Year 2 Completed

I cannot believe that these pictures were taken over a month ago already.  Wow, where does the time go?  Rob is most certainly asking himself that question as he ponders what he’s actually accomplished in the last month.

On May 14 Rob wrote his last Year 2 exam and then we could celebrate.  Didn’t matter at that point whether he passed or failed his exams, all that mattered was to celebrate surviving another year … especially the survival of the last six to eight weeks which consisted of many paper and little sleep.  Overall the year went well and Rob enjoyed it.  We could see the difference at home with him being more relaxed most of the year.  He felt like after  over 4 years of studying he had finally gotten to the part he was working towards.  In the previous years languages had been the heavy focus and taken far too many of his precious hours since this is not his strong point, but finally this year languages were no longer the biggest and heaviest subject and instead he found himself diving into the “real stuff”.  Realistically the fact that the kids were older probably played a factor in it being a less stressful year.  We cannot actually say that we finally had a study year without the stresses of illness,   this time it was not in our direct family but with my brother Nathan … how thankful we can be that this situation turned out so differently then what the doctors originally expected.

So here’s what the guys look like after two weeks of intense exams … they should take a picture before they finished the exams to show the difference … at least here they have smiles of relief on their faces.

Now that he has received his report card Rob can truly smile … another year is behind him and the Lord willing only two more to go.  After pictures students, professors and their wives and children gathered for a potluck lunch and some social time.  Once stuffed to the brim we were on our ways for a few hours before we gathered again … this time to celebrate without the professors  :)

We met again in the evening for the annual bbq/potluck supper, fire and casual unwind time. 

 

The girls were excited to go and enjoy some time with friends.  For Marietta it would mean time together with Jessica, but the girls had also recently met Corrina and they seem to hit it off pretty good.  Jared joined the gang that evening and the four of them found themselves roaming around and getting drowned in the rain that came later on.  They tried to spare themselves the drenching by staying under the bridge … but when the rain refused to give up they finally gave in and headed back to the house … to say they were drenched when they got back would be putting it lightly

Matthew and his “brother” Evan.  While Matthew has no memory of his two month stay at Steve and Cec’s, we still seem to connect Evan as his adopted brother.  I’m not sure how much Evan remembers of that time, but regardless the two boys always seem to get along great and have a good time.

   

Supper time

Soccer Time

 

I had to laugh as I walked by and heard the conversation between Zoé and Ian.  In the first picture Zoé told Ian that he could wash the dishes (take note of the shovel in Ian’s hand).  In the second picture, Ian tells Zoé what he thinks of that idea when he says “I don’t wash dishes” and proceeds to throw the shovel to the ground.  Hmmm … I’m sure he didn’t pick that up from his father  :)

Ah, and the fun of relaxing around the fire in the evening … before the rain came rushing down and sent us to the house.

Now these were monster marshmallows … I think Matthew enjoyed his!  Aghhh what a mess!

    

    

Seven years sure sounds like a long time, especially when you embark on seven years of student-life and low-income … but wow, the years just fly by.  While two more years can even seem like a long time, we can really say “only two more years”, we’re not at the home stretch yet, but we’re getting close.  Wow, a lot has happened in the past six years (six since Rob took one year off school), when I look back to the beginning I think that maybe it really was a long time.  We moved to the area with three small children, none in school yet … and here we are with our oldest almost done Grade 5.

As you may have read in my previous post here, Rob is not working full-time this summer, but instead part-time.  Part-time trucking and some other odd-jobs as the time allows.  Rob’s number one focus this summer is (suppose to be) studying dutch.  He is taking classes two days a week, with lots of homework inbetween.  He secondary focus is on completing his library … as in inputting his books into the computer and categorizing and filing all the information on the books.  The most accurate way to do this would be by actually reading the books, or at least skim reading it to properly identify what topics are covered in the book.  And then of course there’s the many other odds and ends that come up inbetween, including the recent fun we’ve been having with vehicles … just to make sure he hasn’t forgotten all that he learned during his mechanic years.

“Only two more years to go” … for now we’ll enjoy the summer!  :)