HAYDEN!!!

Happy Birthday Little Miss. We love you!
Hayden is turning 3 years old today!

Sorry for the pause...

Hi everyone. Sorry for the major delay in my blogging. Christmas has pretty much begun for us. Sunday evening was the Childrens Christmas program and Brielle was in it (sorta) this year. They had the 3-4 year olds go up and recite their memory verse and say Merry Christmas Jesus Christ is born. B and Hayden were very cute. Brielle sat at the front and pouted (not something we're ok with, but hey...she's 3). She was pouting because there wasn't really any order to it and she didn't get to talk into the microphone for more than 3 seconds. You couldn't really understand what they were all saying half of the time because they were all saying it at their own speeds...quite funny. So, Brielle was a little disappointed. Miss Hayden just stood at the front and waved at everyone, like a little Miss America. We all thought she was the shy one...quess we were wrong! Asides from that I've been helping everyone finish up their Christmas shopping. On Tuesday evening I went into Calgary with Kelly. She wanted to go to MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) and wasn't sure how to get there, so I took her. Then yesterday I went shopping with Jon's Dad to help him pick out some gifts for Jon's Mom. It was fun. I don't think I've ever done anything with just Jon's Dad before. Also yesterday, we had supper at Jon's parents house, then after supper we got the kids bundled up (kinda over-kill since it was maybe -1) and we loaded up our travel mugs with hot chocolate (homemade) and walked around looking at all the Christmas lights. It was a GREAT evening. Today/tonight is another packed day. It's my niece Hayden's 3rd birthday today, so we're heading down to the bowling alley at 4pm for a birthday party. Then we're heading straight out to Highriver for Christmas with Leanne (Jon's cousin). Phew. It even makes me tired just writing it all out. I love Christmas time. You're constantly on the move but it's so much fun. Spending time with family and friends....what could be better? Well I'll try to find some time in the next few days to post some pictures. I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful Christmas.

Mmm..I have to share this one.

Here's a recipe that I happened upon. It's great for breakfast/brunch. I ate it toasted with honey on it...yum,yum.

Swiss Apple Breakfast Loaf
Ingredients:
3 tbsp Butter
2 c Peeled and diced apples
1 tsp Cinnamon (I probably came close to doubling this)
1 1/2 c All-purpose flour
1 1/2 c Whole wheat flour
3/4 c Rolled oats
1/3 c Wheat bran
1 tbsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
2 c Diced Swiss cheese (I find Swiss over-powering so I used Havarti)
1/2 c Butter
1/2 c Brown sugar
3 Eggs
2 c Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a loaf pan, then flour or line with parchment paper.
2. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt 3 tbsp butter and cook apples until soft. Sprinkle with cinnamon and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with cheese. Make a well in center.
4. In a separate bowl, cream 1/2 c butter with brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually add milk, vanilla and apple mixture.
5. Pour liquid ingredients into well of dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Avoid over-mixing. Spread batter in prepared loaf pan.
6. Bake in center of oven for 1 hour. Loaf is ready when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with fresh fruit.
Freezes very well.

Variations: For a change of taste, use Gouda, Havarti, Oka or Cheddar.

12 days to Christmas.

Well, I am happy to report that Micah is fully better. He actually didn't get nearly as sick as Jon. He was feeling much better by Saturday afternoon. So it only lasted a few hours for him.
Anyways, I can't believe how fast December is going by. There is less than 2 weeks until Christmas Day. Crazy! I'm pretty much completely ready for Christmas though. I only have a bit of baking left to do, but other than that...it could be tomorrow, I'm set.
I absolutely love driving around and looking at all the Christmas lights. They are SO beautiful, to me they are a reminder that we are to be the lights in this world. Shining for Jesus. People should be able to look at us and see Jesus shining through us. I love how you can be blocks away and see someones lights shining. That's how I want my life to be. I don't want people to have to be really close to me to know that I'm a faithful servant of Christ. I want them to be able to see from miles away. :)
I love celebrating Jesus' birth. Thanking him for coming to earth and being the ultimate sacrifice for MY sake. What a truly amazing God I serve.

Aw Man...

Well, we weren't so lucky with this virus. Not only did it NOT bypass our house. It's attacking Micah. Not cool. He's the only one that can't run to the bathroom when he feels the need to explode from one end or the other. Sick, is all I have to say about this virus.

The Joys of Motherhood...

My little Micah has been waking up 3-4 times a night for the past, oh it's probably been 3 months already. I was absolutely at my wits end, so Jon and I moved a mattress into the living room and we moved Brie into our room (so she could sleep while he screams), and we let him scream all night until he finally got the hint, 4 or 5 nights later, that no one was going to come and get him out of his bed. Last night was the first night that we moved Brie back into her own bed in Micah's room and we slept in our room. Micah woke up around 11pm but only cried for a max. of a minute. I would have had my first FULL nights sleep in 3 months if it wasn't for Brielle. She decided that since Micah wasn't going to wake me up...she was. For one stupid reason or another she came into our room 4-5 times last night and woke me up. One of the times that she came venturing into our room was because she wanted some chap stick for her lips...at 2 o'clock in the morning! I wanted to roll over and die. When I try to fall asleep it usually takes me a good hour before I'm out. This is no exaggeration. So waking up so many times, meant trying to fall back asleep as well. I have had NO energy for the past little while because I'm so terribly sleep deprived. Things around me are whipping past while I can only seem to move at a turtles pace. No one is aloud to come to my house because of the total and utter chaos they would see. I want to be wealthy so I can hire a house cleaner, and maybe a night time nanny as well.
Sorry for my pity party. I do feel better now that I've ranted a bit though. :)

Only the cutest kids EVER...

Update...

I've been meaning to download the pictures off my camera and post some of them for awhile now. I guess it's better late than never! Here are a few pictures from the past month.

Here's a some pictures of my adorable niece climbing for the first time. For those of you that don't know her she's not quite 3. She'll be 3 in a few weeks. She did awesome. She has a little of her mommy's fear of heights though.






Here's a few pictures of our Christmas decorations. We have a real tree again this year, however, I really wanted a "pretty" tree (I don't know if you all remember my story of our tree last year...let's just say I deserve a pretty tree). Anyways, I was scared to go out and cut our own for fear of another experience like last years so I convinced Jon to buy me a tree. I had no idea how expensive it is to buy a pre-cut real tree. Whatever, I'm happy...I have a pretty tree that doesn't take up my entire living room. :)




Other news...
All of Okotoks is getting sick with some horrible stomach bug. I've been told that it's NOT the flu by my sister. Apparently it's some highly contaigeous air borne virus. My brother-in-law was the first to get it of people I know. Then followed my niece and my sister. I just heard this morning that my mom left work sick last night and late this afternoon I recieved a phone call from Jon...he was on his way home puking his guts out. Not cool. I was hoping that our house hold would be bypassed by this miserable virus, but no. Please pray that my children don't catch it. I don't really want to be cleaning up puke and diarrhea for days. Jon can at least make it to the bathroom...my kids, although I love them...I don't trust them with this detail.

Family Picture

Yippee It worked. Here's an updated picture of my family.

Our busy weekend.

Jon and his Dad went hunting over the weekend. They left her early Thursday morning and didn't get back until Monday night (not really by their choice).
Thursday they drove out as far as they could in the area that they wanted to hunt in, and then loaded their packs on their backs and hiked for a while until they found a spot that they wanted to set up camp in...that's right...I said set up camp. They set up a tent and slept outside for the first night, however...it went down to -25 which was actually supposed to be the warmest night while they were out there. Jon's dad woke Jon up around 2am (I don't know how he does it but Jon literally can sleep through anything), they made a rip roaring fire outside and slept beside the fire for the rest of the night. Jon told me that when they woke up in the morning there was Wolf tracks from a pack of wolves just outside of their camp. Apparently the wolves were curious...yikes. He showed me about how big the tracks were from what they were assuming was the leader, they were huge. Certainly not something I would want to come face to face with.
Anyways, they had a great time. They ended up staying in a cabin that they had to haul water to and the power went out on them the 2nd night, but it was much warmer than staying in a tent. Both of them got a doe, not what they were hoping for...but still very exciting. Jon hasn't been hunting in years and this was his first time shooting his new rifle.
They headed for home Sunday afternoon but Darrell's truck broke down in Sundre (I don't know how you spell that), which is only about an hour and a half away from home. They couldn't get the part they needed until Monday afternoon/early evening. Which is why they didn't get home until Monday night. They had a great time with each other though. And while they were gone I packed up the kids and all our stuff and we went to stay with Jon's mom for the weekend (along with Adam, Jon's brother). It was fun. We made a few Christmas cookies, watched a few movies, and just hung out. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and got me excited for Christmas. I don't think we turned the Christmas music off all weekend.
There is a ton of snow here now. Along with the snow we're getting insanly cold weather. Jon and Adam weren't able to work yesterday because with the wind chill it was -42. Brrr...Even though the snow is beautiful and I like when we have snow for Christmas, I'm very much looking forward to warmer weather. I hope we get a chinook soon.

What Dad's do to their kids...

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

I figured out how to put video's on my blog. So I thought you might all enjoy seeing this funny video of Jon and Brie. I can't help but laugh every time I see it. Enjoy everyone.

Ahhh....Steve Bell!!!

I just got back from the Steve Bell concert in Calgary. It was absolutely wonderful! I went with my Mom, Kelly and Leanne. We met at Boston Pizza before the concert and scarfed a pizza then headed up to Center Street Church. There was a comedian before Steve came out to sing for us and he was really funny. His name was Adrian Plass. Anyways, for those of you that don't know who Steve Bell is...you're missing out!!! I highly suggest that you go to his website and listen to some of his music. Anyways, I'm incredibly tired. It's um past midnight. I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll listen to some Steve Bell to lull me to sleep.

Family Photos

Well, I've now tried numerous different ways of downloading those family pictures and none of them have worked. I think they're just too good of quality. I've ordered them to be made into actual pictures that you can hold in your hand rather than just having them on my computer. Once I get them I'll scan them into the computer and then they should be crappy enough to post on Blogger.
Oh and for an update on my computer situation...Kevin came over this afternoon. It was supposed to be just over his lunch break and I ended up taking up 2 1/2 hours of his time. However, he fixed the problem. Apparently a virus got a hold of my computer and was controlling everything, and watching everything we do on line...which is a scary thought since I do most of my banking on line. Anyways, Kevin got rid of the "Trojan Horse" he called it, and installed an anti-virus program for me. I'm told it's a good one. Well, I suppose the moral of this story is to make sure you protect your computer from viruses. Silly me!!!

ARG...

Sorry everyone. I've been trying to update my blog lately, but everytime I try my computer either shuts off on me (I have no idea what's wrong with it), blogger is down, or it just plain won't let me do what I want to do. We recently got professional pictures taken of our family and I really wanted to post those pictures for you to see...but it won't let me. Anyways, I'll keep trying.

Crazy Kid.

This is what I walked into the kitchen to see today. What a crazy kid. He dragged the Cheerios box out of the cupboard and started digging through it. He's so funny!

Trick-Or-Treat

Aren't they adorable? I know, I know I'm a little biased, but whatever...they're darn cute! Brielle is a kitten (just in case you couldn't tell), and Micah...obviously is a pumpkin. They sure got a good haul of candy from trick-or-treating in High River. Most of it came from their Nana though. Anyways, I just wanted to show-off my adorable children. Ha,Ha...

Pumpkins

Leanne and I carved our pumpkins Friday night. Here are a few pictures of them.

Oh, and for those of you that don't live around here. Guess what we woke up to this morning...almost a foot of snow! As much as I'm not one for the cold weather, I have to admit that it was an absolutely beautiful sight to see first thing this morning. It's not even terribly cold out. I think it's between 0 and -5. Anyways, it's getting me very excited for christmas...as a matter of fact I'm going to go into Calgary with Jon's mom tomorrow and finish my christmas shopping. That's right, I said finish. I try to buy a little bit every month starting in like July. Our family is getting so big that it's near impossible to buy all the gifts in the last 2 months. We'd either be bankrupt, or everyone would be getting a gift worth no more than $10 each. I enjoy doing it a little at a time, and it's also ways less hectic in the month of Dec. it leaves me more time to bake those millions of cookies.

I Remembered!!

Well, we went to the Calgary Climbing Center on Sunday and I remembered to bring my camera this time. So here are the pictures of Brielle climbing as promised. She did even better than last time, and once again made it right to the top. Oh, and I found out the walls are 40 feet high not 30. Her Nana is the one climbing beside her in that picture. We went to the climbing center with Jon's family. His Mom and Dad were there, along with Adam, Leanne, Stacey, and Grandma Giesbrecht. It was great fun. Almost everyone climbed.

