Goodbye, Canada...Hello, Bermuda!

It has been months and months of waiting, but we finally made it...we are in Bermuda!!! After a long day of travelling, we are officially residents and we have even picked up the keys to our new house. Now all we need to do is furnish our house, get driver's licences, get a car, start school and work, and perhaps squeeze in a little sleep here and there. Let the adventure begin!

A Merry Christmas

Christmas was a flurry of activity this year with stops in Kingston, Port Hope and St. Catharines. Santa found us in every location and our (eight!) suitcases are overflowing. It has been a very merry and very memorable holiday, with even more excitement to come in a matter of days.

Goodbye, Jessie

We prolonged it as long as we could, but we had to finally say goodbye to Tita yesterday.

All the best, Jessie. We can't wait until the summer when we see you and Arabelle again!

Goodbye, Shaw Street

It has been over a week of being officially homeless and we are ready for our own beds. Unfortunately, they are on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic (we hope) and will be delivered to "Palm Gardens" on December 30th. It was an impressive day to see the team of people wrapping and packing all of our belongings and then putting them into the truck tetris-style. Let's hope they all make it to Bermuda without too many broken items.

Is this a test?

 

Bermuda better be worth all of this, that's all I can say.  In the past few weeks we have had our car broken into, Jim's laptop and all of his files taken and our passports stolen and returned.  This week we added to our growing list of challenges when two new problems presented themselves: the automatic garage door broke and a sewage drain backed up into our basement.  Thousands of dollars later we are feeling frustrated and broke.  Did I mention the temperature in Bermuda is 23 today compared to Toronto's -2?

Friday Night Fun

  

Jim is away on his last business trip...Yay (not yay that he is away, yay that it is the last one)!  Morgan, Quinn and I are set for a weekend full of fun including our weekly trek to the bouncy house at the gym, parent's day at gymnastics and playdates with Paige.  We started off with tons of fun and tons of mess baking and decorating gingerbread bears.  Check out our artistic skills.

Nanna and Grampy surprise us with a visit!

   

After a busy weekend full of...you guessed it...packing and organizing, Nanna and Grampy showed up with dinner on Sunday evening.  It was the usual antics with Morgan and Quinn loving all of the attention that is always showered on them by their adoring grandparents.  The boys pulled out all the stops: reading books, playing guitar, dressing up and reciting poetry.  What fun! 

 

A glimpse of things to come

 

  

Jim, Morgan and I headed off to Bermuda this weekend to get acquainted with the island, visit the school and search for a place to live.  We looked at many houses, saw the inside of numerous taxis and real estate agent's cars, as well as took in a soccer game, enjoyed a party in Morgan's honour and enjoyed the "zoo-quarium".  Unfortunately, we came home disappointed that the two houses that we thought would work for our family fell through.  After a settling on a new plan of action that would take Jim back to Bermuda (and wiping with a few tears), we saw a house online, had a friend check it out for us and we are all set to move in on January 1st.  No need for Jim to be away at all!  It's funny how things work out in the end.

The Ultimate Super-Boys

 

Another memorable Halloween at the Stevens-Christopher household...made that much more special because it is the last one we will celebrate on Shaw St. in Toronto.  Our boys spent the day practicing flying, rescuing animals, eating candy and insisting that everyone they came in contact with called them Super-Morgan and Super-Quinn (or sidekick!).  Happy Halloween!

So much to be thankful for...

The last few months have been overwhelming to say the least. We have had very few spare moments, especially since school began in early September. Although closing the cottage is a big task, it is impossible for me not to find some serenity on our tiny island. Last weekend helped put things into perspective. We spent a wonderful few days working, chatting and laughing with Uncle Jeff, Graeme, Nanna, Grampy, and Grandma. As the weekend was coming to a close I found myself getting quite emotional (pretty common these days, actually) thinking about how incredibly fortunate we are to have such loving people in our lives, such beautiful surroundings...there really is nothing like the cottage on a crisp, fall day, and such amazing opportunities. I sat on the rock overlooking the channel and thought about all that awaits our little family in the coming months. The next time I sit there so much will have happened. What will not have changed is what I am thankful for, though...the love of friends and family members that can cross over the little bit of ocean that will separate us, and the love within our own little foursome that grows stronger every day.

