. :)

One of the last things we did while home was go to the beach at the Enderby river. It is always a wonderful place to play in the sand and water and we of course had a great time.

The last three pictures are from our last day in Canada, we stopped in to say good-bye to Great Granny Foulds, and then spent our time at Dorothy's house, where Granny & Grandpa read books to the kids. We also took a couple of walks to the parks near by to stretch our legs as much as we would before it was time for the 10 hour airplane ride.

So that concludes that things we did last summer, only 26 days till we do it again, well it wont be totally the same, but you know what I mean.

We are looking forward to some time in the "real world" and to enjoying some time with family and friends. And to eating foods and drinks, that we can't get here, and of seeing the green, green and more green of beautiful British Columbia.

A Blast From Our Summer 2010 Past Part 4

2011-05-15T08:26:00.004+03:00

Yes you read that right, this is a post about our summer trip home last year. I am stubborn though and I will get to posting about last summer before this summer starts. I have all the pictures picked out and ready to go, I just need to up load them, and babble a bit about them here. Also it is fun to look back and see how the kids have changed and remember the fun we had last summer.

We do have our flights booked to come home and visit this summer, and we are all looking forward to it. Marin asked me the other day as I was driving her to school "Mom can you just drop me off at Oma & Opa's?" Confused by her question I asked her what she meant. She said "Like when we went home for the wedding and you and Daddy just left us at Oma & Opa's." She was referring to Ian and I's trip to Mexico. I laughed a bit, and asked did you have fun while we were gone. "Yes!" she said. I informed her that she was in luck because Ian and I would be going on a trip to Turkey and that she and her brothers would stay with Oma and Opa while we were gone. Marin is also looking forward to Day Camp and having Granny teach her, and both Marin and Corban are looking forward to a trip to the zoo. They have also asked about going to the spraypark in downtown Salmon Arm with Granny & Grandpa and are both eager to "help" Oma & Opa with feeding the animals and collecting the eggs. I have a feeling this year Jeriah is going to be tagging right along whenever he can, the little one loves to be in on all the action!

So enough about this summer lets get to last summer. The pictures in this slide show cover the dates of July 26th to August 3rd. The highlights include a little family (just the 5 of us) trip to Margaret Falls/Harald park, and a trip to The Enchanted Forest with Oma, Opa and (Uncle) Mark.

On our hike to Margret Falls the kids had so much fun walking along the trail looking at all the trees and rocks, they also liked the stream the lead all the way to the falls. Then when we got to the falls they were very impressed. We sat for a bit and watched the water fall, then some other people came and we watched as some of them went into the super cold water, through the falls and into the cave behind it. Marin still talks about that when she sees the picture. After our time at the falls we headed back down the trail to the beach at Harald park, there we played in the water where the stream enters the lake. It was a wonderful little family time as Jeriah and I sat in the sand along the side of the water, him trying to eat sand, while Ian, Marin and Corban gathered rocks, big sticks and small logs to build a "dam" to divert some of the water in the creek. They had so much fun, Corban was in little boy heaven surrounded, by sticks, rocks and water, for that matter so was Ian. :) Marin had fun running about and gathering "supplies" for the "dam". A cute little story from our hike: As we were walking we were telling the kids things about what we were seeing, and how we used to come there when we were kids too. One thing they wondered about was the holes in the sides of the trees. We told them they were woodpecker holes and how the woodpeckers use their beaks to chip away at the tree looking for bugs. Marin then ran about to all the holes she could reach calling "hello anybody in there?"
Our other adventure to the Enchanted forest, was a fun time spent running here and there looking at all the fairy tale creatures in the forest. The kids had a blast and it was fun to see them enjoy it. We had a picnic lunch with is always a good time, and on the way home we stopped at D Dutchman Dairy for ice cream, and who dosen't like that!?
These pictures also include, fun times helping Opa with chores around the farm, fun pool time with the Uncles, and birthday party for cousin Dylan with extended family, which is always a wonderful time. :)

2011-05-14T16:50:00.002+03:00

Happy 68th Birthday to Grandpa/Dad/Barry!

Anniversary Greetings & Birthday Wishes

2011-04-29T13:16:00.064+03:00

Happy 11th Anniversary to Ian and I! (April 22nd)

Happy 30th Birthday to me! (April 25th)

Happy 32nd Birthday to Ian! (April 30th)
So when kids have a birthday you often hear the comments like "I can't believe he/she is that old already!" or "He/she is 5 years old, when did that happen!?"
Well I would like to ask the same thing. 30 years old! When did that happen?! And what is 30 years old supposed to feel like anyway?
And 11 years! Wow, we are old married people now. Ha!
We have had a busy, fun year with lots of traveling. We of course could not have done that with out our parents taking care of our 3 cute kiddos. So again THANK YOU to our Moms and Dads! :)
On our super-duper safari in Kenya, in a hot air balloon! Amazing time! PS I still plan to blog about it.

In Mexico at Chitzen Itza. Such a relaxing time!

Home in Salmon Arm in the winter! For Michael and Blair's wedding. :)

So as I said before this was our 11th anniversary, that would make last year our 10th, and because I have yet to blog about what Ian got me last year to mark that occasion I am going to do it now.

A ring! The one on top with 10 diamonds!

A bit of back story, the ring with the solitaire is my engagement ring, which Ian picked out all by himself, and I love! When we got married we bought two plain (white gold) bands, one for him and one smaller one (about the size of the ring with the 10 diamonds) for me. The plan was to after the wedding have them put together. That never happened, we could have if we really wanted to, I guess it was just a case of major procrastination. Anyway so when we were home this past summer, we went looking for a ring. I was looking at one and trying it on to see how I liked the look, I liked it but then Ian said, "Why don't you get one with bigger diamonds". Okay then! So I did. :) We had the new ring fused to my engagement ring and this is what I see on my finger. I like having the 2 fused together and I love the way the 2 rings look together. :) Thank you wonderful husband! I love you!

18 Months

2011-04-27T05:54:00.001+03:00

Our little Jeriah-kins is 18 months old today. He is at that fun age, of turning into a full on toddler, he talks so much, and communicates so well. He is learning how to do so many things, and always wants to be part of the action.

One thing that he really discovered and learned about this past month was potato heads. At first he would enjoy having us make them for him, telling him all the different parts, eyes, ears, mouth, etc. His favorite is the "noss" (noes). He would play with them and as soon as a part fell out he would bring it right back with a very concerned look on his face and saying very urgently "oh noh, broka, broka!" (oh no broken) We would fix it for him and this whole scenario would repeat. He quickly learned how to put the pieces in on his own though and now he makes his own and fixes them too. We talk about all the parts the the potato needs, and as we do we ask him where his eyes, ears, mouth etc are and he knows all the answers.

