Tis the Season

I hope this finds you well during this holiday season.  I meant to write on Christmas day but, got caught up in the festivities of the day.  Our family Christmas was one of our best ever.  It was so nice to have everyone there as we have not been all together in a number of years.  It was awesome to spend time with Elias, Rylen, Micah and Taylor and to watch them open their gifts.  It brought back a lot of memories of when I was a kid years a go.

I did cry once on Christmas day.  I  think I just caught up with all the emotions of the day.  I kind of realized that this may have been one of our last Christmas days with all of us together.  It seemed fitting that we had the day we did and I do hope we get a chance to spend a few more like that.

I got an opportunity to help out with a volleyball clinic my brother Ryan and his friend Andy were running in Palmerston.  Ryan works for Volleyball Clinic and oversees high performance programs for high school athletes in British Columbia.  I am thankful I got a chance to see him work with youth and watch how he was able to impact their volleyball skills in such a short period of time.  He is really good at what he does and I am proud of him in so many ways.  It was fun for me to get back on the court and work with the kids.  I do miss coaching and hopefully I will have an opportunity to do it again in the future.

I am pleased to announce that my youngest brother Matt and his fiance Beth were married yesterday in Toronto.  It was a wonderful service and we are so thrilled he found such an amazing person to share his life with.  The reception was a lot of fun and we were able to share our family tradition of singing a song to the bride and groom.  Matt and I are very similar as we both live with bi-polar disorder.  He has been on quite the journey in his life and I am so proud at how far he has come.  He seems to be at a good place in his life and I am thankful for that.  Beth is a wonderful person and I believe she will support Matt when he needs it but, will also challenge him in a similar way that Jodi does for me.  I wish them nothing but the best in the years to come.

I have been feeling much better the last week or so.  It has been a little discouraging with the lack of snow as I have not had a chance to work much.  But it has been awesome to spend a lot of time with Jodi and Ollie.  I am going to look in to doing some tree work in the new year as it looks as though we are in for a milder winter so I have no choice but to look for some other work.

Today is just a relaxing day.  The last week has been very busy for us so it will be nice to have some down time.  There are some bowl games on today so I will get a chance to watch some college football.   Should probably take Ollie for another run later as we were gone for most of the day yesterday.

Have a great week.  Take care,  Shawn.

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
― George Bernard Shaw