Good Bye Party!

Before we made the move East our wonderful friends the Campbells threw us a wonderful going away party. I've shared many of these photos on fb but I had to post it on the blog so that this special day will remain in our memories. The party was on July 5th (yes I'm blogging about something that happened three months ago!) But it was a great afternoon spent with good food and even better company! At the time we were so sad with the anticipation of leaving so many wonderful people behind and I can assure you now that we have been away for 2 months we miss all of you tremendously! The good news is that none of you will be replaced because the likelihood of us making new friends in Listowel seems pretty slim with our new and very busy lives! 

Dan, Daryn and Novah. 

Some of the very lovely ladies that I was privileged to be friends with. 

Marshal and Stella enjoying some drinks on their first date ;)

Friends having fun chatting. 

Beautiful photos that our friends gifted to us to hang on our walls and
remind us of why we need to visit the west again one day. 

Novah and Amy just having some fun with their sippy cups.  

Had to post these two just because! Look how sweet little Audrey is!

Group photo of most of the people who came to wish us farewell ( a few took off a bit earlier.) 

The lovely ladies. 

The men folk. 

Thank you so much to Rachel and Dave who organized this farewell party and made a special event for us. We are so blessed to have had so many wonderful friends in Calgary. Even though we are separated by thousands of miles now we still think of you all fondly. While we are doing well and know that we have made the right choice in moving we are certainly missing your friendship as we adjust to a new life and routine.

Thanks for the wonderful farewell!

Jordan 

Novah's First Birthday Party

I'm back tracking a bit but there are still tons of pre-move events that I haven't had a chance to blog about yet. These posts are mainly for my own benefit and for the sake of keeping a record of our memories so I'm sorry to leap back and forth in time. One very important event that we hosted just prior to leaving Calgary was Novah's 1st birthday party.

I always like to throw a BIG party when our kids turn ONE! I think that the first year of a baby's life is full of so many ups and downs that it is only fitting to PAR-TAY and celebrate that you all survived it all! It was also a lovely opportunity to visit with many of our friends one last time before heading East. I am so thankful to all the lovely family and friends who gathered to celebrate Novah's special day with us. The party was a hit besides it being one of the hottest days of the summer (so we were all sweating out pants off) and Novah seemed thoroughly happy with all the friends and food!

(I apologize in advance for the 501 photos to follow!)

Food table.

Another shot of the food table and some of the party decor. 

Ivey and Novah- best little baby friends!

Just look at that adorable cloth diaper ruffle bottom! 

Little princess and her Daddy! She loves him to pieces and I think he's pretty fond of her too! 

Story time with Pam. 

All the kids were super attentive.


Novah's beautiful baby girl friends Amy, Ivey, her cousin Kendra, and her birthday month buddy Audrey!


Everyone gathering around to sing happy birthday to this sweet little girl!
She was so pleased when we started to sing that she clapped her hands for joy!


Mommy and daughter and one very pink birthday cake! Totally a pink party! (Navy photo bombing in the background)


Uh where did that cake go guys!?


Ok here we go. Just testing this out to see how it feels.


What is this thing for?


Ok this stuff is good.


The best part of the birthday party without doubt!


And here is the pretty pink cake that I slaved away to make for my beautiful little lady. I truly love making and decorating cakes and wish I had more time to practice and perfect my skills- maybe one day.
For now I will do my best with every birthday cake I get to make!


Opening some gifts.

 Exploring.

Sorry I just had to- cutest little cloth bottom.


Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl!

Thank you so much to all of the friends and family who came out to celebrate with us and for helping to make Novah's birthday so special!

Jordan

Fullers Move East Part Three: A Few Days In Kitchener

After we arrived in Kitchener on Saturday we loaded up into Dan's parents van and drove over to his sister Nat's house. She lives in Kitchener and we had arranged to stay with her for a few days while Dan completed the drive to Ontario. When we got to her house the kids were very excited about meeting their little cousins Rachael and Erica and also excited to be out of their car seats and free to run around and play. It had been a long day of travelling and being cooped up! It was great to visit with Nat and her hubby Brett (who we had only met once before), their cute little girls and Dan's parents, but I confess I was pretty beat! I was probably more exhausted than the kids at this point but you know no rest for the weary, especially when you're a weary mom!

After visiting and playing the kids were quite tuckered out but they were also in a new place with new surroundings and none of their things. I had a rough time getting them to bed so it was a difficult night for us all. They went to bed so late that we ended up sleeping in and missing church the next day. Having a day at, "home," was good so that we could start to recover from our travels. The kids definitely needed some down time.

Sunday (August 3) evening Dan's sister Alli and her family came over to Nat's place to visit with us too. We had a simple BBQ dinner and then enjoyed playing at the park. It was great to meet the rest of my nieces and for all the Ontario cousins to play together.

All the cuties ready for dinner! L to R: Rachael, Zoe, Jayden, Cohen, Marshal 

Jayden and Cohen playing at the park

My three munchkins riding the bulldozer.

My beautiful little girl on the slide at the park. 

While we were at the park I looked down and saw a four leaf clover.
I took this as a sign of making the right choice in moving back to Ontario.

All of the kids running down the hill with Uncle Brad. 

We had a lovely evening catching up on old times, building new friendships and simply enjoying each others company. At this point in our journey east I was feeling really blessed to be back in such a beautiful province and to be surround by family that I hadn't seen in so long.

On Monday (August 4) I decided to take the kids to London (my hometown), to meet up with my high school best friend Kathy, and to enjoy my favourite summer festival in London- Ribfest! It was so much fun to visit Victoria Park, a place where I created many memories in my childhood and to see the beautiful city of London again. I hadn't been in my hometown for over 6 years!

Had some delicious ribs from Kentucky Smokehouse!

Let me assure you this meal was AMAZING!

Two cuties waiting to dig in!

I finally let Marshal get his face painted for the first time!

That is one rocking Captain America.
He was so proud of his shield and kept walking around with his shield, I mean hand up!

Batman and Captain America. 

Founds some mini quads. 

Little boy Heaven. 

If they could have driven these away it would have been their dream come true. 

My munchkins and I. 

This pose demonstrates how he walked around the whole evening. 

There were some cool chalks drawing and Cohen found a monkey friend for George. 

Posing with his new friend. 

Fun on the super slide with Auntie Kathy.

Bouncy castle fun. 

We enjoyed a great early evening in London and then it was time to pack it in and head home. It started to rain just as we were getting ready to leave which made heading out a lot easier with the kids. We had a lovely time at the Ribfest and it was great to be able to visit with Kathy. We hot back to Kitchener around 9pm and luckily I didn't have to fight the boys to bed since they were pretty tired. Novah was another story but alas they all fell asleep eventually.

Dan actually arrived at Nat's house later that evening somewhere between 10-11pm after a 37 hour drive that he completed in wait for it... 2 and a half days! That man is crazy I tell you! I was super glad that he arrived safe and sound and that we could look forward to completing the next part of our journey.

Jordan