2022 Family Photos - The year of HOCKEY!

This fall was so crazy with James playing rep for U13 and Jordie playing U11 house and practicing as an AP for the rep team, plus Kennedy doing First Shift too. We averaged about 10 ice sessions a week, with some weeks many more than that. When it came time to do family photos we were long past the beautiful fall weather and firmly into rain and wet and short days, so when Jenn posted that she was doing box photos again we jumped at them...and it just made sense for us all to be in jerseys! The fact that the kids all have matching jersey numbers this year made it just that much more special. I always love our family photos but these ones will always remind me of the year that we have had. It was definitely the year of SO MUCH HOCKEY! 

And of course we had to go one step further and also take some shots of them in their gear. Kennedy was thrilled, James was happy to oblige, and Jordie barely tolerated it but did it anyways :) 

Thanks as always to the very talented Jenn Parkin for the amazing talent she has. I can't believe that we are so lucky to have her as our trusted photographer, but more importantly, our friend. She's the best and we all love her. 

Best of 2022

More than a year since I did any blog posts? I can't believe a whole year went by and I never once sat down and put something out there to share about our year. 2022 was a hard one for a lot of reasons, but it also had some really great moments in it too. My goal is to create 12 monthly posts going back and showing our best moments for 2022. For tonight though, here are a few of my favorite photos from the year. 

January - mom's birthday dinner at Nana and Papa's house. 

February - Kindergarten registration outing with Mom and Dad. We couldn't believe our big girl was on her way to kindy. This was a special day for us. We did registration and a treat lunch out at Magpie's.

March - we made a habit of getting out for as many family walks this year that we could. A new commitment to healthy habits and spending time outdoors together.

April - Easter morning after our egg hunt! 

May - a favorite photo of a beautiful afternoon when the kids walked together to get slushes at 7-11

Another May memory - camping on Texada for the long weekend!

June - the end of an era! Busy Bee's closed it's doors and Kennedy was part of their last year. This was the day we took the boys by to say goodbye and give hugs and one last photo together.

July - maybe my favorite photo of the whole summer. A random capture by Dena and I absolutely LOVE it. Our paddleboards have become such a huge part of our family summer fun and this photo makes my heart so happy to see.

July - Texada - paddle boarding (and camping) with two of our favorite ladies! 

August - one of my favorite days of the whole summer - our annual visit to Sakinaw Lake to spend the day with Auntie Carol and Uncle Garry

August - our annual family photo during Blackberry Street Party! 

August - A truly special weekend, away from it all, at our friends cabin on Lois Lake. We did a trailer/cabin swap and these two days will be some of my favorite memories ever of our time with our kids. We played games, swam, ate yummy food, slept lots, snuggled lots and laughed a ton. No distractions and no one but the 5 of us. It was amazing from start to finish.

September - Jacob and Olivia started off the year living with us and our kids started Grade 7, 4 and Kindergarten. 

October - survived another Halloween. We had Waldo, Indiana Jones and Rapunzel

November - Family photos in the box with Jenn Parkin Photography. Can't wait to share more of these photos in another post! 

December - A great and quiet Christmas spent together with our new puppy, Koda.

Thanks for checking in with the Barrows for a quick recap of our 2022. Many more amazing photos and moments to share. 

Wedding Dress Photos - 4 years old

Another year, and another photo of this gorgeous girl in her Mama's wedding dress. This year was special for a few reasons (1) we took the photos in our new backyard (where the dress was first worn all those years ago) and (2) after months of a new healthier lifestyle for me, I fit back into the dress, so we took some really cute photos of both of us in it and Jenn worked her magic. I say it every year that this year's photo is my favorite, but they just keep getting better every year. 

Look at this beautiful 4 year old girl of ours. I am so honored that she still agrees to put this big heavy dress on, and I hope she'll do it for many more years to come! 

And just for fun...we'll do them all in order to see our girlie grow up.

How much longer will he want to spend quality time with me?

I've always heard that once your kid turns 14 that it's all bets off and they don't want to be anywhere near you. I sure hope that's not true and that this handsome guy continues to want to go for walks with me on rainy days. After school yesterday he asked if he could come with me for my walk and we ended up having a great half hour together. 

Yes he still holds my hand, and yes I have his permission to post this photo too :) 

He's such a sweet boy and sure loves his Mama. He promises me that he will still like me when he's in his teens so I'm going to keep this post and show it to him a few years down the road :) 

Pick your road

This is one of my favorite spots in the Millenium trails near the Complex. This particular fork in the road always makes me very thoughtful about where I am in my life and where I want to be. Probably totally corny to look at something and see something completely differently. Some people just see two paths, I see two opportunities, each with their own landscape and feel to them.

I have spent a lot of time the past 10 months walking alone and thinking about who is in my life and what they bring to me as a person. I have many wonderful people that I am surrounded by. I live a very big life, with lots of moving parts to it. 3 kids and 3 jobs makes me very busy, and very connected. I have connection with my jobs, my kids friends parents, my family, old coworkers, mom friends, work friends and current coworkers, volunteer committees, kids sports, etc. Everywhere I go in our town I see a friendly face (behind the stupid masks of course) of people I know or recognize. It is a peaceful feeling to me to know that me and my family are part of a friendly community. I am proud of the life that Jim and I have grown together over the past 15 years being here. 

Over the years I've certainly made some choices I'm not proud of, but I've also done some extraordinary things that make very incredibly proud of who I am as a person. I'm changing every day and for the most part I love who I have become. I still have things I'd like to change about myself, but I'm working hard to change the things I can, and forgive and accept myself for the things I can't, and don't want to. 

Every time I come to that particular fork in the trail I think about my life and what my choices are for today. It's symbolic and means a lot to where I'm at in my life right now.