The Big Day

The Honeymoon...

Well truth be told, this blog is really outdated. A lot has happened since August.....let's see:

1. I got married (pictures to prove it)


2. Went on a honeymoon (a picture of paradise)
   
3. Moved into a new home (with my new wife!)

Here is a glimpse into the last few months....sorry for the lack of commentary.

This is the view from our hotel room...no really, it is! Not bad for bidding for this on skyauction hey?

..and this is the view of the pools from our room.......note to self, that slide is very fast. I learned first hand that trying to go too fast might put me right over the edge?!?!?!

An evening out along the boardwalk....

Each night looked like this....the weather was outstanding. The temperature HOT and these Hawaiian sky's are breathtaking.

This is the night we went to the Luau....it was quite an adventure.....and no we didn't purchase the white shells.....these identified us as "part of the group".

This guy could really throw fire.....quite a site to see.....yeah he was one large Samoaian man!

This was the best time ever! Laying by the pool was great. Snorking was adventurous, but nothing tops it like flying like a bird in the sky.....
Shay has the best seat in the house...right next to an retired Vietnam Vet helicopter pilot!

This was a mountain range where they filmed Jurassic Park....

Another beautiful night, with my hawaiian princess!

....Well most of the time Shay was a princess, but her rendition of Nicole Richie is less to be desired for....

After a long flight home, we finally arrived to Vancouver to a unique "welcome". Our place had a new flare to it, thanks to our Best Friends. It took us over an hour to clean the small place up. For those looking to do this to a bunch of newlyweds......fake feathers in the fridge is a sure was to get under one's skin.

....or maybe try putting tin-foil over and around everything....just don't cover the fruit bowl as those little flies are sure to blast out of an uncovered space at the site of fresh air. By the way, how do fruit flies get into covered areas?

The Calm Before the Storm

Over a month ago Shay and I ended up taking a break from "life" and from planning our wedding....only 6 weeks left!!!

Kelowna was our destination....staying with my second set of parents was fun. We did a number of wine tours - tasting samples was the best....and being at Mission Hills Winery almost seemed like we were in Italy.....it was a great weekend away. Now it's back to reality and the final plans are being done on our big day...

"Out Behind the Barn"

During family reunions we would often sing an odd song called "Out Behind the Barn"......I'm sure a lot of people got their education out behind the barn......but I'll stop there. However, the work at my place never seems to stop. The last project was working on the old barn - it needed a face lift.

Here are some old pics of the barn...

The last few weekends have bee good, however. Shay is getting more accustomed to "real" work - her favorite job apparently is pulling nails out of old lumber.....yet she's not a bad painter either. However, she's competing with my niece, who appears to love painting the most.

The best fun of all are the "breaks" from the work. Apparently, the group feel I'm a slave driver so taking some down time is needed. You'll note though, that this down time is often spent playing the the kids (Drew and Jolene) and riding their scooter which Shay and Keith seemed to find more enjoyable than working for me?!?!?! However, the barn did end up getting done, and finally looking like a barn.....

She Said "Yes" Times 10,000!

This is the response Shalene gave when I asked her to spend the rest of our lives together…. “yes times 10,000”.

The week leading up to this moment was interesting. Of course I was on edge attempting to plan it all without giving anything away (except the ring of course). Luckily for me Shay was out of town for 4 days in Las Vegas.

It started out with a nerve racking discussion with her parents. They were fine and passed on their blessing, but I was nervous trying to bring up the topic. Then there was the sleepless nights, scattered mind, preoccupied thoughts amidst the normal life I tried to live. I think it went ok. So here’s how it unfolded on Saturday June 3, 2006

