Zoo Are You? Zoo Zoo. Zoo Zoo.

Last weekend we took off to the Valley to take the kids to the Zoo. We didn't end up getting there until 4PM or so. It was crazy hot out, too! I enjoyed the heat, but not sure it was great for Charlie. He was breaking out in heat rashes on his arms. The girls had a great time though. I like the zoo as well. It's fun to see the different animals. Though, the one complaint I have is that it is usually hard to see the "big ticket" animals...the lions, tigers and bears.

Anyway, there were some fun and funny moments while we were away. Here are some photos.

As you can see, Humphrey's humps are starting to get saggy. Poor fella. Not very appealing! He's getting old!
This is the little spider monkey. He was right by the fence, looking cute. He seemed sort of lonely. The girls liked him.

These two friends were up in the reptile room. They seemed like they were posing for a picture. Morgan really liked the spiders, but I couldn't get any good pictures of them. I was surprised she liked them.
This guy was Morgan's best friend. The other two were scared of him. I can't really blame them, he was pretty aggresive! Morgan didn't mind, though, even when he jumped at her when she was close to the cage. It was funny.

Here are a couple pics of Charlie enjoying his first big outing.

Emma looking somewhat pleased. She was actually somewhat afraid of some of the animals this year. She kept going crazy about needing hand sanitizer after petting any animal.

Ruby, who is scared of dogs, would only get so close to the docile pug. I kept telling her to get closer, but it was like pulling teeth.

Morgan had no problem with the animals. She loved it there. She was happily playing with this little goat, until some random girl came over, picked it up, and put it back over the fence it crawled under. It was very bizzare. It really annoyed me, actually, because we were having fun with the goat.

Here is one of the three girls, in front of a nice Llama. Emma was quite nervous.

Anyway, afterwards we ate at the Farmers resturant. It was great. I got the huge Clubhouse, but after a bite or two, I realised they forgot the bacon. So the waitress took it back for me, and they were going to cook up some bacon and put it on for me. I expected them to just shove it in the same sandwich...nope...they gave me a whole new sandwich. Great place to eat!

It was a fun day.

Photo Blog of Charlie

This is basically just going to be some photos. I chose ones that were good of Charlie, so that people could see the young lad. He is home now and doing well. His Mom is doing pretty good, too. Mom and Pops are both tired, but happy. I am actually at home with all 4 by myself, b/c Kelly and Ralph had to go to the bank. Luckily two are sleeping, one is watching Little Bear (not Emma), and the other is not complaining at the moment (playing quietly with barbies).

Life is changing! I love my increasing family!

Charlie is here!!

Okay, this is a quick one. I am just on a quick stop home, and figured I would spread the news. Charlie William Veinot was born to Kelly and I last night (June 30th...his actual due date) at about 10:30PM. It was a tough go during delivery for Kelly...first one without an epidural. She made it through, and Charlie is now with us. We are so excited, and so were the three girls this morning, when they met their baby brother (all with their "Big Sis" shirts on).

Okay, I better go. More info and pictures when we get back from the hospital.

A Tale of Two Girls

Once upon a time, there were two pregnant women that gave birth to two lovely babies within the course of five days. The first was named Audrey, and she was blessed with brown hair and an older brother. She was born in the land of Yarmouth.

The second, born five days later, was named Ruby, and she was blessed with blonde hair, and two older sisters. She was born in the land of Halifax.

Not only were these two girls born cousins to each other, but they would become friends and playmates. And...at a certain time each year, they would celebrate their birthdays...TOGETHER!

Here are the Birthday Girls...

They were born June 3rd and June 8th. Their magical 2nd Birthday Party was held Saturday, June 5th.

And look, their Birthday cakes...made by the village baker.

And then the cake was devoured...

And that is the tale of two girls that turned two together.

Here are a couple pictures of Ruby on her party day (her birthday for real is on Tuesday).

HAPPY B-DAY AUDREY AND RUBY.

My Brave Mother In Law

It has been almost a year since we received the news that Debbie had Lymphoma. We were quite shocked, and did not know what to expect as a result. She was to start Chemotherapy as soon as possible.

I never thought Debbie would make it through Chemo treatments. I don't know why. I guess I didn't think she was brave enough, or strong enough. I mean, nothing against my wonderful mother in law...but I seriously underestimated her.

As she went through the treatments for six months...I was surprised at her strength and courage. She dealt with the treatments very well, and was very brave.

