For the past three weeks we have had my younger brother Jonathan visiting us from back home! It has been such an awesome time and we have really loved having him here. We crammed so many things into this three week period that I am I looking forward to a quiet no plans week, but truly we have had a blast! Jonathan arrived at the airport close to midnight on March 20. The next day we did some much needed haircuts...both Jonathan and Mike are now rocking some true Toronto hair! The next two days we had gorgeous weather and we spent almost all day-both days walking around outside, exploring and showing him where we have been living for the past 7 months.
On the Friday night we went to a Couples night that our ward was having.....we are good friends with all these people and it was really fun to go and play games and some volleyball and
munch on food. It was also a good chance to initiate Jonathan into the ward as many of the
husbands that went are in Young Mens. Jonathan fit really well into our little group of friends
that in many ways has become our family. It made going to church on Sunday a breeze because he already knew so many people. Saturday night I headed to our wards Relief Society anniversary party and then hung around for the Young Womens Broadcast too. It was a nice night away for me and I think it gave Mike and Jonathan some nice "man time". Jonathan has been practicing up on the guitar for the last couple years and him and Mike can play through a few songs together now.
Sunday we went to church and in the afternoon got together with a couple friends and went down to the Harbour Front.
It was a beautiful day as well, and we enjoyed walking along the manmade shoreline.
We fed the ducks, found a few nice places to stop and enjoy the sunshine and watched the planes land and take off from the island airport.
We headed back and enjoyed some lasagna and fresh breadsticks.
It was delicious.
The next week was a really busy week for me. I had 4 haircuts booked as well as two nights booked to go and do my Visiting Teaching. We had another couple friend come over on Wed.
night and the brought us dinner and then we played a few games. Throughout the days we would head out again and do some shopping. I think Jonathan came home with a whole new wardrobe! I am pretty sure he enjoyed all the shopping that Toronto had to offer. He got to know the Eaton Center Mall pretty good too.
Over the weekend of March 31-April 1 we had the opportunity to watch conference. We caught the morning sessions both days but missed the afternoon sessions as we were out and about doing more exploring. Saturday we had our first clear sky/sunny day in a week so we took advantage of it and headed up to the CN tower. This was the first time for Mike and I and the kids as well as Jonathan, so it was a neat experience for all of us. It was fun to look around and
find our house and look out at the massive Lake Ontario.
I was only a little scared to stand on the glass floor and look down. Then I quickly got off, but Mason thought it was the coolest thing ever.
We shelled out the extra cash and headed up to the Sky pod too.
He is 7' 0" tall and so he made Jonathan look tiny!It was neat because we went to the Raptors game the following Tuesday night, and it was our "claim to fame" for the night.
We also managed to come home from the game with a new 3D Blueray player that we won for being crazy loud fans!!! (Thanks Jeana!!!)
Wednesday night we headed over to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) and walked around that for a while. There are some amazing pieces of art there and it was really cool to see some of the things they had on display.
Thurs. April 5th, we headed out to a concert at the Mod Club. We were right in front and got to see an awesome concert put on by Ben Howard. It was a little chilly waiting to get in and walking back to the subway, but everything else was awesome! Jonathan said it was the best concert he has ever been too!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were extra great because Mike was home for the whole weekend. He is right at the end of his semester and has been packing in the hours at the library trying to get all his assignments done. But for Easter weekend he took a break and it was wonderful.
Saturday morning we went down to St Lawrence market. National Geographic recently named it to be the number 1 market in all the world. It was PACKED!!! And almost a little overwhelming, but still a neat experience. Mike and I might try to go back another time without the kids so we can enjoy it a little more, instead of being terrified of losing one of them! In the afternoon we had a rocking moustache party...my kids think moustaches are
hilarious! Or as Aubrey calls them "ruhrash"!
Monday night we went bowling with our group of friends in celebration of a few birthdays. It was 10 pin and Mason enjoyed bowling a few balls too. I hadn't been bowling for a LONG time, but still had a lot of fun!
Our last two days we hit up a few more stores and picked up a few last things....hello Bulk Barn....don't we all love you? Well stocked up on candy and new clothes we took Jonathan to the airport Wed. evening. A friend kindly drove us in rush hour traffic and got us there in time. The kids were really sad to see him go and Aubrey was a bit panicked when we "left" without him! She kept saying "Where Jonfin? Where Jonfin??" They had a lot of special cuddle time!!! She misses him a lot! We were so happy he could come and visit with us and we were so lucky to be able to do so many fun things while he was here!!!! It really was a whirlwind 3 weeks!!
