I thought I'd highlight a few funny moments of the year, a few awesome moments of the year, and a bunch of fantastic people that we have been lucky enough to share our year with.
It has been an interesting year for us. Full of ups and downs...old traditions and new experiences...familiar faces and new friends.
Here are some glimpses into my family's 2009:
FUNNY PHOTOS:
Jaymi's neighbour friend at one of our barbecues...
Our nephew Lucas, at his birthday party...
And why do I always get the same "tongue stuck out"-face from kids when they want to do a silly photo?
Jaymi...
Jaymi and Kristin...
Jack and Jaymi...
Jaymi and Lucas...
Alicia and Jaymi...
We have been so fortunate to spend our year with so many fantastic people. I don't have photos of all of them, yet I was able to capture some awesome pictures of some of them.
SPECIAL PEOPLE:
One of Jaymi's (and our) favourite people, is her teacher this year - Mrs. Fleming. She is a wonderful teacher, and is the perfect person to teach and understand Jaymi this year.
Rebekah is a beautiful girl I had the opportunity to photograph...
Tori is one of Jaymi's newest little friends, and is the sweetest little girl...
Reis is her wonderful, kind, older brother...
Jaime is her adorable baby sister...
And Cole is her awesome big brother...
Colton is one of the neighbours who Jaymi loves to hang out with when he is at our place. He is great with her...
April is a neighbour's gorgeous daughter who visited in the spring and said yes to a photo shoot with me!
Reece is another neighbour who I capture once in a while on camera...
And his stunning older sister Amber...I love to photograph her...
My husband, of course, has been a constant support this year, and someone I have needed to lean on this year as well. I'm so glad we made it though 2009 together.
Our amazing daughter, Jaymi, of course...I just love being around her and she surprises me and impresses me every day.
Jaymi has lots of great friends, and these are two of her best friends.
Another best friend and his little sister. She has been friends with him for about 3 or 4 years now.
Every year, Jaymi has a great birthday party and lots of friends to enjoy it with her.
Tania is one of my friends. She is one of the most down-to-earth, hard-working, giving people I know.
And her daughter, Hannah, is one of the sweetest, down-to-earth, most beautiful girls I know.
Shayla is a very sweet, quiet friend that Jaymi met a while ago. They just clicked right away.
It always nice to hang out with Mike and Shayla and enjoy some laid-back friend time.
Connie is a best friend of mine. She has been a wonderful friend to talk with, vent to, shop with, and laugh with.
Rachael - a new Brownie friend of Jaymi's. She is just getting to know her (and her little sister) but they get along already.
I had the pleasure of photographing some of Jaymi's classmate's family members - a beautiful little girl and her cute baby brother.
Nancy (a university friend of mine) and her son Jack visited us this summer and it was so nice to see them! Nancy and I had a great time re-connecting and Jaymi and Jack had a blast playing together.
Connie's twin daughters are adorable and so fun to play with, and her oldest, Kristin, is one of Jaymi's very best friends.
Emily is another beautiful girl I had the pleasure of photographing.
It's always nice to get together with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, chat with my sister-in-law, and especially watch my nephew Lucas grow up.
We always love to see my mother-in-law and her husband, and Jaymi loves it when she gets to sleep over and Gramma and John's house, or in their camper.
Our niece from Ontario came out to visit this year, and stayed with us for 3 weeks. It was nice to get to know her again.
There are so many other people that I have enjoyed spending time with this year, that are not pictured here as well.
Holly - she visited this summer and it was so nice to see her, and her parents, again.
My mom and Gill - they also visited us this year. It was awesome that we had so many visitors in 2009.
Connor - another great friend of Jaymi's, that she plays with all the time.
FAVOURITE MOMENTS of 2009:
Ziplining while Alicia was here, was so much fun. One of the most fun things I've done in a while.
Doing a spa afternoon with Jaymi is such a fun experience. We did masks, wax treatments on our feet and hands, and nails, of course.
