So Carmi, you wanted to know what was going on and had asked for a few pictures so here we go. I've got lots. First Oma came and we had to make sure that she got lots of time with Amy and Mae. Amy makes it easy. She is much like you! We rarely hear from her during the day but once the sun goes down! LOOK OUT!

The next step for Oma was to let her see a bit of the beauty that Vancouver has to offer. Up behind where we live is a beautiful lake which I've heard is a great place to swim. I am quite certain that it is only a summer kind of place where one would like to swim. If you are looking to freeze to death this time of year. It would be a good place to start!

So the next port of call was Gastown which is the origional

"downtown" of Vancouver. It is a really cute area with lots of neat shops and cute streets. A bit of cobblestone to keep you interested and even a cool steam clock!

This young seagull hasn't even lost his baby

feathers and already he is bigger than Mae's head! Pretty cool.

So after a big day out looking at some of the beautiful things that Vancouver has to offer, we had Earl, Tammy, Taely and Holly over for dinner. Holly got to play in the basement and Taely, Mae and Amy got to play on me! Rosi made an awsome meal and we all had a great laugh at Taely kicking Mae's butt in a pillowfight!

Mel was looking particularly good so I thought it might not be a bad idea to take a picture. It took a couple of goes to get her and Amy to play along but in the end I managed to get a good one out of it. It's odd how beautiful people often hide from the camera.

So after that awsome meal and a somewhat unstable sleep, we dragged ourselves out of the house at 10.30h and headed for Grouse Mountain. This is one of the really special things about Vancouver. You can get from downtown to the top of a skihill in less than half an hour. We were a bit slow out of the blocks so there were a few other people who were thinking the same thing and we didn't actually manage to get to the top until around 11.30h or so but still thats not a bad turnout! Amy must not of liked it quite as much as the rest of us though. She needed to be changed 3 times and managed to soil 2 full undershirts (bodies). While she was busy doing that Mae and I got some skating in.

As many people know, Mae's attention span isn't that great.

So it didn't take her long to lose interest in the cold and snow at the top of the mountain. I'm sure if we'd been able to arrange another little kid or two for her to play with that would have changed, but anyway. She decided it was time to go. Mel and I wanted to show Rosi a few other parts of the city anyway so off we went. Back down the gondola and off.

Along the way we swang past the Capilano Dam where we got a great view of the mountains behind it. For a better look at the sunset we headed down to Lions Bay where the Ferries head over to Vancouver Island and other beautiful destinations.

By the time we got home Amy was in dire need of a bath. She had messed herself up to the armpits twice. So Oma and Mel took the time to wash her up and the smile on her face shows how happy she was with that!

So, thats it for now. I'm sure there will be lots more pictures this week as Oma and Mel have decided to repaint the whole upstairs of the house! Good luck girls. I'm glad I'm spending the week on the phone and getting rewarded for it.

Ryan, Mel, Mae & Amy

Found this picture of Mae from back in September 2002 while I was fixing Mels computer. Pretty cool. Has to be one of my favorite shots of the little rat.

So here comes the bi-weekly picture posting. Lots going on. Mel has started working for Tim Hortons around the corner from our place, Amy has taken on a job making mustard and Mae is really enjoying her school. Here are some pictures to keep you entertained for a while.

Not a lot of time left today after uploading all of these pictures but these are the fun people that we spent Christmas and the new year with.

And this is what our house now looks like that it has had the priviledge of a womans touch.

Sorry but with Amy, setting up the house and everything else there isn't much time for anything but a blast like this. All our love

Mel, Ryan, Mae and Amy