Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2016!

This year we are blessed to have my brother Stan's family visit us in West Lafayette from Toronto during the holidays.  Here we all are on Christmas day (Stan, Hendrix, Margaret, Audrey, and us on the right) in our family room.  The kids have been getting along wonderfully and we're thankful they don't have miserable weather to contend with during their travels.  

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year Everyone!

Aaron Earns His Green Belt In Taekwondo December 2016

Aaron passed his Green belt in Taekwondo this month. He managed to pass the flying kick test. Impressive for a boy who just turned seven!

USATF Junior Olympics Shelbyville, IN 2016

Edward ran towards a new PR of 11:12 this past Saturday at the USATF Junior Olympics here in Shelbyville, Indiana.  To say the least, we are very proud of him.

He ended up 25th out of a pool of 65 runners in the 11 to 12 year old age group.  He qualifies to advance to the Regional USATF Junior Olympics in De Kalb, Illinois which we are still dediding upon.

Here is Aaron happily posing with the neighbourhood Lowe's hardware store inflatable bear.  He was pretty excited with the arrangement they had on display.

Hallowe'en 2016

Edward decided to forgo a new costume and went with last year's Spooky mask while Aaron set his mind on being Steve from Minecraft.  Edward and his friend took Aaron up and down our street which is chock full of families and kids so Aaron was sure to get a full bag of treats.  Mom and Dad stayed home, guarding their pirate treasure, giving out Pirate Booty snack bags and chocolate wrapped in gold and silver foil in place of treasure from Spanish galleons.  

Aaron was super excited to give out the pirate treasure on our spookily lit up front porch, lit up pumpkins, blinking skull and all!  There were so many trick or treaters that we almost got cleaned out by 7:30 pm when our chest had first been overflowing.  Luckily we had set aside some non sugary treats for the teal pumpkin we displayed which included paint sets, sticker sheets, paper pads, etc., that were happily accepted in place of the Pirate Booty.  Great night for it with the weather cooperating this year.  Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

5th Annual Purdue Half Marathon/5K October 2016

We all participated together for the 1st time as a family in the Purdue Boilermaker 5K this past Saturday.  Edward went on ahead, eager to place in his age group.  Aaron insisted on being a speed demon at the beginning of the race and had me racing after him, in fear of losing him among the throng of 800+ runners.  Andrew caught up with him just as I was losing steam in my struggle to keep up with Aaron.  Somehow, after the 2 mile point, we all failed to notice each other and crossed paths with Mom thinking she was way behind yet in fact Andrew and Aaron had finally decided to walk the rest of the way.  Edward faired best in the end with a new PR of 21:47, placing 4th in his age group and 22nd overall, including adults.  Awesome run, Edward!  Inspiration to the rest of us to get our act together next year!

Aaron's October Cub Scout Pack Meeting

 The Cub Scout monthly Pack meeting that Aaron is a member of had the boys shooting up bottle rockets powered by air pressure high up into the sky.  Each den fashioned their own out of a pop bottle and a tennis ball and took turns blasting them up into the sky.  Needless to say, they were pretty excited and had a great time watching them soar and then land, sometimes in a tree or out in the baseball diamond.   Aaron is a Tiger cub scout and Andrew is the Cub Master this year.  They are looking forward to a busy year filled with activities achieving badges, belt loops and pins.  Happy learning!

Edward Attends the State Cross Country Meet October 2016

               

Edward ran the Boys Junior Varsity 3 km race at the Indiana State Meet in Carmel, Indiana this past Saturday with the West Side Junior High School team.  He achieved a PR of 12:28 albeit it was a challenging, hilly course, 66th out of 452 participants.  He's now in grade seven and training to get under 11 minutes by grade eight.  Thank you to Coach Polk for pushing Edward and the team to achieve their best.  What a great season overall.  West Side came first for the girls varsity team and fourth for the boys varsity team with many PRs.  Go Red Devil Pride!

Edward's Boy Scout Kayaking Camping Trip August 2016

Edward participated in his Boy Scout troops' Kayaking/Canoeing trip last weekend, putting six kayaking hours in. Great accomplishment! He's going to learn how to canoe next time. Very proud of him!

