Quiet Morning, New Beginnings

I got up around 7am this morning to enjoy the quiet! Andy is at work, the kids are asleep.... and I am enjoying an amazing cup of coffee from fresh ground beans! My splurge is to eat buttered whole wheat toast with jam!

The day will be a busy one as my brother his wife and two kids have moved down here from Edmonton and I will be seeing a few of the houses they are interested in. They are facing ahuge upheaval moving across the country, starting over! But, we will be there for them in whatever way we can. They also brought their four adorable pets...two dogs and two cats!

Shane & Alli have just moved into their new home. The guy that they bought the house from left it very dirty and I think the enormity of their project is hitting them. Our house feels emptier since they left...we will miss them and their boundless energy! The nice thing is...they aren't to far and they can still crash here if things get to messy or they want to get away from the mess! Oh, and they got a dog...the most amazingly, beautiful dog that they named Gretchen!

I've been busy with my brother and at the same time feeling extremely tired...worn out. I had thought I would be helping Shane & Alli clean but I don't have the time or energy! But, today I feel better and I will soon be heading to church. I have Ella's quilt out on the line and another load of laundry to go on. I love hanging clothes on the line...I love the peacefulness on a quiet morning of hanging clothes out.

I am really enjoying having my niece and nephew here. Hopefully next week I can take Kristen out shopping. They are amazing kids with great personalities. I especially admire Mathew who has faced many challenges growing up. He seems to have kept his sparkly wit and sense of humour and a gentleness which I see displayed when he is with Ella.

Oh, and the other highlight this weekend was winning one of David Hayward's paintings on ebay. I am watching a couple other ones and want to buy them too! I have a little bit of cash sitting in my paypal from when I sold back in April. So, buying a painting is a fun way to treat myself! You should check out his art as he is an amazing artist!