Family Christmas Letter

Smith Family 2010

Some adventures of our family can be read here.

Yes 2010 has been quite the year.

Hope it makes you laugh and smile too.

Enjoy our story we wrote it for you.

Our Abby turned 3 and is quite the big sister.

Her imagination always leaves our home looking like a twister.

She took a music class and started joy school.

But her favorite things are the lessons in the pool.

Natalie is one and is very busy.

Always climbing and running keeping Mom in a tizzy

She loves being cuddled and teasing big sis.

She always loves giving a big sloppy kiss.

Mom joined the gym and is doing quite well.

Working part time in the ICU always a story to tell.

Serving in Church and being a Mom.

Visits from sisters and Mom are the bomb.

Ryan's been fishing, hunting, and biking.

Losing a job twice not to our liking.

Serving in church with the young men.

Blessings have come with a great job again.

Our chapter this year has come to an end it is true.

Hope you enjoyed reading our story for you.

May you be blessed with joy in the coming year.

Our love goes out to all of you we hold dear!

Merry Christmas

Love,

 The Smiths

Christmas Traditions

With Christmas fast approaching I have been thinking about all the wonderful tradtions we have and want to have. This year Abby is actually understanding Christmas a bit better which is so much fun. I feel a little behind this year but we will get there soon.
1. A real Christmas Tree- I love having a real tree. I love the smell of pine throughout my house and the pine needles filling up my vaccuum cleaner. I love having part of nature inside with me. This year we are going to head out and chop our own tree down. SOOO excited!!!!
2. Acting out the Nativity- I am not sure how this will go this year since we are the only ones in Ryan's family with kids and I am not sure how excited the adults will be to be donkeys etc. I am sure it will still be a blast!!!
3. The Christmas Train- We just started this last year and I loved it. It is a small train that takes you around a forest full of different light displays. Hopefully this year it won't be -30something it was a wee bit chilly last year. Super fun!!
4. Fondue- One of the traditions of Ryan's family that I love is having a fondue dinner. It is so fun to sit down and visit and eat slowly and just enjoy each other. Of course it is also very yummy!!!
5. Christmas Letters- Ryan and I started this tradition when we were first married of writing letters to each other expressing our gratitude etc. to each other and now we do it for our kids. It is a super fun thing. I know one day the kids will love reading the letters!!
6. Music- I love Christmas Music. This year I wasn't able to be in the choir due to work but I love singing all the Christmas songs and hearing them. I love sitting and singing away at the piano!!

Well those are some of my favorite traditions. This year is kind of exciting as Ryan's family decided to do an old fashioned Christmas and Ryan has turned into a little Santa in his workshop building all sorts of cool things. I will show you all after Christmas. It makes it so much more exciting when you actually make your own gifts!!!

I am so excited that in January my Dad will be turning 70. Oh boy and I get to go home. It has been over a year since I got to see my family and the farm and the mountains. Oh I love the mountains. Anyway I am uber excited even though Ryan can't come and it will be a long drive with two young kids but it will be so fun to see everyone!!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season.

Sadly our camera is on the fritz so no pics.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

I couldn't resist we finally have some lovely white stuff falling and it feels closer to Christmas. I got out the old Reader's Digest songbook tonight and played some of my favorites. It brings so many memories of home and of my family and especially my sisters sitting and singing at the piano!!!

As a tribute to my Uncle Roger who passed away today from cancer I thought I would share my favorite memory of him. I remember when he came to visit and I must have been 7/8 ish and he was trying to teach me to have power over my body by not laughing when being tickled. My brothers would constantly tickle me and he thought if I could get enough power over my mind I wouldn't laugh and then the tickling would stop. Well it never worked and I am still ticklish but we had a great afternoon trying to train our minds. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the knowledge that families can be together forever!!! He will be missed!!

If you ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder if you are doing a good job as a parent? Well I often do and probably stress out about it more than necessary. Yesterday however Abby did something that made me think I must be doing pretty good.
First of all Abby is into making cards and most recently giving them away. We were at the gas station and she was coloring her card while the gas tank was getting filled. As we went into pay she was like Mom I want to give my card to the clerk. I was like why? He was a teenage kid who probably wouldn't care so I kind of blew it off.(Bad Mom) Anyway on the way out I was like how about the guy who actually puts the gas in our car. A nice retired gentleman who loves doing his job. Well Abby marches over and says thank you for always filling our car with gas and gives him a card. Who knows what he thought but as I drove away he had the biggest smile on his face.
All in all I think Abby is a pretty great kid and I was so happy she wanted to say thanks to someone for doing a good job.

