I haven't been blogging because I don't feel I can update my families life without adding this experience yet I still get a tightness in my chest just thinking about this story, it makes me think this is how a heart attack feels. I was horrible and I don't feel comfortable talking about it (that was a typo but honestly that is how I feel). When I recanted what happened for my parents, a week later, I tried to add a laugh here and there to make it not sound so wretched. (My parents had just left for Cuba that morning and I didn't want to tell them till they came home as not to ruin their vacation.) The laughter did not help and in my head I could tell it made me sound like I thought the situation was comical almost like I didn't realize the seriousness of what happened.

Beth almost died Saturday, March 28.

The admittance notice at Children's Hospital stated near drowning. But to me it was and is so much more, worse... thankfully we have a happy ending our story could be very different. I still get caught up in the wretchedness of it.

Jeff and I were working on our basement that day. We had almost finish the drywall the the spare room and needed to clear out all of the stuff in the play room and spare room in order to mud. I had just started organizing/cleaning out the utility room to make space for everything. Beth had been cranky and clingy all morning then when she woke up from her afternoon nap and pooped she was finally happy and content. She was really starting to walk well that day, going through the rooms just holding on to the odd piece of furniture as needed. Thom wanted to play hide and go seek with Beth and Dada and found a great spot by me behind our luggage. Beth had just been in the other room with Jeff handing him tools. Thom got bored as no one was coming to find him and went in search of Beth. I had just finished cleaning out as spot for our tubs of baby cloths and decided to go use the bathroom before moving them since I had no children hanging on my leg. As I walked out the the room following the same path as Thom had taken I happened to glance to the right. Out of a bucket I saw some feet, at first I thought it was Beth's doll Annabell that she had gotten from Ava for her birthday. Then I noticed a pink hood, Annabell doesn't have a hood. I rushed over to the bucket and grabbed the feet and out came Beth, blue limp and floppy just like her doll.

(As I type this my heat beat is rising just from the mental picture. The bucket was there to catch water that came out of our hot water tank. we had had it there for at least 2 years and never thought anything of it. I can't believe that we had never thought of it. When Beth started crawling I had changed the dog's water bowl from a 4-5 inch bowl to a 1 inch bowl which we have to fill up at least 2 times a day because I didn't want her to drowned in it! I am in disbelief with myself that I would change a dog bowl and not think of a bucket that we had in our basement that we could have easily and should have changed to a different system.)

Beth was not responsive, she had no heart beat and was not breathing, I dont know why but I carried her floppy body to the floor in the playroom (which is around the corner) before I checked. (Moving her was just like moving a doll, she was not warm but sopping wet from the water in my basement-I can still feel her in my arms. I had her doll hidden for a while but have now brought it out, the sight of it no longer makes me flash back but I know I avoid touching it.)In my head I was calling Jeff, however he told me he came because he heard me screaming 'oh my God! oh my God! oh my God!' (oddly I consider taking the Lords name in vain a swear maybe I ment it as a prayer, I don't recall anything but Beth in those first moments). Jeff came running into the room I can remember him asking where the phone was and saying he was goning to call 911. As he ran for the phone Thom asked me if Beth was dead - I dont know what I said, but I know that was my worry too!

I started to do CPR, chest compressions and breaths, I don't know for how long but she wasn't as blue anymore. I felt a rapid pulse but I didnt know if it was mine or hers so I kept pumping her heart and breathing. She started to breath on her own but it seemed like it was once a minute, I knew it was not often enough so I still gave her air inbetween her own breaths. I was giving her at least 2 breaths for everyone of hers, at this time her head/neck was starting to crack in my hands I was worried she broke her neck in the fall. I yelled this upstairs to Jeff and the 911 operator told Jeff to get me to stabilize her upper body. I tilted her forward hoping the water that I thought was in her would drain out and I took off her wet cloths then went back to the breathing for her as Jeff walked down the stairs and told me stabilize her neck and he covered her with a towel to keep her warm.

