Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Happy Ho ho ho!

Merry Happy Holiday



Christmas concert 2009
What a year this has been. One year ago we were celebrating Christmas on Grand Cayman Island with family:) It was a very special Christmas for our family. We had been living and working in Grand Cayman and spending time with Gramma and Gramps! We took a huge chance and left Winnipeg where we had lived for 7 years. It was the only 'home' our kids knew. But we always wanted to live close to Ryan's parents so our kids would know them. Our time in Cayman was not without difficulty but time spent with family was well worth all the trouble. 

Old but Young Friends
Once we knew we would not be staying in Cayman we planned to move out East in hopes of a good quality of life for us and our kids. Part of this "good life" would involve Ryan finding full time work that paid a decent amount of money. After many months of pressing on in Nova Scotia trying to make our way there it became very clear that we were not making it.
 
Hull's Harbour, Nova Scotia
We spent a lot of time and money trying to build something there but it never happened. We were blessed with meeting some amazing people, connecting with 'old' (but very young looking friends) and receiving heaps of help from all. But in the end we couldn't provide for ourselves properly and we saw little hope for the future. Within two weeks of things falling apart we were all packed up again (yes it almost killed us) and off to BC, Ryan's home province. 
in the park behind our place


We have now been living in Coquitlam for two weeks. We got here with much needed help from family and are blessed with a comfortable and safe place to live. We are looking for work and constantly pulling our selves together. It's almost Christmas and this year is different from our past Holidays. We are more thankful for the little things and just being together and having the chance to see family and friends who really know us is a huge blessing. 
 
Some of you will understand and some of you may think we have totally lost it. We are always trying to do what is best for our family and our future. Sometimes when you take chances you fail. This we know too well. But from those failures come wisdom and understanding. We will be working on putting that wisdom and understanding into action. The kids are doing very well and seem to understand totally why we had to leave Nova Scotia and begin all over again here. It could be that everything happening around Christmas was one of the best blessings for them. Christmas can be a great distraction:) 


So Merry Christmas! Happy New Year and all that! We know we are hoping for a VERY Happy New Year:)


Love The Hayes