His pronunciation is very clear, I think anyway, and he is really good a telling us things. Like "Owieeeee" and "poop bumm". Or when he would like more "chocit" (chocolate) or "Ms" (M&M's)

He is really good at using a fork and spoon, and usually insists on feeding himself. The other morning we had pancakes for breakfast, I had prepared his pancake, but didn't want to give him the plate with the whole pancake on it because he has a tendency to fill his cheeks with food. So I gave him a few pieces on his high chair try, well that would not do! So I got a second plate and put 5 piece on it, he was not pleased with that either and gave me a very disgusted look. I told him that he could have more when those pieces were gone. He gave me a look and then took his fork and poked all 5 pieces onto it, then while looking at me put all five of them into his mouth. Little stinker! Ridiculously cute though...

He loves to play outside, he loves to dig in the sand, and the garden (gerr!). He comes in from outside coated in sand and dirt and with half the sandbox in his pockets. He is a climber and has no fear, if he can he will climb right up onto a table top and stand there with a grin on his face waiting for someone to see what he has done. There are now a few (key to his climbing success) pieces of furniture that have been removed from the general living space at the moment. He climbs right up the slide outside and with out any hesitation steps from the top of the slide to the bar across the brace of the swing set.

Not sure what I am going to do with the crazy little monkey, or "unkey" as he calls them.

See what I mean about ridiculously cute though?

(This is outside while digging in the garden)

He likes to play his "munic" (music)

He knows how to blow his "noss"

He likes animals, right now "entent" (elephants) and horses (he likes to say "neigh") are 2 favorites.

He is also really interested in puzzles, and works really hard at putting actual puzzles together. Building "towah" towers is also good fun for him. He is also learning shapes and likes to play with different shape sorting toys.

He loves to read books, "dance" as he calls it, Barnyard Dance and Goodnight moon (he likes to look for the mouse on each page) are 2 favorites.

He also like to eat "crakoovs" (crackers). Now when you read that, picture/hear him say that with what sounds like a Russian accent. It is my favorite, it is totally cute. When he has his "crakoovs" he likes to "sit sit" on the stool in the kitchen.

So that is what Jeriah is up to these days. :)

We love you our totally cute tiny man!

Some of what the kiddos have been up to - a megga post

2011-04-20T10:23:00.002+03:00

So the 3 little kids in this house are up to the usual, growing, learning and being busy. Added into it though has been a lot of sick. :(

About 4 weeks ago Jeriah got quite sick it started with a ear infection and then the flu was added in. This resulted in multiple trips to the doctor and he did not like that. By the 3rd time I took him in he was crying before we walked in through the front doors. Marin and Corban joined him with the bad flu, they started just after Jeriah was finished with it. It left all 3 of them barfing and not eating for about 3-4 days. This was the sickest any of them have ever been, and they all lost quite a bit of weight. Once their appetites returned though they ate like crazy. They were eating whatever I put in front of them at dinner and whatever they can get their hands on the rest of the day. Corban had been going into the fridge and getting yogurt drinks, or climbing up at the counter to get a banana. He would tell me, "you know I didn't have a banana at breakfast" or "I didn't have a yogurt drink at supper". Usually though he had the wrong meal, and I think it is funny that he for some reason thought he needed to make up and excuse to eat more. I told him if he was hungry he could always have more food. Jeriah too was eating lots of bananas, and felt like I was always having to go get more from the store... maybe cause I was.

Fast forward to the present and we seem to be at it again. In a different way though, kind of. On Thursday Marin started complaining of a sore ear so I took her to emergency (Thursday afternoon is "Saturday" here so the clinic was closed). She had a ear infection, and a cold. So antibiotics it was. Saturday Jeriah started showing signs of a cold as well. On Monday morning when Marin woke up she had red itchy spots all over her body, and face, although thankfully the ones on her face were not itchy. So off to the clinic to see the pediatrician, who confirmed what we expected, she was allergic to the medication for the ear infection. We left with new ear infection medication, an antihistamine and a cream for the itchy spots. Then when we got home, I noticed that Corban's one eye was looking a little irritated. He wasn't really bothered by it though and he had a dentist appointment so off we went. It was his first one and he did really really well! He has his teeth cleaned and a picture of them taken, and he thought the chair and all the tools were pretty neat, he even got to push the buttons to make the chair move.

Back to the sick. So yesterday Corban wakes up and both eyes are swollen, irritated looking, and weepy. So I make an appointment with the predication for 11:30am. We go and it is confirmed that he has pinkeye. So now he has 2 different sets of eye drops. That afternoon Marin also had a dentist appointment and she too did really well, she liked the cherry flavored paste for cleaning her teeth and like guessing what all the buttons were for.
Today Marin's spots of stopped itching her and they are starting to fade away. Corban's eyes are already looking much better so I dare say we are on the mend.
Except Ian who lost his voice today, and is getting is a cold.

I sure hope I can keep all these medications straight though, because we really don't need yet another trip to see the doctor!

How about I talk about something more fun than the kids being sick? Yes. Okay then!
So lets back up way before the sick started, like to the end of February.
Marin's class had a field day and I got to go along and help and cheer and take pictures. :) There were 15 different activity stations and each class went around together playing all the different games.
Also Marin participated in her first bike race, the second one that has been held here at KAUST. She did well and finished the race, although she was pretty tired, and sad that her friend Elena didn't get to finish with her because her bike chain fell off. :(
The end of February was also Corban's birthday. He was very excited to have a birthday party with his friends. I hid dinosaur bones in the sand box, in the backyard and they dug for them. We had birthday cake and played with playdoh, all things Corban really likes doing. On March 1st we had his family party, and we had more cake, sang happy birthday, and he got to open his presents from us.

The first full week of March was International week for the schools here at KAUST (preschool, elementary and high school). The week was filled with different activities, a potluck, cultural show, looking at maps to see where all the kids have come from (75 different countries!), and on the last day a parade. Each kid was to dress up to represent their country, so Marin did just that. :)
Pictures of all this fun? Here you go.

The end half of March was when the sick happened, and on March 30th it was the last day of school before spring break. We (I say we because I spent one day barfing too) were all feeling better by then and so we decided to spend a bit of time almost everyday making some spring art. It was a pretty laid back week off, a palydate with friends, a visit to see Ian at work, a swim at the pool one afternoon, all going to Tuesday library time. It was a nice change from routine.
We also harvested our first meal of veggies from our garden. Green beans, yum!
The last picture you will see is one of Marin dressed up as a snowflake fairy from the Rainbow magic fairies series. It was book week at school this week and even though she missed some of it she did got to go today and dress up. :)
You'll see also a few pictures of Mr. Corban, that boy! Such a character.
Lately every time we go out the front door he has been picking me a flower from the flower garden. He hides it behind his back and says "Mommy close your eyes I have a prise for you", and if I have my sunglasses on he insists that I "open them" so he can see that my eyes are indeed closed. Then he holds out the flower and says "Prise!" and insists that I put it in my hair. Of course I do because what mom doesn't love getting flowers from her sweet little boy!
The other day we were outside in the afternoon just Corban and I and we were planting some new bean seeds, it was his job to put one seed in each hole. He did a really good job and as he was working, he told me "Dees beans yook yike Tic Tacs".
Then a bit later while digging a hole in the garden he found a big worm, he loves worms so he picked it up and took it to his sand box to play with it. He is usually very gentle with them, but came to me later very concerned saying "Oh no dis wom is getting bokin".