I bet if you think about your kids you can see something in them that makes you realize that you are doing a good job too.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was an adventure this year. Abby had a party at her joyschool and then we celebrated on the Saturday with all our church friends. It was loads of fun for everyone.

First the costumes:

Abby the clown

                                                           Natalie as Little Red Riding Hood

And here is "The Great Pumpkin"

The best part of Halloween this year is the weather. It is amazing. Even yesterday on November 1, 2010 we went to the park in light sweaters to play on the structure. In Winnipeg this is amazing!!! Hope everyone had fun trick or treating!!!!

We started a new tradition of watching fun cartoon Halloween movies and I have to say I do love Charlie Brown's "The Great Pumpkin" A definite keeper in future years!!

The other best part of today is my husband got a job offer!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!

Still Here!!

I can't believe that it has been so long since I wrote a blog entry. It has been a crazy couple of months. On the weekend though we had Stake Conference and I was so inspired I was like I need to update my blog. More on that later.

October has been such a beautiful month. I think we have spent more time outdoors than in the summer.

Here's our Natalie. What is new with her? Well Miss Natalie is my explorer. She now loves to climb on anything. For example I was on the phone with my sister and I couldn't hear her playing so I went to check yep on top of the piano!! Another time on top of the bathroom sink. She definitely keeps us on our toes--or should I say running!! When we go for walks now she insists on walking because she is a big 16month old. She loves driveways because they lead to a big sidewalk known as a road to most of us but to Natalie it is just a big walking area!!! Oh my!! Her curls are growing longer although you can't tell because they are still super curly. She still isn't talking too much but she loves to communicate her love to her sister with big hugs and kisses!!! She also discovered the pots and pans drawer which is always lots of fun.

Abby has turned into a craft junkie. It is good for me since I have always felt like a non-crafty person so it has been good for me to explore my craftiness. She has been going to joyschool once a week and loves it. She gets so excited on her "school days" and packs her backpack and waits by the door even if there are two-three hours until it starts. She is busy with her swimming lessons and loves going to swim with the family even going down the big waterslide now!!

Anyway those are some new things about my two cutie pies!! So on the weekend we had this awesome leadership for Primary. I learned so much but it really hit me how important it is to just love people no matter what. Just love those kids and everything else in primary will turn out okay.

The Barfuss family were in town for the weekend and it was so fun. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss them. I feel pretty lucky seeing as I am family I will see them more than most people here but it still isn't the same as running over to my sisters house on a hard day her giving me some of her great advice and then leaving feeling awesome again. My sister even made time to do my hair for me which I can't even tell you grateful I am for that. Anyway they did this fireside and it made me miss them all over again. Lucky Calgary!!!

We are getting excited for Halloween. Abby is going to be a clown and Natalie is going to be Little Red Riding Hood. We have Abby's joyschool party and then a primary party on Saturday lot's of fun.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Fall is in the Air!

September is one of my favorite months. It is still warm enough to play outside and there are many beautiful colors and sights to look at. We have been enjoying the outdoors getting to the parks and going for walks and bike rides.



Abby roasting marshallows on our camping trip to Brandon.



Natalie trying to be like her big sister and ride a bike!!

Abby has now started swimming lessons and joy school. She is so excited!! You should see her on the days she has joyschool she is pretty much in heaven and asks every five minutes when is it time for school.

Natalie and I now have some time just the two of us and we have been having fun reading together and singing songs. She gives the best hugs and waves whenever I leave for work.

Hope you are all having a fabulous fall!!!

I want to talk about our day!!

Lately our adorable Abby has been so funny at bedtime. We do our routine and tuck her in then she calls myself or Ryan in to her room and says,"I want to talk about our day!" After telling her what you did then she tells you what she did. What a precious girl. I love how she makes me stop and enjoy every single moment.

