Excellent Recruiter

Every two weeks we as a family still go to the Menno Home to bring them donuts and coffee. Joseph has turned into quite the recruiter and entertainer there. He walks up and down the halls with another Korean lady inviting them to come (being much more successful than I ever was in my 7 years of doing this) and when they come he will occasionally favor them with a Korean version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" Looking at these pictures reminds me he is no longer a baby, but truly a little boy.

Giving Mom a Happy Heart Attack

Mom knew that Robyn was coming home from Australia, but what she didn't know was that Robyn had moved her arrival date up a week. Robyn asked me to pick her up from the airport to surprise mom and dad. She decided she would phone mom on my cell phone, pretending to be in New Zealand, and, during the phone call, show up at the door. This is how it worked out.

Keepin' in Touch

I had been out of the house for a while, but Joseph desperately wanted to report the progress of his day to me. So mommy phoned me up. Joseph is telling me that he and mommy had just read a book and now (the highlight of his day) he was about to get a vitamin. Good to keep up to date!

Figure Skating Show for Korean Hal-mony (grandma)

Ami and Joseph had a chance to talk to Ami's mom over the internet video camera. Joseph took the opportunity to put on a little show. Previous to his meeting with his hal-mony, he and Ami had watched a Korean figure skater and Joseph figured he would do his best to replicate the performance for his grandma. This is the result. He keeps on demanding that his grandma and 4 year old cousin copy him. They did for a while, but in the end Nael (the cousin) complained that she was exhausted!

Photo Shop Shots

You can click these to see a bigger version

Nice Gift

Ami's friend works in a photoshop and gave us a great gift of some professional pictures. This is the first professional family picture we've ever gotten! About time we got it done!

Buddies

Joseph is finally getting a chance to make some Canadian friends his own age and he's making the most of it. In two year old Sunday School he has a lot of fun playing with the boys and even rolling across the floor with them!

Our Most Successful Christmas Gift

Joseph reacted well to all his gifts, but this was a homerun. Not only does it have is favourite character, Dora, on it but he loves throwing and diving into the balls. Even without the balls he enjoys he own little "house."

Joseph's Winter Going Downhill

This is a composite of Joseph's sledding adventures! The first three are at Mill lake park and the last one is at Bateman park. It was quite a thrill for him and us!

Joseph's First Sled Ride

This was just one of those things we disparately wanted to do with Joseph, so the moment there was barely enough snow, we were out there! He had fun, but we had more.

The Evolution of the Thoutenhoofd Christmas Tree

Our first year of married life Ami and I bought a Christmas tree on December 23 because we procrastinated so badly. Last year we did almost nothing because we knew that whatever decorations we put up Joseph would destroy. This mark the first year we could actually put up a tree at the traditional time and be sure that it would stay in reasonable condition. Joseph was a very good boy when it came to the tree! Next year I figure we'll have the Christmas decoration thing down!

Joseph Says Goodbye to Fall

Couldn't post these for a long time because they were part of a gift for grandma and grandpa, but man did Joseph enjoy the leaves at Mill Lake Park!

Little Korean Rapper

Joseph finds his inner Korean hiphop artist!

Two!

Joseph is learning bilingual conversational style. Right now we're training him to answer a specific question. "Du Sal" Means "Two."

Budding Engineer

Joseph's favourite passtime has been building "houses." He takes this very seriously. When we tried to help with the contruction of this one he became very perturbed at our disorganized building methods. He screamed "Nooooo!" took apart our section, and reorganized them. We eventually figured out that he was building the separate columns according to the size of the blocks, and woe betide those who messed it up. He certainly didn't get that sense of organization from his Daddy!

Feeling Better Grandpa?

Joseph does his best to entertain Grandpa after his second hip surgery. He even got some smoked oysters out of the deal! Dad now has two brand new hips and is recovering well. Thanks to everyone who prayed!

Enjoying Fall

We figured we'd take in some fall fun this past weekend and went to the Westminster Abbey monastery in Mission as well as the Weaver Creek salmon spawning channel when he was awake Joseph really enjoyed himself!

Joseph Tries Out Some New Dance Moves

Joseph's dance moves have improved from his earlier years!
Now he has a new one for every style of music.

Unconscious Student

I don't know what to say about this video. :) I'll let it speak for itself!

"Hockey"

Back from an extended blog vacation! Joseph has discovered sports! The one above is his own invention. It involves a tennis-like hitting motion, a (he thinks) baseball stance, but, like a true Canadian, calls it hockey. If there's no ball, no problem. He's very good at playing a pretend game with a pretend ball!