Sam's Birthday

Two's company, Three's a family. . .
Despite a snow storm in Vancouver, we are delighted to announce the birth of our baby boy:

Sam Robert Leonard Shears

Arrived: 27 Feb 2011 at 7.35am (PST) and Weighed: 7 pounds, 4 ounces
Nancy and I are proud new parents today and thank everyone for their best wishes.

Four Years Today. Wow!

Today (18th Feb) is the anniversary of our engagement. It was four years ago today that Nancy agreed to marry me and become my gorgeous wife. The setting was Hong Kong harbour and the champagne tasted fantastic.

Also Happy Birthday to my Mum today - many happy returns!

The Bun in the Oven is cooking

Nancy has officially finished work now at Futureshop and is is in the final stages of the pregnancy. The bump is nearly at 38 weeks and the due date of 2nd March is rapidly approaching. According to the last doctor's appointment the baby is currently weighing around 6.5 pounds, but still time to go.

We remain open to suggestions on baby names....

Very Funny Video

Check out this video clip.

I thought this was very funny and cute, especially with the star wars theme.

Muppets having sex!

Yesterday, Nancy, myself and Wendy went to see the stage show called Avenue Q. This was a birthday present to me and I didn't have a clue what to expect - all I knew that muppets were involved.

Turns out that Avenue Q's unique presentation requires substantially more suspesion of disbelief by audience members than normal: The cast consists of three human characters and a bunch puppet characters who interact as if human, Sesame Street-style. The puppets are animated and voiced by actor/puppeteers who are present, unconcealed, onstage, but remain "invisible" relative to the storyline.

The characters face real-world problems; they use abundant profanity in dialogue and musical lyrics; there are episodes of "full puppet nudity" (and puppet sex); and many songs and sub-plots address decidedly adult themes, such as racism, pornography, homosexuality and schadenfreude. We all really enjoyed the show but this was certainly not Sesame Street for kids.

Attached is a link to a online video for a taster Avenue Q Video

First Baby Related Post

Admittedly it is not as exciting as a Spork, but at least our first baby purchase of a stroller (aka a buggy) will keep Anthony's mind entertained for a little while. I have to say the easiest part was buying the thing, putting it together was a major mind-bending task. Thanks to Nancy and a YouTube video it is now ready to go.

Nancy is at 34 weeks and counting!

Heading Back to Work

My weeks holiday is coming to an end and I head back to work on Wednesday, however, I thought I would share some positive news which makes my role a little better in 2011. Some of you are aware at the end of 2010 Mercedes-Benz Canada and BMW Canada were dueling for the sales lead in the premium car market and for most of the last decade BMW has prevailed every year. Not anymore... MB Canada became the country’s most popular luxury car company after edging perennial leader BMW Group Canada.

Mercedes-Benz sales jumped 15.6 per cent to a record 28,065 vehicles last year from 2009 while BMW volumes climbed 10 per cent to 27,202 in the same period. So working most of my birthday contributed in some small way to this success and we gained an extra day of vacation from the company.

Only problem now is that we start all over again now!

The Adventure Begins.....

Emily and Kris have announced plans for their 2011 adventure to travel the globe. Starting at the end of May, their plan is to travel across South East Asia for approximately 3 months, then a couple of months in Australia and New Zealand and then Vancouver to stay with us, before finally travelling across the states to Ross and Laura and co in time for Christmas. One last adventure in the New Year will be to travel up to Niagara Falls before heading back to the UK in February 2012!!

Inspired by our CodenameWFNS blog, Emily and Kris have created their own blog to keep everyone updated and informed of their trip. Check it out for all the details. http://jumpedupholiday.blogspot.com/

We are wishing them every success for the trip and are envious of all the fantastic experiences that lay ahead of them.

Whistler Winter Wonderland

We arrived in Whistler late yesterday for a few days of relaxation in the winter wonderland. As everyone probably knows Whistler was the location of the 2010 Winter Olympics. On my first day on the slopes I came across these Olympic rings on one of the ski runs.

Time now for a hot tub.

New Years Day on Cypress Mountain

For New Years Day this year we decided to head up to Cypress Mountain to do some snow-shoeing with a couple of friends. The conditions were perfect, snow everywhere, crisp fresh mountain air with clear blue skies. We wondered along the various snowshoe trails for a couple of hours, including a pit-stop for hot chocolate. This exercise was followed up by some brunch in Horseshoe Bay.

This was certainly a more sedate and enjoyable activity, compared with last years New Years Day which involved the Polar Bay swim in the pouring Vancouver rain. Although we did miss Anthony!

Mr Mean or Mr Stingy???

It turns out that Mr. Mean doesn't exist in Canada!

As the photo shows over here, there is some impostor called Mr Stingy.... not the same.

Merry Christmas to All

Just a quick blog post to wish everyone we know a Merry Christmas. Nancy and I finish work on Thursday 23rd December and head straight for the 7pm ferry to Vancouver Island. We will be spending the Christmas weekend with Wendy and Scott M.

We wish you and your family a happy festive season!

On a side note - good luck to the fantasy footy teams over the busy festive period. My team is only 2 points from the top of the league (come on Kris, you're lagging behind quite a bit now!)

A 'ickle Christmas Tree

Last weekend, we put up and decorated our Christmas tree, which is displayed in all its glory in the photo.

Let's just say that its not all about size! Small and beautiful.

First NFL Game in Seattle

I have been a bit slack when it comes to updating the blog recently as I was away in the UK having a great time and then a busy November month end with work, followed by preparations for Christmas and the baby training in early December. Anyway, no excuses I am back writing for the blog and just for Kris I thought I would write about my first experience of a live NFL game.

On Sunday 4th December, Scott Marks and I were up early and met at 7am to race across the border to get down to Seattle. The Seattle Seahawks were playing the Caroline Panthers and the Seahawks are having quite a good season with their new head coach - Pete Carroll. I am a big sports fan, but I've never really got into NFL football despite its huge popularity in North America and I was highly disappointed by CFL (the Canadian version), when we went to a BC Lions game last year. Back to the story, we crossed the border in good time and found a bar near the stadium, for a early beer and brunch. Half way through our meal the whole place was interrupted by the Seahawks own drum band, called the Blue Thunder. This was a fantastic noise that got all the fans and locals up for the game - great atmosphere. We then wandered down to the Stadium and tried to locate our seats, which turned out to be up with the pigeons in the rafters. I don't think we could have been any higher without requiring oxygen, despite this we did have a decent view of the pitch.

In terms of the game itself, I didn't fully understand everything that was going on but enough to know that Seahawks were rubbish in the first two quarters. The score at half time was 14 - 3 to the Panthers, then the third quarter happened and the Seahawks came out showing some fight. The turn around starting with an interception touch down and the points just kept coming with the final score being 31 - 14 to the Seahawks. The result was certainly what the fans wanted and it was first rate experience for myself.

Who Says Parenting is difficult?

I arrived safely in the UK on Friday afternoon, despite my flight being a hour delayed from Vancouver. On arrival I headed to Neil's house and was thrown in at the deep end as a make-shift babysitter, as Neil had to go to the airport with Lotta.

As you can see from the photo, everyone survived and nothing was broken. Who says that parenting is difficult?

The next couple of days have been great catching up with a variety of family members. More fun to follow....

England Home Coming. Wheels Up!

My trip to the UK is almost upon us..... my flight leaves Vancouver at 8.3opm and lands at 1.40pm on Friday. Currently I am sitting at the airport in anticipation.

Look out Friday Night Club, we are overdue a reunion!

See you all on the other side