The 911 operator said she had dispatched an ambulance, I asked Jeff to stabilize Beth and I ran upstairs to get dry cloths on and change Thom and pack him some stuff. I also got more blankets for Beth a pullup for Thom (I didnt know how long we would be) a sleeper and a diaper for Beth and packed toys with Thom for at the hospital. He even chosed toys for Bethie. I got back down stairs and Beth had started to cry and was trying to move. I took over from Beth and he went to go watch for the ambulance. After what felt an hour an emergency SUV from Lockport arrived and the paramedics came downstairs. They looked at her and were going to give her oxygen but their tank would not work, her colour wasn't perfect but it was better then when I found her. The ambulance from Selkirk arrived shortly after and they brought in the oxygen from that vehicle. They checked her vitals asked me if she had opened her eyes and I said no, Jeff said she did once while I was upstairs (the o2 in her blood was 42% and at the hops they told me they are happy if it is 92% or higher) and we brought her upstairs they asked me where we wanted to take her and I said the best place so we drove into Winnipeg to Children's she was not happy, she was crying, not a cry I had ever heard before. I don't know when I started to cry but I know I was when the paramedics were there. (Jeff gave me a hug at the top of the stairs and I know I was crying from all the feelings I knew we both had).

Jeff and I kept trying to not exclude Thom so we would say things like 'you are such a helper carrying that bag, wow how nice that you packed Beth some toys too, thankyou for being so patient, why dont you go into the living room with Dada and watch for the ambulance-Thankyou for helping with that! Put on that shirt it looks great, why dont we race to put on our pants! - I dont know about Jeff but for me it sounded so forced each time I heard one of us say something to him because all I wanted to think about was Beth.

Beth's eyes were open when we were in the ambulance and the paramedic asked when she ate last, which was before her nap, she woke up at 4:30pm so she would have been hungry if she was acting normal. On to clock in the ambulance it said it was 6:35 (later in the drive I noticed that the clock had not changed time-batery must have been dead). I tried to nurse her after the paramedics said it couldnt hurt her. She suckled, but then she could not cry so I could not tell if she was alive that scared me, I prefered the crying because then she had to breath. The whole time her eyes were closed I can remember telling her "keep breathing, keep breathing', between my blubbering. The paramedic was monitoring her oxygen levels and I know she said they were getting better, but we were still blowing air into her face, she wasn't improving on her own (in my mind).

An odd thought went through my mind while in the ambulance, I had alway wanted to ride in one my whole life, and I remember Evelyn telling me about being one and telling me it wasn't all that and yet I was jealous. I was not jealous on that day, I felt like I couldn't breath, I couldn't do anything to make my baby better, it was an awful waiting game.

We got to the hospital then the paramedics put me in wheel chair so I could hold Beth and keep giving her air while we went to the entrance and got triaged. The nurse took her O2 levels and they were in the 80's. Her eyes were so dialated she had no iris just black pupils dialates so much they were ringed only with white. She still was not responding to me. I was still telling her to breath. That was the first time she coughed. it was in the hall there, 2 coughs. I was told there I think that children don't usually died in water with in there lungs, but that their throat closes up and they affixiate only from lack of oxygen. Part of the closing up could be locking the jaw, which could have accounted for the cracking/popping we heard and felt while laying on the floor in our basement. Thinking back I could remember the 911 operator told Jeff to have me check Beth's airways (which I had forgotten to do) and I could not get her mouth open far enough to check for an obstruction and vomit.

They hospital pushed me to a room luckly with a tv. I remember it was on Chef Ramseys show on that was not calming at all. This is when I remember starting to pray, and thinking I can't ask God not to take her, it might be her time and not to be brain damaged what if that is God's plan, and how will this affect my marrage if Beth died or was brain damaged would that push us together or apart, were we strong enough? how will everything effect Thom? but what about Baby Beth? How long will we wonder what will happen to her? I wished I could turn back the clock and start the day over. So I sat there in a near dark room while Chef Ramsey was swearing, asking God to do what ever He thought best for my family and Beth.

