Happy 6th Birthday Chaplin

Happy Birthday my sweet 6 year old!

Last night as a five year old.

and now he's six!

We were on facetime with nana and papa as he ripped through these.

Nordby's are flying in from Vancouver today. Now that's a big birthday present. We are meeting them at the Disneyland Grand hotel today and going to disneyland tomorrow. So in about a week I will have a lot of fun photos and stories to share.

we found snow

It's December 12th and I have to make a decision: to get a tree or not?

Have you ever watched the TV show called "HOARDERS"?

I'm not saying you should... but I secretly do. It's a depressing, disgusting show that leaves me feeling fearful - but I can't turn away! Before our move I must have watched too many episodes, (cautionary tale?) I garbaged a few things that i wish I hadn't. Why did i throw away my handy fake Christmas tree? That would have been so simple to put up.

It was Chaplin that made the final decision: "we need a tree". So Adam and Chaplin picked out a Home Depo special that made our place smell like Christmas pine.









But it still didn't feel like Christmas. So in an effort to force a Christmas feeling out of ourselves we went hunting for snow on a warm and sunny day at Universal Studios.

Wow real snow on their Grinchmas set! And wow did that little patch of snow ever attract a lot of visitors young and old. Snow ball fights were allowed.

December 21 - Christmas Holidays.
We drove to Yuma.

The drive out of LA to San Diego is ugly and heavy with traffice. Slowly the traffic thins down, and the scenery changes into desert land. And somehow we drive through the most alien looking Jucumba mountains. The mountains are formed by enourmous boulders stacked high. It looks alien built and I told Chaplin that centuries ago giant aliens created this as their rock garden. Hmmm. Jacumba is located on the US-Mexico border and is heavily patrolled on foot and air (for giant aliens from Mars!).

It felt great to arrive at mom and dad's Yuma winter home, almost as if I were home for Christmas feeling. I don't know - maybe because I'm still out of sorts in Santa Monica that just being in a familar setting with my parents is comforting?

Have you ever wondered what 70 tons of snow looks like in the dessert? ME TOO!
Notice the green grass all around Chaplin.

Mom and dad took us to the Yuma Christmas Village at the Quartermaster Depo.

They had 'guaranteed' snow on the sled run for 4 days. We visited on the last day, so we didn't have to pay for any of the sled rides as the snow was not 'guaranteed'. LOL

Dad and I laughed about building this in Fort St. John and charging $5 a ride... that would NOT be a money maker. BUT in Yuma it is out of the ordinary and I even over heard some children talking about this being their first time seeing real snow.


Visit to the Camel farm, where I found this goat. I liked his looks, but he was constantly angry, which at his size made him even cuter!

What do two donkeys sound like? Worse than one. Nobody wants to hear that racket, and that is why i think horses are more popular.

This is Chaplin's pool in the back yard.
LOVED IT!











Christmas Eve -The traditions continue - thanks Nana for picking up the ornament for Chaplin, making meat pies, and baking Adam butter-tarts.


















Christmas Day!!! Finally!!!
Chaplin's big gift from Santa was a skateboard. Well... we do live in the birth town of skate boarding!






















Christmas 2011
Adam, Lori & (*Jedi) Chaplin Boyd
* notice his Jedi sword!

Conversation:

Chaplin "Can I go to weapons school"

Adam "what like Harry Potter's school'?

Chaplin "No one where you learn to sword fight"

We were invited over friends of my parents for X'mas dinner. What a great meal it was.

QUICK QUESTION FOR THOSE THAT RAISED ADAM :

Where did he learn to put butter on his turkey? Anyone know where this comes from?

After Christmas we did a few trips around Yuma, and even went on a safe (half hour) hike.

We went out to the desert with mom and dad, Stan and Judy Sutherland, and their tiny black poddle Sissy (you can see her next to Stan's legs in the photo)

Sissy should be my dog! Because I really really want her. She is so fluffy and cute. Chaplin adored her, and she adored Chaplin.

Adam really liked the sound of the rocks rolling down the mountian, so he setup his recorder and instructed us to all grab a rock and on the count of 3 throw your rock and then shut up.

December 29th -

Our holiday was over and I knew it was time to 'go home' but to where?

Happy New Year - Happy Anniversary!

We went over to Peter and Jen's house for a fondue party and a sleep over! Chaplin was so excited to see Jake, Theo and Linden and play with kids again.

Here is a little part of a conversation I had with Jen at some point in the night - (short form)

Peter and Jen had spent their Christmas in Vancouver, I asked how was the trip?

