Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Ottawa Wedding

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

This weekend we made a trip to Ottawa! One of my cousins was getting married and they asked Lorelei to be the flower girl. Delena was kind of disappointed that she didn’t get to do it, but since she’s done it twice before, it was time to share the wealth!

It was an outdoor wedding and blazing hot, but thankfully we were in a mostly shaded area, so no one fainted or anything! :)

After the rehearsal going smoothly the morning before, I wasn’t concerned at how the wedding would go. Lorelei had only met my cousin once before when she was a baby, so she didn’t remember her at all! Lorelei was happy to go with her and with the little ring bearer whom she hadn’t met before either! As Lorelei and the little boy walked across the grass, they started wandering off to the side in their own little world. We had to call them to walk down the actual aisle. I guess they were a little confused because there had been no chairs at the rehearsal and they COULD just wander wherever. Oh well, they did their job…they were cute! :)

We had a lot of fun leading up to the wedding as well because most of our clan all stayed at the same college residence, so we were able to meals together and spend time together. The girls especially enjoyed one particular cousin who came all the way from Switzerland!

The drive home took FOREVER! We left at 10:30 in the morning and didn’t get home until 10:30 at night! There was a LOT of traffic on the 401, so after inching along for awhile, we decided to take back roads. I’m glad we did that because, although it took longer, it was relatively stress-free! So we were beat when we got home, but it was worth it for the good weekend that was had!

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Two Birthdays and an Easter

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Ok, so I guess we need to go back to the beginning of March for our family news. Delena turned 5 as I mentioned before. I also promised some pictures with the birthday party that was still to come. One month later, here they are! :)

 

Also since then, our baby turned one! Myelle had her first birthday on March 30. That same week, only a few days earlier, she decided that she was done with the whole crawling stage. She still will crawl every once in a while, but our little one-year-old walks all over the place. She really likes crawling up and down our stairs too and tries, desperately, to keep up with her older sisters. :)

She was the typical child as far as cake-eating goes and had it all over her face as the pictures show. What the pictures don’t show is all the neon-pink icing that is smeared into her nice white church stockings! You’d think I’d remember by the third child that I should remove all clothing for the cake event! Thankfully it all came out in the wash!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next thing on the calendar was Easter. This past weekend we had a four day weekend. Something unusual happened…we didn’t have ANYTHING planned for Friday OR Saturday! We had two days in a row with just our family. Okay, so there was ONE little thing planned –an Easter Egg hunt over at Delena’s school. We took the neighbour girl with us so I stuck with her and Delena while Jason had the two younger girls in a different section. They all came home with a basket of goodies, and, of course, they got to see the ‘Easter Bunny’.

The two days were cold, but sunny days, so we went for a family walk the one afternoon and played in the park and the next afternoon we drove up to Walter’s Falls and walked the trails there. We need that relaxing time as the next two days were filled with people. On Sunday we drove down to Jason’s mom’s place after church. We re-celebrated Delena and Myelle’s birthdays, as well as, a few other family members birthdays. There was LOTS of cake to be had, plus an Easter egg hunt which provided us with plenty of chocolate.

Monday was my family Easter which was turned into a surprise 40th birthday brunch for one of my cousins. We ended up having close to 30 people and my cousin was completely surprised. :) What a great way to end the weekend!

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Delena Turns 5-years-old

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Monday, February 27th, 2012

Delena opening her giftThis Sunday, our little girl turned 5! It’s hard to believe we have a 5 year old in the house! It was a pretty quiet day since most of us were sick, but we still had pancakes for breakfast. Jason was also able to take Delena on her first date to McDonald’s for lunch. She was quite thrilled about this. Not just because she got to have a cheeseburger and pop and get a fun little toy, but because she ‘loves Daddy the best’! Next week you’ll hear more about her birthday since she’s having her family party next weekend.