Eventually, my in-laws and Jeff and Thom arrived, they seemed to come in at the same time. Jeff said he did 150km the whole way to Children's as he couldnt leave till he changed out of his wet clothes and have Thommy use the bathroom. I saw Jeff sob for the first time ever in memory when his Mom hugged him (he had not shed a tear to my knowledge the whole time up till that point, and I did not see him cry again). My brother showed up shortly after and then my sister and her friend Dana, my brother couldnt get ahold of Ang or Brad so he drove to their house on the way to the hospital and told Brad at the door, he then called her as she was out at Chop for dinner and they all came to the hospital support us)

The reason I was thankful for the TV was I knew it could be used to babysit Thom. Even with 6 adults (Ang left to drive Dana home at one point) it was hard to concentrate on anything. Dave, my father in law took Thom for a bunch of walks, Tim, Jeff and Goni all read stories to him (ones we brought and ones full of germs from the hospital - yuck!) but in the hours that we were there Jeff and I needed help from treehouse. I have no clue what time we got there, Jeff and I figure 'IT' must of happened between 6 and 6:30pm because we didnt eat dinner. Yet neither of us were hungry, Goni got Thom some mac n cheese to eat when they brought us coffee. After Ang got back she brought us all some subs but we were not hungry - only Thommy.

When Beth would fall asleep in the hospital her o2 levels would drop, so we kept giving her air. When Beth awoke and saw Goni she obviously wanted her so she held her while I finally went to the bathroom. Everyone was happy she did that but that was not a large enough sign for me I wanted to see her do more, her eyes were still only big black pupils and she kept falling asleep. Jeff gave me another hug on the way out, I kept my crying in check though until I got the the bathroom it was a nice place to go and sob great big heaving sobs, I am certain the people in the rooms around the bathroom were all looking at me when I left. My brother wanted to see her wag her tonge like she does for him, Dave was trying to get her to honk his nose, Ang wanted a great big Beth smile, I wanted a 'hi' and I think Goni was happy with anyting and everything. We went to x-ray to check out her chest for water and as a base point to check her the next day as she could get a secondary infection in her lungs from the water. At this point it was just monitoring her hourly, checking her blood work, lungs and waiting, there was nothing they could do to check her brain then. We were lucky that Beth saw more doctors then nurses while we were there. Due to so many people coming in and out of our room we did have to recount the story numerous times, I was shock that social services never came to talk to us.

The waiting was awful! Beth woke up at one point and Jeff tickled her and she tryed to tickle back and did a small smile, people in the room were happy, but it still wasnt enough for me. During the evening she puked 4 times and was given tylenal for a fever and an IV. (Jeff figures the fever was because I was holding her so tight with blankets and a hot pack, the fever went down with the lack of wraping as she vomited up the tylenal - at the time an elevated temp could have ment she was getting an infection). I think my brother and sister left between midnight and 1am. The doctor came in and told us her blood work was better then expected but she still needed to be monitored and would be kept at least overnight. They were waiting on a room, I think it was about 2am when we were told one was not available right then but it could change.

Later we were told one would not become available and we would be staying in the ER. Jeff, Thom and my inlaws left then and the nurse put in an IV and checked her levels. I tried to get some sleep (didnt work).

It was about 4:30am when we switched rooms to the C4 ward we were in the a room that was 1 nurse for 2 patients so that the children could have constent monitoring. At the time of the move we stopped giving her O2 which was about 4:30 in the morning because her levels were stable even when sleeping 90 to 94%. At the 4:30 check, her eyes were still dialated but you could see her iris which was nice, but still I was worried. At 5:30 after her check her O2 levels were within the normal ranges so the doctor decided to change the monitoring to every 2 hours. At that point I fell asleep until Beth's roommate awoke unhappy around 7:10am. Beth also woke up and for the first time her eyes were normal, it was very nice! She peed for the first time and that was exciting! She ate a little food when breakfast came but was nursing alot. She still had her IV aswell. She was very content to be in my arms gazing at me but she didnt seems as tiredas the night before. We called Jeff at home to ask for some clothes around 9:30 and she wanted the cell phone, of course I gave it to her and she said 'hi' and was smiling.