Jen replied "Peter and I talked about living in Vancouver again and if we could see ourselves ever moving back. The whole time we were there it rained and we both said no.... SO Lori you've got to make this move to LA work, we are staying and so are you!" I loved the conversation, and my depression about coming back to Santa Monica from Yuma dissappearred with that and a stiff vodka drink.

So as usual I started my new year by going to Las Vegas.

That's right folks, i went again. That's twice in less than two months. And i'm not really any poorer for it.

I was actually there for a trade show with work -

but we girls know how to have fun.

Mindy Bing, Shirley Viens (MOM!), and me!

at the trade show with super tired feet and acting goofy. Just another typical day.

My dad flew in to look after Chaplin, and then on the Friday Adam, Chaplin and dad drove to Las Vegas. Chaplin stayed in mom and dads hotel room. thank you so much for that treat, and they looked after Chaplin all day Saturday. i think it was their birthday gift to him - they took him to the fun dungeon, to McDonalds, to the pool and then bought him a knights costume to wear out to dinner. They went to the Tournament of Kings, a horse & knight show. Chaplin loved loved loved it, because they had swords...

And the best news so far - Chaplin has started Kindergarten again at a school called Will Rogers. He's only had 7 days so far, so next blog i will be able to give you a much better update.

Lori "Sorry Chaplin it's not a weapon school"

Happy New Year everyone. 2012!!!

We Have Moved

I started this entry back in October... it took a while for me to write, I wasn't ready to actually put the "words to paper" and make it official by writing "we have moved". It's now the third month of living in a new country - I'm finally ready to write this entry.

In January 2011, Activision offered Adam a full time position at their central location in Santa Monica California USA. Adam accepted. The company, on his behalf, applied for a visa to work in the USA. The process of getting the visa was long... but eventually the visa was granted to Adam. The visa was dated for October 4th, and our international lawyer advised Adam to not cross the border before that date. Okay... hey wait not okay - we needed to go down to LA to find a place to live! I solved that problem by taking Anita with me to go apartment hunting. We had the service of a relocation company that hired a Santa Monica local to set up appointments for Anita and I to view places for two solid days. It was like speed dating, and my dates were apartments. Some were dumps, some were not... just like blind dates right? My mission was to find a place in Santa Monica close to the beach and a short commute for Adam. I was very successful and signed a lease to go steady with an apartment for one solid year.

SEPTEMBER:
We put our Vancouver home on the market and it sold in 10 days. The international movers then scheduled to move us out of our home at the end of the month. The month of September was a blur. How quickly those 30 days passed for me, there was no time for tears...

West coast crab dinner with Auntie Nancy and Uncle Chris

my last Tuesday dinner with Jen, Anita and my other kids.
















and then it happened Adam got old too.. just like Troy.
SEPTEMBER 15th, 2011 ADAM TURNED 40 !!!!
and surprise - Troy and Sheri flew down to celebrate with us!

September 28th, the movers arrived.
As some of you may have heard - our elevator was out of order. BUT the international moving company was not going to delay this move, oh no! They just hired a few young beefy men to pack the boxes down 5 flights. What a huge job for them, I just sat back and watched men pack up my house. It was not difficult to watch... They wrapped every single thing we owned in their custom paper - even my couch got wrapped up like a Christmas gift.

On that final day when the last box was removed, and the packers were all gone - I was so ready so spend our last days in Vancouver in a hotel as it felt oddly unsettling to wander around our totally empty condo. I had expected it to be harder to say good bye to my first real home. This was the condo that Adam and I moved into as newly weds, the place we brought Chaplin home from the hospital to, all my memories of baby Chaplin, to 5 year old Chaplin - his growth chart on the wall. As i closed the door to my old home and walked out for the last time, I knew I would be okay because I was not walking out alone.
What was hardest about moving?
Leaving behind the expectations of how life was going to unfold. I envisioned Chaplin growing up in the Nordby house-hold. I thought that Waltham's would always be close by, and it's hard to accept that I moved away from Auntie Nancy and her infinite amount of support she has given my family over the years.

I did hold it together really well during September, and did everything we needed to do to make our move to a new country. And most important, I made certain Chaplin was excited about the move, and I didn't show any fear or sadness. It wasn't until the very last day in Vancouver as I left Anita's house for the last time that I cried. The move finally hit me - I was moving away from Jen and Anita and would no longer have them in my daily life. Anita has made me a better person, a better mom and it was impossibly hard leaving her and her family behind. I cried for an hour before sending Anita a text to tell her i was upset and couldn't stop crying - she text me back telling me "Get it together girl, you are on your way to a new adventure. Life is all about changing and growing. You will be fine!" The wisdom of that girl is endless! Thank you Anita for helping me through this all, and i dare to say i hope you and Jen are missing me!