Sophie and Clara are in town!

It is always fun for Morgan and Quinn when we have family members visit, especially when they are as into toys as our boys.  Sophie, Clara and Bodhi are certainly among the most fun visitors that we get and we had a great time setting up train tracks, getting dressed up in a variety of hats, scarves and shoes, and entertaining them with puppet shows and stories.  We even had a crawling race across the living room floor (much to Clara's amusement).  What a great morning!

SOLD!

It has been a flurry of activity around here, as usual. In addition to the normal craziness of Jim traveling around the continent, I have been on camping trip to Sandbanks with 44 ten-year olds, we have had a big garage sale in Port Hope, I've had my eyes lasered, and we have sold the house...twice! The first time fell through because of financing in a matter of days, but hopefully this second offer will stick as it is only conditional on the house inspection. Never a dull moment! (You can see below how the boys feel about all this.)

Do you recognize this house?

    

   

We have been busy clearing the "clutter" of our house in order to get it on the market for next week.  Our agents open house is scheduled for next Tuesday and then we are officially looking for buyers.  After a weekend of tidying, cleaning and filling our garage to the rafters, we finally were ready for the photo shoot.  We arrived home to find a new table in the living room,  a few new pieces of art throughout the house and the ugliest dog/bear sitting on a bench on our porch.  Let's hope the pictures make the house look amazing so that we have bidders lining up ready to offer us much more than our asking price.  Here are a few pics (not the professional ones).  We've never had the house looking so clean...it didn't quite feel the same when we walked through the door after work today.  Perhaps this will ease our transition as where we live goes from feeling like a home to simply a house.

Labour Days

 

Although we considered going to the cottage for this long weekend, we felt our time would be better spent organizing for our house to go on the market this month and getting ready for the first day of school (Wednesday!).  Labour day weekend took on new meaning as we hauled books, garbage, toys, and the many other things that we have accumulated over the past eight years to new locations...mainly the garage.  We have identified a plethora of items to be sold in a massive garage sale to be held in Port Hope some weekend soon (stay tuned for news on our incredible profits from that sale!).  Morgan and Quinn were very helpful when the time called for it, and loved the breaks we took when we walked up and down the College Street festival to test out all of the bouncy houses.  They really are best friends and thoroughly enjoyed our time this weekend playing together, watching a parade on Queen St. catching bags of chips, and peeking out from the shower.  Whether we are working at home or relaxing at the cottage, it is just nice to be together.

On your mark...

     

   

 

Summer is coming to an end and the craziness begins.  Jim is in Bermuda this week while we are here figuring out how to make it to December with...well...nothing but a sold, empty house. I have become obsessed with Craigslist after selling something in a matter of hours.  Another favourite pastime is taking pictures of anything and everything with my new tiny little camera (supposedly for school purposes, but who doesn't need a picture of pretty pink toes on a sprained ankle).   The biggest chore is trying not to feel sorry for myself because I can't go running or to the gym or even up and down the stairs very much.  Whatever did people do when they couldn't spend all of their hours with their leg propped up looking at the internet?

Celebrating Summer

 

  

 

 

We have been fortunate this summer to enjoy so much wonderful family time.  We just returned from an extended stay at the cottage where we celebrated yet another birthday, welcomed the whole Christopher clan complete with lots of babies and toddlers for Morgan and Quinn to play with, and cheered when Morgan caught his first fish (don't worry, our little animal lover ensured that it wasn't hurt and it went right back in the water straight away).  With all the exciting changes that are looming during the remaining months of 2008, it is especially nice that we are able to enjoy these lovely moments with family and friends.