There is a new Ellie

This morning Ellie's and my daughter, Alida, gave birth to a healthy baby girl at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. Eleanor Marion Butler weighing 7lb. was born at 5:55am to Alida and Jeff Butler. She is a sister to big brother Logan who is 21 months old. Mother and daughter are doing well. She will be called Ellie after her Oma. The name Marion is from Jeff's grandma.

Ellie at birth

This event is definitely worth posting. I get to see and hold her this afternoon after Logan gets his first look at his baby sister. God is good.
Fanny called this morning to congratulate me and let me know that the new Ellie has a 2nd cousin just 12 hours older then she. Madelene (sp?) Geleynse was born around 6pm yesterday in Hamilton, a daughter to Steve and Jen Geleynse and sister to Jack and Luke. Congratulations.

Christmas Tree Decorating Party

This past Saturday morning the children thought Opa needed some help decorating his Christmas tree.
So I put up the tree and lights on Friday in preparation. The whole family (minus Melanie who had to work) arrived in the morning. So first the kids all headed to the playroom for the toys. Then for a photo of all 4 grandchildren. Then individually they put some decorations on the tree. We noticed that most of the decorations ended up near the bottom where the grandchildren could reach. They were redistributed later. After some snacks and eggnog and playing downstairs they all went home by late morning. It was great to have the activity, fellowship and noise that the house now lacks.

The grandchildren - Charlie, Oscar, Logan and Hannah

Hannah taking a turn to hang a decoration on the tree

Oscar in a suit and Santa's hat posing by the decorations he put on the tree

Jeff showing Logan how it's done

Playing downstairs 

Hannah wanted to show her cow outfit

Opa with his hands full reading to Hannah and Logan

When our children were still young, Ellie started the tradition of decorating the fireplace mantel with a family of snowman candles. The originals were the 2 big ones on the right representing Ellie and me and the 3 smaller candles for Henry, Mark and Alida. Then as the family grew we would get other snowmen for each additional person. We could not find snowman candles but substituted with other snowmen. You can see the family units in the photo with Alida, Jeff & Logan to the left, then Mark, Rosemary & Hannah followed by Henry, Melanie, Oscar & Charlie and finally us. The kids decided not to remove Ellie as she is still with us in our hearts.

Our snowman family

Decorating the place was hard without Ellie as she loved decorating for Christmas. She initiated it and I helped when needed. Last year she decided to let me decorate the tree without her so that she could see how it would be done without her. She had a feeling she would not be around for much longer and sad to say, she was right. I/We miss her a lot.

It was difficult to write this particular blog post and I'm finding it a chore to keeping this blog up-to-date. So, I may only be posting on an occasional basis.  

First Snowfall

Overnight we had our first noticeable snowfall of the season. It wasn't much, maybe a cm. or so. Can't compare with what other areas of Ontario have received but this was our first covering of the white stuff. I went swimming this morning and it was very slippery walking to the pool. Under the trees the sidewalks and streets were OK but in the open areas there was a lot of black ice. (Later I heard that there had been a lot of fender benders this morning.) I had to walk carefully. By the time I got to the pool my back, neck and shoulder muscles were all tight and it took a lot of the swim and some stretching to loosen them up again. By the time I walked home the black ice had melted and it was no longer slippery. When I got home I took these photos to show what was left.

First Snowfall here

And in the backyard

Last week I reported on Alida's birthday on Wednesday. On Saturday I was invited for a brunch at Jeff & Alida's as we continued her birthday celebration with Mark, Rosemary and Hannah. Hannah is learning the Happy Birthday song and sings along somewhat. This week Alida took Logan along to Calgary to visit some of her friends there. Pretty cold there today, high of -6. Sunny and warming up at the week progresses. It's been almost 8 years since she left Calgary to spend more than 3 years in Australia. Now Alida's been back in Toronto for 4 and a half years. We're glad she came back.

Alida's Birthday

Today is Alida's birthday so Melanie and Charlie and I (Opa) went to visit her (and Logan of course).
Melanie brought some homemade egg McMuffins for a snack to go along with a drink .Then we all went to a small park close by to get some fresh air and for Charlie to run off some steam. Here are some photos at the park.

Alida with Logan and Opa

Charlie climbing on one of  the toys at the park

Melanie hugging Logan

After the park we went back to the house where we sang "Happy Birthday" to Alida and then enjoyed a small piece of peppermint chocolate cheesecake. Then Alida put Logan in his Jolly Jumper. He loves it and spends a lot of time just jumping and twirling. Here is a photo:

Logan loves his Jolly Jumper - finally got a smile on camera

It was great to get together like this for a few hours to celebrate Alida's birthday. And Melanie made it special with her treats and her energy. Thank you for including me.

