Been out of sorts, but back in the saddle again...

Last weekend when Mom and Dad took Atticus to Edmonton it was for Mom's sister, Cheryl, and her husband, Al's, 40th anniversary. Their kids and spouses went to a lot of effort to make it a surprise party, and apparently it was a surprise. 

It was at a friend of the family's acreage, and what a nice looking acreage it was!

The Keay clan. A very orange and brown bunch, if I do say so myself.

He likely covered a lot of acreage ground and wore his little hooves right off.

Back at Aunti Cheryl and Uncle Al's with his cousins.

 

Atticus isn't allowed in the garage by himself or when Dad is working on a car. He'll stand outside peeking in longingly telling his Grandpa that he wants to help. Sometimes Dad lets him come in and sit by the door to watch for a few minutes. He lives for those few precious minutes amidst all the tools and fixing going on.

Sweet little Dillon was a tantrum baby and has now grown himself up into a tantrum toddler. Supper time is his time to really turn on the tears and finds himself alone on the livingroom floor 'working it out' more times than not. He has absolute fits and can't be consoled, let alone held. The only thing that works is to put him somewhere he can't hurt himself and let him get through it his own special way. On this particular occasion he was wailing away and then showed up in the doorway, still screaming, with his Popper. Face red, eyes swollen, snot running down his face; it was really quite pitiful and sad, but there's not much we/I can do when he's so worked up he won't tolerate being touched.
 

Ryan has been working away at finishing the siding on their house. Dad and Chris have spent many hours out there helping out so Mom and I and the boys took dessert out in an effort to pitch in in our own little way. Atticus and Jared were thrilled to hang out on the scaffolding and would likely still be up there if we hadn't have dragged them down. I think by now (today) the house should almost be done.

And, our house in Taipei has been sold. The timing was great as it means Vincent (and Silas) have a place to live until they move here, and Vin has time to pack up and ship things once he finishes his 200 hour teacher training course. I've been out with the realtor here looking at houses (this is one of them), so hopefully we'll be able to lock something down within the next few weeks. 

I know Vin's family, primarily his Dad, continues to struggle with our decision to move to Canada. To this day he has very little to do with Vincent and has stopped all communication with the boys and I. Although he feels we have made (and continue to make) rash decisions we have really tried to keep him apprised of our plans so there weren't/aren't any surprises. Unfortunately with the lack of communication and willingness to be open to change it has been all but impossible to make him feel apart of our lives even though we are further away. That makes me sad, but what can I do?

Anyways, regardless who is or isn't happy about us buying a house in Canada we should have something soon. And that makes me happy. 

And that'll make the boys happy.

And that'll make me even more happy.

We were at Great-Grandma's last night for Dillon's first lesson in popcorn popping. He was a very studious student and believes he can be the popper next Friday.

I kept telling Atti I'd take him down to the river the last couple days, but one thing or another came up and the best I could do was near the river. Tonight Mom and I were finally able to get that boy to the river and we all had a good time (snacking) walking and letting the boys run around.

He's so funny to watch walking, especially in these shoes. People always turn to watch him as he stomps along. And give that kid an empty coffee cup and he's all smiles.