Going to Vancouver with Jaymi was the best trip ever. I had so much fun with her, doing all of the touristy stuff. Grouse Mountain was so much fun too - especially doing the snow-limo thing and the Skyride.
And Capilano Suspension Bridge - that was another fun thing to share with her.
Her MRI in Vancouver in September. Another awesome moment of 2009, because it came back with good results. We are so happy that she survived this year with minimal effects.
I was so proud of Jaymi when she decided to enter the Science Fair (she was the only Gr.1 student entering an individual project). And when she decided to make her individual project about informing people about pollution in the ocean, and earned a special award for it, I was even more proud.
When Jaymi first came home after her surgery, she was not even able to walk without support. Quickly, she got stronger and more balanced and healed, and was able to walk, then run, but still couldn't jump without falling down. When she discvered that she could jump up and down without falling over, she was so thrilled!!
This picture was taken the day we went downtown to an opening of a new children's bookstore, then over to an Earth Celebration. We had a good Mommy-Daughter day wandering around downtown, having fun. I love those days.
When Jack and Nancy visited, we had fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf. While we were sitting at the table, Jack and Jaymi began playing pretend games with their plastic cutlery, pretending the cutlery were little people. It was so cool to see another child do those cute little things that Jaymi enjoys so much.
This is Jaymi's optometrist - the one who diagnosed Jaymi's intercranial pressure, from her eye exam. We are so thankful to her, for insisting on getting our family doctor to rush the CT Scan, which led to Jaymi's diagnosis of a brain tumour, and then surgery of course.
I don't have photos of anyone else (yet), but am also thankful to so many other people, including all of her doctors, therapists, and nurses, and all those who supported us and prayed for Jaymi.
Watching Jaymi in her school's Christmas play this year was so fantastic. She was an angel, and tried her very best - sang her little heart out. ;)
Another nice moment of the year was when we joined other families of the BC Children's Hospital Foundation in decorating the Red Robin tree at the Fairmont Empress Festival of Trees, at Christmas time.
I am very glad that Jaymi has been in Girl Guides, just like I was. This year when she moved from Sparks to Brownies, it was another good moment of my year.
Every school morning is precious to me. Jaymi sits on the kitchen counter while I pass her breakfast to eat, get her lunch together, and talk with her. She is always excited about her upcoming day, and we talk about the day, what stuffie she might be taking to school with her, and what she chose to wear that day.
I love it when we cook together. She is getting to be more and more of a helper with me in the kitchen. Right now, she loves to read the recipe to me, measure as much of the ingredients as she can, and of course, we always taste some of the ingredients as we cook.
And she cares so much about the presentation too, thanks to watching episodes of "Edible Incredible". ;)
Another special moment of 2009 was talking to the doctor immediately surgery, and hearing the most important pieces of information I needed to hear at that moment: she's alive, she can breathe and swallow, she can move her legs and arms, and she knows who we are.
And one of the most special moments at the hospital, was leaving the hospital! Definitely the place where you'd want your child to be if they needed to be, but very nice to be leaving and on the road to recovery!
Watching Jaymi this year develop an even deeper relationship with her best friend - that is special.
And watching her re-connect with her older cousin, Alicia, was so amazing. She adores her!
Jaymi's first day of Gr.2. I can't believe she is getting that old! I'm so proud of her in school too. She does so well, and loves to learn so much.
2009:Jaymi has moved on from Gr. 1 to Gr.2, and from Sparks to Brownies.
She has begun ballet lessons and become interested in fairies.
She has extended her love for turtles to a love for other ocean creatures, especially seals, otters, and walruses.
We have all survived her brain tumour and surgery.
We have also gone through Mark's carpal tunnel surgery, in both wrists.
We have survived harder economic times, together.
We have experienced some fantastic friendships.
And we have all become one year older, hopefully wiser, and closer.
Happy New Year!!
