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!

Mmm...Banana Bread

Ah, the aroma of banana bread is filling my house. I feel like I'm being selfish if I don't share the worlds BEST banana bread recipe with you...so here it is.

The Worlds BEST Banana Bread

3 Banana's

1C. Sugar

1 Egg

1 1/2 C. Flour

1/4 C. Butter, melted

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 C. (ish) Choc. Chips (I just sorta pour them in until I think it looks like enough for me!)

Mash Banana's with a fork (or just mix them in your mixer). Stir in other ingredients. Pour into Teflon OR buttered loaf pan. Bake for 1 hr. @ 325

I'm told that this recipe is Jon's Auntie Dianne's. I stole it from Jon's mom. Either way....this is definitely the best banana bread I've ever had in my entire life!!!

Enjoy!

Road Trip #1

Well, Kelly and I just returned from a VERY spontaneous road trip. We got wind of a bridal shower (#4 actually) for a good friend of ours (Kim) from her Mom and Dad (whom Kelly lives with). The shower was in Saskatoon on Friday. Kelly and I decided Wednesday evening to jump in the car and go to it. So I tried desperately to think of someone that could keep the kids on Friday until Jon got home from work. I ended up dropping Micah off at Jen's house Friday morning, and Brielle and I headed off to Edmonton to pick Kelly up (talk about taking the long way to Saskatoon...I know). We got to Edmonton at noon exactly and switched vehicles, because I'd driven my dad's truck up to Edmonton so I could return with some of Kelly's stuff. Just after 1pm we left Edmonton for Saskatoon. Our little road trip started off with us not exactly knowing how to get to Saskatoon from Edmonton. We've been to Saskatoon plenty of times (having lived there for 10 years, with relatives here in Calgary), but never have we driven it from Edmonton. So we started off anyways. I had looked at a map before we left so I knew what roads we COULD take, it was only a matter of finding those roads :). Anyways, let's just say we ended up taking the scenic route. It was only 20 minutes longer than the other way, but worth it I think, because it was WAY prettier. We took the other way (Highway #16) home...not so exciting.
We arrived in Saskatoon between 6 and 6:30pm Friday evening. The shower was to start at 8pm. Once we found Bonnie's apartment we attempted to find a way into it. Quite amusing. The buzzer to the apartment is through the phone, which she doesn't have yet. Luckily for us, her mom saw us and let us in. The shower was great. Kim was very surprised to see us there. After the shower we slept on Bonnie's living room floor along with Kim and Danielle, Kim's mom slept in Bonnie's room. It was a lot of fun to see Kim and Bonnie again. We used to be pretty inseparable when we were younger. Saturday morning we started our journey home. Crazy eh?! Brielle and I drove 16 hours total to spend 16 hours in Saskatoon. We did however, have a ton of fun! I'm now excited for our road trip #2. You'll hear about that the end of July some time.

Happy Birthday Jennifer

Today is my sisters birthday. She's turning 28!!! (Ha Ha...I had to say it) Although everyone always asks us which one of us is older.
I love you Jen, hope your day goes well. For all of you that don't know Jen well, and for those of you that do...here are a few facts about my lovely older sister (what are little sisters for Jen).

1. She used to have the bangs that were a hand high
2. She's permed her hair (many times)
3. She used to listen to New Kids on the Block (now that ones embarrassing)
4. She's anal (we all know it's true, OK...it's in a good sort of way)
5. NEAT FREAK....need I say more
6. She loves white wine
7. Rotty's are her favorite kind of dog.
8. She likes rap music (weirdo)
9. She's a nurse
10. She's a GREAT friend

You're lucky that I'm not at Mom and Dad's house Jen because I was going to post a picture of you with your mile high bangs, and permed hair.
Have a wonderful birthday. We all love you VERY much.

Our trip to Manitoba

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Manitoba. We had a jam packed weekend. Since we only really get out there once a year our 2 days there were busy with visiting people. These first ones are obviously Brielle and Micah. It's a 14 hour drive to Portage La Prairie (which is basically where all Jon's family is...or minutes from there anyways). Brielle is a VERY good traveller. We didn't hear even one complaint out of her all the way there AND back. Micah on the other hand cried at least a third of the way there. We figured out later that he was teething. He was pretty good for the most part though. That's a long time to be strapped down, so I don't blame him for being upset.



These next ones are of the wedding that we went to on the Saturday. Jon's cousin Jared married Kristin. The wedding was beautiful!! The other picture is of Christine, Brielle and Jocelyn. Brielle sat with them for the majority of the wedding reception. She didn't really want a whole lot to do with us. She'd found a few friends and that was that.


Sunday morning we went to visit Randy, Roselyne, and Zach. Brie and Zach had a lot of fun playing together. It was fun to see Jon's daughter playing with his best friend from childhood's son.



Sunday afternoon we went to Jon's Uncle Marv and Auntie Darlene's house. I was going to put some pictures of that on here as well, but it wouldn't let me. We had a fire in the fire pit outside. Sang songs, jumped on their trampoline (which Micah and Brie both LOVED) Brielle actually even asked her GREAT grandma to go on the tramp with her, and believe it or not, she DID!! We also played catch, and just plain hung out. It was a GREAT weekend. Not nearly long enough though. It's such a long drive to only stay there for two days. We're hoping to be able to take a week off sometime soon and go there again, I want Jon to show me around Manitoba. I'm hoping that he'll take me to all the places that he used to go when he lived there.
So, that was our weekend trip to Manitoba. We always enjoy going out there and visiting with everyone. The weather was actually not that bad, it rained a little but for the most part it was ok. It was at least nice for our Sunday afternoon. We spent the entire afternoon outside in Marv and Darlene's BEAUTIFUL yard.