John's brother got married a couple of weeks ago. Just wanted to post some pics for family of that event as well as the open house this past weekend.

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Progress Report

*The print that I ordered awhile back finally arrived. It is bigger than I thought it would be, so I'll have to wait until I have a good frame before I can display it.

*We dropped off the kids' passport applications this week, and are now breathing a sigh of relief. That's out of the way, and the process was a lot simpler this time around. Bonus!


*Jessica has croupe for the second time this winter. I'm thinking that maybe I'm not doing something right with her. Today though, despite the fact that she fell asleep standing up, she is doing much better:) Again...progress.


*Attended an open house last night for my Brother-in Law and his new wife. They are such a stunning couple together, and it was a great time. I even ran into some old friends which is always fun. I love having a reason to get in to the City. Welcome to the family Katherine!


*I tried a new dish this week. Bruschetta Chicken. So delicious. I'm thinkin I should post the recipe for this one. The best part about it is it is so EASY!


*Sam's vocabulary has changed in just the last few days, and I'm really excited. He will try to repeat anything now, and though we still here mostly grunts...more and more those grunts are resembling actual words. He has even started saying prayers and insists on being asked each meal to be the one to bless the food. It's a "I'm thankful for my head...nose...dada" kind of a prayer but it works.

Time is flying by and life is good.
And that is our report!

One Week in

It is hard to believe that we are already one week into the New Year. New years eve was a blast. My family all came down and we spent the evening at Jewel's house, eating...playing games... eating some more and just enjoying their company.

We had a feast of food and the kids all loved getting to actually "choose" for once what they put on their plate. Bacon wrapped sausages, sushi, chicken wings, fruit, veggies....we ate a tonne! My neice Ava introduced us to a game called TILES, that is a favorite with her family. It was such a great game and the perfect way to practice spelling with kids. Not that Ava needed the practice-she can hold her own when it comes to spelling!



Jessica has been climbing stairs for awhile so we decided to show her the art of climbing down the stairs...safely. She caught on fast and spent most of her time going up and down!


The next morning we all went to the local Junior High School to play in the gym. All the kids needed was a little bit of open space to have a good time.


I enjoyed running around a bit and brushing up on some very rusty basketball skills. I think I did pretty good...against some two year olds atleast:)




Since the New Years bash with my family, we have kept busy, still lucky to have John home with us all week long.



There have been a couple of messy faces this past week! Still though...they are both so darn cute!




One of the large trees lining our property cracked causing one part of our tree to hang dangerously. Sadly we had to remove that one large limb taking off half the tree. This wind down here can really do some damage at times!!



With the school break being two weeks long I took advantage of the fact that John was here to watch the kids. I borrowed the books Twilight and New Moon from my sister in-law. Who thought vampires and werewolves could make for such an interesting read? I think I neglected and ignored most things around the house this past week. It has been so long since I just sat to read...it was fantastic. The only problem is I haven't gotten to read the third book in this series and when I went to the library it was out. I'm number 29 on the waitlist. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Does Bella marry the vampire, or go back to the werewolf? Wait...on second thought, don't tell me:)


John had several of his Brothers visit over the holidays and that was all he seemed to need. They played with their remote control airplane things...often, and tried several different daredevil stunts in the process. (but I won't go into that) One night though, they decided to attach some LED lights to the planes and fly them at dusk. John came back thrilled that it actually looked like a real plane in the sky! I hate to admit it-but it did look pretty cool.




Anyways that was our first week of the new year summed up! Oh wait, we also enjoyed visiting with John's grandparents in Stirling and also seeing some of our good friends from Sparwood. There now you have it. Fun week.

On Monday, John will head back to the school, Abby returns to pre-school, and normal life will resume. It was a great start to the NEW YEAR. We wish you all the best as well!!!!

Nikki's New Year Challenge

I have spent the week contemplating a challenge that Nikki threw out to everybody. The thought of choosing a personal theme instead of a bunch of New Years resolutions seemed both refreshing and exciting. What would my focus be? What did I need to improve on more than anything else? What do I want out of life? What am I willing to give up in order to achieve it? What would I be required to do?

All of these questions ran through my mind as I thought of the WORD that would become a part of my life this year. Many words came to mind. Real... Improve... Chill. All things that I need to do (and be) a little bit better, yet none of those words carried enough excitement or motivation to really cause me to want to focus on it for twelve whole months.

So here it is Nikki, and anyone else who choses to do this. My word for 2008 is SAVOR. Synonyms of this word include: appreciate, delight in, experience, feel, gloat, know, like, luxuriate in, partake, relish, revel in, sample.

As soon as I thought of this word it seemed to speak volumes for how I want to be. I want to be happier, play with my kids more, laugh, relish life and all the good things about my life. I want to like myself a little more. I want to be grateful. I want to slow down, and at times even stop...breathe...relax. Worry a little (or a lot) less about what others think about me. I want to sample new things, make new friends and take time to enjoy. But not just enjoy, that didn't seem like enough. I want to savor it all. My faith, my marriage, my kids, every memory I have, I plan to appreciate it all this year. Revel in it...SAVOR!

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, than a good marriage

Today John and I celebrated our six year anniversary. John's Dad, two of his brothers, their wives and two kids came over to babysit for us this evening. Now that may seem like overkill as far as babysitting goes, but they obviously know Sam. The more hands...the better eh;) We loved our semi-annual trip out without the kids. Thanks everyone who watched our little ones.

John and I have often reflected on this past year and we honestly don't know if we will ever have another year where we have experienced so much change. It has at times, been a wee bit stressful. A new baby, a move, a new career, (a VERY busy new career), as well as the purchase of our first home and all the work that entails. On top of that, we each experienced the death of one of our parents and the pain that comes along with that. This year has flown by, and at times we have felt like we were barely hanging on.
However I cannot think of another person on this earth that I would have wanted to go through this year (or eternity for that matter) with more than John.

I ordered a peice of art awhile back and it has not yet arrived, though I was hoping it would come in time for me to give it to John today. It is a simple print titled Bridge over Troubled Water (by Steven Mitchel) and I just love it. Isn't it just so soothing to look at. Perhaps that is why I felt so inclined to get it for John this year. That is what John has been to me. Strong, dependable, and he always manages to ensure that we are headed in the right direction in life. Thanks for being the "bridge" in our family; the one that keeps us warm and safe from whatever is going on around us ...oh yeah, and thank you for sometimes letting me walk all over you. I love you.

Happy Anniversary John. I can't WAIT for 6 more (X 8 or so)!!!!!!!!

For Christmas

santa brought us a new camera! How nice of him eh:) We've been snapping pics of everything since, trying to figure it out. Here is one of my favorite pics of sam so far.


Christmas was nice. We enjoyed seeing family, John's brother got married, and the best part of all...John has two weeks off. He is so fun to have around when he isn't worried about tests, and lessons to prepare, and marking. I sometimes find myself thinking about how much I love "Holiday John".

We sure are looking forward to a new year!!!

Abby's funnies for the day

It is a well known fact that Abby can say some pretty funny things. John and I are always crackin up at things she says. The best part is that she has no idea she has even said something funny, they are just normal thoughts and questions from her cute little brain. Two of these Abby moments from today:



Example 1: John was goofing around and was pretending that their was a guest at our front door. As soon as he closed the door, Abby asked:

ABBY: "who was it Dad?"
JOHN (pretending it was Santa): "Oh, just a little weird guy in a red coat."
Abby (after thinking for a bit): "well...why is Sam wearing a red coat?"

Example 2: After Abby's bath tonight she came out of her room (having gotten her jammies on) and I noticed her sock was bulging with things stuffed inside of it.
"Look mom! I filled my sock with these very special things...for good luck!" She took a couple of steps and then said, "But when I walk, it kinda hurts, ...so maybe I'll carry them in my hand for EXTRA good luck."

I love her head.

Not our finest hour...

as far as Christmas Crafts go!




