What We Did

This past Wednesday was Austin's birthday.

He is not here to celebrate with us.  And, that's not something to celebrate.

However, we do like to mark the day.  Make it special in order to remember.

It feels strange to let the day pass by without some acknowledgement.
And, so we don't.  We can't.  There is comfort in the remembering.

Austin's first birthday after being called home to Heaven was last year.

We took the children to his grave and shopped for something special

for each of them in honour of his memory.
We went to Austin's favourite restaurant for dinner.

It was hard, but, it was good.

This year, (the second without our Austin physically here), 
we decided to do something a little different.
And, this is what we did to mark the day.

At first, we planned to just walk around the Stanley Park Seawall ~
one of our favourite things to do.  But, then I remembered a friend's suggestion
to bike it ~ all the way from Granville Island (see map above), around Stanley Park,
and back.  It was a great idea!  And, the perfect day to attempt it.

So, we (the boys) loaded all the bikes on the
back of the van, and we were off.

This was where Howie and I had our fancy date
just a couple of weeks ago.

Before the ride began ~ still feeling fresh and energetic and optimistic.
(Next year, I think I will do a little training before attempting to tackle it.)

See the row of blossoming trees in the background?
That was where we were headed for the start of our journey.

It was a beautiful day!  Emma took this shot ~ isn't it pretty?

It took two hours to complete the loop (with a few breaks here and there).

Howie and I lost the children (on purpose) for a few minutes ~
it was a little bit like a date.  :)

See the Granville Island Public Market sign (above left)?
The yellow building on the far right (on the other side of the water)
is Bridges Restaurant ~ the location of our recent fancy date.
It's near where our van was parked for this excursion ~ we were almost finished.

Howie and I think this may be the start of a new tradition
in honour of our Austin's birthday each year.

It was such a lovely day together and a wonderful gift from the Lord.
We are so thankful for the prayers of our precious family and friends.
Thank you to each one of you who have lifted us up before the Throne of Grace.

All the love and kindness shown to us has been such a great blessing.
We sensed the Lord's strength and grace with us throughout the day.
How good and gracious He is!  We so appreciate His loving care
manifested to us in tangible ways through the love of His people.

May He bless each of you abundantly!

With Love, Camille

**Photos in this post are a combination of mine and Emma's ~
thank you for sharing with me my little love.  xoxo