The past few weeks have been both eventful and tiring--it feels like Caitlin and I are still catching up on our sleep. We're also both deciding what commitments to take on for the year and what, if anything, to jettison. Work is getting busier for me and I will be teaching a couple user education sessions this Fall, which should be fun.
We have seen the arrival of two precious babies in the past five weeks. My sister Laura and her husband Curtis had Ryan Matthew Thiessen on August 7 and then just a few days ago, on September 13, my best friend Andy and his wife Jennie-Lynne had Leilani Esther Dorothy Renton. It's exciting for Caitlin and I to be aunt and uncle and we are trying to, and will continue to try to, spend as much time with our newphew and quasi-niece as we can. We have no regrets about our move back to Victoria and know that we chose wisely as we absolutely love being near our family and friends!
Me and my namesake, Ryan Matthew:
Caitlin with Leilani:
On the subject of my nephew Ryan, I asked a fantastic artist I know if she would mind sketching a picture of him, of her choosing, and this was the incredible result, which we had matted and framed for my sister and Curtis:
When Caitlin and I were shown the result, we were reduced to tears because it was so beautifully done.
One of the other highlights of our summer, the majority of which we spent working, was our Labour Day trip up to Port Alberni to my father's place on Sproat Lake. We left early in the morning and headed on up there for a day of hiking, swimming, and a sweet Sea-Doo ride on the choppy lake--I was sore for a few days after that, but Caitlin sure loved watching us from the boat and firing off pictures! Here are a few photos from the day:
As you can see from the above pictures, a good time was had by all and it ended up being a gorgeous day, despite threatening to be quite unpleasant at first, weather-wise.
This Fall is going to be a busy time for the Binghams, but we're hoping to clear more time to spend with our family and friends as they are increasingly becoming even more of a priority for the two of us. We are also excited for everything going on with our church, though we have taken a month and a half off from music since we played almost every week this summer--we decided that we needed a bit of time off to recuperate. The month of October will a quick visit from our friends the Baileys and our church's weekend retreat on Thetis Island, which is always a yearly highlight, one we've missed the past two years as we were in Ontario and then Europe. In November, I am taking my best friend Andy to see the Seattle Seahawks versus the Washington Redskins--for some reason I can't comprehend, Andy has been a diehard Redskins fan since he was a boy and it is a dream come true for him to see his team live. I bought him the tickets for his birthday back in May. Yeah, I know, I'm awesome. You don't need to remind me...
We hope that this finds you all well and that you are as excited about this Fall as we are. Thanks for reading our blog and we'll try to continue to remember to update it to keep everyone apprised of what's going on in our lives. God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment