My Canadian Home

Recently I was asked a question that I get asked all the time...when people find out how many kids (11 of us) were in my family growing up..."What kind of house did you have?" This got me to reminiscing, so my mom sent on a bunch of pics for me to share! I lived in only one house my entire life, until I married Brian and moved to the US in June 2003. Later in 2003, my family also moved to Alberta, but still own the house. Lets take a trip down memory lane...

Dickson Hill, when it was purchased in 1977. It was previously the parsonage for the church next door. It looked like this when I was born in 1979. There were changes along the way, but no additions added until there were 6 kids!

Guess what went hand-in-hand in the good old 'one room schoolhouse' days? Churches and schools. This was the school that was on our property, beside the church, long before our home was built. Conflicting reports from the local old people...the school was either on our property or our neighbours. They used to slide down the hill in our backyard in the winter. Dickson's Hill School, Markham Township, York County, was moved to Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto, Ontario. You can go tour it!

The back of the house in the 1977-79 range. The "red deck" used to scare me. I was convinced I could fall through the cracks between the slats on the deck.

A "pink bathroom" remodel. This one is worth posting, solely because of that pic of my Dad!

In the 70's or 80's. Notice the cemetery off to the right. My Papie Kennedy (and now my Grandma K too), are buried there. We used to visit his grave all the time, and do other crazy things, like play tag in there. Needless to say, cemeteries do not spook me out:-) My very first paying job was to water the flowers on a new grave. I was 9 or 10 I think. I got enough money to buy Share Bear, my purple Care Bear. ALSO, notice the old ferris wheel, previously built by the pastor who had lived in the parsonage.

A backyard view in 2003. On a day with no clouds, you could see the CN Tower from our backyard (would be in the left corner of this pic). Notice the ferris wheel, rebuilt and operational. The stories about that thing could fill an entire post!

My very first bedroom. All ready for a girl or boy! I left this room when Brent was born, and was back into it when I was 10 years old for a few years. When my family moved in 2003, it was Kaden's room. This was the smallest room in the house. If it was yours, you didn't have to share!

Back view of house in 2010. The first addition (you can see here) put on was in about 1992 I think. It became very large! There are 7 bedrooms in this house, and a big rec room for our air hockey, pool table, and ping pong. Because of the finished basement, this house is much larger than it looks. We fit very comfortably! (approx 3600 sq ft)

Our kitchen. The house is currently being rented out (since my folks moved out west). This is not our table, we had a really big one! My Dad built our additions, and he also made all the cabinet doors, and all the trim you see throughout the house. He is very skilled! The other side of the kitchen is also completely full "floor to ceiling" cupboard doors...a large pantry!

Livingroom in 2010. (Again, renters furniture). You can see the red brick which used to be the exterior of the house...the Red Deck area! We left the brick inside 'cause it looked neat.

Entry way/mudroom in 2010. We needed lots of shoe and coat closets!

We used this area for music equipment, the renters use it as a dining area.

"Old" Livingroom in 1997, it was off the kitchen, but since the addition was built with the super large livingroom it didn't get used much.

Front of house in 2003. The 2 car garage addition (making it a 3 car garage) was added in 2000 I believe.

Back of house in 2003. The last bedroom I ever had in this house until I moved out in 2003 was the one that had those blue double doors (side of grey addition) going into it. I shared it with my sister Lauryn. The other walkout (Patio door), was coming from the rec room.

Front walkway leading to the old front door. You can see the church beyond in the background.

Side of garage and walkway into the main entrance in 2003.