Canada

A few of you already know that Mike spent a good part of the fall in Canada. The first time he was gone for 9 weeks, working 7 days each week. Since he was unable to come home to visit us, the kids and I decided to be brave (or crazy) and take a road trip to see him. We spent 42 hours in the car by the time we returned home, but it was worth every minute! We got to spend Halloween with Mike in Canada, which was fun. He was able to come home for almost 2 weeks around Thanksgiving, and then he went back for 8 days. Now he's home for good, and we're so happy to have him! This experience made me grateful for Mike and all he is and does for me and our children. Here are some pictures from his time there, and also from our trip to see him.

Here's a picture he took of the tower they were working at, from the bucket as he was being taken down.

Some of the rebar they used. The stuff was seriously thick, though you can't really tell in the pictures.

Here's the tower, and the tall think going up to the windows? That's the concrete pump, which they used to get the concrete up into the the tower where they were pouring.

Working on the rebar.

And here's just a shot of the tower. To give you an idea of the size, that white box the crane is lifting to the top is actually their office trailer.

Now these pictures are from our trip to see Mike. Here are the kids playing at a nearby school playground. It was so cold there!

We saw this sign on our way to church Sunday, and I had to get a picture.

The kids went trick-or-treating to some of the guys Mike worked with, who were staying at the same hotel with their wives who were also visiting for the weekend. They were from Quebec, and mostly spoke French, but really nice people, and it was fun to meet them. This is a picture of the kids trick-or-treating to Marc Andre's room.

Here they are in the hall outside Norm's room.

Marc Andre, Norm, their "girls" and our kids.

Natalie dressed up like Cinderella, and Carson was Harry Potter.

And Parker was inducted into our family officially as the traditional baby chicken!

With their daddy.

Love my baby!

Our little family, getting bigger all the time.

Our family with Marc Andre. He loved Mike, saw something special in him, just like we do, and he also just loved our kids! He bought them toys, and TONS of candy! They were very spoiled by him and his wife.

Marc Andre and the kids.

We went swimming every day we were there, and I think it was the kids' favorite part. They love to swim, and we had the pool to ourselves every night. There was a water slide, and the kids loved going down it with us. Carson reached a milestone while we were there, in that he started actually swimming on his own for the first time! Even Parker liked the water. I guess we have three water bugs for kids.

We are so glad to have Mike home now! What a great Christmas present!