Messed Up Family Secrets!!!

So last night I had the "pleasure" of finding out a deep dark family secret. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Nick has heard my many thoughts and comments on the issue...and suggested I blog about it. So here it goes. Pay attention closely because I am going to try and make this as unconfusing as possible...if it is possible. lol
So while talking to my Mom last night and about wedding plans...we got on the topic of me walking down the aisle. Now most of you know that my Dad passed almost 2 years ago and as much as I wish he was here to do so, its just not the case. I was debating with the idea of walking down alone, or having my Grandad (my Dad's dad) walk me down the aisle. Well it was at this time that my mom said..."there's something I have to tell you before you go on any further" I told her to continue...and it was then that she let me know that the man I have always known as Grandad...is not technically my Grandfather. So let me try and break this down for you. My Grandad(well who I know as Grandad), his name is Larry Oliver. He met my Grandmother Muriel (my Dad's mom) during World War II and they were married shortly after. They had a mutual friend from the war name Walt Donkin who was going through a rough patch in his life, so they offered to have him stay at their house. Now my Dad has 2 brothers(both older) and 2 sisters (1 older, and 1 younger) who all grew up knowing this man as Uncle Walt because he was such a close family friend. Once my grandparents divorced...my Grandmother remarried "Uncle Walt" and Uncle Walt now because my dad and his sibling's step father. And to us grandkids he was known as Grandpa Waltie, but he never took the place of our Grandad. Now Grandpa Waltie passed away when I was 2...and my loving Grandad is still kicking at 89. Ok so theres some background info for ya. But back to the story. Well the beans were spilled to my Dad about who his father was well he was also discussing wedding information with his family. While discussing invitations and how it would read "son of Larry Oliver" good old Auntie Jean piped up and said..."well you can't have that on the invitations...Larry isn't your father, Walt is". After my Dad had punched a few holes in the wall the news settled with him and he got the full scoop. Larry Oliver who I know as Grandad and my dad grew up knowing (and thinking) was his dad is the father of my uncle Iain and aunt Carolyn. And "uncle Walt" or who we knew as Grandpa Waltie is the father of my Uncle Brian, Auntie Sandy and my Dad. Which leaves Grandpa Waltie as my biological Grandfather....talk about messed up! This post sounds like one big Maury episode. My Dad never acknowledge Walt as his dad...and Larry remained his father figure and who he referred to as Dad. My Dad never wanted to share any of this with us kids...so we were the last to find out in the family. Some of the questions that I have drew up in my head are:
1) My family isnt really as big as I think it is
2) My last name really shouldn't be Oliver---and were fooling everyone at the big reunions lol
3) I lied on all my family history reports--and my family medical history
4) Thank god my las name isnt Donkin! LOL
I like to think I have a good attitude with all this drama I just found out. Because either way...Grandad IS my Grandad, My Uncle is STILL my uncle, My Aunt is STILL my Aunt and my cousins will ALWAYS be my cousins...and I love them all dearly!Regardless!!

The Ball is Rolling!

So I just wanted to let everyone know that our wedding plans are starting to come together and we have set a date. We will be getting married May 1st 2010 at the Manor in Kettleby. May 2010 does seem pretty far but they were offering an amazing package and May 1st was the last available date for this promotion...they were booked solid. It also gives us lots of time to plan. So both the ceremony and reception will be held here. This is the only picture that they would let me take from the website so to get a better idea you can check it out at http://www.bypeterandpauls.com/themanor/index.php

Its beautiful there:) Im so excited and just can't wait for the day to come!!

Wonderland!

On Saturday, Nick and I met up with Thomas and Megan for a day of fun at Wonderland. The weather didn't look promising but the rain held out until we left. We were there for a good 4 hrs or so and manage to get in lots of rides because the lines were so short. We even rode the Behemoth! I must say that I wasn't scared until we actually started to go up the hill...its a lot taller than it looks! But by the end of it, it turned out to be my favourite ride and I'm sure Nick would agree. I would ride it over and over again if I could. Thomas might not feel the same way though. I think it was the mighty Behemoth that set off his motion sickness. He was a trooper though, and still went on a few rides afterwards even though he felt pretty crappy. We then hit up the game stands. Nick of course wanted to show off and play the game where you hit the huge sledgehammer on the target, and if you light up the tower and reach 100 at the top, you win a prize. Well of course with all his gym training this was easy for him and he took home the prize no problem. His prize was a 6ft tall stuffed Batman!! This guy is huge, and just happens to be one of Mikayla's favourite superheroes. We then headed over to ring toss. Nick and Thomas bought 40 rings for 5 bucks...and he was nice enough to let me toss a few. Somehow a managed to get a ring on the bottle with the my last toss. Complete fluke, I didn't even look where I was throwing so it took a while for me to clue in that I won. This prize was a 7ft long stuffed clown fish. Nick got the job of carrying him back out to the van...he said he weighed a good 10-15 pounds. So Mikayla scored on Saturday that's for sure! We couldn't wait to see her reaction when we picked her up from my mom's place...we kept it a complete surprise and even buckled Batman into the seat beside hers. The 4 of us then headed out for a great dinner at Kelsey! What an awesome end, to an awesome day!We all agreed we have to do this more often:)

Where did the time go?

Yesterday was Mikayla's first day of junior kindergarten and it is still so hard to believe!

Mikayla was soo excited, but I was dreading the day. She only had to attend in the afternoon so she could get to know the routines, classmates and her teacher before her first full day which is Sept 8th. So in the morning Mikayla packed up her backpack which consisted of Ickie (her favourite stuffed toy), and her lunch bag (which was empty, but she managed to fill the space with 3 old cell phones). She also picked out her clothes and spent most of the morning looking in the mirror. Once everything was set and ready to go, Mikayla and I went out for lunch. After lunch we started to walk towards her school. I would find myself looking down at her with her little backpack skipping along, and my eyes would fill with tears. It seemed like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. On the way to school my mom had phoned to wish Mikayla luck on her first day. Mikayla's response was " I can't talk Nanny, I'm going to kindergarten and I'm going to be late" and she hung up the phone. Once the school was insight, Mikayla automatically let go of my hand. This crushed me! She wouldn't let me take any pictures of her before she went into class but I managed to snap a few after class. When we got into the kindergarten drop off and pick up area, she left my side and made sure there was atleast 10 feet inbetween us. Her teacher then came out to greet everyone and round up the class....she grabbed her teacher's hand and not once did she look back. Once she was out of sight, I began to shed some tears....I can't believe how time just blows by! And Mikayla not needing me by her side didn't help the situation.