Edward's First Concert Summer 2016

 We took Edward to his first concert with us this summer in Indianapolis at the Banker's Life Fieldhouse venue.  Here is Coldplay coming on stage that evening as part of their Head Full of Dreams tour.

Edward and his friend Harry just before the concert began.  They were duly impressed with the night's performance.

 The visual effects were simply outstanding!

 We were meters away from Coldplay during their stage C part of the evening's performance.  What an unexpected surprise!

Having fun at a local toy store before the concert.

Aaron's Sunflowers August 2016

Aaron started growing these two sunflowers from seeds given to him from his Kindergarten teacher in class in May.  This is a recent picture of how they look now.  He is very proud of how tall they have gotten.  A bee has been busy visiting them all summer.  Aaron is looking forward to harvesting the seeds and sharing them.

Family Oceanside Vacation (Our First!) in North Carolina August 2016

Our first day on Wrightsville Beach.  It was supposed to rain so we were pleasantly surprised we made it there.  Actually there were five warm days with thunderstorms only at night, thank goodness.

Trying out the boogie boards and enjoying the waves.  Aaron is still so light that he rode the waves all the way to the water's edge, no problem!

Our last day on the coast, finally taking the family picture.  Family fun came first!  Goodbye and hope to be back soon!

Edward Playing Golf July 2016

Edward joined the local Purdue Junior PGA league this summer and played several rounds against area teams.  His team went undefeated until their last game against the West Lafayette Country Club.  Way to go, Edward!

Visiting Chicago for our 15th Anniversary July 2016

As a family, we visited Chicago last weekend for our 15th anniversary.  Our first tourist trip was to the Willis Tower, the very first time for all of us.  This picture is of us on the new Ledge attraction whereby you can stand on a thick glass floor and windowed area overlooking Chicago on the 103rd floor.  Pretty awesome feeling, thought the boys!

We also took a first family visit to the Art Institute, as per my request.  The boys did enjoy seeing this familiar Georges Seurat painting that is also on display as a print in their local elementary school.  Aaron was particularly excited to see it all of a sudden and insisted on taking a picture with it.

This is on our second day in Chicago when we took a walk in Millenium Park.  Here are Aaron and Edward with the Crown Fountain, a really neat and refreshing art display.

I took this skyline shot during our walk through the Park towards Maggie Daley park.  Really amazing Frank Gehry bridge that joins the two.

The boys had a great time at the Daley park's extensive playground.  Really the best outdoor playground we've ever encountered.  It's the Fourth of July weekend, so there were tons of families milling about.  The boys' favorite outing so far.

We took a break for lunch across the street from the park at a great little seafood place.  Highly recommended eats, especially the lobster roll.  And the natural light was so perfect that I had to take a picture with the boys.

Next up, a walk to Navy Pier.  Here we waited not too long for a ride on the Centennial Wheel, an updated version of the old ferris wheel in time for the 100th birthday of the Pier.  Had to take this picture of Andrew and the boys.  Again, such great light and scenery.

The next day we tried to visit the Adler but with the long weekend crowd, we decided to save it for next time.  Did manage to get a skyline picture of the family before we turned around.  We soon headed for home later that afternoon.  So long, Chicago!  Hope to be back soon!

In Thornhill For Cousin Hendrix's One Year Birthday Party

Here are Edward and Aaron with cousin Hendrix at Grandma and Grandpa Lee's home in Thornhill the day before his big One Year birthday celebration at the nearby restaurant Sariwon.  In Korean culture, it has been customary to recognize when a baby turns one year old with a celebration called a Tol.  Here they will share lots of food and cake with friends and family as well as hold a tradition to predict what the child will be interested in their future career.  Hendrix chose a crisp new $100 bill to symbolize a career in finance.  Congratulations Hendrix!