 

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2012 Milestones So Far

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

One month down in the year 2012!  Wow!  I think it’s true that time goes by faster the older you get and I should know since I’ve just hit the milestone of turning 30! :)   Jason likes to remind me quite frequently that he’s younger than me, but I like to remind him to respect his elders! :)

Jason is still up in the air with his health.  He has a Dr.’s appointment on February 17, so please pray that we would get some direction from the doctor. In the meantime, we suspect that Jason has Crohn’s on top of the Celiac Disease, so we’re trying to limit his fibre and his stress.  He’s been doing very well at not opening his laptop at home to do office work and is taking time to read for enjoyment and I think it is helping some.

Delena recently brought home a certificate saying that she knows all her letters – upper and lower case.  The teacher has also started sending home little readers.  It’s so fun to see her recognize words!

Lorelei is at the age of potty-training.  She’s very consistent at telling me when she has to go, but she doesn’t like to tell anyone else if I’m not around, so we’re working on that!

Myelle is SO close to walking!  Just yesterday, she took her first steps!

Here she is on her way down – if you didn’t know better, you might think she knew how to dance already! :)

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Christmas, New Years Eve and Skating

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Friday, January 20th, 2012

Let’s see…we’re now in 2012…what has happened in the last little while?? I guess I’ll start back at Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas break. It was fun having Delena home every day. It seemed a little strange though, I’m not sure why since it was only a couple months ago that she was home every day! We actually spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parents, with my sister and her family and my brother. We haven’t all been together on Christmas morning in three years probably, just because of work schedules mostly.

Myelle opening her Christmas presents in 2011

our girls like olives so much they get them in their stockings at Christmas

Myelle opening her Christmas gifts in 2011

 

We spent Boxing Day with Jason’s Mom and all his siblings.

 

Delena, Myelle, Lorelei showing off their new pajamas that they got for Christmas

Then the 27th we were back at home in order to have Jason’s Dad over to our place. Each day came with a turkey dinner and, of course, there were lots of leftovers to follow! :) It was also nice that Jason could have a few days off between Christmas and New Years where we didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything!

Jason's Dad, Gord, and Lorelei opening gifts

gathered around our third turkey in as many days

New Year’s Eve we were home with a few family members and we managed to make it until midnight! It was a short night though with church in the morning!

celebrating New Year's Eve with family

The next week we had a nice surprise and my cousin was able to come for a visit with her two boys. We’ve stayed at their place a number of times, so it was nice to have them to our place for a change. I got to take them all for the winter version of the ‘Jungle Camp’ tour. I think the kids just liked building the snowman at the end of the tour. They didn’t really care too much for trudging through the snow, but at least they all slept well after that!

Lorelei, Benjamin, Matthew, and Delena on the bridge at New Tribes Mission of Canada

Yep, the bridge can hold their weight!

building a snowman in Jungle Camp

Julie and her boys had never been to Jungle Camp

That week there was also free skating each afternoon at the Durham Arena, so we decided we should attempt to take all the kids skating. Ever been skating with a 1, 2, 3, and 4 year old? That doesn’t even include Myelle! Jason and my brother both came with us to help and it still took us a half hour to get everyone’s skates on! That left us with a half hour to skate, but that was enough. Thankfully some friends were at the arena and one of them graciously watched Myelle on the sidelines and another one helped Lorelei out quite a bit. By the end of the time, the kids were just starting to get the hang of things and we forgot our camera, so we decided to try again the next day.

Lorelei skating

Lorelei showing us how it is done. Not bad for being the first time on skates.

Delena Skating

eventually Delena did catch onto how to use the pilon

Our second round of skating, Jason stayed home with Myelle and just two adults took the four kids. Again, a half hour of lacing, but the allotted skating time was longer, so we could actually be on the ice for a full hour. This time we took lots pictures and the kids did a lot better!