So there you have it I posted! Shocking I know! :)

The Wedding... Michael & Blair's that is.

2011-03-29T21:41:00.014+03:00

(This is the part where you all forget the fact that this blog has been sadly neglected for the past long while, and that I have mentioned a couple times already that this post was on it's way and that it has been nearly 2(!!) months since the wedding).

So February 5th was Michael & Blair's big day. It was an absolutely beautiful winter day, perfect for the outdoor wedding they had planed. They got married at one the the local golf courses that had a view across the valley, the greens were of course covered with snow and the sun was shinning. Michael and Dad had built an awesome arch to use for the ceremony and that along with a whole bunch of hay bales was used to set up the location.
Marin was the flower girl, and Corban was her little helper. Marin and Corban decided to call him the "flower boy". They did their job really well and looked, of course, totally cute. Corban was even wearing the suit that my mom had made for Michael when he was about the same age. Marin had the special treatment, Granny took her to get her hair done, she was pretty pleased with all that girlie fun stuff. She had a trial a few days before and then on the morning of the wedding she and I got to go together and get our hair done.

Caleb, Michael's long time friend, was the "ring-bearer" and if you know Caleb then it will all make sense, if not well then...
Two of Blair's good friends, Caitlin and Heather along with myself were the bridesmaids and the groomsmen were Mark, and two of Michael's good friends Jed and Jeremy.
Blair had asked me to create the bouquets, which I really enjoyed doing, and I was really pleased with the way they turned out. More importantly so was Blair. :)

After the ceremony was picture time, that was fun, we basically just played in the snow. Then it was off to the reception, for a really tasty dinner, great music by some of their friends, cake of course and dancing into the night. It was a great time of getting to see lots of family and friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I will also include in this post some picture of all the fun the kids had playing outside in the snow. Marin and Corban had loads of fun being pulled around on GTs and crazy-carpets, by Opa, and who ever else they could convince to pull them. My dad also built them a snow cave which they thought was really neat too, and when cousin Dylan came to play, they spent quite a bit of time playing in it. They of course built snowmen too, many people helped with that, Blair, Mark, Ian and Opa I think too. Most of the snowmen were built while Ian and I were in Mexico though so I have no pictures of them.
They also got to experience the fun to zooming down snow covered hills. Michael and I took Marin and Corban to the hills we used to sled on when we were in elementary school, they were hesitant at first but soon realized how much fun it was. On a different day Michael and Ian took them again and Jeriah went along too, he also thought it was lots of fun. :)

It was really great to get a chance to experience winter again, the kids loved the snow, and are disappointed that there wont be any when we come back again this summer. If was a nice change to go inside to warm up instead of inside to cool off.

Of course the best part of the trip was being home to share in the celebration of Michael & Blair's wedding. :)

If you are interested in seeing more pictures click here.

Birthday Wishes

2011-03-28T09:20:00.001+03:00

Happy 27th Birthday to (Uncle) Michael!

So a funny little story to go along with this picture...

After we arrived back here from our trip home for Michael & Blair's wedding Marin's class started a new unit in school about going on a journey. The kids were invited to share about their journey and parents were asked to help by bringing pictures and what ever else might be appropriate to share about the journey. Marin and I shared about our journey back to Canada and the snow that Marin got to play in and her part in the wedding as the flower girl. We started off by showing a family picture of us 5 with my parents, Michael, Blair, and Mark and told all the kids who all the people were, and the Blair and Michael were the bride and groom. After showing some more pictures and talking about the snow I got to this picture and I asked the kids who this was, one of the little boys hand shot up and I asked him to answer the question. His response "he is a secret agent". Marin's teacher and I looked at each other and laughed, it was so funny.

Anniversary Greetings

2011-03-04T15:45:00.000+03:00

Happy 67th Anniversary to (Great) Granny & Grandpa Phillips!

Birthday Wishes for Corban

2011-02-28T22:10:00.008+03:00

Mr. Corban is 3 years old!

Our little Corban Barry when he was brand new, one day old.

3 months.

9 months.

11 months.

16 months.

19 months.

22 months.

2 years 5 months.

3 years.

Corban, where to begin. He is such a wonderful sweet boy, and I just can't get enough of him.
He has always been our snuggle bug, and this is still the case. He still joins Ian and I in bed in the early morning, but we don't mind, he dosen't keep us up and his cuddles and hugs are awesome.

He is a polite boy, I love hearing his excited and genuine "fank you Mommy!"
When we play his Webkinz together he is always so encouraging, he likes to have me play the arcade games for him and when I do well, he says "good job Mommy, you did it!". If I don't do so well he leans his head against me and says "it's okay".
He loves his little brother and if Jeriah is upset it is so sweet to hear him say things like "it okay Jiah" as he gives him a hug and kiss. He also calls him "Jiah-kins" which is so cute.
Marin is his favorite playmate and he is always happy when she gets home from school. When he hears the door open he opens his mouth wide, does a little gasp and says "Mayin!" They like to play "owner and pet" and they take turns being the pet and owner, usually Marin is a cat and Corban is a dog. They also play Mommy monkey (Marin) and baby monkey (Corban) in which he is called "baby monk".
He of course loves his Daddy too, and would spend all day playing with him if he could. His favorite game to play with Ian right now is Buzz and Woody, he says "Daddy you be Buzz, and I be Woody", and they off they go making up all sort of adventures and rescue missions.
He is of course my boy, and we have fun through out the day going to playgroup, library time and hanging out at home. He is a very loving little boy and tells me often he loves me. One of his sweetest lines though has been " I yove you mommy. I am your best fend".
He also knows that God loves him, and will every once in a while out of the blue say "God yoves us" or "God yoves me" we then go on to talk about all the things that God has made.
Corban is full of imagination and turns most things into some kind of play. He will spend up to 2 hours playing with playdoh. With the playdoh he plays with all sorts of things, rocks, buttons, dinosaur and knight figures, little containers of varying sizes. He asks daily to play with it and routinely plays after lunch. He loves it!
He also loves being outsides, going out in the backyard to play in the sandbox is also a fun part of his day. He likes to help Ian with yard work too. He loved the chance to play outside in the snow when we were back home a few weeks ago. The cold did not bother him and he loved the snow and all the neat things there was to do in the snow.

He is doing all his business on the toilet and learned to do so the second week of January in 5 days. He was very pleased with himself and so were we. Day and night he has been dry since with only one accident and that was at night when we were still getting over jetlag. Seeing his little butt in underwear is so cute!

As I have mentioned before like many other little boys "potty humor" is hilarious to him, here is an example.