After a couple hours she started to want to move. I asked the nurse to unpluge the IV from the wall and switching it back to battery power. Beth changed into a walker that weekend, she could go all the way out of our room and down the hall to the next ward, where we would turn around and go back (a nurse told me there was some VERY sick contagious kids over there). The ward wanted to release us after doing another chest xray, as Beth appeared fine, but they needed her doctor to sign off. There was a woops, they wrote down the wrong doctors name on the file and Dr. D, Beth's doctor had just left when they had figured it out. After talking to the doctor telling her what happened she told the staff that she didnt want us released until the next set of blood tests were in and the xrays were done. Jeff then brought me McDonalds for breakfast and new cloths and tolietries. We went for the xray (both times she sat on a little bike seat and there was a tube that went around her from her hips to the top of her head, and it was velcroed closed with her arms lifted above her head)

After the xray I met my sister and brother in the hall, they were bringing us snacks and clothes as they did not know if we had gone home. After a visit with Beth and seeing how interactive she was they left (releived I would assume).

Later the doctor came in and told us that her blood work came back and was pristine! The night before it was better then expected but today, pristine! Her xrays came back with no changes. Everything seemed okay, however if she seems more sleepy then currently (using Sunday as the guidline since she was still more doopy then normal), develops a fever and has any flu like symptoms to come straight to the ER and tell them we were just released for a near drowning. I of course asked if they could tell if she suffered any brain damage but they cannot however with her moving around, saying hi and interacting with people she seems fine from there veiw point. I recall saying to Jeff during this conversation, how will we not think everytime she brings home a poor mark that it has to do with 'this'?

Anyways, by the time we left it felt like a huge amount of our time and energy had been spent. I was shocked to see the sun still shining when we left!

Jeff and I estimate Beth as unaccounted for maybe 5 minutes leaving her in the water for 2 to 5 minutes. Then it took about 2 minutes of CPR before she started to breath (unsure how long until she started to breath at regular intervals).

The therapist I saw after the fact said I need to understand that this story is personal and no one will be able to feel the same as I do as it is my story. I don't know if you wanted to read about my nightmare. I don't really want to relive the day, I want to keep this to my elf -along with my shame. But, I can only pray that as a result of reading this people will take another look around their homes and outside the home and see any potential water dangers. Unfortunately we can't see everything. Because accidents happen either at home or elsewhere everyone needs to take first aid & CPR and ensure anyone watching their children has taken first aid & CPR.

As time has passed I no longer have 'flashbacks' it feels almost like a bad dream, like a nightmare that was all in my head. Sometimes when the kids are quiet in the van or I am alone, I still get that tight feeling and my mind thinks back to those horrible moments. I know that I just need to be thankful that God chose to leave me my child and give me such a wonderful ending to what could have been heartbreaking. Everytime I see her do something new I cheer, it makes me feel so bless to have my perfect baby back when she was at deaths door. I am so lucky God let me keep her! I just know I will gain so much from Him letting me and my whole family be with her and hopefully grow old watching her.


Please, make sure everyone has first aid and CPR

I am comfortable with people sharing this story via email, blog or verbal. I do hope people can learn from what happened to us to help prevent a tragedy.

I just saw the craziest thing at the park today;
a mom and her friend were both wearing short sleeves and capris both walking with a stroller, now one of them had an older daughter maybe 4 and she was wearing a parka and mitts! Luckily she was wearing rain boots. Now I didn't converse with them so I am unsure of if she decided on what she would wear or her mom but I had a good chuckle when I saw them coming towards me ;)

Boy I havnt posted in a while...

Thom was in the car a couple months ago and said, 'mama do I have big hands?'
to which I replied 'bigger then Beth's'
Thom said okay and then began talking to Beth saying 'Beth, you have a small hand and I have a big hand (he held her hand up and compared them) Come put your little hand in my big hand. Lets hold hands together."
Just imagine how sweet that was to hear, such a beautiful moment!