No worries though. Despite the awful mess this turned out to be, the kids enjoyed every sloppy second of it.

Here is a pic of some of the other baking we've done.
We decided to call these cupcakes "Holiday Lights" cupcakes!

Speaking of holiday lights we better start driving around to enjoy some of them in this town. Christmas is coming up FAST!!

Visit from the North Pole...

So Santa stopped in for a visit yesturday. Abigail was thrilled to go and see him, but the whole experience left me a little bewildered.

What is it about kids that makes them change their minds on you. Abby has had two things she has said she wants. 1) A horse with a feather on it. (sounds abstract...but I found one!) 2) A princess snow globe. (Abby LOVEs snowglobes). Not only has she wanted them but she has at times prayed for them, ... written to Santa asking for them, AND she's promised she'd be good forever if she got them... (you know how it is, you were like that once to:)

So here I am, having gotten her the two things she has consistently wanted more than anything else, and thinking I'm pretty darn amazing for doing so. I had high hopes of her being able to express her wish to Santa and then seeing on Christmas Day how "Santa" made that happen for her. That would have been fun. But she climbs up on Santa's knee and what does she ask for? ...A Rainbow Light. WHAT IS A RAINBOW LIGHT? Officially pulling my hair out here!! It's not looking like I'll make her wish come true this year. I'll have to wait until her ability to make decisions is a little more concrete, and she really knows what she wants:)


What was I thinking? A horse and a snowglobe! That was SOOO last week.

snowy day

Don't you just love when this happens. When your little one has been so busy she just can't stay awake for one second longer. (or perhaps she just got so bored of waiting for her mom to come and get her...whichever)
She's probably just exhausted from all the shovelling that I HAVE HAD to do. :) We got a major dump of snow yesturday. Hopefully it will make for some good snowmen later on.





Abby made this cute craft yesturday at pre-school. Where do people get these ideas? No Really...where do you get good ideas? I'd like to know.

DONE!!!!!!!

We are officially finished our Christmas shopping! Hurray!!! Right down to the kids stocking stuffers...it's all here. Aside from the baking we want to deliver still, the holidays are looking pretty laid back and easy. Feels good.

Another thing we completed yesturday: We watched our final episode of M*A*S*H- a personal favorite of mine. We have bought all 11 seasons, and for the past 5 1/2 years John and I have spent our spare time watching each episode that ever aired. We watched the final one yesturday and I'm wondering...now what will we do?

Santa School and other events of today

Tonight Abby and I went to watch one of my neices perform with the CES junior girls choir. Ava did such a great job and those girls were so stinkin cute singing Christmas songs, all dressed up. Nice work Ava! My favorite song was "Holiday Lights!!"

Other events of today was one of many Christmas parties that I get to attend this year. Sweet! I'm averaging 2 turkey dinners a week right now. Gotta love it.

Abby is fascinated with the whole "Santa" thing and seems to be a little fixated on his elves. She is very interested in what elves do exactly. I'm not sure what to tell her. The funny thing is though she keeps calling them "students." A typical conversation between us goes like...
Abby: "Mommy? Does santa's students know how to fix the toys?"
Me: "Abby remember they are Elves..."
Abby: "Oh ..yeah...right I forgot. Do they know how?" To which I proceed to explain to her that Santa has taught his elves very well. It just makes me laugh to hear her call them students.

Clearly, she is the daughter of a school teacher:)

The search...

Christmas shopping has begun!
This time last year I had all of the Christmas shopping done already. Not only done, but wrapped...signed (by Santa of course:)...and hidden away. Not this year. I wouldn't consider myself a scrooge in any way but this whole "gift" thing this year has been a tad more stressful then I thought it would be. What is wrong with me? Could it be that I'm not as obsessive compulsive as I once was? I sure hope not. I've always taken pride in my ability to be prepared...weeks and weeks in advance. Maybe I'm just learning, (now that I'm all grown up) that there is more to Christmas then just gifts. Maybe though, I've yet to find that perfect thing for those that I love. I feel a little lost as I search for that "Gift" that will make my kids' year.