Corban: Knock, knock
Ian: Who's there?
C: Banana tootie
I: Banana tootie who?
C: Orange! (Laugh hard)
He is a friendly, chatty guy and will strike up conversations with most people. He starts by saying "Hi, my name is Coben". He then goes on to introduce who he is with so if he is with Jeriah and I he will say "Dis is my baby Jiah and dat is my mommy." Most people of course have a little conversation with him and he chats about all sorts of things. And of course they think he is cute and wonderful, because he of course is.
Here are a couple cute things he has said in the past month. Both are from our time back home.

Blair's mom Kathryn, my cousin Lynda, Corban and Jeriah were sitting at the kitchen table. Corban points to Kathryn and asks Lynda "Who is dat?" Lynda replies "That's Blair's mom." "Bair has a mom!?" he replies in disbelief.

While sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch Opa brought out some un-shelled peanuts to eat. Corban inquired about them and wondered what Opa was going to do with them. When Opa told him he was going to eat them Corban said "You can't eat dose Opa, dose are for el-phants!"

Corban is really excited to be turning 3, he is looking forward to going to school next fall and I am sure he is really going to like it.
We of course can't believe that 3 years have flown by and we now have a little boy instead of a toddler. We are so incredibly happy that he is our sweet, funny, smart, boy. He is full of energy, emotion and love and we love him to bits and bites.
Happy 3rd Birthday Corban! Mommy & Daddy love you!

(Corban was actually born on Feb 29th.)

16 Months

2011-02-27T00:01:00.003+03:00

Jeriah our little turken-himer as Ian sometimes calls him is now 16 months old. He is our little peanut of a guy and has just this past month finally hit 20 lbs. He may be small, but he is strong and is always on the go. He continues to be a good eater and has no trouble telling us when he wants more. He loves dates, or "deets" as he calls them. Homemade macaroni and cheese remains his favorite meal, but he also really likes lasagna.
He absolutely loves going outside to play, if he hears me say "lets go outside" he runs to the door as quickly as he can and as soon as the door is open he bolts out and runs for the sand box.
His interest in books as grown so much in the past months, he is always bringing us a book to read, and he has a few favorites, "Barnyard Dance", Baby Beluga", and "Little Critter Where is my Frog". He also likes Eric Carl's Brown Bear, Polar Bear, and Panda Bear as well as "The Very Hungary Caterpillar". He likes books with flaps to flip up, and he likes books that have rhythm when you read them. He is a little mover and shaker so when we read to him he often bops to the rhythm.
Jeriah adores Marin and Corban, and loves to play with them and be a part of what they are doing. Corban is really into Buzz and Woody from Toy Story right now and that has led to one of Jeriah's newest words "Buss". He is adding new words regularly, "nep" (nap) "gurt" (yogurt) are also quite new. Even if he dosen't know how to say the word of what he wants yet he is still really good at getting his point across. He does that by pointing and letting out a little excited squawk, and if he is really excited about it, half leaping out of my arms (if I am holding him).
He is a total little sweetie and he gives the best big squeezy hugs, having his little arms holing tight around your neck is the cutest. When he gets into a lovey mood he is full of kisses too, and he will give lots of kisses in a row smiling between each one. He is also a little ham and loves to make us laugh, he loves to laugh too. Being chased around the house is one of the things that makes him laugh the most, he totally loves it.
This past month he got to experience snow for the first time, he thought it was great.
And just when I though can this kid get any cuter... yes he can, we put him in a snow suit, toque and boots and watched him walk around in the snow.

He had lots of fun in the winter weather and was not bothered at all by the extra clothing that he is not really used to wearing.

He also had fun checking out all the animals at Oma & Opa's. :)

So that is a bit of our little Jeriah-kins right now. It's so wonderful watching learn, grow and change. We love you tiny man.

Mexico!

2011-02-19T17:54:00.000+03:00

So in Ian's field of research/work there is one major conference every year, MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems). It is in the end of January and it rotates location between North America, Europe and Asia. Last year (2010) it was in Hong Kong, this year Mexico, and next year Paris.
Anyway this year the timing was such at we were heading back home around the same time for Michael & Blair's wedding so we rolled it all into one trip. Ian was going to be going, but the best part for me was that we got to leave our kidlets with my parents and I got to go along and spend the whole time relaxing!
THANK YOU MOM! as I am sure she did most of the work, but also thank you to Dad, Mark, Michael, Blair, Barry & Donna for pitching in too.
By the time we arrived to Mexico Ian and I were exhausted! We had been traveling for pretty much 4 days straight. The night of the 18th I had gotten 4 hours of sleep and that was the most consecutive hours of sleep I got until we arrived in Mexico the night of the 22nd, which for us with the time change was the morning of the 23rd. My head was spinning, and I know we had to ask numerous people to repeat themselves because it was so hard to retain what then were saying. When Ian and I checked into the hotel it took every ounce of combined brain power we had to listen to the receptionist and remember her instruction of how to get to our room.
Before heading up to our room though we took a quick stop at the travel desk for day trips and tours in the Cancun area. We booked ourselves a tour to Chichen Itza the next morning as that was the one day we had where Ian would not be busy with the conference. We went up to our room, ordered some food through room service, showered and fell asleep the instant our heads hit the pillows.
We were up pretty early the next morning to take our trip to Chichen Itza. It was such a fun day being tourist just the 2 of us. It was about a 2-3 hour bus ride, with a stop at a beautiful cenote, along the way. We had a tour guide on the bus and we learned little bits of info about the Mexican and Mayan culture as we drove. Our time at Chichen Itza was great, it was so neat to see the ruins up close and learn about them. We had fun along the way bartering for souvenirs with all the merchants, and laughing at the ways they tried to sucker us in with their "deals". "Special deal for you today, one dollar" when really what they meant was one dollar off. We were tired again after our day of playing tourists, but that was okay because the rest of the time was all about relaxing. Well for me anyway, Ian had to attend the conference.
The rest of our 3 1/2 days there were wonderfully relaxing, we had breakfast together in the morning, Ian would head off to his conference and on the 1st and 2nd morning after reading and sending a few emails I went to the spa (our room deal came with a $50 spa coupon bonus!) first day for a massage and second day for a facial and haircut. In the afternoon, after having lunch by myself, (I don't know if I have ever eaten at a restaurant by myself, but I have now and it was nice) I headed down to the beach. The first day was the warmest so I played in the waves and then read my book. The 2nd and 3rd were not as warm so I just laid in the sun and read. Ian was always back in time for dinner, and on one the the evenings we had dinner with his students that were also at the conference, it was a fun evening with lots of laughter. We had also brought along a couple of movies we rented on iTunes so we even caught up on a few movies.
We arrived back in Vancouver late on the 27th and spent the night at Dorothy's, we had breakfast with her in the morning and then I did some shopping while Ian met with Ash and crew up at SFU. I met them up at SFU for lunch and then Ian and I spent the afternoon visiting with Mike & Lindsey, and their new little one.
We headed back to Salmon Arm that night via the bus and thankfully made it though a nasty storm just at the right time as the roads were being closed behind us.
As wonderful as our time away was it was even more wonderful to see our 3 cute kids the next morning, we had of course missed them. :)
So... that was our trip in a nutshell, it was such a nice treat to have some alone time and relax knowing the kids were in good hands having fun of their own. :)
Pictures if you please...