As she went through more treatments early this year, it was evident that the pain was wearing her down a little. She still managed to impress me with her bravery.

Then, a month ago, when we got the news that more cancer was forming within her body, we were saddened, and could do nothing but hope for the best. She started a new, more intense chemotherapy, and it was definetly obvious that she was wearing down.

As we visited in early May, I saw how tired out Debbie was. She spoke of wanting the whole buisness to be over. The cancer was taking its toll. Poor Debbie was strong though, still...if not physically, then surly spiritually. She was very brave. She was not afraid to pass on. She wished the pain would go away, and was at peace with things in this life.

Then, last Friday, as we received the news that there would be no more chemotherapy, it was a time of sadness. Knowing that her cancer was winning the battle, and not her, was terrible news. We rushed to Halifax as soon as we could, to see her. Though the pain was almost completly absent, due to the morphine...we saw a very subdued and tired Debbie. But, she was brave, and at peace. She was happy, knowing that she would soon leave the pain that her treatments had left her with.

As we visited, expressed our love, and said our goodbyes...we did not know when we would see her again. We did not know if she would get to see Charlie or not. But we were blessed to spend that time with her.

We knew that her condition had been deteriorating all that week, but were not sure when she would pass away.

Last night, around 10:15PM, Ralph called to let us know our brave Debbie has passed away.

She leaves us having been much loved by so many. We intensely miss her. But we are happy that she is in a peaceful and restful place.

Her example of bravery is amazing. I wish I could express how deeply she will be missed. But how blessed we were to have her here. We will cherish all memories of her.

My mother in law was brave. She was loved. She was "my favorite mother in law".

Anny the Fourth

It has been four years now that Kelly has been stuck with me. Poor girl! We have had some fun times the past four years. We are about to have our third baby since our marriage. It has been a lot of pregnancy time. Actually, I just used my calculator to do the math...and Kelly has been pregnant for 52% of our marriage. Yikes, I never thought about it that way until I saw those numbers.

Anyway, I just wanted to send a Happy Aninversary to my wonderful wife, Kelly.

Emma #2 / Honey

Hi, my name is Ruby. I like to use the least amount of words possible when I talk. I am a minimalist. If I can get away with calling both my Mother and Father the same name, I will. Mom seems to work fine for both of them.

Actually, I am getting much better at talking now. I have started calling my Father something besides "Mommy". I now call him "Poppie". He doesn't mind, especially in contrast with being called Mommy all the time.

I have two older sisters. The oldest is Emma. The other one has a name, too, but I prefer to keep it simple. I just call the other one Emma, too. It's much easier that way. Actually, just so I don't get them too frustrated, I have also been known to use the name "Honey" for my other sister. It's cause she's so sweet.

So, that's a little about me. I am going to turn 2 in June...the same month my new brother is going to arrive. I am going to teach him how to push a chair over to the counter and climb up to get all the food. It's a trick I learned from Honey. Here's Honey now...

Hi, I am Morgan. Ruby calls me Honey, but I don't like it. I wish she could say my name. I am busy...or so I hear. I love getting into things, and jumping all over the house, and putting on like 10 dressess or outfits per day. I just have a lot of energy to burn off, and I figure I might as well take care of it while my parents are young, right? I love Madonalds. Yeah, most people call it McDonalds...but they don't know what they are talking about.

Anyway, I just turned 3 a couple months ago, and I am fully potty trained. I have been able to do the whole toilet thing for a while now, but I wanted to keep my parents on their toes...so eventhough I was cool with using the toilet all by myself...I just once in a while would let stuff go in my underwear for the fun of it. My parents...they didn't think it was cool though. Ah well, I am done all that nonsense now though.

Hello, I'm the real Emma. I am a little Diva. Whatever that means. I love to sing, and make up my own songs. Oh, and I love the movies...so when I turned 8 a few weeks ago, I had a party with some of my girl friends at the theatre. It was awesome. I was baptized the exact same day, too. It was really awesome. There was even a spider in the font with me and Pops. We had an awesome get together at our house after. There was so much good food.

Last week I was playing outside with some of the boys in the neighborhood, because it was so nice out. I was playing hockey for the first time. They were really fun to play with. I scored the winning goal for my team. I love playing with my sisters, too. They think I am the greatest. I am so excited for the little boy on the way. I am going to have fun dressing him up and painting his toenails. Pops says that will never happen. I am betting he's right. I love being a girl. Girl power!!