Anniversary Week

Tis the week for Anniversaries. My Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary was on Monday, and Jon's Mom and Dad's 27th anniversary is today.
Congratulations you guys. I think it's GREAT that you've been married this long and as Kelly said on her blog..."are still holding hands". God Bless you in the next 27/30 years.

Fun in the Park

Ha, Ha. I just love this picture.

It looks like we hung Micah up in a tree.

Jon and the kids were having fun. He was throwing them as high as he could, and they were loving every minute of it.

Micah is wearing Jon's sweater from when he was a little boy, and Brielle is wearing Jon's brother Adam's sweater. Isn't that awesome! Jon and Adam's Great Aunt's made those sweaters. I think that is so cool.

I love hand-me-downs.

SNOW!!!

Can you believe it??? Yesterday morning I pulled the blinds up on the window only to see snow. Of course...since this is Calgary weather, it was gone in the afternoon yesterday but it's back once again this morning. Man oh man...I don't feel ready for the cold winter days yet.

Thanksgiving

I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures of our Thanksgiving weekend, but it was great. On Sunday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at my Mom and Dad's house. My mom had said that she wasn't going to go all out with dinner this year. She'd said that she was going to keep it simple...well...apparently simple in her mind includes Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberries, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad (by me), really good veggies (compliments of my Grandma Ivy), buns, OH and ham. I think that's it for supper, then there was dessert...she made 3 different kinds of pie. We had the worlds best pumpkin pie, apple pie and lemon meringue pie and some pumpkin cookies that I made. I'll have to post that recipe...they were really good.
Then on Monday night we went to Jon's mom and dad's house for supper. It was also a full turkey meal. However, I made the pumpkin pie for dessert. It actually turned out pretty good. I was terrified that it was going to be horrible. It was my first time EVER making a pie of any kind. It turned out to be a pretty close replica of my moms pie though. We also had home made cinnamon buns thanks to Brian (a friend of Jon's parents) for coffee later in the evening. I don't think I should eat anything other than salad for the next few days. Well, that was our thanksgiving weekend. How about all of you? Did you all get to enjoy Turkey dinners or did you feast on something else?

BOYS!!!!!!

What is it with boys??? I went into Micah's room to get him out of his bed this morning and found him completely bottomless. He'd taken off his diaper and was laying there in nothing but his pajama shirt. I felt around his bed to make sure it wasn't wet...you know, a baby without a diaper = problem! No wetness was to be found..Phew I thought. I found the diaper, and it wasn't ONLY a wet one. Luckily for me, he didn't think it would be fun to play with this unknown brown stuff. Anyways, I got him dressed and brought him downstairs for some breakfast. As we're sitting there eating breakfast Brielle goes upstairs to Micah's room to get herself some underwear. She comes downstairs moments later asking who made the wet on the floor. Moron...how could I have failed to check the floor for accidents. I suppose I'm used to little girls. If there's an accident it's directly beneath them. Apparently Micah has now figured out that it's fun to stand up and pee off the edge of things. I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't going to be the last time that I have to clean his bodily fluids off the floor. Gross.

Girls will be girls

When my sister Kelly and I were little we used to always pretend that we were Annie and the orphans living with Miss Hanigan. We used to pretend that our older sister Jen was Miss Hanigan (without her knowing it), and when we heard her coming we'd say "Quick, Miss Hanigan's coming" and we'd climb out the basement windows and run into the back alley. Quite the imagination we had, it was always a lot of fun. Well, not to long ago I found the movie on DVD and picked up a copy for myself and Kelly. It turns out that Brielle loves to watch this movie as much as Kelly and I did when we were little (and still do now). Just 5 minutes ago I heard her downstairs playing with Micah, saying to him "We love you Miss Hanigan". A quote from the movie. My niece also likes this movie and was heard saying "Leaping Lizards"...very funny coming out of the mouth of a 2 year old.
I find it funny how even though the toys have changed dramatically. Life as a child isn't much different than it was when we were little. Children still rely on their imaginations as their prime source of entertainment, and I think it's important to encourage this sort of play. It's also quite entertaining for us adults.

