Preschool Party Day

Nate has been attending Wind and Tide preschool two days a week since September. Every month, the children perform their songs for the parents. The children who have birthdays in that month also have "Happy Birthday" sung to them. Here are a few clips for you to enjoy. A little disclaimer on behalf of Nate: His mouth was still partially frozen from an earlier trip to the dentist making it too difficult to blow out candles!

Birch Bay Getaway

We had a midweek treat of getting away to Birch Bay for three days this past week. We had a wonderfully relaxing time (as relaxing as life can be with 2 young boys!). It was pretty chilly so we didn't get outside a whole lot. We did make it to the beach one morning to look for crabs (WAY too cold for them!) and throw rocks into the ocean.

Birthday Boy Celebrates 4

Nate chose a Diego theme for his 4th birthday party. We had a fun, kid-only birthday celebration with obstacle courses, animal rescues (aka. find the hidden animal toys), seek and find puzzles, animal charades, colouring and of course shared cake with 4 very special friends (sorry to miss you Joelley!) Nate was SO excited about this day that woke up at 1am exlaiming to all who cared that he was done sleeping. Mom and Dad didn't quite agree. He struggled, but was able to fall asleep and had a wonderful day. Life with a 4 year old is looking to be a whole lot of fun.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was thoroughly enjoyed by all this year. The boys are at a delightful age where their excitement permeates their little bodies. We first celebrated Christmas with the Penners on December 20th. The boys had fun with cousin Claire, opening gifts, playing, decorating sugar cookies, etc. We are truly blessed with amazing families! On the 24th, the Raabe Christmas began. The boys opened gifts with their cousins Alex and Tyler. They discovered they would be going to Disneyland together in March and promptly proceeded to the next item on their agenda (more gift opening!). They fed off each other's excitement and were a pleasure to watch. Santa filled their stockings for the 25th and they are still trying to figure out how he can fit down chimneys, bring things for so many people, etc. It is also confusing for their little minds how Santa and baby Jesus fit together. For now, we've let them believe that Santa brings people presents to celebrate Jesus' birthday making it possible for everyone to have a present to open. It is fascinating to hear them process and try to comprehend the extraordinary. We had such an amazing time together with both families. We count our blessings having everyone so close.

Winter Wonderland

2009; Year to Get On-line!

Techno-savvy Brent has created a little spot for us on the internet to keep our family and friends updated with the latest Raabe developments. The plan is to frequently upload pictures and keep current with what is happening.

Our year has started off with a lot of snow. More than we have (or I have) ever seen in the lower mainland. It definitely felt like a wintery Christmas. We wish all of you a fantastic new year. We look forward to keeping in touch a little more regularly throughout the coming year.