The View From Here:: January 2008

1.19.2008

Those of you from "up north" may think Annie's expression captures YOUR feelings about lots of snow....

For the latest on our Winter Wonderland, read on!

OK, for those of you who are sick of snow, please forgive our fascination with its novelty. Here is some background. We returned to Canada for Benjamin's birth in the summer of '06. The WHOLE summer Sophie and Annie talked about the snow they would see in the colder months to come. We waited, and waited, and got only a few short-lived flurries and LOTS of rain. Of course, when we travelled to the States for a month it snowed in Toronto, but all melted by the time we returned to prepare for our departure back overseas. Its OK, we thought, we usually get at least one good snow each year back in our adopted city...winter 05-06 was no different....It snowed the week BEFORE we returned and, YOU GUESSED IT, melted before we landed!

All this background to say that when the snow finally came earlier this month, we welcomed it. This snow was unusually deep, at least 12 inches, and lasted two weeks! This made for beautiful winter cityscapes out our windows, but also kept us virtually housebound as there is no public snow/ice removal for the city streets. WHO WANTS TO DRIVE ON A TWO INCH THICK SHEET OF ICE?

For those of you who are already sick of the snow you've got, please forgive us! For those of you who have yet to see a single flake, drag yourself in front of an open freezer or fridge and enjoy these pictures vicariously!

Some of you may remember "the mosque out our window"....at times we couldn't quite make it out the snow was falling so thickly.

Not having a backyard, these sisters were content to play on the balcony.

Sophie didn't need the message on her hat to remind her to "smile", the novelty of the snow was enough!

Snow-angelling...a new verb for Webster?

Tear your eyes away from Annie a second and check out the street below. Better for sledding than driving (especially with the incline...use your imagination). John eventually went out and shovelled the street in front of our building himself. He made some new friends and gained some respect...always good for neighborhood relations!

A familiar winter sight with a twist...this is his ROOF our neighbor is shovelling! The weight of the snow must have been too much for this flat tarred roof. The snow also took out the power of several city blocks (ours included) for several hours on different occasions...Thankful for gas heat in the freezing temperatures!

1.03.2008

Our Annie is certainly an interesting little individual. One part mule, one part kitten, and one part fox...most of the time the kitten in her wins out. On December 28th, we celebrated Annie's fourth birthday. Amazing to think how quickly those years have passed.

As I put the finishing touches on her birthday cake, the girls' giggles drifted into the kitchen from the living room and I said to myself, four years ago today God gave Sophie her best friend. How grateful we are, in the midst of so many major transitions, that God gave them to each other!

Annie, 3 days, being cradled by Sophie, who at that point wasn't so sure that the big sister gig was going to be all it was cracked up to be.