My wonderful husband!!!

Yesterday was Jonathan's 24th birthday. I kinda spoiled him rotten this year and I LOVED doing it! A good month ago we were walking through the mall and saw that Boutique of Leathers was having a 50% off sale on everything in their store. We were looking around and I made Jon try on a few jackets. I ended up getting him a really nice brown leather jacket. He thought that that was all I was going to do for him for his birthday...but he was oh so wrong. I asked my mom and dad if they would be able to keep the kids over night from Sunday - Monday. They were able to which was great. So Sunday after we got family pictures done with my whole family (which we hadn't had done in almost 10 years.), we headed into Calgary. I reserved a hotel room at Wingate Inn, which I highly recommend to everyone. The room was huge. It was a big L shaped room with a kitchenette, table and chairs, desk, hide-a-bed, big chair and ottoman, King sized bed, and a bathroom the size of most bedrooms. There was a big jacuzzi tub and extra large shower, it was great. They had a bottle of wine and wine glasses in our room when we got there, and chocolate (how could you go wrong?). Also they had bathrobes for us to use, and all kinds of bubble bath, bath salts, etc. Anyways, I took Jon to Red Lobster for supper then we headed back to the hotel and played in the pool and hot tub. There was a crazy waterslide there that you couldn't help but go extremely fast down. We had a good evening. Monday we watched some T.V. in bed before we headed off to Chinook mall. We pretty much just wandered around the mall for awhile, did a bit of shopping, played a TON of arcade games and at 3:30pm we went to see the movie "The Guardian". I definitely recommend this movie. It was well worth watching in the theaters. After this we went to Jons parents house for a great supper, and that concluded Jon's birthday surprise. He enjoyed every minute of it. I have a wonderful husband, who loves me more than I could ever explain to anyone and I just hope that he knows that I love him just as much.

Mmmm.....Yummy!

Brielle and I made these VERY tasty Cinnamon Buns. The recipe was compliments of Amanda Brown. They're a big hit in my house. Jon thinks they're amazing. Thanx Amanda.
Cinnamon Buns are a lot easier to make than I always thought that they'd be. Good thing I tried making them...now I'll make them more often.

Home again

"Home again, Home again, lickity split."
Did anyone else's mother say really strange things like that to them ALL the time??? Or is it just my crazy mother? There's more where that came from too.
Anyways, Brielle is home from B.C. She got home last night around 8pm. It's nice to have her home, although I'm realizing just how quiet it really was while she was away. Micah doesn't talk yet...and in some ways it's kinda nice :) I'm just kidding, B hasn't really been talking our ears off as much as I was expecting her to. We've pretty much had to pry information out of her about her trip to B.C. She did tell me that she tried to teach Auntie Carols bird to say "birds suck". That's MY girl :) However, I also saw a picture of her with this bird sitting on her arm...talk about disgusting. Why anyone would want one of those creatures as a pet in their house, voluntarily, is beyond me :) Obviously, I'm very much NOT a bird person. They kinda creep me out actually.
Well, I have my little girl home again. It's nice to have her back. I'm off to play play-dough with her...

A little bit of Randomness...

