Tag: Victoria

First hockey game!

My co-worker was selling tickets to a Victoria Royals local hockey game as a fundraiser for her sons hockey team. We mentioned many times to the kids that we should go see a live game even though none of us are huge hockey fans. Live games are always a good time so we bought some tickets and had a fun family night out!

We didn’t realize we were sitting in the family area where no beer is allowed. While sipping on a cold brew security came over and Jimmy & I got into trouble 😉 We had a good laugh afterwards.

 

 

 

Halloween 2016

We had a great time this Halloween! We went to the schools annual Halloween dance. They had a haunted house, dancing, quiet room, photo booth, games etc- fun! The kids are so independent now. Claire & Rhys ran around with their friends while we followed them around. I think we stayed at the event the longest ever.

Claire & Rhys both wanted to be Star Wars characters. Rhys was Kylo Ren and Claire was Rey for their school Halloween dance and a Storm Trooper for trick-or-treating. Jimmy and I dressed up too- as Ewok’s using the kids costumes from when they were toddlers.

Pics from Halloween dance photo booth:

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Pretty sure Claire did not read the prop before she used it 😉

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Pumpkin carving:

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On our way to trick-or-treating:

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Jimmy got an award!

Jimmy was nominated by his Camosun college professors for the Andrea Van Rheenan award:

To honour graduates who show dedication and leadership in supporting people who have significant challenges, and through his/her actions, inspires others to see the “person within.” The successful recipients will demonstrate creativity, compassion and a sense of humour with people with significant challenges. If possible, these recipients will have the ability to ‘sign’ (sign language).

Jimmy suspects that it is the sense of humor part that tipped the scales as he was the consummate class clown in addition to spearheading lively conversations in class,

We attended the awards ceremony in October and it was a very special day. We are super proud of Jimmy & all his accomplishments!

 

Thanksgiving

Jimmy’s sister Wendy & I typically split up the holidays and decide which ones we host. This year I hosted Thanksgiving and Wendy hosted Christmas.

When we were in South Africa away from all our friends and family we all missed these holiday events. Claire & Rhys particularly missed their extended family. When we traveled through Australia on our way back home from South Africa they LOVED spending so much time with their great Aunt Christine & Uncle Mike in Perth. Family means a lot to us and we cherish all the time we spend together.

I love Thanksgiving and having family come together for some shared laughs and good food. It was a nice sunny day this year and we had a great gathering.

 

 

Our latest move…

We moved within Victoria on September 1st.

Moving is SO much work and one of my least favorite activities. The owners of our rental house were moving back from Japan so we had to find a new home during the busiest time of year for house rentals… students moving back into town. We also had a crazy house sale boom so many rental homes were being sold so owners could profit which meant there was not a very big rental supply.

A long story short…we found a nice place to move to (huge yard, heat!, a pond with goldfish, fruit trees, a view!, loads of wildlife coming and going in our yard) and with a lot of effort our move was successful.

 

Jimmy’s clever key organization

old house

new house

 

Hallowe’en

We love Hallowe’en! We had a lot of fun this year getting costumes together, carving pumpkins, school dance for the kids, doing hallowe’en crafts and going trick or treating.

Rhys went as a werewolf and Claire a witch. Jimmy was a punk rocker and I was a bat. Wendy, Chris and Senna (who went as Cleopatra) joined us as we ventured out on a cold night to a great neighborhood where almost every house was taking part in the hallowe’en fun. The kids received way too much candy and all-in-all had a great time.

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Thanksgiving in Victoria

We hosted thanksgiving this year which was great since last year we did not celebrate it in Africa. The Miller clan met up at Galey’s farm for some pumpkin patch fun. They have a giant corn maze and a train that goes around the property. You even get to take a tractor hay ride out to the pumpkin fields to pick out a pumpkin. It was great fun!

We then came back to our house for drinks, appies, and a yummy dinner. It really is nice living close to family again 🙂

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