What if . . .

we do get our visa approval in the next 6 months? What would be our next steps? To be honest, we are really hoping and waiting for this. It has been almost 3 months already since we have lodged our full application to the Canadian embassy and it's 7 months already from the time we have initially submitted our application to CIO in Nova Scotia, Canada. I really pray that their timeline of 9 to 12 months processing would be true for us. This means that Q1 of 2010 would be very crucial to us. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that we were able to submit all the necessary documents and the visa officer handling our case wouldn't give us a hard time by requiring additional documents for submission.

When mom was here for a visit last month, we were already talking about our future plans. They are really excited for us to be there with them especially the two kids. I'm sure this will lessen the "homesickness"of my dad. We already have plans for work, our careers, education of the two kids as well as our future home there. I hope we could find a real estate broker like Commercial Real Estate Kentucky who would help us get an apartment or townhouse unit just in time when we get there.

Talking about this topic really gets me excited and I hope plans will all be realized in due time. In the meantime, we're just taking things one day at a time and I try not to consciously wait for the "next letter" so that I wouldn't get disappointed. As they say, things happen when you least expected it. I really hope it does in the next few more weeks . . .

Eyeglasses anyone ? ? ?

I've been having some terrible headaches lately. I'm not sure if this is due to stress or I might need to have my eyes checked. I also wonder if my prolonged exposure to the PC causes this headaches. Because of this, I again browsed $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses to look for their new arrivals especially their Holiday Fun Eyeglasses . These eyeglasses are very economical at the same time they are durable and lightweight. I am really considering buying this if in case I would need to have glasses already. You can check out their site for you to see their various designs and I'm sure you'll have you're choice that would fit in to your budget as well.

Our baby is now a lady . . .

Our little princess is now five years old! She's growing to be a fine young lady and we are so proud of her achievement not just in school but as a big sister to her younger brother as well. I wish Mikaila all the best and happiness in life. Mommy and Daddy will always be here for you. We love you very much!

Our beloved Lola Orat . . .

has joined our Creator last September 17, 2009 . . .

She was 90 years old . . .

You'll be missed by your sons and daughter

and your dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren . . .

May you find the eternal peace and happiness

as you are now with the Father . . .

picture was taken during her 89th birthday celebration in our home in Canlubang . . .

I2C update # 6 . . .

After six months from the time we submitted our immigration application to Canada, here's the status of our application :

March 31, 2009 - Received by CIO in Nova Scotia, Canada
April 21, 2009 - Letter of approval by CIO
May 5, 2009 - We received the letter from CIO
August 12, 2009 - We submitted the complete application package to the Canadian embassy
August 18, 2009 - Acknowledgement of receipt by the Canadian embassy
September 1, 2009 - We received the AOR from the embassy

Right now, we are waiting for the next letter from the embassy. Hopefully, it'll be the medical request already. We are all praying, hoping and believing that we can have our visa before 2009 ends.

What's up with me?

So many things have happened for the past 3 months already . . . Mostly bad since there were quite a number of deaths in our family, friends and colleagues at work. But of course there are milestones already with our immigration application to Canada. I'll try to post more details on my next post. Kaila's already bugging me since she''ll be playing in our PC.

Bonding time . . .

Last June 20 to 21, we had another family bonding moment in Canyon Cove in Nasugbu, Batangas. This vacation could have been cancelled just a day before if things weren't ironed out by our agent. On June 18th, I received a phone call from Canyon Cove itself asking us if we can have a late check in. And how late is this late check-in? 7pm! ! ! Hello! We are going there to relax and have a good rest with the kids. So, I told them we are not availing of this late check-in. I asked them to call my husband cause I don't want to mediate on these matters. And these were followed by numerous texts and phone calls. It was already Friday evening when we were able to finalize that we are finally pushing through with our short vacation.

We were planning to leave as early as 6am but luckily we were able to leave the house at almost 8am already. We didn't even bother to wake up the kids cause it'll take some time before we could fix them. You'll see in the pictures that the kids are still in their pajamas when we checked-in. We were fortunate enough cause there was no traffic on the way to Nasugbu. We were there past 10am. I was keeping my fingers crossed that we could check in immediately so that hubby won't get mad with my agent cause he promised that he was able to get us a new room not affected by the late check in. True enough we got our room readily available unlike those who checked in earlier than me cause they'll be waiting for the standard check in at 3pm.

We immediately went to our room so that I could unpack our things and get ourselves ready for the swim. Since it was almost noon, we decided to go out first to have our lunch. We just ate in a nearby Andok's restaurant then bought a box of munchkins which we were able to slipped in our room. As soon as we got back, we fixed ourselves for our beach and swimming escapade. The kids were excited to play in the playground so we allowed them to play for a while. Then, we went to the beach and the kids had their first beach experience. The daddy enjoyed the waves as well and Kaila was trying to build her sand castle. JM got scared when a boy released a cupful of hermit crabs so we just decided to just go back to the pool. We all enjoyed the pool until the kids got hungry and we went back to our room to eat first. We then, went to the basketball court and played some shooting first. After a while, we went back to the pool until 6pm. We went back to our room and prepared ourselves for our buffet dinner.

The buffet dinner which costs P600 per head is not satisfying at all. There's nothing special with the food. It was not worth the price. Anyway, we won't eat there again when we go back there. After dinner, we went for a stroll and played badminton in the basketball area. It was really a bonding experience and I was able to do things which I haven't done for quite sometime already. We called it a night at around 10pm. We just stayed in the room and the kids watched a Mr. Bean marathon in the Disney Channel.

The next morning, hubby and I had our breakfast buffet while the kids are still asleep. We just opened the tv and tuned it in to Disney channel so that when the kids wake up they won't go elsewhere. True enough, when we got back Kaila was already awaked and was watching Disney Channel already. When both kids were awake, we fixed ourselves to have our final swim in the beach and in the pool. We stayed there until 11am and got back to our hotel room to fix ourselves so that we could check out already. Since it was a Sunday, we can avail of a late check out though we were ready by 1pm already.

I can say that this was another bonding moment for our family since it was only the four of us. We enjoyed the time we spent with each other and we enjoyed the whole experience. We are looking forward for our next visit to Canyon Cove already. Please see some of our pictures :

Our room . . . ( it can accommodate up to 6 adults )

The kids still in their pajamas . . .

View from our room . . .

Kaila in her favorite pose . . .

Mommy, dirty feet ko!

Kaila loves to pose . . .

JM enjoying his mini boat . . .

Kaila nakaproject pa rin . . .

Father's Day portrait . . .

Kaila & JM's first beach experience . . .

JM still enjoying the waves . . .

Still complaining with his dirty feet . . .

Kaila enjoying the swing this time . . .

JM knows how to keep the swing moving . . .

The daddy enjoying his moments with the kids . . .

JM's turn this time . . .

New swimsuit on the 2nd day . . .

Still in the mood to do more poses . . .

Mommy & JM enjoying the strong waves . . .

Sino mas pogi?

Our lifeguard forever . . .

JM looking at the girls in the pool . . .

Final shots of Canyon Cove . . .

Some more . . .

See that naughty look on his face . . .