When I was putting the kids to bed a couple weeks ago Thom was stroking Beth's face
I said to him 'that is so nice'
he responded 'well, I love her'
I then told Thom 'I love her too!'
Thom's response was 'well, I loved you first!'
In my head I was thinking first, hmmm, like the most or because he is older he loved me before she was born?

Goni and Dave came back from about 6weeks away and we the 1st day they were back I brought the kids over (they babysat so me and Jeff could go out for our anniversary - 7years). I pulled into the driveway and Goni opened the garage door and Thom unbuckled his boosted (he switched over a month ago) and stood trying to get out of the van going 'Gramma, gramma, gramma, gramma. gramma.....' even as he ran out of the van towards here he kept repeating himself till he got to here- so cute.

When Beth turned 1 year all of a sudden now she can get off of items like the couch or the bed, she can also go down a short flight of stairs. Her walking is also getting much better, she can go across an average sized room without falling, most of the time, but if she seeing you looking she will lift her arms to indicate you should pick her up. No new words, I think she has said Unc, Opa, Omi and Gramma, but it is not very clear.

This is how my babies sleep. I think it is so cute!

febuary has begun

Thom's favourite snow sculpture

Beth enjoying the mess she made

Thom's new big boy booster seat

At the hospital, 1 1/2 weeks ago when I thought Thom broke his arm-he is fine no worries

Beth helping Opi on his Captin's red phone (there are different coloured phones in his office that are for different things)

Beth loved the big machines and was fasinated

Thom getting ready to drive and run the pumper

Beth on the Vibration Therapy Machine-her favourite toy in the house!

Like always the kids are doing new things in our house!

Beth is growing in leaps and bounds... she learnt a new word 2 weeks ago 'Hi' and now she can do all sorts of variations of the word - 'Hey' 'Hiya' and just this weekend 'Hello'. When she says 'hi' it has 2 tones, like a doorbell. And like previously, she learnt this new word and forgot all of her other words. Last week she got 'Dada' back and the end of this past week she got 'Mama' back.

Beth also strung 2 words together last Saturday Jan 31 she said 'Hi Dad' very sweet. Jeff had been out all day with Tim snowboarding and when he got home she greeted him with that-her very 1st time. (we did know it was coming as she was trying to say hi to her Omi on the Thursday however she cannot say 'Omi' at this time)

So in order to recap she can say, Mama, Dada, more (which is more like mamar) and all the Hi greetings.

Beth's walking with fingers has increased as well, she is more then happy to walk around with someone to hold on to and just this past week, she occasionally will walk holding on to one hand. I keep thinking today is the day she will take her first step and keep standing (unlike the one before Christmas when she followed Thom and crashed into the weight bench and got the bruise on her cheek).

Today, Monday Beth stood up all by herself in the middle of the room today! TWICE! Let's see where that gets her.

Thom is finally getting the potty thing, thankfully. A few weeks ago I declared I was ready to hire a professional to get this potty thing going, I was definitely at my wits end! We still have accidents occasionally but at least there is a day or two or even three between! It is great, Thom has been accident free during the night since Christmas and his days hopefully will continue to get better and better! We have completely ended pull ups during the day and I look forward to only changing one child's diaper. Next comes teaching him how to wipe ;)

Well can't think of any other changes the kids have had, other updates about the family would be lots of time spent outside, we are walking, sledding and going to the Forks and have visited firehall. I am prepping the kids for Baby Group ending, Beth turns one on the 16th and then we are done.

Updates and Milestones:

Our first trip the the zoo this winter. We had a fantastic trip to the zoo on Wednesday! A lot of the animals were out and very active! The cats were coming right to the front of the cage and meowing-very cool! We started out the trip with Beth and Ava in the stroller then it was just Beth as Ava and Thom ran around then Thom and Ava in the stroller and Beth in the carrier. We were there for over 3 hours the weather was perfect and we did not see any other visitors until we went into the barn at the very end of our visit. It was like the city created a Zoo just for my family!