Well, my little Brielley Girl has been in B.C. for the past 2-3 days. She went with her Nana and Papa to visit some family out there and to see her cousin Katie get baptized. I haven't yet spoke to her since she's been gone, but she called Jon at work at talked to him. They're doing good out there. I'm sure she's being spoiled rotten because that's just what grandparents do :). Jon told me that she went for a helicopter ride!!! Isn't that crazy!?! She's 3, I'm 24 and I've never been in a helicopter. Very cool experience for her, I'm sure she just loved it. She's very much the adventurous type. She loves heights, and doing things that seem a little crazy to everyone else.
While B's been gone, I've done not much other than cuddling a very sick little boy. Micah's puked a few times (on me...quite disgusting). He's also been waking up every few hours at night. The other night he was awake until Midnight, woke up at three then again at 6am and was up for the day! Now, this is normally a kid that goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps until 8:30/9am the next morning. Let's just say that he was not really the most pleasant person to be around that next day! Oh, and on top of things...he only slept for 45min between 10am and 11am, he's a 3 hour napper. So needless to say, I got NOTHING done yesterday! My poor niece was over and had to pretty much fend for herself, I was glued to the couch with a kid clinging to me every time I even tried to reposition myself. Hayden was VERY good. When Micah fell asleep, she went downstairs to play quietly by herself so she wouldn't wake him up. When he was awake, she'd attempt to play with him and bring him toys. Very sweet of her.
Anyways, last night Kelly babysat my little monster. Jon and I were able to go to a concert at Center Street Church. There were quite a few bands playing. I won't remember all of them, but there was a band named Silent (not very good), Friday's Cry (excellent!!), Nifty who was a rapper and one of the hosts (very good), Amanda Faulk a singer and the other host (very good), another band I don't remember their name (very bad) and last but not least Kutless (amazing!!!). It was a great concert, lot's of fun. However, it made me feel extremely OLD! It was so incredibly loud that I thought I was going to be deaf for a few days. Everything and everyone sounded muffled after the concert. Oh, and the majority of the people there were all under the age of 18, anyone older was most likely a youth pastor/leader. It was fun though.
Well, Micah just woke up and I have many errands to run today...so I need to get a move on. I hope that you all have a GREAT weekend. OH and Carol, G.G., Nana and Papa....take good care of my angel, we miss her. Hugs and Kisses B.

AAAAAAAA..........

Need I say more???
Hayden and Micah were "playing" in Micah's room.

Weekend Fun!

Sunday at church we decided to find another couple at the church that would like to join us climbing in Canmore. Aaron and Paulette said that they'd love to come with us, so did Jon's brother Adam, and my sister Kelly. We were in Canmore and climbing by about 3pm, and had a GREAT time. By about 5:30 Kelly and I started the trek down the mountain (everyone else finished their climbing and headed back up the mountain to the vehicles). We met in the parking lot at the bottom of the mountain. As we started to head home we came upon a line up of vehicles stopped on the highway by a Forest Ranger. Adam went to find out what was going on...it turned out that there was a Grizzly Bear wandering though Canmore and they were trying to get it back into the mountains away from town. We had to sit and wait for them to get the Grizzly to cross the highway. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the bear. It crossed the highway just out of our view, it tried to head up in our direction but the Rangers shot something like a flare at it to scare it the other way. Quite the excitement. Brielle (yes, she was with us) couldn't stop talking about it all the way home. She kept saying "If that bear comes back, I'll scare it away. I'll roar like a lion, and it'll run away". Somehow, I don't think that would really be the case. For those of you that don't know Brielle very well...she screams like she's dying at the sight of a house fly. She's not really as bad anymore, but I don't really think she'd have the courage to roar at a giant bear. Anyways, we had a lot of fun climbing. The picture above was taken in the climbing area in Canmore but it's from a few years ago. I brightly forgot to bring my camera along this time...so unfortunately there aren't any recent pictures for me to post. However, we're going to get B a full body childrens harness and head out again soon. I'll certainly remember my camera for that. So keep checking for pictures to come.

Life

Well, I thought it was time for me to write another post. Funny, I feel like I've been pretty busy but yet I don't really feel like I've accomplished much the last few days. For those of you that read my sister Kelly's blog, you'll know that we went to Little Bow Lake on Sunday. We were there with the Schroeder family, My Parents, Kelly, Jon and I and the kids. We had a lot of fun tubing (and being dumped off the tube) and water skiing. The beach we were on was kinda gross, but it worked :). The "sand" wasn't really sand at all. The closer to the water you got the more like mud it was, you sunk up to your ankles in it. The water was also pretty sea weed infested. Asides from that though...the day was GREAT! Little Bow lake was so busy since it was the long weekend, that we actually drove out in the boat across the lake to find this little beach. Here's a picture of the beautiful sunset we saw on our boat ride back to the docks. Of course it doesn't show nearly the beauty of the actual sunset...but it's pretty close.We had to take two trips to the beach and back to bring everybody there and all of our stuff. On the way back, the Schroeder family went first. My Dad came back and got the rest of us. We arrived at the boat launch to find the Schroeder family still there. They saw that the line-up for the loading dock was so long that they got into it for us!!! They drove the truck and trailer into the lineup for us and when we arrived there were only 3 trucks left in front of us. What a blessing they were to us. Thank-you Schroeder's.
It's nice to have friends like that. Sometimes you forget that there are still selfless people in this world. Having friends like that just reminds you that there is.
Well, that was our long weekend. I hope you all had a great one as well.