Wedding fun still to come!

Her party & a few other things.

2011-02-11T19:26:00.000+03:00

Hello, hello.

So we are back from our whirlwind trip, it's 4:55am and I am blogging... jet-lag and being sick with a bad cough, not a good combo. Anyway.

January 19th was Marin's 5th birthday, but it was also the day we flew back home to Canada so on the 18th we had a little party for her. I brought cupcakes to her class at snack time and her whole class sang to her in English and Arabic. After school I picked Marin and 4 of her little friends up and they came to our house for an after school snack, some cake, a scavenger hunt in the back yard, and some play time together. Marin had requested a cake with pink icing, and when I suggested I make it in the heart shaped pan she loved that idea.

Later after dinner we sang happy birthday to Marin again and we put 5 candles in a cupcake. If you listen carefully you can hear Corban singing, he is very good at singing the happy "burfday" song. Marin also sang to herself, which was funny. :)

I have also added some pictures of the kids from a few days before we went home to Canada. Marin drew a picture on the doodle pro of her as the flower girl and Blair as the bride, you'll notice their lovely bouquets. The others are of the kids playing outside in the backyard, the weather has been awesome here this "winter", and good fun playtime outside before dinner is always good for making bedtime go well. :)

Anyway here are the pictures, more to come later on Mexico and the wedding.

Birthday Wishes

2011-01-27T18:25:00.007+03:00

Happy 21st Birthday to (Uncle) Mark!

Birthday Wishes for Marin!

2011-01-19T00:32:00.099+03:00

M ~ marvelous & wonderful

A ~ absolutely beautiful

R ~ really, really smart

I ~ incredibly imaginative

N ~ nutty & fun

Our Marin girl is 5 today.

You are such a wonderful girl and we are so blessed to be your parents. It is so neat to see you learn and grow. You are so smart and you have an amazing memory. You memorize Bible verses with ease, you are reading, doing math, and loving school. You love to be read to as well and it is fun to read chapter books with you. You are social and really like to play with your friends. Roll playing and coming up with creative stories is such a part of you, you are always pretending to be something and you always add such detail to your stories. Corban has become a great playmate for you too in the last few months and we love to see your relationship growing. You love to giggle and be silly, you like to be tickled and play chasing/tag games in the backyard. You like to be silly for Jeriah to make him laugh too, and it is so cute to see you tickle and hug him. You have an adventurous spirit and are excited to travel and check out new places. You like looking at maps and at globes and understanding where we are in relation to other countries. You are super excited to be going back to Canada today to see family and to play in some snow. :)
We love you SO much our gorgeous girl, we are thankful for you, and will love you always.
Happy Birthday Marin!

Hey!

2011-01-15T23:30:00.001+03:00

Happy New Year!

Can I still say that 15 days into January? Oh well, I did...

So I don't know if you read this post, but if you did then you know only half our fun is over. The other half is about to start in just 4 days. Eeek!

I am going to attempt to give a rundown of our going-ons since I wrote the countdown post.

Granny & Grandpa (Barry & Donna) arrived on the 7th of December and we got right to all sorts of fun stuff, Christmas crafts, baking/eating Christmas goodies, going out and showing them the new sights of KAUST, reading books, going for walks, playing with play-doh, some pool and beach time. There was also lots of fun afternoons in the backyard, Ian & I found dinosaur bone sets while shopping one night and Ian buried them in the sand box and they played "paleontologist".
Marin's class also had many field trips in the last two weeks before winter break. Granny and/or Grandpa went on all of them, the boys and I tagged along a couple of times, and Ian joined us once too, on the trip that was up at KAUST.

On December 16 was the first graduation ceremony here at KAUST. Ian and all the other professors were of course part of the precession and as is tradition at university graduation ceremonies professors wear the regalia of the university they graduated from. I, as a wife of a professor was also invited to attend the ceremony and reception afterwords. It was such a neat experience to be in attendance at the very first graduation ceremony of KAUST. There is such community here and we all felt proud of what the students and we as the founding people here had accomplished.
It was also neat to see Ian having his students come and ask for pictures with him. It is fun to see him on the other side now, no longer the student in the picture, now the prof.

This is Ian and I after the ceremony, Ian representing SFU. :)

There was Christmas of course and we enjoyed a relaxing day of gift opening in the morning, an afternoon of playing with new toys and fun, followed by a tasty turkey dinner and yummy dessert.

Late on December 27th Ian & I headed off on our Safari adventure. We had a totally awesome time and even took a hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara! I will save the pictures and details for a post all on its own though. We returned home on New Years day, happy to see our kidlets.

On January 2nd I made oliebollen much to Marin's delight. It was my first time making them and they turned out well.

The 6th of January Ian, Barry & Donna went on the "old Jeddah" tour. It was our Christmas gift to them and it gave them a chance to see Jeddah and a little bit of it's history. They also got to check out the camel market.

Early the next morning they were off to the airport so we said our goodbyes (but see you in two weeks!) the night before. Well the kids and I did, Ian got up early to take them to the airport.

So that was it in a nutshell, now I have packing to do and a birthday party to prepare for, but here are some pictures to show you all our fun. :)

14 Months

2010-12-27T12:32:00.027+03:00

Our tiny man is 14 months today, and as you can see he remains totally adorable!

He has been working really hard on learning new words and communicating the past couple weeks. He has added, "haaa" (hi), "ok" (look) and "iss" (this, which he uses to tell us what he is interested in touching or looking at by pointing to it) as regulars. I have also herd/watched him point to Marin and say "Ma" and point to his bottle and "mik" (milk). It is very clear that he understands what we say, if I ask him a question and his answer is yes he smiles and bops his head forward. If his answer is no he lets us know he is not happy. We need to work on "no thank you". :)

He is a climber and works at climbing onto or into what ever he can. He thinks that going into play pop-up tents and large cardboard boxes is totally fun. He pushes the stool up to the kitchen counter and climbs up and stands on it, once he is standing he reaches up with his hands and can manage to just barely peek over the top of the counter.
He continues to be a really good eater and likes to try new things, this mainly comes from the fact that he does not like to be left out of anything, and insists on eating, or at least trying whatever he sees anyone else with. He is also really good a using a fork, and likes to try and feed himself.
He gives wonderful kisses and super hugs. When he gives me a hug he wraps his arms around my neck and gives his version of a pat which is more of a opening and closing of his fist and he rubs his fingers along my back. So sweet!
He loves music, he loves to bop and dance to the music and he most of the time can even bop to the beat. We got him a mini grand piano toy keyboard for Christmas and he has enjoyed making his own music.
He loves to explore and find out how things work, and is usually successful at figuring things out.
These pictures show him with his little piano, and learning how to make the toy drill from Corban's new tool set work.

