On Friday, February 3rd, Lorraine and I celebrated 33 years of marriage.

We spent Friday and Saturday up in Ottawa. We had a terrific time.

The folks at the Fairmont provided us a complimentary upgrade to the presidential suite — a wonderful and unexpected treat. The team at the Fairmont always treat us so well which is part of the reason why we book into their properties whenever we can.

We had a number of events planned in Ottawa. We dropped by to say hello to the Governor General. Stephen was good enough to join us for part of the tour. He is such a Canadian guy that Stephen.

We then made our way to the Canadian Aviation Museum to check out all of the aircraft. First time that I had been to this museum. Thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

We dropped by the parliament buildings later in the evening.

The following day we spent the morning skating the Rideau Canal.

I still find it hard to believe that we have been married for 33 years. The time really has gone by so quickly.

I am a very blessed husband to have such a wonderful wife.

At the end of each year, I go through a process of revisiting my long-term goals and objectives within the context of my personal values. I first put these values together back in 1989:

I love God with all my heart, mind and strength
I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I show my love for the Lord by living his laws. I pray often, expressing my appreciation and love for all that the Lord has given to me. I demonstrate my love by the life I lead and by my untiring effort to serve Him in whatever capacity I am called.

I love my neighbour as myself
I recognize and accept the fact that all men and women are equal in the sight of God. I never do anything in any way to harm or destroy the self-worth of another human being. As far as I am able, I aid all people in their needs.

I am an outstanding husband and father
I love my family and I build a close relationship with my wife and children by showing care, respect and kindness. I take sufficient time to help each realize his or her maximum potential and self-fulfillment. I help my wife and children in their spiritual, intellectual, social, professional and financial needs.

I foster intellectual growth
I develop myself with a depth and breadth of reading and thought. I read regularly each day. I select my reading from the best books and articles of the day. I develop my musical skills in guitar, bass, percussion and my audio engineering skills.

I am honest in all things
I am honest with myself first recognizing that to be honest with other people requires that I first be honest with myself. I listen to my conscience on all decisions.

I maintain a strong and healthy body
I eat, sleep and exercise in such a manner as to maintain a high level of energy.

I value my time
I manage my time to gain control of the events in my life. I manage what I do according to my values.

I am financially independent
I have developed an income that will be present whether I am capable of working or not. My family’s needs are taken care of in such a way that they will never be without food, shelter, transportation or education.

I listen well
I listen carefully to all input, both positive and negative, weigh it and then respond with respect and love.

I have order in my life at all times
I maintain a sense of order in all aspects of my life. My physical surroundings are always clean, organized and structured so that they bring calm into my life.

The new year provides me an opportunity to think about what is truly important in life against my personal values. And it also affords me an opportunity to do a reality check on how well I am doing against these values. In other words: what should I be doing differently, or better, in the new year.

My goals are broken out into six broad categories:

• Family Goals
• Spiritual Goals
• Intellectual Goals
• Physical Goals
• Financial Goals
• Career Goals

When I initially thought about the new year in 2012, I looked at the easy goals. The ones that can be measured and achieved without too much effort. Savings and investments, exercise, reading lists, work. Those goals will come easily to me. The harder ones involve family and faith.

I love my family. And, being a Dad, I tend to think I am doing my job by providing for my family. By making time for my family. But lately I have come to realize that I am not doing enough to show my family how much I love them by caring for them. And by caring I mean being always patient, always understanding and always kind. Helping them to achieve their potential.

Nous sommes alles patiner hier a les galeries de la capitale et c’etait tres amusant!

Matthew has had no choice but to jump in to the Quebec culture.

Although it was much easier to appreciate the food particularly when we arrived for lunch at Le Petit Chateau.

Chocolat chaud, soupe aux pois et les crepes. Crepes filled with maple butter. Incroyable!

Life is good!

My daughter and her family arrived safely yesterday. We had a second Christmas. A few photos from the day.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas.

Here are a few shots from our Christmas morning.

In our household, we set up a pre-gift area for stocking stuffers. This year, the stockings came with a few larger boxes.

Our youngest son waited patiently for the start of our gift giving. Patience, Matthew, patience.

What a surprise! There was a fully automatic nerf gun in that big box.

We headed over to the Christmas tree and began the process of opening our gifts.

Lorraine’s role is to distribute the gifts and my role is to photograph the event.

Santa was good to our family this year. What I am most looking forward to is Christmas dinner which will take place later today once my daughter and her family arrives.

Clara seemed to enjoy Butternut Squash after she worked through the first taste. An absolutely wonderful week-end with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.