Dreams

Aren't dreams an odd thing. It's funny how sometimes they can seem so real that when you wake up you think it actually happened, or the complete opposite. They're so insanely crazy that you wonder what would make you dream about that?
When I was in Bible school a friend of mine (who might be reading this) used to tell me her weird dreams practically every morning. She had some pretty strange ones. I kept telling her that she needed to write a book about all those crazy dreams. I actually still remember some of them...like the one where you were washing your hair in the middle of the night on a bridge.
Anyways, this morning Brielle came upstairs carrying a huge book and promptly plopped it down in my lap and said "there you go Mommy". I looked at her and said "Why did you bring this upstairs?". She looked at me like I was completely insane and a little annoyed she replied "because YOU asked me to!". I couldn't help but let out a little giggle. I told her that I hadn't even spoken to her yet this morning and that she must have been dreaming, and we both laughed about it.
It just got me thinking about dreams and how they can sometimes seem like someone is playing a crazy joke on us.
Tell me some of your crazy dreams.....

Pictures

I'm sorry that this has taken so long. I'm having trouble with my computer.

Motorbike Fun

Today Jon had the day off so we went and looked at a few show homes (yes...we're thinking about moving again...this time it's actually going to happen though). As we were driving around today without kids, they were both exhausting my Mom, we decided to stop at seitzco and pick up the "surprise" that Jon had ordered for Brielle. She loved it. We got her a tiny little motorbike helmet. She's always asking Jon to take her for rides on his bike and he couldn't because she had no helmet. He'd take her for little rides around the parking lot but that's it. So right now, as I'm typing, she's out for her first "real" ride with her daddy. I took pictures, and I'll post them tomorrow, but for now I'm going to sit by the window and watch anxiously for them to arrive back home.

It's been awhile

Well, I'm not really sure what to say in my little update for you...but someone has been bugging me to update my blog. Don't worry JEN, I won't say who that someone is.
I've been busy partaking in a boot camp at the curves in Okotoks. Today was our last boot camp workout. I have to say that it was actually fun. I know...it's crazy to think that that kind of torture could be fun. But I did enjoy it. For those of you that don't know, the curves boot camp is a half hour work out on their machines with aerobics in between the machines. Followed by a half hour workout on the floor (abs, bum and thighs). There is also a meal plan that you can follow if you want. I did it all. I have to say that I like the results...I lost 4 pounds and a few inches. Good stuff.
Well, there really hasn't been anything else going on. OH hey, this is kinda old news for some of you but Jon's Mom and Dad got a new puppy. She's actually pretty cute. Her name's Maddie, she's a schnauzer...I know...you're thinking "a schnauzer that's cute?" My thoughts exactly...but she is really cute. Here's a picture of her to prove it...



Well, I'll leave you with this adorable picture. Have a great weekend everyone!

Summer Fun!

OK the pictures have now arrived...I had to download them all one at a time but they're here.


My summer has been filled with some travelling and lot's of sun so far. As you know we went to Shuswap lake for a week, and then I went down to Montana with Kelly (my sister), My Mom and Dad, and both kids for a wedding.

It was a beautiful wedding and lots of fun. It was good to see some friends of ours that I haven't seen in years. The bride is a friend of ours from Saskatoon, she's one of those friends that it doesn't matter how long it was since the last time you spoke, you seem to just pick up right where you left off when you see each other.
We had fun. It was also COOKING hot there (+35 at least). The wedding was in Missoula, MT. We got there Friday night, the wedding was Saturday and we left Sunday morning. We didn't come straight home though. My Mom and Dad jumped in their motor home with the brides parents and headed south to California. Kelly and I (and the kids) went north to a cabin near Eureka, MT. Some friends of ours from the church offered to let us stay at their cabin near the lake for a few days so we definitely didn't want to turn them down.

We got to the cabin Sunday night and stayed there until until Thursday morning. It was on the top of a hill looking over the lake...absolutely beautiful view from their deck. The swimming area of the lake was only a few minutes drive away. We also did quite a bit of shopping, ice cream eating, movie watching, milk shake drinking, park playing, card playing, and a bit of exploring.