Summer Time

Wow July seemed to zoom by. We have done so many things and been to so many places where to start?
Well here are some highlights:
1. Natalie turned one on July 17, 2010. That is crazy this year has gone so fast and I feel like she is growing way too fast. We had two family get togethers. One with Grandma and Poppa and then one with my two sisters and family. She of course was spoiled but had fun. She is talking more steps and has lot's of fun laughing with her sister. She is still pretty quiet in the word department but she lets you know what she wants!! She makes a funny clicking sound with her mouth all the time and she loves to be cuddled.

Happy Birthday baby girl!!!! We love you!!
2. We have had a few visitors this month. Uncle Matt and Aunt Candace came and Abby was so excited to play with them.

My sister Leslye also came for 10 days. We had such a great time. We headed off to the train at Assiniboine Zoo (mostly for Abby's sake) it was super fun. We discovered a new beach at Selkirk Park (love it). We had some fun sister time and went for a cruise on the River. It was really neat. I am so lucky to have such great sisters!!!

We also found out this month that my sister will be leaving us to move to Calgary. I am pretty sad I will miss her and her family tremendously however I know they will be awesome there too. Lucky Calgary!!!!

This picture pretty much says it all!!

Lastly we had a family camping trip. It was so much fun. We went out to Bird's Hill Park set up the tent and had a blast. So much so that I keep telling Ryan we are going again. I love camping and being outside and all that fun stuff. The girls were amazingly  great. We had only one downfall sleep!!! Oh well it was well worth it!!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!!

Best Husband Ever

I know I just told you in my last post he was the best ever but I just had to share with you how sweet he was yesterday! He completely surprised me with a date afternoon/evening. It was awesome. We dropped the kids off at Grandma's and headed to the bike shop. I got my first road bike well actually cyclocross bike and we headed to Bird's Hill Park. The weather was beautiful and my new bike was fantastic. It is a little tricky changing gears on a road bike so I felt a little wobbly at times but I had a great ride with no wipeouts! After the park we headed home changed and headed off to dinner at "A Night in Bangkok" A yummy Thai restaurant where the food was much better than the service!!
We headed back to Grandma's where Abby insisted on a sleepover so she stayed at Grandma's. We came home and put Natalie to bed and started watching a movie. We watched Mr. Deeds which brought back some memories. That is the movie I watched when I was in labour with Natalie. This time however I quickly fell asleep. OOPS!!

Anyway it was a perfect treat as tomorrow night I head back to work parttime in the ICU. I was thinking about my job and how I feel like I need to study or something to go back. This maternity leave I really embraced my family and didn't think about work at all. It was so wonderful. I guess I may be hitting the books a little tonight to review but really I think it will all come back once I am there. I was thinking what do I love about my job. I came up with my top three:

1. I only have to work 1-2 days a week which is just enough for me.

2. I get to talk with and help people in some of their most trying times and I get to learn about their lives and families. This is essentially why I love nursing really getting to know about people.

3. I use my brain for things other than potty training, breast feeding, bedtime routines, etc. etc. etc. However at the end of the day I love being the Mom the best and if I could stay home full time I definitely would but for now I am heading back to work refreshed and looking forward to seeing all my co-workers.

Reflection

Today I went to a funeral for a wonderful gentleman that I had the opportunity to live with when I first moved to Winnipeg. Call me crazy but I love going to funerals. I love learning about people's lives and being reminded to be grateful for what I have now and not to take anything for granted. I loved listening to stories about him and really gaining an appreciation for what he accomplished in this life and all that is waiting for him in the next! I love all the neat stories. Today all his grandchildren shared their favorite memories. It made me wonder what my kids would share someday.

This picture is from Father's Day last Sunday. I hope I never take these amazing people for granted. They make everything worth it.

Abby loves the swings. Last week she really wanted to go to the swings even though there were huge puddles underneath them. So off we went. Well after I gave her a "super push" (Her new word for underducks.) She let go and took a big tumble right into the puddle. No major injuries just a lot of screaming and muddy clothes. After we calmed down thirty seconds later "Mom I want to go on the swing". She is one determined girl.

Natalie is growing like crazy. She is into everything. She is trying to walk and is now standing on her own. She goes to take a step then tumbles down. Today she was headbanging the stairs at my sisters it was all good and fun until she decided to go a little further and actually make contact with the stairs. She has a nice goosegg on her forehead. She is constantly making noises and having conversations that no one understands.