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Grandma Westlake Celebrates 90 Years

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Friday, January 20th, 2012

This past Saturday was a big event in my Grandma’s life – she celebrated her 90th birthday! We had an open house on Saturday afternoon at her church and lots of people from far and near came to celebrate with us. It’s amazing that God has allowed us to have her in our lives for all these years, but even more amazing is that she’s the youngest of 3 and both her siblings are still going strong too! Thanks to all of you who were able to join us!

Grandma Westlake with some of her children

many of Grandma's children were on hand to celebrate with her

5 Bechtels with their Grandma Westlake

Most everyone who came to the open house had their pictures taken with Grandma Westlake.

Grandma Westlake pictured with her two siblings

At 90 years old, she is still the spring chicken, as seen here with her two older siblings.

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Myelle’s a Mover

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Up Up and AwayMyelle is now almost 6 months old. She’s growing up way too fast. She loves to roll around on the living room floor, spin in her exersaucer and jump in the jolly-jumper. Here’s a little video of her:

For about a month now, she’s been getting up on all 4′s and rocking back and forth as though she’ll crawl away at any moment. She doesn’t even sit up yet! Last week she improved on that movement by sticking her little bum up in the air. She was so proud of herself. I took a few pictures, but I’m not sure they do it justice.

The other night she took things another step and rolled her bum to the side and put herself into a sitting position! Look out big sisters, I’m gonna be trouble soon!

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Delena’s 1st Day of School

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Monday, September 19th, 2011

She had been waiting for over a year for this day!
September 8th, Delena had her first day of school at Spruce Ridge. It’s conveniently located right across the street from us! She was very excited to start, but she was worried about how I would handle things without her! She is a big help with her two younger sisters and I rely on her a lot, but some how I am managing, but I do miss her help. I know her sisters miss her too.

She didn’t really want us to go when we dropped her off at school, but when it was time to come home, her statement was, “I want to go back right now!”

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Family Reunion, Family Vacation, Family Garden

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Monday, September 5th, 2011

Summer has been flying by with lots of fun activities. A few of the highlights have been the Martin Family Reunion and our vacation to Odosagih in New York State.

For the Martin Reunion, 7 out of the 8 siblings were able to gather at my Grandma’s cottage in Bayfield. It was a beautiful sunny day with lots of visiting and catching up as we had family from as far as Switzerland and New Brunswick!

Family Vacation

Back in July we had the privilege of taking our first family vacation in New York State to Odosagih Bible Conference. My parents and my sister and her family were also able to join us. Jason and I enjoyed the twice-a-day teaching done by Dr. Terry Anger, a fellow Canadian. Delena was in the Sunday School program and came home with different crafts each day. Lorelei and Myelle joined their cousin in the nursery program. In the afternoon we took in various activities such as shopping, blueberry picking and, of course, lots of swimming!

The Fruits of our Labour

One of Jason’s most favourite past times is gardening. This year he doubled the size of the garden compared to what it was last year. He has added several things, including a row of raspberry bushes and a few blueberry plants. We’ve already been enjoying those delicious fruits! My favourite vegetable though, is peas. It seems like a lot of work to pod all those peas, but I sure enjoy them. This was the first year that we’ve had enough that we can actually freeze some. The girls volunteered to help me with the podding and I was quite impressed that they stuck it out for an hour! I was quite amazed that Lorelei could even get the pods open, but she did and was quite diligent about her work. She hardly munched on them at all and I never said that she couldn’t.

7 of 8 siblings

Picture 1 of 11

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Story Book Park 2011

Posted by Jason and Angie Bechtel on Saturday, June 18th, 2011

For the second year in a row, Angie took the girls to Story Book Park, near Owen Sound. I went last year, but opted not to go this year. Here are a couple photos:

Delena enjoying the rides

Delena enjoying the rides

Lorelei NOT enjoying the rides

Lorelei NOT enjoying the rides

Enjoying the day at Story Book Park

Enjoying the day at Story Book Park

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