121st Month

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 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.

 

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

Another year of school over already! Rachael will be going into her final year of elementary school!

 

125th Month

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

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

Another year of school begun! 5^th 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

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.

 

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

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.

 

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!

 

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.