
121st Month
|
Rachael's 121st Month
(March
'12)
Wow—double digits—Rachael is 10 years old!
Once again, her party consisted of a few friends, dinner at Red
Robin, and a sleepover. There was quite a bit of pre-teen drama
at this party, however, so this will probably be the last mass
sleepover party for a while.
Rachael was very excited to go on a class
field trip this month to see The Lorax movie.
Grandma Mel came for a visit over Palm
Sunday weekend. It was chilly and rainy but it was still a good
visit. Grandma Mel even enjoyed Easter games at church with us.
|

122nd Month
|
Rachael's 122nd Month
(April
'12)
Rachael went on her first overnight
children’s retreat with the church this month—to Mt. Misery. She
had a great time—now she loves going to church. That same
weekend Rachael also auditioned for the new competition dance
team at the dance studio. Everyone who auditions will be on the
team, but she is very excited about being a part of it.
|

123rd Month |
Rachael's 123rd Month
(May
'12)
We are very proud of Rachael—she was
selected Student of the Month—Mom and Susanna got to go to
school and have lunch with her and her teachers and the
principal.
Rachael had her second dance recital this
month—she was in two shows, one on Saturday for her Irish class
and one on Sunday for her Jazz class. She did a wonderful job in
both.
We
took a wonderful family vacation in May—to Baltimore to the
aquarium, to the Air and Space Museum in Virginia, then we went
to Richmond and Chester to visit all of our old friends there.
Rachael was very excited to see Kate Comer again—she even spent
the night with the Comers. We also went to a couple museums in
Virginia Beach and came home via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry
|

124th Month
|
Rachael's 124th Month
(June
'12)
Another year of school over already!
Rachael will be going into her final year of elementary school!
|

125th Month
|
Rachael's 125th Month
(July
'12)
Big news this month—Daddy is being
transferred for his job—to Montreal! He will begin his new job
there in September, not sure yet when Mommy and the kids will
make the final move. Should only be a temporary move, 2-3 years.
Lots to do—selling the house, finding a new house and schools.
Mixed emotions all around.
|

126th Month
|
Rachael's 126th Month
(August
'12)
Plans for the big move underway. Looks like
Rachael and Liam will attend Kuper Academy for school in
Montreal. They didn’t have a spot for Susanna in their
preschool, so Mommy is looking for a place for her. Daddy went
and found us a house to rent for the time we will be there. It
looks like Mommy and the kids will make the move at the end of
October, so everyone will start school here in NJ.
|

127th Month
|
Rachael's 127th Month
(September
'12)
Another year of school begun! 5th
grade—wow, how time flies!
Daddy left for his new job in Montreal this
month—it was very hard to see him leave, but the rest of us will
be very busy getting everything else ready while he is gone.
Rachael is continuing with her Irish dance
class until we move. Hopefully we can find her some dance
classes in Canada.
|

128th Month |
Rachael's 128th Month
(October
'12)
Wow, what can be said about the month of
October?
The movers came to start packing us up the
Sunday before Halloween—Hurricane Sandy hit us the next day. It
was two days before they could even get their truck back into
the neighborhood. Of course, power went out Monday night, which
made the movers’ job even more difficult. Luckily, we didn’t
have major damage to the house. They had packed up the kitchen
on Sunday, so what little non-perishable food we did have was
packed. Thank goodness for Pam Deiss and Norm Glover—they really
took care of us during that week. We were supposed to have been
packed up and headed out on Wednesday (Halloween) afternoon. It
was 4:30 Saturday afternoon when the moving truck finally pulled
away from the house. The kids were such troopers during that
week—just took everything in stride, even the cold, dark house.
We got as far as Maw Maw’s house Saturday night (it was
wonderful to be in the land of lights and heat), then made it
the rest of the way, crossing the border, on Sunday, November 4.
We heard from friends that the power didn’t come back on in our
NJ neighborhood until Tuesday evening. Needless to say, we
didn’t get to have a Halloween this year.
|

129th Month |
Rachael's 129th Month
(November
'12)
And the adjustments begin. We spent the
first week living in Daddy’s temporary housing apartment while
we got the house ready to live in. It was the middle of the
month before Rachael and Liam were able to start school at Kuper
Academy. Susanna was able to start a week after we got here.
It’s going to take a while for Rachael to adjust to her new
school. She started out being excited about the uniforms, but
not so much anymore. Being surrounded by the French language is
also going to take some getting used to. At school, Rachael
alternates weeks in English and French. What was really strange
for Rachael was going to school on Thanksgiving—she was very
upset about not being able to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
We did manage to have a turkey dinner that night, though.
Unfortunately, we did not get here quickly
enough to get Rachael into any dance classes, but it might be a
good thing—now she can focus on school.
Maw Maw and Pots were our first visitors
this month. We hope they will be able to come as often as they
did in NJ.
|

130th Month
|
Rachael's 130th Month
(December
'12)
Christmas in Canada!! We had a nice first
Christmas here—the kids were very glad to see that Santa tracked
us down. They are very much enjoying the snow, too. We were hit
by a big storm two days after Christmas. The kids also enjoy
having two weeks off for the holidays, too. We made our first
trip back to the States to Maw Maw’s house for New Year’s Eve.
It was wonderful being “home” again.
|

131st Months |
Rachael's 131st Month
(January
'13)
Cold, cold, cold!! We have realized quickly
just how cold and snowy Canada can be. One day, when the kids
got out of the car at school, the car thermometer read -20F.
Brrr! Rachael has made a good friend at school, Eva. She is
actually an American, and was born in Virginia!
|

132nd Month |
Rachael's 132nd Month
(February
'13)
Ok, even the kids are getting tired of the
snow. As soon as it starts to melt, more gets piled on. Rachael
is still struggling with adjusting to school, but having a good
friend has helped a little. We are looking forward to two weeks
off for Spring Break next month. Mommy and the kids will spend
it in the States.
|
The 11th Birthday
Cake |
 |