The Piper Pages: December 2010

Here is my attempt at a Christmas update. It's been kinda an amazing year, and there is lots to document, so it seemed silly to try to shove it all onto an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. So this way, you can read as much or as little as you'd like.

As any parent can attest, your child takes up most of your life, and brain space. And this year was no exception to that. Our year was pretty much dominated by Piper and her many adventures.

The biggest deal for us this year was Piper's heart surgery. We waited and waited for it to happen, and it finally did, on March 25 of 2010. It went as smoothly as expected, with an excellent team of doctors and nurses at BC Children's Hospital. Piper recovered a touch slower than they thought, but we were still out of the hospital in one week, home just in time for Easter.

It was a pretty intense week, and looking back on it now, I feel flustered just thinking about it, but we had an unusual sense of peace and ease about the whole thing. We had great family and friends surround us throughout and we were so well taken care of. But upwards on onwards! All is well!

We've been in and out of the hospital this year for a few reasons, but one was that my Dad had a cancerous tumor removed from his liver, and just like Piper, he wowed us all with his recovery. He is in great health now, and coping well (though refuses to slow down and act like a retired old guy!). We also celebrated his 60th birthday in October, as a family.

In May, we all celebrated our birthdays with a big combined party. All good fun with lots of friends and family. It was a nice weekend in May, which was such a treat.

We got to take a few little trips this summer, one to Mayne Island to see my sister Sarah and her family, and one to Long Beach, and a few little beach trips in between. We kept it pretty simple this summer, trying not to spend too much money on summer trips, as we were saving up for a big winter trip... more on that soon :)

Early in the summer, I fully "launched" my business of graphic communication, which includes photography, graphic design and branding/logo work. I had been working at this for a while, but in June, I set it free with a great website. It was a lot of work, but it is now keeping me good and busy and I am loving all of it. This next year, I am hoping to continue shooting lots of weddings and portraits, but really aim at improving my graphic design skills. I also want to get a few more "post-production" clients, to work on their photo editing, which will maybe entail me getting a new, faster, shinier computer :) We'll see.

The fall involved getting back into a much needed routine, and getting used to life with a toddler. We got some family photos taken by a friend of mine, as Matt and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. We treated ourselves to a swanky night out to see the Lion King live show.

We started a reno on our bedroom and my office: adding some wainscotting and sanding the hardwood floors and painting. We are still working on it, but it's coming! The only thing left to do in this house is our bathroom, and you better believe we're already thinking up ways on how to re-do it! We've got the gorgeous bathtub [in storage] to prove it!

I like our house a little more every time we put some blood/sweat/tears into it. It's a nice little home, and we are learning how to really take care of it all the time.

Another big thing to happen in the fall was that Matt left where he was working (cabinet door making shop). It seemed his work place wasn't a great fit for him and it was started to really effect him in ways that work shouldn't. He left before he could burn any bridges, and with his dignity still in tact.

It was a bit of a bold move, as he didn't have any work lined up next, but we decided it was better for him to be hungry than crazy. Of course, he fell into a nice temporary job of working on a home reno project on Pender Island for about 5-6 weeks (4 days working, 3 days at home), having a great time working with some of his best buddies. It was like boys-only summer camp over there: they dug holes, hammered nails and ate spaghetti all day long. And got paid for it. Come on. The only thing missing was arts and crafts time.

He is currently waiting on a few job offers to come through. We are trusting God to give him something that is going to lift him up and really fuel his desires. He's got a lot of talent and dreams, we are still just working on honing them to find what suits him best for work.

In November, we went back to the hospital for a check up for Piper and they found that there is a slight chance that they may have to do surgery again in the distant future. And her neutropenia has yet to clear up and ship out, too. We are playing the waiting-game yet again, and just waiting to see what her little heart is up to. There is nothing we can do, and there is nothing Piper can't do. She is as normal as kids come. You would never be able to tell that she's had open heart surgery. Except for her scar, that is continually improving.

So for now, we continue on as usual, just waiting to see what gets put in our path next. We'll head back in April for another check-up to see what is new.

And now, we are into the Christmas season. It is so lovely. We have slowed down our pace of life and are really trying to live as simply as we can these days.

On January 5th, we are taking off south for 2 weeks to visit Florida and the Caribbean British Virgin Islands. Ummm, yeah! We are pretty excited. We've scaled back our Christmas fun (as well as our summer fun, as mentioned earlier), so we can really enjoy our trip as much as we can!

In Florida, we will visit with a family I used to nanny for before I was married, and we'll hopefully just play on the beaches and see some sights. Matt and I might even dare to spend a day at Disney World, just the two of us.

Then off to the Caribbean for a week, with some friends of ours, to sail around on their 45 foot long sail boat! Oh my goodness. Wake me up! We are thrilled and really feel like this is a once in a lifetime sort of thing. I want to snorkel, see some cool geological formations and find out some cool historical facts while we're there. Everything else is a bonus.

So that has been our year, as scattered as it may seem, we've really enjoyed it all: ups, downs and everything. We eagerly look into 2011 which will include a way cool holiday for us, maybe finishing a home reno, planting a bigger and better garden, and even thinking about adding another little family member to the mess.

Again, like in all of life, we are taking it one step at a time, and whatever gets dealt to us, we take and work with. I am not planning anything, I just taking it as it comes. That is one thing that being a mother has taught me: just roll with it. I am tired of trying to control the wind. It's just not going to happen. So I might as well enjoy it.

We send you our warmest holiday wishes and hope you can spend this time doing something that you love with people you love even more.

Merry, merry Christmas to you all.

Frances, Matt and Piper.

Christmas time at Oma and Opa's! (early, to celebrate with everybody)

Piper decided to give everyone a good show.