A post in another thread caused me to notice that I think it was 8 years ago today (or maybe tomorrow) that this expat adventure started.

It has, of course, been a roller-coaster of emotion My OH has family here: when we arrived her parents were in Montreal, brother was local to us in Oakville. In-laws moved to be nearer their kids as various health issues became rather serious; M-i-L sadly died three years ago but F-i-L is now in fine health and lives just round the corner. We arrived with one child and a second imminent; we've since added a third to the brood.

I've been able to wangle the occasional trip to the UK through work, so have popped in to see my parents and siblings every now and then; this summer we took the whole family over for a vacation for the first time. That was an interesting mix of emotions: very much a visit to a foreign country for the kids, somewhat mixed feelings for me as it's almost certainly the last (and only, for the younger two) time my kids will meet their paternal grandfather, who is in rapidly declining health. It was lovely for my parents to have their children and grandchildren in the same place at the same time, but I think my mother in particular was somewhat overcome by the poignancy of the occasion

Still, if nothing else that trip confirmed for us that Canada is now unequivocally "home." We live in a very welcoming neighbourhood, have established some strong friendships, are involved in all sorts of community stuff, and have absolutely no intention of moving anywhere else any time soon. Hurrah.

I am a big fan of your posts...though some make me jealous...I love your car: almost as much as I love my 2 CV!

I am happy to hear your success...it gives us all something to aim for! Very many more happy years! Very best regards?

Happy Canniversary, so lovely to hear that you have found a home, rather than we now live in x town and its ok

Congrats on your 8 years. You seem really happily settled.

Lovely update - well done all of you. Feeling like you are home - can't get much better than that!

8 years? it seems longer to me Congratulations, and commiserations. The ageing (grand)parent thing is the downside for us too. My kids never really got to know their grandmother, and granddads health insurance premium means we will have to save up to visit next year for his 80th.

Yes, it's kind of weird and a bit conflicting... my dad's had Parkinson's for many years now, and the inevitable physical deterioration associated with the disease is accelerating. What's quite a bit more distressing is the progressive onset of Parkinsonian dementia, which in turn has led to a whole host of other secondary complications, and made travel even further out of the question than it had been previously. Even getting out of the house for medical appointments is a significant challenge these days.

My mother, who is an otherwise hale and hearty soul, is spending all of her time and huge amounts of energy looking after him (ably assisted by my younger sister, who lives half an hour away, and various other volunteers and agencies). There's a small part of me that, rather guiltily, hopes his terminal decline is not too prolonged so that my mother is still fit and well enough to regain some enjoyment of life (and possibly travel to Canada again to visit) after he's gone.

8 years, you got here one month ahead of us. We all survived.

Seems it's all worked out well and been a good 8 years for you

'Grats, I guess Oak.
Another fanboy of your posts..