A Warm November

On Thursday afternoon Melanie and Alida and Logan came by to go through Ellie's clothes. Rosemary was coming too but got a last-minute supply job. It was not easy to go through Ellie's clothes but it got done. Both Melanie and Alida selected a number of items and set aside some that they thought Rosemary might like. A bag of clothes was designated for the garbage and the rest ( about 4 bags worth will be given to one of the organizations that pick up clothes (Diabetes Society or Cerebral Palsy). Then Logan was put down for a nap and we had some treats that Melanie brought. After Logan's nap, Alida fed him and Melanie and I cleaned up. Then the girls went home. They will come again some time to look through Ellie's jewelry. There isn't anything valuable but I won't be wearing it; so the girls might as well pick out what they like. I took a few pictures; here is one of them:

Alida and Logan after his nap with Melanie in the background 

With all the warm weather we've experienced the garden still has some flowers left even in mid-November. We have still not had a solid freeze. We have had a lot of windy weather and now the trees no longer have any leaves. The following pictures show some of the blossoms there are still around.

Pansies in the barrel on the deck

Roses

The last bunch of Black-eyed Susans

Chinese Lanterns

On Saturday morning Henry, Oscar and Charlie came over again to play for a little while. Then we all headed over to the Willowdale Christian School for the Fall Bazaar. There we had a snack. Henry and I had a coffee and some delicious cherry cheese cake. The boys eyes feasted on a couple of cup cakes which they quickly disposed of. We talked to a few people and then Henry took the boys to get their faces painted. However, the lineup was too long for the boys to wait so he took them into the rummage sale room where Oscar ended up with a cloth bat and Charlie got a puppet. then they headed on home and I stayed there for more food and talk. That was a different experience to have with the boys. They experienced the busyness of a bazaar and saw the school that their Dad attended.

This afternoon we had 14 degrees and warm sunshine so I went for a long walk in the woods nearby and in the park by Sheppard and Bathurst. This week I will empty the eaves trough of leaves and run the lawn mower over the leaves on the lawn for mulch. I still have a little to do in the gardens and then all will be ready for the winter weather that is sure to come.

Different Saturday Visitors

This past Saturday I had different visitors than usual. Rather than having Henry and the boys over Mark and Hannah came over. Hannah was dressed in a pink shirt with a lacy skirt over some blank pants. She loves the colour pink and she is currently learning some of the colours. She knows pink, yellow and blue. She also asked to go downstairs to play right away. And she plays differently than the boys. The boys are constantly bugging each other while playing; they are definitely rivals. Hannah is able to play by herself a lot more easily. She likes to play with pegs and the peg board and shows some fine finger agility in this game. She also knows what it means to clean up from the daycare she attends. The boys know too but it's harder to get them to do it. Here are a few shots of her playing in the basement playroom. The sun was shining brightly through the window so most of the shots were over-exposed.

Hannah in her lacy skirt playing with the pegs

Hannah loves pink things

After playtime we went for a walk in the sun down to the cemetery to Ellie's grave site. We were there at about 11 am and there was a Remembrance Day ceremony at the war memorial close by. I was surprised that there was one on the Saturday. We were at the grave site for a few minutes, had a good cry and some hugs before we left for home. At home we shared some stew that Mark had brought for lunch. After lunch Mark and Hannah left for home. It was great that they came to spend some time with me. I really enjoyed it.

Mark & Hannah enjoying lunch

In the evening I rode with some friends, Fred and Susanne to the Lighthouse Fundraising Dinner held at the Toronto District Christian High School. I hadn't been at the school since last year. What change from being there regularly when our kids attended a number of years ago. The school looks great and brings back a lot of memories. The Dinner was attended by over 100 people, many of whom I know. It was a good evening with several people relating stories of how the Lighthouse ministries and staff have helped them. I trust that the evening was financially profitable for God's work at the Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse holds a special place in our hearts as this is where Ellie and I spent a lot of time working in the programs when we were dating; Ellie was on staff there when we met and I helped with the Boys' club. I even proposed to her at the Lighthouse. And over the years we stayed involved in different roles from Willowdale as we were able.

Thank you to the friends and family who have made some comments especially concerning the different aspects of grieving that I experience day in and out. I really appreciate it.

Dressing up for Halloween

Last Saturday morning Henry brought the boys over for a visit. After playtime and snack the boys wanted to show me their Halloween costumes. Oscar was Superman but lacked a cape so I dug into a box in storage that was labelled "Halloween" and found some capes that Ellie made for our kids when they were young. So now Oscar was Superman with a bright red cape. Charlie was dressed in a dinosaur costume but also wanted a cape so took one home. You can see them below. They were going to go to an Halloween party at a friend's place in the afternoon. Nice to see then all dressed up; brings memories of when our kids were dressed up for Halloween trick or treating in the neighbourhood years ago.

Henry dressing Charlie in his dinosaur costume

Oscar is Superman

Superman and Dinosaur man posing for the camera