And with Anita's advise - I embraced our new adventure:
We were on our way to sunny Santa Monica California via the Coast Highway.
OH and everyone should make this road trip at least once in their life.














Day 1 ) Vancouver BC Canada - cross the border and deal with border crossing agents for 5 hours to get our visas stamped - to Cannon Beach














Day 2) Cannon Beach to Crescent City














Shortly after leaving Crescent City, we drove into the Redwood Forest, and did a short detour to go through the famous Chandelier tree. Our jeep just - and i mean just - fit through the tree - there was about half an inch on each side of the car.

Day 3) Crescent City to San Francisco














I thought about ways to make this drive fun for Chaplin. So each morning he had a 'treat' bag he could reach into and pull out a new toy. He loved his hang-man board. I packed a tub of toys and activities that i put right next to his seat. He did amazing on this journey.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE CHAPLIN!!!
We did find ways to break up the drive - like this for instance!


































We noticed that a re-occurring theme from town to town was the light-house.
There were light-house shaped restaurants, pubs, gas stations... bla bla bla...


Day 4) San Francisco to Pismo Beach
From what I recall - Pismo Beach is a great beach town.We stayed at a fancy hotel right on the beach.














And here I am in the car with the ocean scenery in the window. Honestly, a lot of the drive was this beautiful to look at. Adam had me to look at as well!

Day 5) Pismo Beach to Santa Monica














It's hard to tell from this photo - but on our last day drive - Chaplin wore his CANADA shirt.

The drive was a therapeutic brain break for my whole family - and we needed it because the day after we arrived in Santa Monica the movers showed up and unloaded EVERY SINGLE THING I OWN onto my street. This photo shows just a portion of what lay on the side walk. I had plenty of cars drive by and actually stop and look at the spectacle. Honestly - it was a nightmare and i couldn't wait for the day to just be over. Eventually it was, and what we were left with was our new place full of wrapped up boxes that took me a full two weeks to unpack.














So here we are living in Santa Monica and how do I feel? Strange. It does not feel like home. Maybe because we have been really busy? It just seems surreal to me, that this past three months have not been a vacation!

OCTOBER:














First official work party!

Two weeks after we moved - Sheri and Donovan came down for a weekend visit - and just like that - we went to Universal Studios, and we even purchased annual passes. What a great sister in law i have. I love her to pieces!





































Chaplin lost his tooth - just before my family arrived for a visit - he wanted to keep his tooth so with some help spelling the words - Chaplin wrote a letter to the tooth fairy.
































Next weekend: mom and dad arrive - and Adam and I jetted off to Las Vegas for a party leaving the grandparents to look after Chap for the night. Not a bad deal for everyone! mom and dad caught the train to Yuma to spend their some time in their winter home.




































Adam at the party in las vegas. he's so cool!


THEN we drove to Yuma to spend American Thanksgiving with them.
See what I mean about how this does not seem like reality - I was able to drive from my Santa Monica home to my parents home in Yuma in less than 5 hours. I now live closer to my parents than i have in over a decade! crazy. and Thanksgiving in November. crazy.

and my top story is meeting the extraordinary Royea family.
THE ROYEA's - Peter, Jen and their three sons Linden, theo and Jack.
I don't know where to begin - perhaps I will have to save that story for another blog as it is too amazing to cram it into this one! They are now part of our life in this new country. I can't say thank you enough to Jen and her family for opening up their hearts and home to include us into their life. I love that I have another girlfriend named Jen.

This is a picture of Jack, Theo, Linden and Chaplin decorating a gingerbread shack together (not sure where Linden went in the photo...)

















So that brings us up to December -


















Santa!


















Staff party just happened to be on the same night as my birthday. Lucky me, lucky Adam!
Peter and Adam work at the same company - lucky us ! I got to celebrate my birthday with Peter and Jen at the most glamours event I've ever been too! What a night! I am holding up a frozen tequila drink made with liquid nitrogen. And I don't have any decent photos of Jen and I to post.. lets just say we enjoyed a few of those frozen drinks.



















Chaplin's first time on skates.


And now I'll end this rambling blog entry by showing you how Chaplin and I have spent many days -





.