Thanksgiving 2006

Up until Emily’s year in first grade, we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving.

Not because we didn’t want to but because I was born and raised in Quebec.  We didn’t celebrate The “Action de Grace” the way Emily wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Fall 2006…

Now that Emily’s teacher taught her all about Thanksgiving.. we found ourselves in an interesting spot… a couple of days before the actual holiday.

We had to invite family and cook some really specific food as per what Emily told me.  I had to google some recipes.

Because Emily could tell us, using her words, we certainly obliged.

Lucky for us, we now had family near by.

We invited, Barb & Greg

house st stephen 2006 308

And Jonathan’s parents

house st stephen 2006 298

We moved the table in the living and set-up the buffet in the kitchen

house st stephen 2006 302house st stephen 2006 305

I bought everything in the colors that Emily said we needed

house st stephen 2006 296

I thought the table looked amazing but Emily had something else in mind

house st stephen 2006 299

Even when she was only 8, she had lots of imagination 🙂  I have always loved that about her.

Before dinner, she made us go around the table and tell what we were thankful for.

So although today is not Thanksgiving, I am thankful for fall being around the corner and for my in-laws and family members living near by.

house st stephen 2006 291 house st stephen 2006 290

Above are 2 pictures that really shows the relationship between Emily and her grandfather.  You can feel the affection they had for each other.  We still miss him deeply and if you have a couple more minutes, I invite you to read how Emily decided to remember her “papie” here!

IMG_1682

To lose a shoe!

If you were to lose a shoe… Where would you prefer it to be?

Last May, when we traveled to Orlando for Emily’s Dream granted by the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, she lost a shoe!

If you are new to my blog, you can read about How we told Emily about her dream coming true and The day of the dream in my previous posts. 

Back to her shoe!

In my house, we love shoes… We have lots of them and keep buying them. 

Emily and I can share her shoes as her feet are slightly longer than mine. She can’t borrow my heals but I can borrow her flats. 

Life is good. 

On May 6th, we visited Universal Studios with our only objective to visit Harry Potter world. 

We prepared for our visit by having a Harry Potter movie marathon in February.

 We bought snacks… Lots of snacks!

And watched all the Harry Potter movies.  We started Friday night and were done by bed time on Sunday. 

What a waste of a weekend… Right? 

We live in Atlantic Canada, this was my driveway the weekend of our movie marathon.  Can you see my red car? 

 
That’s how I justify our movie marathon. 

Fast forward to May 6th. It’s a hot day for us winter people but that won’t stop us. 

Emily and Jonathan are trying all the roller coasters they can find and I’m taking pictures. 

The day was perfect. 

Emily was laughing

IMG_0839

We bought her a wand and a robe. 

We bought her almost everything she asked for. It was after all her dream vacation!

On their second time on the dragon roller coaster, Emily came out looking like this!

IMG_7444
She lost a shoe and the guy at the end of the ride told them that we would never see it again! 

When we asked where we could buy shoes or sandals, we were told that maybe at the store by the park entrance…

Here’s a map for you in case you’ve never been there. Emily lost her shoe in the top right corner of the map and the store was in the bottom left corner…

 
She walked the whole way back asking me to give her my shoes so she would be more comfortable. 

I said no

I don’t say no to Emily really often but in that instance, I said no repeatedly…

To every single person we passed, she said: “I lost a shoe”

Than looked at me and said: “mom, I lost a shoe, can I have your shoes?”

To which I said no. Again and again and again.

The walk probably took us 20-30 minutes… Maybe even longer. 

I bought flip flops (sandals) and Emily got my shoes, finally. 

We had to remind her before each roller coasters to not play with her shoes. 

Emily loves to tell the story!  It’s like an achievement. 

So, let me ask you, if you were to lose a shoe… Where would you prefer it to be?