Going clockwise from the top:

At the entrance, Thom was my navigator-atleast until we got to the 1st playstructure,

Ava and Thom checking out the Llamas-book suggestion 'llama llama red pajama' soo good,

play structure by the camels,

Thom by the koi in the greenhouse-I have a picture of him at this exibit from every visit (except 1) we have taken to the zoo, usually you can see other people we dont know in the photos.

Beth learned to point on Tues night Ava slept over and Beth pointed at her at least half a dozen times,

Thom taking the girls for a spin on the plasma car

She willingly walked with fingers with very smooth steps again on Tuesday,

She slept through the night for the 2nd time on Dec 25 - I think it was a Christmas present to me since it hasn't happened again :)

Thom went down the big wooden slide at the park (with me and Ava) - That I found very scary the sides were alot shorter than I remember and I was nervous about a child going over the edge 10ft up in the air. However the kids loved it while Beth was asleep in her sled we went up and down

Beth used the potty for the first time December 28,2008!!!! She wanted to go up on the toilet after the big kids finished so my mom put her up there to humor her and low and behold a very proud girl peed. the next day she peed on the wooden potty. When she was crawling around naked she has gotten to the potty and tryed to get up and has peed. the best day yet was the 18th to 19th, she by herself peed 4x. she thought there was a potty in the corner at my parents and she climbed over the handle turned herself around and peed on Thoms old booster (that we had just removed from the chair), I cleaned it all up and her, then maybe 20 min later she did it again!!! the next morning she got into the wooden potty I took from my parents (she cant get on Thom's it is to award) and peed-unfortunately she cant get her feet down so she peed with her legs in the pot but at least she is trying. Thoms success is really plateaued, we are at 100% peeing in the potty at home or another house but when we are out say at the mall or a restaurant it is hit or miss, it depends on how distracted he is. Poo is 75% at home and 0% when out,

She is very confident with going up, she did a whole flight of stairs by herself the first week in January. (she still doesn't go down and now has NO interest in learning. she often will climb up about 8inches into our bookshelves and be very proud smiling and 'talking' then after about 30 seconds start to demand I get her down)

Beth loves to shriek, any emotion she has she lets it be heard with gusto! I have been trying to get her to talk instead because I know she is using this ear shattering noise to get her point across. I am sad to report, not yet, so it is constantly like I have been to a concert.

Beth drew her first picture, not just a scribble crumple eat the paper. she drew with multiple colours and did not crumple it but let me have it- jan14. very exciting!

For the second year in a row we went to the show Magic and Miricles, a magic show that benifits the firefighters burn fund - a good time! (unfortunatley Ang was in the hall and my mom took the picture so you down see us all and this was the best photo with the most people)
Beth had a little vomit accident in the car seat so I washed all 3 car seat covers, here is Thom and Ava looking cute while sharing. Beth puked up her appleoatmeal, and again after she had lunch, so I was just nursing and she did not get an upset stomach, so now when she has her appleoatmeal Thom says`give her milk Mama she needs it so she dosen`t puke`it is very cute!

favourite foods

Beth-pickerel, pineapple and cheese

Thom-mac n cheese, cheese and yogurt

Christmas has come and gone

Here is our pictures from Christmas Eve with Santa at the Howie's
Beth prefers Santa when she is not in his lap


Thom talking to Santa



Jeff and I getting our present

Beth and Thom checking out their presents

Beth trying to steal Thom's bells off of his present

So another Christmas has come and gone and we are back to the regular grind.

We all recovered from the flu and enjoyed the family get togethers and holiday festivities. Unfortunatley Jeff also succumbed to the flu (as did everyone else I know) but thankfully he didnt get sick until the evening of the 26th.