Happy 14 months Jeriahkins, we love you heaps and heaps!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-24T07:44:00.000+03:00

Birthday Wishes

2010-12-23T06:30:00.006+03:00

Happy 64th Birthday to Granny/Mom/Donna!

Anniversary Greetings

2010-12-23T06:00:00.000+03:00

Happy 38th Anniversary to Mom & Dad/Barry & Donna/Granny & Grandpa!

Just for Fun.

2010-12-11T20:10:00.001+03:00

I have some pictures to share. A couple days ago I thought to myself I need to be taking more pictures. Then I thought of a couple pictures that I knew were on the camera and when I uploaded them I was surprised to find a whole bunch more that I had forgotten about.

These are pictures from a trip the beach, decorating Christmas ornaments, and playing around the house.

Jeriah has learned to smile for the camera, he is a little cheese and happily flashes a huge grin when the camera is pointed at him. It is of course totally CUTE!

What a total cutie!

It Rained!

2010-12-10T22:51:00.003+03:00

There was an awesome thunder and lightening storm this morning. We watched from our front step.

Love the crashing thunder!

(you are looking across the street at our neighbors house, behind it is the Red Sea)

Countdown madness!

2010-12-05T11:04:00.003+03:00

Today as you know is December 5th, and that means...

a) two days until Granny & Grandpa (Barry & Donna) arrive! They are coming to spend Christmas with us. It is going to be fun!

b) twenty days until Christmas! We have been decorating and making the house festive and all that good stuff. The kids are loving it! We have Christmas music playing, an advent wreath, lights, candles, countdowns calenders, with daily things to read do and look at, a tree, and special Christmasy shows to watch and books to read. We have been doing crafts and I am sure we'll do even more once Granny & Grandpa get here.

c) twenty-three days until Ian & I go on our "Christmas present" to each other trip. We are going on a safari in Kenya to this place. So Excited!

d) forty-five days until Marin turns 5!

e) also forty-five days until we begin our trip back to BC.

f) forty-nine days until Ian & I go to Mexico! Ian has a conference there and I am tagging along. So Excited!

and

g) sixty-two days until these two get hitched! SO EXCITED!

Wow the next two and a bit months are going to be so FULL of fun!

A Blast From Our Summer 2010 Past Part 3

2010-12-02T12:14:00.006+03:00

This post if brought to you by the letter Z.

Z is for Zoo and Zelinko.
While we were back home BC we spent most of our time in Salmon Arm, we did take a couple road trips though and one was to the lower mainland where we got to visit with friends there, go to a couple of our favorite places and do a bit of shopping.
At the top of our list of things to do while we were home was to take a trip to the zoo. We had a wonderful time seeing the animals that we had known from when we lived there and went regularly and saw some new ones. Marin and Corban were on the go the whole time checking everything out. The view we saw most of Corban was his back as he was always ahead of us running to check out the next exhibit. Jeriah enjoyed his fist zoo trip too and was happy to look all around as we checked things out.
You'll notice a set of picture of Corban doing a dance towards the end of this slide show, totally cute!

On the note of meeting with friends, I basically sucked at remembering my camera to some of the visits we had and then when I did, I ended up with some pretty poopie (I have been hanging around Corban a lot) pictures. We did get together with Elizabeth, Anna, and Sarah and Elizabeth posted some pictures.

We met for a couple visit with our friends Natalie, Brianna & Kyle and Sarah, Dylan & Ryder. It was so nice to see them and neat to see Marin with her 2 little buddies again. :) Natalie took pictures and she even gave us some she printed before we left!

Thanks to all our friends for taking the time to visit with us while we were home! :)

A Blast From Our Summer 2010 Past Part 2

2010-11-20T08:33:00.003+03:00

The 1st and 4th of July...

The 1st of July was Canada's 143rd birthday and we, along with Granny & Grandpa went to check out the Canada day fun in Salmon Arm. The kids had fun getting their faces painted, playing games, sliding down bouncy castle slides, and Corban totally loved finger painting on the pick-up truck.

The 4th of July was my mom's 50th birthday and we threw her a Surprise party! It was a success, she had no idea and was totally surprised. It was a fun time with her family and friends, and lots and lots of yummy food.

This 3rd set of pictures is not about a birthday, but it is full of cute kids. :) Some include a fun time we had at the Liebich's place visiting with them and their kids.

Birthday Wishes

2010-11-19T20:22:00.000+03:00

Happy 80th Birthday to (Great) Granny Foulds!

3 x 3

2010-11-14T13:58:00.000+03:00

Three things about each of our three kids.

Jeriah:

1. He can say bye, and it is (of course) totally cute. He dosen't say it quietly he exclaims quite loudly "bah! bah! bah!" and waves his little hand, the whole time flashing a huge grin. He knows the morning routine, I take Marin to school, and he is usually still in his high chair finishing his breakfast. When we are by the door getting our sandals on he is calling to us "Bah! bah! bah!" and waving away.

2. He is a little climber, every chance he gets he climbs up onto to the kitchen stool, and as you can see he is pretty pleased about his success. He is also working on learning how to walk up/climb the stairs by holding onto the railing and taking the steps with his feet, no crawling for him. I find this quite funny in a cute way, because the the top of each step comes to above his knees. He can actually manage it though which is impressive I think.

3. He loves spending time out in the backyard. We have been working in our gardens and making a sand box area for the kids. When he sees Ian, Marin and Corban out there while I am getting him and myself ready to go out he gets excited every time I walk toward the back door, and upset every time I walk away from it. When outside he has a grand time playing in the sand, walking around the yard with a stick or whatever "treasure" he finds and he thinks is to so fun when the sprinklers come on and he toddles around the yard giggling.

Marin:

1. This past week Marin's class went on a field trip to the fire station. She asked if I was able to come and was really excited when I told her that I could. She made sure to tell her classmates when we got there "that is my mom, and my brother, his name is Corban". When is was time for Corban and I to leave she gave me a big hug goodbye, this promoted some of her little friends to give me a hug too, I got 5 hugs. :)

2. She has been learning Bible memory verses, and man does she have a good memory! Every few days we add a new verse and she is always able to recite all the ones she has learned previously.

3. She loves her little brothers, she helps Jeriah brush his teeth, she makes silly faces to make him laugh when he is upset about something, she tickles him and looks out for him by telling us when she sees him getting into trouble. She and Corban are good little playmates and they have been playing lots of playdoh, dress up, and out in the backyard making "worm houses", and spraying each other with the water hose.

Corban:

1. Poo-poo jokes are still totally hilarious to him. When I read him the book "Goodnight Moon" and I read the lines "And a comb and a brush and bowl full of mush, and a quiet old lady who was whispering hush." I always let him say the last word hush. He has now taken to saying poo-poo, and bursts out laughing every time.

