Our surprize trip to Bowen Island

Jamie secretly planned a date for us. We went to Bowen Island and stayed at a lovely B & B and got away from the city.

I love my husband because he is soooooo thoughtful and romantic. I really had no idea what he had up his sleeves.

Jamie's new venture

Our new house

Before the move....







After the move...

Camping with the Lipsetts

The adventure began as we departed for our destination: Garibaldi Lake. On our travels we discovered a few things:
1. Bears like to chill and eat where there are people around. is it just me or are bears becoming more and more domesticated?

2. People in Whistler have apparently never hear of Garibaldi Lake and the only campsite near by is a patch of dirt off the highway they "call" a campsite.

3. You have to hike into Garibaldi lake for 7 km and there's snow there. We didn't camp there.

4. Alice Lake is wonderful. You can drive there. There is running water. Hot water. Firewood. Campsite police. Wonderful lake-side trails.

5. It's illegal to gather your own wood from the forest and chop it into bits.

6. The campsite "police" frequented our site in fear we would take over their forest and burn it down.

7. We love drama improv games.

Here are some pictures

The end is near...and it's sad

Less than 2 weeks left of teaching! As the end is quickly approaching, I am reflecting on the very meaningful, challenging, fun and best years of my life (so far).

As I reflect on the past year, I can't help but long to create a symbol of thanks and appreciation.

So, I am going to write a letter to my grade 3 class. Here's what I have so far:

Dear 3wi class,

I can't believe this year has come and gone so quickly. I have learned many lessons and hopefully you have too. I am truly blessed to have such an energetic, happy, fun and creative class this year. When I think about this year coming to an end, I can't help but feel sad. You have all been such a huge part of my life this year and now we are all moving on to bigger and better things.

This year I have gathered many fond memories:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H is for helpful. MD- You are one of the most helpful, servant-hearted people I've ever met.

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q is for quirky. GV- You are also very silly and quirky....

R is for resiliant. EB-I love how resiliant you are: one minute you are terribly upset because of an injury you got on the playground. The next minute you're back to play as unsual with a smile on your face.

S is for silly. MK you are one of the silliest people I have ever met and you seem to always make people laugh.

T is for talkative. GL- From the moment I met you, you always had something to say (about everything) and you are always curious about everything.

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Springtime is here.....

Lately us Graham's have been on this social buzz. Parties, special events, unexpected visits from friends..ect.

First of all, our good friends' Jon and Krista are getting married on the long weekend. Jamie and I both attended their stag/stagettes. Actually I hosted the stagette. Us girls had a night of restaurant hopping and topped the night off with Kareokee Box on Robson Street. It was really fun because we dressed Krista up in a sequin dress, teal heals and very 80's makeup and hair (don't have a picture so you'll have to just imagine the craziness).

All the girls and I had a sleepover at our apartment.The next morning I went shopping with a few friends and bought some new clothes to add to my very lacking waredrobe.



This past weekend we had some Burns Lake friends come over for a day of window shopping on Granville island and for an Italian feast (made by Jamie and Sonya) at our apartment.



The soon-to-be married couple (in August). Jamie and I will be attending their wedding in Newfoundland (Jamie will be the best man).



These kids don't get out much!!



What's this? Another random parade on Commercial Drive which left us wondering..what is THIS parade for?




Will (Jamie's bro) graduated from TWU (finally!!) and we were there to witness the event.

There's nothing quite like the Graham brothers. Can you believe these 3 guys share a single bedroom. Oh they also share their sleeping space with a motorcycle engine, a lizard and beer brewing equipment!!



Jamie's mom (my mother in law) stayed overnight with us and we had a really fun time showing her the sights and tastes of Vancouver. Here's Jamie and Ma in English Bay.

The Sun Run--I did it!!

Last Sunday, April 20, I (Jennica) ran the Vancouver Sun Run. I signed up with some staff from my school.

Did I train hard for the run? Honestly....NO. In the months that proceeded the run I was very inconsistent. Some weeks I ran once, some weeks twice and on a very good week i would run three times. i also never made to 10 km in my training, I only got to about 7 or 8 km. And I'm on a steady diet of chocolate...hehehehehe

Anyways, I finished the race. I ran almost the whole 10 km. Once I hit 7 km, I walked for a bit then I ran all the way to the finish line. My time was 1 hour and 13 minutes. Not bad, eh?



Here's a group shot of my staff and i after the race (at BC Place)

Welcome to the world Levi

This past weekend Jamie and I met our 3 day old nephew, Levi, for the first time. Here are some pics of our trip:

Hornby Island and Victoria

We stayed in a cozy wooden house with no running water and a wood burning stove with 10 of our friends. It was a blast!


We went to the Farmers Market and we were delighted to hear some good harmonica playing from one of the locals.

These bluff reminded me of pictures I've seen of PEI and Newfoundland. Just splendid.













Zoe (our niece) just turned two.