Hey Hey Everyone. We are happy to announce the birth of Ryder Gerard Puritch (son of cousin James and Yvette Puritch) at 6:10pm PDT August 13th, 2006 weighing in at 4368 grams (9lbs 13oz.)…remember Grace Yuki was 2906 grams (6lbs 40 oz). Way to go Yvette.

Yesterday, July 16th 2006, will go down as one of the best days for Kana and I in Japan. As Ai Sugiura and Junya Fujii (our good friends who you may have seen in some of our videos) exchanged marriage vows in a western type ceremony in downtown Osaka. Ai was so beautiful…a real princess, and Junya was super cool as ever.

We were there with the whole KaToRiShiA crew. Kana and Tomo helped greet the guests while Shima and Rie really helped make the after party a smashing success, and all the girls sang a song called “Best Friends” during the reception which brought many to tears.

After the Reception they threw one of the best after parties EVER with bingo prizes including an i-pod, a trip to an Onsen (Japanese hotspring) and a trip to Okinawa. WOW!

While we have been trying our best to get done what we should have, Grace Yuki is going to be 6 month. Time flies, that is for sure. Now she weighs 7.6 kg (16.5 lbs) and holding her to sleep is a lot of work, I’m telling you. It has been about 2 weeks since she had started eating baby food. She has tried Omoyu (it’s like a rice porridge), bread porridge and mashed potato. Just like her Mom, she likes eating food and she eats just fine, so far. That is great!

I take Gracie for a walk everyday unless it rains. One day to the Shimomatsu train station, other day to a local super market. One thing I really miss about Victoria is nice & cozy coffee shops in a neighbourhood. It would have been awesome if we had one near here, then Grace & I would just stop by to grab a cup of coffee and maybe muffin or brownie, talk to people, hang out for a while and then walk home. Even though I take Grace for a walk every day, I am not sure if it is such a good idea because we really don’t have a nice side walk and the road itself is pretty narrow. Many cars, bikes and no side walk are not what we parents want to have for raising kids in. Oh well, complaining will not lead me anywhere so I guess I should try my best for Grace’s sake.

Recently Grace tends to lie on her stomach and we find she is sleeping on her stomach almost every morning. She shows her interests to a cell phone, remote controller, wind bell, fan and Craig’s corona even! I think we will need to tidy up in the house very soon so that she will not hurt herself with what we never think would be harmful.

Grace’s growing up gives us more worries, however that is nothing if you compare with joy, laugh and happiness she brings us. When I think of these last 3 or 4 months, sure it was the busiest and the most crazy time in my life. Yet, it is very easy to be forgotten because of what we get after that.

We want to wish a big congratulations to our cousin Andrea and her husband Josh on the arrival of their first child, a wonderful baby boy named Isaiah Joshua. Aunti Linda said Isaiah was born at 12:46pm PDT weighing in at 2790 grams (6 lbs 14 ozs). Andrea is doing great and the whole family is just ecstatic.

We wish them all well and can’t to see some pictures of beautiful little Isaiah. Welcome to the family.

Update 2006-JUL-06
These pictures are fresh in from Cousin Kristen of Cousin Andrea and handsome little baby Isaiah. Sure is a cutie. Congrats again Andrea and Josh.

Well the boy done went and got himself hitched to a BEAUTIFUL girl from Slovakia (in case some of you didn’t know Brian’s Dad is originally from Slovakia). We got word a couple days ago from Brian that he and Maria were married in Slovakia (I have included his email below). Way to go guys. I know everyone in Canada will look forward to meeting and seeing you in the fall. Of course for Kana, Grace Yuki and I it may be a bit longer yet before we can visit with you two.

“Maria and I are pleased to announce that on April 22, 2006 we were married in Trnava, Slovakia.

The day was perfect and the weather cooperated – 26 degrees and sunny.
80 people were in attendance and got to experience a combination of Canadian
and Slovak traditions. We look forward to returning to Canada this summer and
celebrating our marriage everyone. A reception will take place in Victoria in
late summer, or early fall. ”

The Newlyweds,
Brian and Maria Hotovy
We wish you both all the BEST in your new married life together. KANPAI!

Our little princess Gracie has been growing up. Actually I can't believe how fast she gets bigger and some of the baby clothes we got for the Christmas can't fit anymore! It is a real blessing that Grace has been growing just fine and I never can appreciate enough.

She will be 2 month old on Feb 22nd and there have been some changes with her. First of all, the time of her being awake gets longer. Secondly, she smiles or laughs looking at people or things and which means she gets to recognize what are around her. Also the reasons for her to cry has been changing, she only cried because she was hungry or wanted to have a fresh diaper before, however lately, we find that she sometimes cries for our attention or when she wants to be hold and that shows she grows.

I began to read her kids books these days. AND seems she really likes books! I succeeded to take a great picture of Grace Yuki with a beautiful smile on her face. It was taken when I read her a book called “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?” . Imagine me reading a book and trying to get a nice shot of Grace's smile with my little cell phone at the same time! It must have been a quite funny scene if anybody had looked! Yet, that is what most of the new parents would do, I bet.

Well, the bassinet we bought for Grace will be too small for her to be in sometime soon and we'd better go get something bigger.

Thanks Grace Yuki for being such a beautiful, wonderful and amazing girl! Every cry, noise, smile and laugh you make have been making your parents the happiest in the world! Also thanks Craig for your support as always. I don't think I would be able to get what I've got now without your help.

I love you both, my family.