I never go Christmas shopping without thinking about my favorite Christmas 23 years ago. My siblings remember this year well. My mom was ill. Together her and my Dad had decided that they would not purchase a single thing for us but instead, they each would make us something. My mom made us all matching pajamas. My Dad set to work building something. ...something big. For weeks and weeks our basement was "off limits", while my Dad labored on our gifts. We could hardly wait to see what it was. On Christmas morning we woke up and went downstairs to find the most beautiful playset I had ever seen. I still have not found a playset that would match this one. It took up an entire room. This playset was big, it had everything, real dials, faucets, a dishwasher, food...the works! My sisters and I played in that room for years, (with the odd invation from my brother and some of his He-Man.)

I recall very little about that time in my life...but I do remember the hours spent with my sisters in that little room. Perhaps that is the gift my Dad wanted to give most of all. As he knew we would be losing our mother, perhaps what he wanted to give us, more than anything else, was the ability to just...play. To be kids. Even now this playset occupies a room at my sisters house and all our girls love it and use it as much as we did. Now that was a gift.

So as I contemplate what to give my own kids now, and when I get tempted to just buy "anything" off the shelf or think it doesn't matter, because Christmas isn't about presents anyways; I'm reminded of that year, and I'm inclined to think that maybe Christmas can be a little bit about "presents", IF we find the right one.

So my search continues. Luckily, if I fail to find something great for my precious three, I can always take comfort that they do know about the greatest gift of all. Yes, the real meaning of Christmas. Thank goodness for that.

The best half of "US"

I recently got tagged. Since I failed to respond the last time I was "tagged" and seeing that these questions are mostly about my "better half" I figured I'd give it a go.



What is your husband's name: John

How long have you been married: 6 years in December

How long did you date before you got married: 9 months (engaged 2 months)

Who eats more: John by a long shot. He tends to LOAD up his plate and then before beginning to eat he sits there and marvels that "ALL THAT food" is about to fit into HIS stomach.

Who said I love you first: John

Who is taller: John is a bit taller.

Who sings better: John by a long shot. Hopefully there are no more questions about who does what better. John trumps me every time.

Who is smarter: Drat! see above.

Whose temper is worse: Oh here, finally something I'm better at.

Who does the laundry: Me...

Who does the dishes: Me...

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: With three kids, under the age of 5, I really can't say. By morning, none of us wake up where we started.

Who pays the bills: Me...

Who cooks dinner: Me...

Who drives when you are together: John. But I'm great at telling him HOW to drive.

Who is more stubborn: I'm sure it is definitely without a doubt...John. That's not even up for debate.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: I have yet to be wrong, so, hard to say.


Whose parents do you see the most: john's dad is the only one of our parents who is still living. We love him tonnes, and try to see/speak to him daily.

Who kissed who first: John kissed me. ON the FIRST DATE!! (scandalous)

Who asked who out first: John asked me out

Who proposed: John

Who is more sensitive: I'm not very sentimental but I am the most emotional. lol. John is pretty sensitive and he definitely is the one who has the most "tact."

Who has more friends: There is not a person alive who doesn't love John as soon as they meet him.

Who wears the pants in the family: I think that is a nice way of asking "who is the most bossy." In that case...me.

Where did you meet your husband: I was YSA President in Edmonton. John moved up from BYU and to put it mildly he had a few "recommendations for improving the dances." He drafted a VERY lengthy letter addressed to the YSA committee, sighting several concerns along with many suggestions as to what we could do about it. I thought his ideas were lame-o until I actually met him. His dimples sucked me in big time. Suddenly his ideas were amazing. And of course, I would need his help implementing every one of them. Ha ha probably the only year when the YSA held structured dance classes prior to the dances.

What was the first thing you said to your husband: I don't recall. Nothing memorable obviously.

Where was your first date: At his house. John had to introduce me to the Star Wars Trilogy.

Where was your first kiss: At his house. First date...star wars...well before Luke Skywalker even joined up with Hans Solo and Chewbaca!

