Blockhead + friends = fun!

Last night our good friends Tim & Jen invited us over for some good eats and hang out time. The Simpson's also joined in on the fun and we had an overall great evening. It was the last time we will see Tim & Jen in Vancouver(as they are going out of town this week and we leave before they get back), which is very sad but fun to look forward to some potential visits from them in Edinburgh and with them in Belfast. The Cairn's introduced us to the great game of Blockhead last time we had dinner with them so naturally we had to show the Simps what it was all about. Turned out we were all pretty good and I think we may have played a record breaking game of something like 35+ blocks. Good times were had by all.

pictures, pictures everywhere!

though we still DO NOT have internet at home I have other means and decided that a picture update was necessary. So at long last I am updating you in picture form. You will find pictures from the church women's retreat, from our wonderful visit from Dave & Majell and the awesome pirate party we attended. Hope you enjoy. Beware, lots of pictures lie ahead...

Women's Retreat, Dave & Majell, Pirate Party...

Shelley's Birthday!

This week we celebrated my good friend, Shelley's, birthday. I was thoroughly disappointed when Shelley told me a few weeks back that she didn't want to do anything for her birthday but just be mellow and not make a big deal of it. I personally love birthdays and everything about them so this statement from Shelley did not sit well with me. Knowing me all too well, Shelley's husband, Levi, contacted me right away to see what we were going to do for Shelley for her birthday without her knowing. Ah ha! We began to scheme and I asked Shelley if we could go out on a double date for her birthday so that she can have some sort of celebration and make her feel special. She agreed and thought this sounded just right for her. Little did she know that I also invited ALL of friends to come out to dinner as well and celebrate our friend and make her feel special. If I do say so myself, it was quite successful and she had NO idea. Besides a little redness in the face and hitting Levi in the arm when she saw us all, I would say that she was quite satisfied with her birthday party.

Amber and Shelley

drinking Bellini's!

Me and Shelley - silly friends

friends, friends and more friends...

And a goofy one of Derek and I, just for fun!

blockhead

Saturday night we went over to Tim & Jenn's house for dinner. After a fantastic bbq meal and hanging out for a while they wanted to show us this game that they absolutely love. It is called Blockhead and one of Tim's friends from Northern Ireland got them this for their wedding.

It's like reverse Jenga but much more fun!
It's quite intenseAnd it sure did a number on my nerves but I did come in second place thank you very much!Thanks Jenn & Tim!

Cinco De Mayo!

Saturday was CINCO DE MAYO!!! And what better way to celebrate than to have some friends over to drink Coronas and eat chips and salsa!?! So that is exactly what we did. It was a blast just hanging out with the pals...

We all had our own strategy of trying to get the lime immersed in the beer

No night is complete without a game of Catch Phrase

and of course a pic of girls drinking beer :)

*we miss you, Reimers

See you later dear friends

About a week ago, we had to say goodbye to some very close and dear friends: Jess, Jeff and Charlie. They are the first in our close "group" of friends to leave and it was not easy to say goodbye, or should I say "see you later" cause we will see them again. Jeff got a job with IVP (Inter-Varsity Press) in the Chicago area and though it was sad to see them go, we are so excited for the adventure that lies ahead. There were some events leading up to their departure that I will share with photos (of course).

They had a going away party about 2 weeks before they left. Here is Jess and cutie pie Charlie at the party

We made them a Memory book as a going away present

Classic

We were the last to leave the party -as always

This was part 1 of our last girls group (+ Charlie) meeting
Jess, Shelley, me, Shannon and Charlie

And part 2, we headed out on the town for some good drinks and conversation

Jess will love that I posted this picture :)

Awww...the last time it will be just the 4 of us

Then of course, the Reimer's last night in town was for Graduation! The accumulation of their time here. Here is Derek and Jeff (twins!)

The happy family

All the girls

And all the boys

Grad got over so late that nothing was open, so we had to settle for a Wendy's/Tim Horton's. Our last meal with the Reimer's.

After this, outside the Wendy's is where we had to say our tearful goodbyes to a special part of what has been our fmaily over the past 3 years. Our time here would not have been the same without them and they will forever hold a special place in our hearts. Hopefully we can get to Chicago in the near future and visit them in their new home.

Seattle Baby!

This past weekend I headed South to the good ole city of Seattle to meet up with some of my best friends from high school (and one college pal). It had been so long since we had all gotten together and we decided to take advantage of the fact that two of the girls live in Seattle. We had a blast together. Catching up, shopping, eating, being tourists and of course...drinking!

Alexa and Kari - as we begin our shopping extravaganza!

All the girls at Pikes Place Market
I was like a giddy little kid as I had never been so close to the space needle before :)

We drove up to a view point, what an amazing view!

This is us, the bests from High school (me, Jess, Megan & Kari)

and with Alexa (college buddy)
Later that night we headed out on the town...we went to 2 different restaurants in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, oh we had such a great time!

maybe we had a little "too" much fun ;)

Overall it was a great weekend with the girls catching up, laughing and just being together :)