Happy 2nd Birthday Priya!

Today was a special day for little Priya - she turned 2! We celebrated with a small birthday party at a great park in our area. Priya had a blast and we loved watching her enjoy herself.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you!

In the afternoon after Priya's nap we enjoyed a bit more time with Grammy & Pappa at their house. They will be heading back up to Canada tomorrow so we wanted to get in some extra time before their departure. Below Priya performs her new favorite song as she tears through Grammy's book collection.

Priya has also been enjoying the table set that Grammy and Pappa got her for her birthday. She also showed off her growing knowledge of colors. Well, it's hit and miss but she's getting there... :)

A Long Overdue Update

Yes, yes, I know. I am usually so good about keeping this blog updated quite regularly. Well, I have a good excuse. I've been working like a mad woman! Today is the first day I've had off in 3 solid weeks and I am rejoicing! We survived 2 weeks of intensive training with our student leaders and are now one week into the fall semester.

The overall tone of this new year is extremely positive and I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for Simpson this year! I personally have gotten a running start with my new position (Residence Life Coordinator/Student Conduct Administrator) and have found myself neck deep in a rather intense and serious disciplinary situation with one of our students. But the pressure to resolve the situation has resulted in an acceleration of the development of our new discipline program. I am feeling much more prepared to work with the situations that will continue to arise throughout the school year. So despite the craziness I'm thankful.

My parents have been in town and have been our personal heroes during this busy time. They have given so much of their time and energy to watch Priya and have given me great peace of mind knowing that she was safe in their care. Thank you SOOO much Grammy & Papa for being such a tremendous help to us these past few weeks!!

Priya is just a week away from her 2nd birthday. She continues to amaze us with her rapid growth and development. Our baby is gone and in her place is a lively, fun-loving, intelligent, & loving little girl. Her favorite things these days are going outside anytime she can, singing songs (ABC's and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star are two of her favorites), counting to 13, swimming, snuggling, reading, climbing stairs, swinging and sliding at the park and playing with friends. She hugs everyone and everything she meets and is thrilled to have our campus full of students again. There is never a dull moment with little Priya around. Here are a few pictures that capture her ever-emerging personality.

By the way, the first two pics are of Priya in an outfit that she received as an anonymous gift in the mail this week. We have no idea who sent it (and the other adorable items that came with it), but if the giver is reading this, THANK YOU!!

This last photo was taken on Tuesday evening at Simpson's Annual Toga Party. I used one of Priya's baby blankets to make a toga. She had a blast, as always.

Never a dull moment in Student Development

One of the things that I appreciate about working in Student Development is the fun that we have together. We had our staff retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and on one of the days were asked to give a brief presentation for the rest of the team. We decided to spruce it up a bit by dressing up in crazy costumes with no real purpose. It was hilarious and we created a special memory. And in case you're wondering, yes, that is a penguin beak on my face!
We had to take a staff photo for Univeristy purposes and are a little afraid that this is going to come back to haunt us - or end up in one of our publications or something.

"Snug!"

Ahhh...there's nothing like some "snug" time with Daddy! Priya has become quite the snuggler these days (she cutely calls it "snug") and has LOVED the special time with Daddy now that we are home again.

Home At Last

We finally made it home! The day went well for the most part. We left Steinbach at 5am and arrived at the airport by 6am. I had no problems getting through customs in Winnipeg and sat at the gate for about 45 minutes before boarding. When I checked in they told me that there was almost no chance of there being an open seat on the 1st flight to use Priya's car seat. But it definitely worked out in our favor and we ended up with an extra seat! Priya slept for a whopping total of 30 minutes! But hey, it was better than nothing. :) She was an angel on the flight so I didn't mind.

We had about 2 1/2 hours in Denver to kick around (we had a minor delay there) and then hopped on our 2nd flight for nearly 3 hours to San Francisco. The flight was totally full so we didn't have an extra seat. But we survived. :)

In San Francisco we encountered a delay that kept us there for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. That was pretty brutal but again we made it through. We lucked out on the last flight at the last minute and ended up getting 2 seats as well! I think a stinky diaper may have helped but that's another story... :)

Ashish greeted us at the airport and Priya's reaction to him brought tears to my eyes. He enthusiastically called out her name, she turned around, squealed very loudly, and then ran to him with her arms outstretched. It was a beautiful sight to see father and daughter reunited. We were pretty happy to see each other too. :)

So after 16 hours of traveling we are safely back at home. Ahhhh...I had a wonderful time in Manitoba but there really is no place like home!

Oma's Big Day!

Today was another terrific day! Both Tanya's, Emily, Judy & I got together in the afternoon for coffee at an adorable little place here in Steinbach. We had an amazing time sharing stories and getting to know each other better. Before the end of our time together every one of us had teared up (in a good way). Ahhhh...female bonding at its best! :)We then got together with everyone for Oma's 85th birthday party celebration. There was no end to the fun we all had together today!






Oma received a digital photo frame as her birthday gift today. Everyone gathered around to see the photos that everyone sent to be included on the frame.
We also celebrated my parents' 40th anniversary today too.

Flying Hot Dogs and Tacos, Oh My!

On Friday morning we attended the Pioneer Days Parade in Steinbach (boy did that ever bring back memories from when we attended the parade as kids!). The weather was pretty bad (it rained through most of it), but we enjoyed it nonetheless. I remember candy being thrown at these parades as a child but this far surpassed anything I had ever seen! They threw candy, freezie pops, water bottles, sodas, hot dogs, dog food packets and much, much more! Well, some of it was handed out, but still... They even gave out soccer balls! It was quite the party!



In the evening, Greg and Tanya had us over for a fabulous Mexican Fiesta Night! This had to be one of the funnest nights I've had in years! We played Wii (my first time), Rock Band, Telephone Pictionary (and wow did we ever laugh!), had a fabulous meal (thanks Tanya) and had an all-around wonderful time together!