We're Back!!!

We got back Late Monday night from a wonderful week at Shuswap Lake, B.C. I don't think there was a day cooler than +35. It was stinking hot and we loved every minute of it! We got to Shuswap Late Tuesday night, parked in our site with my Mom and Dad's motor home and boat and went right to sleep. Wednesday morning was a beautiful start to our holiday. We lazed around pretty much all day, I think the only thing we actually accomplished was getting the boat into the water. The guys loaded the boat into the water and Iris and I took the kids for a walk to the store and the beach. After supper we joined the guys on the boat for a quick boat ride...I do mean quick. We almost ran out of gas. The boat suddenly sputtered to a stop on us, so we went to hook up the other tank which felt awfully light. I think we got back to the shore on fumes. Anyways, asides from that little adventure everything else went pretty smoothly.
Our week was full of boating, water-skiing, tubing, suntanning, swimming, seadooing (2 days in a row 4-6 hours ea.), walking, rollerblading, water fights, mini-golf, and I'm sure much more. We had an absolute blast.
The mosquito's ate poor Micah alive the first day that we were there, and on top of that he was teething. He had a rough few days to start his week off. By the long weekend Micah was back to his happy self and we were all able to relax a little more and enjoy our time off. After that first day it was WAY to hot for the mosquito's so we didn't see much of them until late evening. Which I'm sure contributed to Micah's good mood.
We had a great time and got to enjoy some fireworks while sitting on the beach for Canada Day.
I hope you all had a great long weekend as well.

Not so little anymore...

My little Brielle just isn't so little any more. For the first time today a little girl came knocking on my door asking if Brie could come out and play. So off Brie went, outside to play with a neighbor girl (under her dad's supervision). It really is crazy how fast they grow up. It doesn't really seem all that long ago that she depended on me for almost everything! Now she's running off to play with her friends. It's fun though, getting to see my little girl grow up. I enjoy watching her grow and learn new things, and now...make new friends.

Our Weekend

Our weekend started off with the Okotoks Parade. My sister Kelly came over at 10am and we walked downtown to meet Jen (my other sister), her daughter Hayden, and her in-laws. The parade went from 11-noon. The kids loved it. I enjoyed watching their faces as each float went by. If I could post a video I'd show you one I have of Hayden shaking her booty in the street as the Shrek float went by, and Brie punching the Karate instructor (as he fell dramatically to the ground) They were quite adorable. After the parade we went to the park where they had hot dogs, games, crafts, and face painting.
Later on in the evening (5pm), we met at the church for a Car Rally that our assosiate pastor and his wife put on for all the Young Adults. It was a BLAST (thanx Dan and Marlene). They sure put a LOT of work into it. Sorry, I have no pictures of it. We started at the church and had a clipboard with 6 pages of clues on it. We had to follow each clue...some of them were just directions and others we had to answer a question (ex. "What color are the TIPS of the blades on the windmill?"). It took us all through Okotoks AND South Calgary. We had a lot of fun. I was in a car with Adam, Jon and Leanne. Adam drove and was crazy!!!!!!!! I don't think there was ONE corner that he DIDN'T take sideways. We ended up at the Spence's house (some people from our church) and played games until late. It was great fun!
Sunday, as I'm sure you all know was Father's Day. After church we took my Dad and Jon out for lunch. We went to the Pheonix Grill in Calgary, a very good restaurant if you haven't been there before. Then at around 6pm My mom and Dad, Kelly, Leanne, Adam, Brad, Jen and Hayden all came over for pizza and icecream cake to celebrate Micah's first birthday.
We had a wonderful weekend. It was packed full of fun things for us to do, and thankfully it didn't rain on us...much.

My Micah Is ONE!!!

It's a little hard for me to believe...but Micah's first birthday is TODAY!!! He doesn't really seem like he's a year old already. I keep thinking about what Brielle was like at 1 and he's not even close!! She was walking AND talking (3 word sentences) by her first birthday...Micah's doing neither. He is getting bigger every day though. He's crawling, saying Da-Da, Ma-Ma, and he LOVES to watch Brielle run around. For some reason he thinks it's absolutely hilarious if she runs back and forth in front of him. Anyways, this blog is for Micah...

Happy Birthday my Little Man!!! We love you to pieces!