Go, Canada, Go!

Happy Canada Day 2013!

Want to see how much the girls have grown? Check our Canada Day posts from years past!

2012 2010 2009 2008 

*2011 is missing because that month was insane!

Canada Day 2012

Our first visit to Brian's home and native land after our year in China was fittingly Canada Day. We had a great evening reconnecting with Great Grandma, Auntie Lori, Uncle Travis, Cousins Noah and Ella, Grandma and Grandpa Rush, and of course, our dog Trudy. We ended our visit with a quick trip to White Rock Beach for some fireworks.

A Year in Unpublished Pictures - 2011: Part 1

2011 was filled with many Rushcapades. Much is missing from our blog archive - like all of May through August. So this year's unpublished picture list grew to more than just the one or two per month I like to keep it to. I decided we needed a three part installment. Part 1 - The Lead Up. Part 2 - Travels, or Insanity. Part 3 - Intro to China. There are many more pictures on our flickr site if you are interested. Hope you enjoy! Make sure to click Read More to see the whole post.

January: 

Sisters love each other. 

Brian goes to California for his last Jan term and begins the final stretch to graduation. 

Shannon has her first skype interviews for international school jobs.

Happy Canada Day '10!

To all our Canadian friends and family... we hope you had a good holiday!

A Look Back at '09 and '08!

Hungry Canucks

"Playoff hockey has started!"

Round 1: The Canucks are playing the Kings.

"We eat Kings for breakfast!"

Vancouver 2010

Saturday, I braved the rain and headed north to take in the Olympic host city.

As I unloaded the car, Brian ran up behind me. For a minute, I was really scared because I thought he was a homeless man. He says he "forgot" his beard trimmers at home this month.

He, and our friend Blake, had a day off on their last day of working the Olympics and joined us downtown.

Magnolia was thrilled to see her Papa again and spent much of the afternoon snuggling and kissing him.

To which he reciprocated and said our visit was the highlight of his month.

Who Should We Cheer For?

Having dual-citizenship during the Olympics is confusing.

When our countries play each other who do we cheer for?

Do we split time and attire? We'd be guaranteed to come out winners!

...and I guess losers too.

Maybe we should just stay nuetral and cheer for our favorite letter?!

Three Christmases

Our first Christmas was near Leavenworth at a cabin with Nana, Grandpapa, and Auntie Alli. We played games, worked on a puzzle, had great food and drinks, and opened presents sporadically and spontaneously, which was a refreshing way of doing gifts.

Our second Christmas took place on the actual day. The four of us celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with services at our church. Then we filled up our introvert tanks with a quiet day at home sleeping, reading, and crafting. We're waiting to exchange gifts until Ephipany, but did enjoy stockings brought by St. Nicholas.

Our third Christmas was spent in Canada visiting Brian's sister and her family and staying with Brian's parents. The gift giving was frenzied the first night -- Magnolia definitely understands what a 'peh-peh' is now -- and the hockey was as plentiful as the treats! Brian and I also

got to go on a date (we saw Avatar) courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa's babysitting services! It all added up to a full and memorable holiday! We are now recuperating, getting acquainted with/finding homes for all the gifts that were showered upon us by our generous families, and preparing for Mama to be gone during the day again.

The Canucks Newest Fan

"Hockey season is here."

"The Canucks have had a rough start."

"Please, please, please can we get a win."

"Yes!"

Happy Canada Day '09!

To all our Canadian family and friends...We hope you had a great holiday!

Where did the last year go???

Christmas 08 - part 3

December 26th we shovelled and ice-picked our way out of our driveway,* heading north to Tsawwassen, BC for part 3 of our annual Christmas celebration. Just outside of Bellingham a blizzard hit and road conditions significantly worsened. After watching a car spin itself across the two lane highway barely missing a major collision, we began to feel like the fellowship of the ring on the snowy slopes of Caradhras -- maybe we aren't supposed to go...

In the end we made it there in one piece and in time to have a few hours with both of Brian's siblings' families, his parents and grandmother.

Cousins: Noah Bryerton, Magnolia Rush, Jamie Rush, Ella Bryerton

I thought the blurriness of this next picture was fitting. It was a frenzy of activity as presents were opened, played with, and traded in a matter of minutes. I missed most of what happened during that period trying to keep Magnolia from eating discarded wrapping paper or opening someone else's gift.

The rest of the evening was filled with a yummy ham dinner with the traditional Ukrainian side dish of cabbage rolls, watching the Canucks' hockey game, playing Wii during intermissions, and Brian's favorite dessert, Mud Pie.

Saturday, my sister-in-law, Melanie and I headed to the mall for some kid-free shopping time. Brian and his brother Kevin, took care of the girls. Not quite a year apart, they are about the same size. They had a fun time exploring Grandma Rush's house and learning to share their Christmas toys. When Magnolia was down for a nap, Jamie would go around the house asking for Maggie ("Monnie?").

Grandma Rush provided some of the day's entertainment by building Jamie a snowman ("No-man!") just outside the family room window.

The visit ended with a fun game of Agricola followed by a discussion as to the truth about Brian's vibrating ears.

We did get a little payback for our generosity with the stomach flu; Magnolia came home with her cousin Jamie's cold.

*Footnote: our very steep driveway is heated and works very well. However, in order to avoid backing into our busy street we tried to turn around in an unheated portion. Bad idea.

Canadian Thanksgiving Eh?

This past weekend we ventured up to Tsawwassen, BC to celebrate Thanksgiving with Brian's family.

Brian's childhood pet, Poncho, added Magnolia to his list of girls he likes to perform for and another reason to attack Brian.

Magnolia learned that sliding glass doors are fun for watching the dogs play. Trudy spent much of the visit wishing she could be on the other side of the door.

Magnolia broke out her hand-me-down Canuck sweatsuit from her cousin Ella to cheer our team on. They came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Calgary 5-4 in overtime!

Magnolia also got to spend some quality time with her cousins, Ella and Noah. Much to Ella's frustration, Maggie was definitely more interested in her beaded dress than Dora.

Magnolia also got some quality time with her grandparents. She quickly learned that Grandpa Rush has cool things in his shirt pocket. In addition to Grandma and Grandpa Rush, and cousins Noah and Ella, Maggie also got to see her Great-Grandma Batiuk, Great-Uncle Bill, Great-Aunt Audrey, Aunt Lori, Uncle Travis and his mom, Ann. It was a bit overwhelming for her at times, but like a true people-person she was all smiles...nearly. For most of the day, Uncle Travis freaked her out.

After eating way too much yummy food, including Brian's favorite, Mud Pie, made specially for him, we headed home in time for Magnolia and me to head to bed and for Brian to play soccer.

Happy Canada Day!

"Happy Canada Day"