2. He has gone through another growth spurt with his vocabulary. His sentences are longer and fuller and he is using bigger words. The other day after doing his business on toilet, he took a look in the pot, then turned and look at me and said "Whoa, that is a way big poo-poo, that is awesome". I of course started laughing.

3. He had loads of fun tagging along on the field trip to the fire station, he got to participate too and of course was curious about everything, checking out all the trucks and equipment.

Playdoh & Poo-poo Jokes.

2010-11-06T20:23:00.008+03:00

Two of Corban's favorite things to do: play with playdoh and tell poo-poo jokes.

I took this video of him the other day, he will play with playdoh happily for one to two hours.

He is such a goofy kid.

Baby She Knows How to Move Her Feet...

2010-11-02T08:11:00.001+03:00

and squeak.

This girl makes me laugh!
Also she put her dress on inside out, and did not think it was necessary to fix it.

Birthday Wishes

2010-11-02T07:04:00.001+03:00

Happy 32nd Birthday to (Uncle) Dave!

Happy Halloween...

2010-10-31T10:49:00.000+03:00

from the pretty in pink princess Marin,

the brave handsome knight Corban,

and the adorable precious "thing 3" Jeriah.

The kids had a fun Halloween party and night of trick-or-treating on Thursday (our "Saturday"). These are the pictures we took before heading out.

This one makes me laugh!

Those of you who have been following the blog for a long while now will recognize Jeriah's outfit. This year though I made an alteration to it, blue tape and a permanent marker to make a number 3. :)

This was not Jeriah's first Halloween like it was for Marin and Corban when they wore it, but he was 4 days old last year and we had just arrived home from the hospital.

He is cute from the back,

and while on the move too. :)

To everyone back home we hope you all have a fun Halloween day!

Halloween 2006

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2008

Jeriah's Little Party

2010-10-30T08:07:00.000+03:00

Look at our handsome little Jeriahkins on his birthday!

For Jeriah's birthday we had a nice little family party. I made him his favorite meal for dinner, homemade macaroni & cheese, butternut squash and meatballs. After dinner we moved our dinning room table over to our computer in the living room and Granny & Grandpa, and Oma & Uncle Mark joined us via web-cam. It was 6pm for us and 8am for them. Granny & Grandpa were on the computer screen, Oma & Uncle Mark on the laptop, which we sat beside the computer and the kids sat across the table from them. We all sang happy birthday to Jeriah, and then had cake, well just us 5 had cake... Then Jeriah opened his birthday presents with the help of Marin and Corban.

It was nice to be able to have Granny & Grandpa, and Oma & Uncle Mark "join us", hooray for the internet!

Here is a little peek, enjoy. :)

Birthday Wishes For Jeriah

2010-10-27T22:25:00.001+03:00

Our little boy turned one today!

It actually feels like a long time ago that he was the tiny little 5lbs 13oz bundle I spent 3 days in the hospital with and then brought home. I look back at the pictures from his first 6 months and it seems like a distant memory. Then when I look at the pictures from 7-12 months I wonder where has that time gone? How did he go from cute little boy playing in his jumperoo or sitting on a blanket with some toys to the adorable toddler walking all over the house going everywhere and getting into everything? And now having thought a moment, I know why. He learned to crawl and then walk, and in doing so I needed to chase him all around keeping him out of trouble. Time flies when your chasing a little boy!
Jeriah is a total sweetheart, his huge blue eyes, and mile long lashes are enough to melt your heart and he has a great big smile that he flashes often. He likes to laugh, tickle games are one of his favorite things. He loves Marin and Corban and some of his best "belly laughs" are for them when they do goofy things to make him laugh. In the past couple months I have seen the clown in him coming out, he likes to make other people laugh and when he does he gives a great big scrunchy nose smile.
He loves to be a part of what Marin and Corban are doing, he may be small, but he has a big "monkey see monkey do" desire. He has also figured out how to be the little brother who knocks down every tower, castle, or block creation created by his older siblings, and he thinks it is fun!
Jeriah loves water, he has just finished his first set of swimming lessons, and he did awesome! He floats on his back with only shoulders resting on my hands. He is totally relaxed when he floats and even crosses his legs, which is too cute. He does submersion under the water, and when he feels like it he will even sit on the edge of the pool and push himself into the water to me going under in the process. He thinks it is funny when I blow bubbles in the water. He puts his mouth in the water and would like to make some of this own, but hasn't figured out the blowing part. He loves bath time too, some nights he is so eager to get in the bath that he is trying to climb over the edge of the tub.
He loves getting into the kitchen cupboards, climbing stairs and playing in the bathrooms every chance he gets, I am always closing bathroom doors and putting up gates.
He is starting to enjoy books, ones with things to touch and flaps to flip. He likes to "talk" about the things he is seeing in the books, and is very verbal when we look at and read them.
He loves to dance and wave his hands, he likes to dance with Marin and Corban. He has also enjoyed the little songs and rhymes at library time. When a song is finished he usually waves both hands, really quickly and gets a "yay that was fun" look on his face.
Jeriah also likes cars, he loves watching them zoom across the floor, he likes driving them back and forth. He even makes he own version of the "vroom-vroom" sound, how he learned to do that I have no idea, I think it was just in him.
Jeriah is a great little eater, he'll try just about anything, and gets down right angry if I don't let him try something he sees me or someone else eating.
He is a loving little guy, he is never still for very long, but he does give little cuddles and hugs. He gives wide open mouth kisses and often just grabs me with his hand and holds close for a little snuggle. He calls me "mama" sometimes, but I think he has come up with his own sign for mama which is to reach both arms out with his palms facing up and open and close his hands. If he is in really urgent need he will cry too.
Jeriah is a wonderful part of our little family, it is as if he has always been with us. We love him so incredibly much and are blessed to have him. We are so thankful that he is a happy healthy little guy and look forward to watching him learn and grow.
We love you tiny man.
Happy 1st Birthday Jeriah!

A little look back.

Jeriah Ross.

Brand New.

One Month.

Two Months.

Three Months.

Four Months.

Five Months.

Six Months.

Seven Months.

Eight Months.

Nine Months.

Ten Months.

Eleven Months.

Twelve Months.

And because his cuteness knows no bounds here is a slide show too. :)

Afternoon at the Thuwal Park

2010-10-23T20:18:00.001+03:00

This past weekend we did a lot of swimming at the pool, but we also went to a Kite Flying Event. It was the KAUST community's second one and it was lots of fun for everyone! We brought our kite, but realized once we got there that we were missing one of the pieces we needed to put it together. Oh well, we still enjoyed ourselves. We watched the other kites flying in the sky, we enjoyed tasty treats, the kids went on the bouncy castles, had their pictures taken with cut out characters, Marin got her face painted (Corban wanted his on his arm), and we all had fun visiting with friends as we sat in the lovely breezy weather.

