Family News

 November 2006 -

We had a great start to the year. There have been some quality people hired this year and the students are fantastic, as usual.

Mare has an incredibly tough teaching load (six I.B. classes!) and is really enjoying her classes. She received quite an honor from the students today, as they presented her with a certificate at the High School assembly, recognizing her as a devoted and caring teacher who has always has an optimistic outlook. When her name was announced, the entire student body jumped up, applauding their deep respect and admiration for her. What a beautiful moment. 

Volleyball season has come and gone. After choosing a team with great depth, we traveled to Oman for the very competitive ISAC tournament and placed a respectable third. Returing to Riyadh, we took the ISSL-R and SAIKAC Championships. Great guys on the team made this season both fun and memorable.

Matt and Cam were happy to return to Riyadh to see their friends. Their friend Danny has moved in across the street and they seem to be inseparable. I'm not sure if it's the Three Muskateers or the Three Stooges! Matt's in grade one now and his reading seems to be really coming along. He has a great love for P.E., art, science and math. He has just started in the Riyadh Youth Sports Basketball League. They won their first game 4-2, with Matthew scoring the game winning basket! He is a bit of a ball hog, so we need to work a little more on his teamwork skills!

Cameron is not quite old enough for the league yet, but tags along and has a great time passing the ball back and forth and playing with Mary Pat. He loves school and is learning all about  the alphabet through phonics. He's still quite the talker and doesn't hesitate to tell anyone EVERYTHING he's learning at school. Great stories!

We're looking forward to our Winter Break trip to Thailand where we will spend some time with friends from the DR who are now working in China and Taiwan. We will be attending recruiting fairs this year, while in Thailand, so hopefully we'll end up in a great school somewhere that'll be a great experience for our family. 

January 2006 -

School was busy for our family this semester with athletic trips to Dhahran and Beirut, pre-school for Cameron, KG2,, swimming lessons and a basketball season for Matthew and Mare, as always,  was busy with her students and school (shopping for carpets too!) . Mare is planning a ladies shopping tour to the Eastern Province in February. We will be off to NESA in Bangkok in March and Karl will be off to Cairo for Track & Field in April. Another busy semester is coming up and we are looking forward to it!

We returned to Toronto for Christmas with Mary Pat's family and had a great time. Santa was very good to the boys and Mare and Karl had the opportunity to visit with all of her family. The kids had nice visits to the Fantasy Fair and to the Ontario Science Center. They are looking forward to returning to Riyadh and playing with their friends before school starts once again on January 15th.

August 2005 -

After completing our first year at AIS-Riyadh, we returned to Canada for the summer holidays.

To start, we  spent time with Mare's family in Ontario, getting to see her brothers as well. We rented a cottage in Goderich, Ontario for a week and spent time with our friend Birdie. The kids got to go to African Lion Safari, the Elmvale Jungle Zoo as well as the regular visits to Pucks Farm. Mare and I had a wonderful night away to Stratford to watch a production.We also visited with old friends from Beirut, Sharon and Igor and their family. Mare's brother, Sean, got married  in Toronto, on July 9th.

In Nova Scotia, we got the opportunity to visit Karl's family in Mineville. We spent some time at the nearby beaches and playgrounds. We traveled up to Dominion, Cape Breton, where we had a great time visiting with family, some of whom we haven't seen in a while (Thanks to Cathy and Ron, Allie, Bev, Neil, Ashley, Allison and Nana) Mare and the boys actually were in the Seaside Days Parade. They were dressed up for an 1880s school house (See the photo page). We hope to return to Dominion next summer for the Centenary celebrations!

Mare and I have both mentioned many times that we had a fantastic summer. Special thanks goes out to our families, with whom we had a wonderful time! See you soon!