1. Shay has coffee with a friend. Meanwhile, Steve and Keith enter Shay’s home to get it ready for after dinner……placing candles and flowers all about…
2. Shay arrives at Steve’s house for a day outing.
3. Shay and Steve have a “spa day”……Shay had gotten me a massage gift certificate that I was waiting to use. So while I was getting rubbed down, Shay was getting a manicure –a nice touch since lovely manicured hands would go along with the ring.
4. Shay and Steve head down South Granville to pick up some treats for a picnic on the beach…..we often hang out on South Granville, touring shops, stopping for coffee and crapes and just enjoying some down time….
5. Shay and Steve head down to Jericho Beach/Spanish Banks, pick out a spot, and have a picnic (I managed to stay quite calm through it all). Previous to this day, Keith and I were scouting areas to possibly have a picnic rain or shine (I had a back up plan if the rain was coming down, but thankfully we had a lot of sun!!!)
6. We were just enjoying our time, chatting and eating. Then I told her I had a gift for her. Since we had been going on 7 months of dating, I told her I wanted to put together thoughts and pictures of our courtship. So I had a “Scrap” book all done up– thoughts from my heart that she could keep to remember her of this day.
7. A little more time had passed when I told her I had some more small gifts from “Steeps” – Steeps is a tea house where we first met on our blind date back in July 2005. I told her it was a “smell testing game”. I had 3 types of tea that she had to guess on…..so there we were on our beach blanket. She had her blind fold on and I had the tin of tea open, waving it under her nose where she had to guess what it was….each time afterwards, she would open her eyes to see the tea and read the label.
8. The final tin of tea was “it”…..and now I began to shake…but she couldn’t see me shake because she had her eyes closed. So the final tin of tea was labeled “Good Morning”. I went on to comment how this was significant to us. I’ve often left Shay’s place or she leaving mine where neither of us wanted to go. Plus we’ve often talked about our future together……..so I went into some story of how one day this would become our reality and that I wanted to wake up with her by my said as her husband and she my wife. She then opened her eyes and stared at the open tea canister with the ring on top.
9. She was shocked! She was speechless! She then said yes time 10,000.

Here are some pictures of our day. For the full set, please click on the link... http://www.flickr.com/photos/26651409@N00/

The remainder of the evening was great. Not only did the first part of the day go off without a hitch, the remainder of the day did as well. I had told her I booked reservations at a restaurant. She finally guessed where it was as we were driving near the location. We ate at “Season on the Hill Top Bistro” – up at Queen Elizabeth Park. This was another sentimental place, since it’s a location she often visited with her family years ago and now with weekly walks in order to get some exercise.

As we walked toward our table, she once again was shocked. There we had the most beautiful corner table with a breath taking view of the city. Furthermore, we had a few quests – one of her good friends Myra and my buddy Keith as well as Steve and Kris were sitting at the table …..Shay had no idea I had pre-arranged for them to all be there to celebrate with us. The food was out of this world and our time memorable.

After dinner I took my time heading back to her place. I had arranged for Keith, Steve and Kris to light the candles and get her place put together for one final surprise. When we arrived at Shay’s doorstep, I opened the door. There she was shocked one last time.

The candles lit the room with flowers staged throughout her home. The background music was playing as well. …….It was there we sat to soak in how the day unfolded….mesmerized by it all, with smiles on our faces. We had a dance to Ella Fitzgerald jazz music, held each other close…a few kisses and it’s there that I looked into the eyes of my soon to be bride telling her how much I loved her.

It’s a day I’ll never forget……

A day at the park - oh to be young again...

Ok, so apparently these pictures are long overdue and I think I'll resign from being Mr. Photographer as a result of the constant nagging that has come my way. So here's a bit of advice to those people wanting to buy a digital camera and build a blog......DON'T. Once you start, the expectation is always there....

So here are a few pics of the little people (along with their mom and auntie.......I'll be considered the 3rd wheel).

My Country Girl

Although my girlfriend really loves the city, she's becoming more familiar with what takes place in the country.....like wearing rubber boots, not having to do yourself up when you go outside as well as the luxury of washing ones car in their own driveway rather than waiting in line for 30 minutes at the local city gas station...... she cleans up good doesn't she? (I mean the car!!!!).

Easter with the Families

Well we've seemed to make it through another holiday weekend.........and what a great time it was with family. Futhermore we seemed to eat like Royalty without even lifting a hand (of coarse I cleaned up the table and washed dishes!).

So we spent it with Shay's family on Friday night.....Shay's sister and brother-in-law #2 from Prince George came down (why do people live in PG anyways?)...........regardless it was good to see them again, as well as Lucy (Shay's Grandma - love the name) and her mom and dad.....






























Sorry about the pictures ladies....I don't think Shay's mom, nor mine will like these shots but truth be known there was alcohol flowing freely around the tables!?!?!?!??!!!!.........

While in Chilliwack, there is the annual Easter Egg Hunt - luckily for Drew and Jolene it was a nice day so Shay and I were able to plant a number of chocolates throughout mom and dads backyard.......and although the rain started to come down, we quickly adapted the game plan by using umbrella's - nothing would stop these youngsters from gathering sweets......and although these kids consumed a lot of chocolate, it's always nice for them to go home "wound up" with their parents........