Once we got home, it was getting late and we had had a large lasagna lunch so we decided to have a "pancake picnic dinner movie night" it was a fun way to end the day and the kids gobbled up the pancakes and fruit.

Enjoy all the pictures from our fun at the park. :)

A Blast From Our Summer 2010 Past Part 1

2010-10-10T07:51:00.003+03:00

Summer.

We have been living in constant summer for 27 1/2 months now, it's either been nice pleasant summer (2009), like we had in Canada before we moved to KSA, the "winter" here in KSA or the summer (2010) weather we enjoyed while we were home visiting. The other summer we have had has been the stinking HOT, like you can't even sit outside in the shade doing absolutely nothing without sweating kind of weather. The humidity was really high this year after we arrived back to KSA from Canada and the temperatures would reach around 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the sun in our backyard. All I have to say is AC is an amazing thing! The temperatures are starting to come down now though, "fall" is here. When I take Marin to school in the morning at about 7:40am, the temperature in the SUV (which is in the garage that has slight AC) is 28 degrees C instead of 32. The temperature in the backyard in the sun is only reaching about 35 to 40 degrees C and in the shade it is around 30 in the afternoon shade. These temperatures will all fall a bit more as "winter" comes. Thankfully though there is usually some kind of breeze, or wind, and that makes the temperatures bearable. That and the pool. :)

Anyways so... our summer back home in British Columbia... Some people have asked how it was being back home was it strange, did we have "culture shock", what did we notice most?

Green! Everything is so gloriously green, and lush and alive! I mean I knew that but having been in the desert for 10 1/2 months you really notice it. I also noticed sidewalks, nice even, smooth sidewalks, with sloped edges down to the road! And women, ha ha, that sounds odd. But I noticed women driving, and working at stores, and also unfortunately how inappropriately some dress, especially the young ones. We also noticed the incredible selection in the grocery stores, and how civil people drive, I may or may not have had to remind Ian a few times that he was driving in BC again, not Jeddah.

Okay so enough babbling...
If any of you are regular visors to blog you will have noticed that there was minimal posting over the summer. I wont bore you with why because I am sure you can all figure it out.
Our summer in BC was wonderful, full of visiting, little adventures, and family and friends.
We spent the first 5 days in the lower mainland at Dorothy's. Ian had a few meetings up at SFU, the kids and I got together with friends and we worked at getting over jetlag. Ian's parents met us at the airport and stayed with us at Dorothy's. It was a life saver having them with us and totally made getting over jetlag work. Jeriah slept with Ian & I, Corban slept with Grandpa, and Marin slept with Granny. That way the each adult only had to deal with one waking child. That and we kept our days full of activity.
While in the lower mainland we also had a visit with Great Granny Foulds. We defiantly missed not having Great Grandpa there, but we did enjoy seeing her of course and as usual she fed us yummy treats. :)
After our 5 days we drove to Salmon Arm, where we stayed with my parents. One of the first things we did was set up the bouncy castle that Granny & Grandpa had bought. It was set up at Oma & Opa's because they have a much bigger yard and after receiving the box G&G realized that the bouncy castle was far to big for their much smaller yard. :) Anyway Uncle Michael and Uncle Mark set it up with the kids and it was great fun all summer long.
We also went on a number of nature walks over the summer to enjoy the green, the first of which was to the nature tails along the lake near the wharf (click for a virtual tour).
Finishing off this set of pictures below is a picture of our first visit with our friends Sarah & Andrew. They also have 3 kids, even though we don't see each other much, it is so easy to just pick up where we left off, the kids also get along well and as usual it was wonderful to see them.

This is from our visit at GG Foulds', Marin was playing with the dog, and having a great time, her giggle is my favorite part. :)

My own little "Handy Manny"

2010-10-08T13:49:00.017+03:00

Or Hanny Manny as Corban calls him.

Corban helped Ian the other day put together a shelf for his and Jeriah's room (to be) and he got to use the power drill. Yesterday he and I put together a new little stepping stool for he and Marin to use in the bath room and this is how it went down.

(his face looks like it is closer then it really was, until the end when I had to keep him back)

He has become pretty interested in tools, we got him his own play set and he has been busy doing lots of drilling and hammering. He is such a busy little guy, always doing something. :)

Anniversary Greetings

2010-09-29T16:06:00.000+03:00

Happy 3rd Anniversary to (Auntie) Megan & (Uncle) Dave!

11 Months

2010-09-27T23:16:00.000+03:00

I will mark this 11 month of Jeriah's life with a list of 11 things about him.

1. He is Walking! He started about 2 weeks ago taking 3-5 steps between things, and then it progressed to 5-10 steps. I have been trying to catch him on video (taking more then 5 steps) and it has not been easy. Every time he would see the camera he would drop to his knees to crawl as fast as he could to try and get it. He has become a bit more confident and stable now though and today I managed to get a cute little video of Corban and Jeriah playing and then Jeriah walked to me so I got that too. :)

2. He is in his first set of "official" swimming lessons. He has been going to the pool since he was 4 or 5 months old, and has always had lots of fun in the water. Swimming lessons are no different, he is having a great time and doing really well.

3. He squeals with laughter when Marin and Corban "wrestle" with him and tickle him. This evening after bath time he and Corban were both having a great time. Corban would "tackle" Jeriah on the bed, let him up, Jeriah would crawl quickly a little ways away and then sit up and look to Corban to tackle him again. All the while both of them were laughing away. So cute!

4. Jeriah is a little climber. When I was making lunch today I though it was Corban on the stool beside me at the counter, I looked down to see that it was Jeriah who standing on the stool beside me. He then proceeded to try and climb up the drawer handles. I had to rescue him two other times as well, he had climbed up Marin's chair and then could not figure out how to get down and was clinging to the edge. The second time he was on top of one of the toy bins with his hands and knees along the edge and could not get down. Funny kid.

5. He likes cars. He likes to push the toy cars around and he likes to watch and chase the ones the you can pull back and then they zoom off.

6. He is not a huge fan of sitting to read books, but he is very interested and pays good attention to the stories that I read to him and Corban at lunch time when they are eating their lunch. He likes the baby books with things to touch and feel on the pages. He also really likes to eat books...
7. This is currently his favorite YouTube video. Big Buck Bunny. He laugh out loud with Marin and Corban as the watch it. I think he more just wanting to copy his big sister and brother, he has a major case of "me toos!!"

8. He has moved to only having one nap a day. Already!?

9. He likes to do things with Marin and Corban, like dancing.

10. He destroys any tower that is built, and with urgency! Usually I can't finish building one before he zooms across the room to knock it down. When we play with the Mega blocks he tries with all his wiggly might to get out of my arms to knock over the things the Marin and Corban are making.
He fits into his little brother role well.
11. He is SO cute! He give sweet little hugs and kisses and snuggles and he is totally adorable!

We love you tiny one. :)

Birthday Wishes

2010-09-24T13:29:00.001+03:00

Happy 34th Birthday to (Auntie) Megan!