Whitehorse

We're home... kind of. We landed back in Whitehorse just under two weeks ago and it feels fantastic to be breathing the air up here. Somehow, the two backpacks of stuff we brought down with us in August turned into a car load (driven up in our car by my brother in law Mr. Craig Adkins - kudos), 500 lbs of boxes (shipped up after being packed by dearest Becky/life organizer extraordinaire), and five suitcases (flown up with Mark, Hadley in I in what can only be described as a complete gong show at the airport). We spent a couple of days in our house before moving to a house-sit while some amazing folks (team Ontario, headed by brother-in-law Graham, with Mark Delaney and Derek Nussey) who had very generously offered to help reno our place from a house to a home got down to business. We are admittedly disheveled, we have not unpacked anything so the three of us are temporarily getting by in one of two outfits and little else. It is very much worth it though because each day when I visit the house, I am pumped at how it is being transformed. I can barely wait to move back in at the end of the week, unpack three and a half years worth of our life, get rid of everything we don't need but have hauled all over the country and start fresh. I am excited just typing the words.
Mark is doing really well. He is gaining strength every day, has almost eliminated the afternoon nap and is even able to do some physical labour. He is starting a bit of a rehab routine this week to get him back in tip top shape and put the physical detriments of all things cancer behind him. Also, his hair is starting to grow back. It is a little chia pet like yet, but the growing parts are definitely spreading.
Hadley continues to be a rock star, still sleeping through the night and spending most parts of the day smiling and charming those around her. Right now the best thing about her is her talking voice that is developing and her laugh that both she and I are figuring out how to unleash. Her worst quality... her loath of mittens - and her ears are still hairy, how long does that last?
The reunion with Carl was great. In the end he didn't reject us and was more that happy to see us. There was some crying and some leaking (those who know Carl know what that means). He and Hadley are alright with one another, not lovers not fighters. The cat is still staying with our friends Deb and Pete until our house is finished. That's likely best for everyone - when she is unsettled, everyone around her pays the price.
There have been some other noteworthy events for us. It seems it wouldn't be a blog posting without announcing that Hadley has a new cousin. My brother Seamus and his wife Hye Kyoung had a super cute little girl on March 2nd. Please meet Hannah McGuire. It's awesome. Some other not so awesome news is that on March 18, my Grandma, Beth Smith, passed away. It was peaceful and she was with all of her children and her lovely husband. My Grandma was an amazing woman, I feel lucky to have had her in my life for as long as I did. She has had a huge impact on both Mark and I and we hope to raise our daughter up to be the same sort of citizen she is.
I will leave you with a few photos, none too recent since the camera cord is somewhere buried in an unpacked box. Goodbye!

Our niece Hannah McGuire - a serious competitor for cutest baby

Hadley - all business.
My Grandma crocheted that blanket for our wedding, we bring it everywhere

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Beth

An update

It has been a while and now I keep putting off an update because I need a chunk of time to do it. Well, that hasn't happened and I don't have a chunk right now so this wee post will have to do until there is a bit more time.
We have our lives back now that the Olympics are over. Made it to some events and missed very few on t.v. Our free time before heading home was interrupted when Mark became quite sick and needed to go back into hospital for a bit. His white blood cell count became very low (like 0 low), and he got a brutal cold as a result. After some new medication, serious anti-biotics, hydration and a med change he is on the road to recovery and was released from hospital on Saturday. He is still far from 100% but is moving in the right direction at least.
We are planning to return to Whitehorse on March 8th and are mostly looking forward to it. The packing and planning that we need to think of for March (we have a home reno team arriving mid-March to help us get the house fixed up) is daunting and at times overwhelming, but there is sunshine on the other side and we are more than excited to be leaving the city for home. My friend Becky has landed in here to offer support and help with packing, it was amazing to have her here while Mark was in hospital and now that he is home and she is getting lots done it is even better.
That's the short and skinny, I will try to provide more details when I have more time. Here's a quickie of how cute Hadley is these days, sorry to the parents who were (previously) pretty sure they had the cutest baby in the world. Hope you are all well.