Edward's First Summer Job

Edward recently started a new lawn mowing business by delivering over 300 flyers to our neighbors.  He has heard back from some of them and is now mowing lawns in his spare time with Aaron helping to pick up sticks.  They are both saving up for a new family puppy.  They're pretty excited about finally having a dog of their own.

Grandparents Toms' Visit May 2016

Nana and Grandad Toms visited from P.E.I. last week.  Here they are at Aaron's last soccer game with Coach Dad and Edward (the assistant coach).  It was an exciting game and a great way to finish the series.

Edward and Aaron with Dave and Valerie taking a picture on their last day in West Lafayette.  They enjoyed a family swim at the new Purdue Co-Recreational centre pool.  Thankfully the weather cooperated and even permitted us to view Jupiter and its four moons on the Saturday night of their visit with the West Lafayette Observatory's telescopes.  Wonderful to have them visit!

Aaron Earns His Tae Kwon Do Yellow Belt May 2016

Here is Aaron at his Tae Kwon Do Belt Ceremony, receiving his Yellow Belt from Master Chai (8th Dan of the Black Belt).  We are very proud of his efforts, especially breaking the wooden board on his first kick!  Congratulations Aaron!

Aaron's U6 Soccer League Spring 2016

 Aaron's team started out with a strong lead, winning 3 of the first four games.  The latter part of the season is proving to be somewhat more difficult but still good fun.  Here is Aaron trying to score a goal at one of the games.

Coach Andrew sharing a few words with some of the team.

Kentucky Derby 2016

Here we are attending a Kentucky Derby party this past Saturday as part of a fundraiser for the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra.  Lovely day for it with even the sun shining for awhile.  But we had to make an early departure, missing the race on the big screen, to help get Edward to a screening of the latest Avengers movie with neighborhood friends.  It was getting chilly anyways.

Congratulations to the winning horse, Nyquist!

Our More Unique Lawn Flora April 2016

These are three daffodil hybrids I simply bought at our local Pay Less supermarket last fall and was pleasantly surprised when they bloomed just this week!  What a refreshing pop of color they add to our periwinkle covered front lawn.  Really lovely.

Here are some white periwinkle flowers we found growing amongst the sea of blue periwinkle that covers our front lawn.  We look for that one spot every year and have noted they are definitely slowly spreading out.  It's amazing how many periwinkle flowers there are.  Andrew planted the bulk of them with my parents helping when they came to visit in the summer five years ago.  It's actually an evergreen also known as myrtle that is popular on lawns in our neighborhood due to the plethora of trees. 

The year after we moved to West Lafayette in 2010, I came across one package of "White Trillium" bulbs at Lafayette's larger greenhouse known as Bennett's and simply had to buy it since it is Ontario's provincial flower.  I'd seen it only a few times when hiking as a young student through my home province's woods and was always told one could never pick it since it is the provincial flower.  How neat I thought would it be to grow our own trilliums.  Year after year our planted bulbs would sprout but since they were planted in the only shady spot that was also near a walking path in our backyard, our sons' friends would unknowingly step on them in the midst of playing soccer, kickball or badminton.  Finally this year, after years of other failed borders, I surrounded it with a two foot tall decorative wire garden fence to hopefully protect them.  And finally they're really growing!  We are eagerly observing their progress as the spring passes.

The tree closer to the driveway near the front of our home is what is called a Red Bud tree.  I'd never heard of this tree before we moved to Indiana.  It's deep pink blossoms are really very pretty and add even more color to the interesting flora found on our front and back lawn.  Feel very lucky to have such a variety of flora on our property.  How generous Mother Nature is to us.

Signs of Spring March 2016

The recent warm weather had Edward and Aaron climbing our Red Bud tree together this past weekend.  It serves as their speedy fire escape route from their bedroom windows, too,

in case of emergency.  Not to mention just plain, old fun.

Edward and Aaron at our nearby Happy Hollow park during a Sunday family hike.  

Glad to finally be outdoors again.  

Our garden's first sign of spring.  Aaron is super excited this year due to all the new bulbs coming up that we planted last fall from the school's Fall Bulbs sale.  Hopefully the last frost didn't damage the tulips too much!