We celebrated NewYears by making pizza with the family-one of Thom's jobs was to wash the mushrooms. Previously when we had friends over Jeff made mushroom caps, Thom's job was to break off the stems. When he was preping the mushrooms Thom snapped off all the stems because that is the 'correct' way to prep them

Exciting begingings to the family get togethers

So on Friday we had a gathering with my great aunts and uncles and there children and children's children on the Klassen side. We got together at Eastveiw as per the norm which is great because the kids race and scream in the gym and we 'grownups' can visit.

The point of this post is that Thom decided to end off the festivities with a bang! After i had Beth and him in their PJ's already to go home we were in the back foyer when his puked! All over his winter boots and the floor. He had told me his tummy was spicy 3 or so times that evening but I thought he had to poo (potty training this week-he avoids the potty but trys not to mess his pull ups the results in him complaining about his tummy hurting).

It was exciting to all the were still at the church, but the most exciting part for me was that my Dad cleaned up ;)

I hope that all of you have a wonderfully festive and loving Christmas!

and I will end the post with our families 2008 recap;

In the Barrett household we started our ‘new year’ a little bit earlier then the rest of the world. Jeff, left his position as territory manager at Ecolab and pursued a new career in residential sales with Creative Door Services not only was he excited with the prospect of a new job but he got a new vehicle (no more minivan) Hello Toyota Tundra, Jeff’s dream vehicle! My sister Angela, with her family, Brad and Ava returned home from living away for the last 2 years. Then on December 14, I left my position at Plezia Insurance to become involved in maintenance (a mom at home). Jeff and I celebrated by going for a whirl wind vacation to Florida for Kelly Saltel’s wedding in Disney World while Thom stayed both at his Gramma and Grandad’s and Omi and Opi’s.
Onward we plugged away adjusting to our new jobs and all of a sudden it was February. Jeff was at hockey (I had wanted him to go) and I called him too tell him not to go home; we needed to go to the hospital to get our baby (only 8 days late). Elizabeth Shannon Barrett was born February 16, 2008 with lots of hair weighing in at 7lbs8ozs. After a quick recovery period the 4 of us, at the end of March, with Tim, Lois and Harold went off to Ambergris Caye, Belize to have some fun.
We had a lovely summer, going to the cabin for a couple weekends spending time with Goni, Dave, Suzanne and Jackson and enjoying time at the trailer in Stonewall with Lois, Harold, Brad, Ang and Ava, swimming at the beach and Goni and Dave’s pool and 2 glorious visits to Clear Lake. I began watching Ava in August while her daycare was on summer vacation and I decided to keep her and will continue to watch her. It is very interesting to watch Thom and her interact, although she lived 24hours away for just over a year of her life, Thom and her interact like siblings.
Jeff did change his work vehicle in September; with all the driving he does he changed to a Toyota Camry Hybrid – which he has fallen in love with! A large portion of our family had birthdays in September and it was a very busy month so October was catch-up time. Now it is time to complete Christmas shopping, writing cards and enjoying the company of people we love!
From our family to yours a very Merry Christmas and only the very best for the New Year!
Love, The Barrett Family-Jeff, Chelle, Thom and Beth

Beth is 10 mths today! wow

Here she is riding the horse like a big shot at my mom's school today!
(She,my mom, teaches at the Adolecence Parent Centre - school age mom's with babies or pregnant trying to finish high school. they have a large need for donations as many moms are living on working only part time or on assistance while in school full time. If anyone is sorting through their stuff household items, womens clothing childrens cloths or toys in the new year or anytime and would like to donate to them let me know)


checking out the handles on the horse, and showing off her big chompers


the high chair I just bought her last week, I didnt have one for Thom and just used a boster for space saving but it is nice to have!
the weekend before last here we are standing infront of our soon to be Christmas tree. Brr the wind was just a gusting, but boy was it ever fun tromping through the snow, drinking hot chocola,te around the fireplace they have inside and checking out the holiday display area. We brought my F-I-L Dave along to get his own tree and cut to down our tree aswell- lol (Goni was out of town)
Here is Beth with her nose as red and Rudolph`s inside at Winddrift tree farm

The ginger bread houses that we decorated

How I dress my children when my dad serves them blueberry pancakes (every sunday)