Where did you get engaged: At my favorite fishing spot along the North Saskatchewan River.

Where were you married: In Vegas! Jokes

Where was the Honeymoon: a ritzy resort on a deserted island. :)

Tag to: Crystal Payne, Laura Leavitt, Shauna Salmon, and Heather Rausch, and Jewel Hardy (because I know how much Kendall would appreciate this one;)

'Tis the season

There has been a lot going on this past week. We seem to be getting back into the swing of things. With a fresh new snowfall and the fact that various neighbors are getting into the spirit of christmas, we decided we'd better get on the band wagon as well.

On Monday night, we broke out the Christmas decorations and the kids had a blast setting up the tree and hanging up santa etc. We still have to put lights up outside but John and I are debating what to do. Icicle lights, or just multi-colored bulbs? Reindeer on the lawn? Santa on the roof? How will we decide?:)



I went down to Sears and picked up the famous Christmas wishbook. Abby has spent many afternoons (while sam and jess sleep) cutting out things she'd like and glueing them onto her own "Wish list" for Santa. She wrote a letter today for us to mail to Santa and asked me if she could mail all the pictures of what she wants with it. Something tells me we will have to narrow this list down a bit, AND perhaps teach her a little bit about money because let's face it, I love her daddy, but I didn't marry him for his money!


For Family Home Evening I brought out our newly purchased Nativity set and tried to teach Abby about the true meaning of Christmas. Why we "really" celebrate it. She had fun holding all the peices but she clearly didn't hear a thing. That night before bed I couldn't help but laugh as she was praying and actually had the nerve to sincerely say, "we are thankful for....Santa Claus." Yes Abby, we are thankful for Santa, and many MANY other things as well:))











Sam is keeping us busy. We took the kids swimming this past week and it was such fun. Sam however was content to just sit on the edge or better yet, "leapfrog" all around the deck of the pool.
Oh well, atleast he was saying "rriibbitt" which helped ease any fears I had that he doesn't talk. Plus, I think the little amount of Chlorine he did come in contact with helped wash some of this mess off of him.












I had to post these two pictures as well. Both are of the kids' bedroom door. Abby has been doing so much art work, at home and school that she has begun taping her best work to her door. I personally think she just enjoys using the tape all by herself, but whatever. It made us laugh though as we went to bed the other night, we glanced at the door and something caught our eye. She had actualy taped the roll of TAPE onto the door. Goof.



This second picture shows what has become a daily routine in our home. Because there is a good inch or two of a gap between the door and the floor, this is now what happens. Every afternoon when Sam wakes up from his nap he crawls out of bed, onto the floor and lies there watching us all until we notice that he is awake. Sometimes he will stick an arm or a leg out when he really wants to be noticed. For the most part though, he just lays there...watching. Creepy.




Oh yeah, this is a terrible picture but I'm very proud of this quilt that I made. I don't sew, (if you don't believe me just ask my seamstress/sister, jewel). But I did do this quilt for my Mother-in-law. It has all the handprints of her kids, their spouses, and her grandkids on it. I had hoped she'd get to use it lots before she passed away, but I barely got it done in time for her to use it for a few days. Still, it meant a lot to me to do this. Probably the one and only time I'll sew in my entire life:))












Well that is about it for now. The tree is up. decorations up? ...check. Nativity out? ...check. Stockings hung?...check. Christmas is comin' fast. Am I ready for it?...not even close!

I had posted an entry yesterday about the recent passing of my Mother-in law, but I deleted it last night. I guess I feel like I cannot adequately express my feelings, nor the love and admiration I have for this woman. For the past year she battled pancreatic cancer in, at times, an almost heroic way. Now that she is gone it seems a little bit weird to just pick up and carry on with things. John is back at work. All of the famiy have returned to their homes, and now we are trying to get back into our normal routine. The only thing is that Marilyn was such a part of our daily routine. This amazing woman meant the world to us. I will miss her very much. My heart goes out to John, his Dad and all of the family. Love you all.