I have been so tired lately. Natalie is not doing well with the whole teething thing. She finally popped one through and is now getting about 3or 4 more. All my nonmedicinal tricks aren't working so we are back on the Baby Advil.
I have been soaking up the Conference Ensign lately. Isn't it just inspiring? I feel so much peace knowing all the advice and counsel given to us on how to raise our families is right there and we just need to follow it and use it. Don't you feel lucky? I sure do.

Enjoying the Moments!

Here is my cute 10 month old. I can't even believe she is that old already. She finally has a tooth poking through and I think that is why she finally slept through the night twice last week! YEAH!!!!
She is now crawling up the stairs and pulling herself to a stand and creeping all along the furniture.
She loves her sister and is always laughing. Abby was having a three year old moment in the bathtub and Natalie crawls over stands up and starts laughing and then Abby started laughing. I think this will be a great quality as they get older and she will be able to help Abby relax.
She is also my noisy girl. She loves baby talk and is constantly babbling away. It is so fun to be her Mom!


We have had lot's of walks to the park lately with the nice weather and she loves the rocks at the playground mostly eating them so her favorite area for now is the swings.

Abby is growing every day and has such an independant personality. Maybe it's the age or stage I don't know. I appreciate that she wants to do so many things herself and most of the time it is not a big deal. Today in fact she went to the park with a runner on her right foot and a sandal on her left foot and I didn't even notice until we were at the park. She got a few new books from her Auntie and we have been reading them daily. She loves "Cupcake" it is a super cute story about an ordinary vanilla cupcake. A must read with your little girls!



Mother's Day was awesome. I never blogged about it but I was treated like a queen. I do have an amazing husband. I am also lucky to have two fantastic Moms so it was a great day overall. I am just trying to enjoy the moments of motherhood each day with these two cuties!!!
Finally planted my garden last week. What an adventure with Abby wanting to help constantly. I am sure my carrots will be so close together that they will not be very big at all but the memories will outweigh the small carrots!!

Change

It seems like there is a lot of change going on in our lives.I guess this is typical of everyone's lives it kind of overwhelmes me in the blogging world and I quit blogging for a while and then realize I have way too much to write about. Anyway let's see:

-Natalie is 10 months old this month YIKES!!! Can we all say slow down. She is crawling everywhere,standing herself up against objects,making lot's of noises, and still loves to explore by putting everything in her mouth. I guess it is good in a way it keeps me on top of vaccuuming and mopping!!

-Abby turned three last week.! I can't believe she is three. We had her first party with three friends. It was pretty chaotic at times but in the end everyone had a fun time. I made her a bunny cake and she got spoiled by her friends and later by family as we had everyone over for a BBQ. She amazes me everyday with her memory skills and all the things she picks up when you just say them once. I do love how she loves music and we are enjoying her music class together. On Monday we went to the Barfuss's for FHE and she sang most of the words to Nephi's Courage. Yep I am one proud momma!!

-Ryan is loving the spring weather so he can ride his bike a lot!(He he poor guy the weather has been so terrible not the best for bike riding). He is looking for a wonderful new job at the moment so we are lucky to have him around a lot more.

-Myself I am just trying to enjoy the moments as they come. I was so lucky to have my Mom here the past week.  It was so  fun to have her around. Abby was pretty spoiled having someone to play games with her all the time. We had lot's of adventures: fabric shopping, flat tire during rush hour on Main Street/Portage (So fun), bubble tea, and oh yeah my Mom got her ears pierced for Mother's Day. What an adventurer.
 I got released from RS and put into the Primary Presidency. It was a bit of a shock but now I am enjoying being with the children and working with my sister it is pretty fun. Today is my four month mark of going to the gym,working out etc. I have been measuring and doing my weight etc. I won't give you numbers but I am slowly attaining my goal and I am super excited about that!!!!
I can't wait for the sun to return and start planting my flower and vegetable gardens and going to the park daily!!!

Easter

Wow time has flown by. I feel like I say that a lot but seriously since the weather got nice I feel like my time is taken up by walks to the park, riding my bike, and playing outside..I love this season.  Well the past weekend was Easter and we had such a fun holiday this year. We had a playdate early in the week with Abby's friends and made bunny cookies, had an Easter egg hunt, and made Easter hats. Do your remember making Easter hats in school? I used to love making them and have many pictures from elementary school of my Easter hat.  We had a special Easter family home evening and since then Abby is insisiting on having egg hunts daily. It has been quite fun.

Despite threats from Mom. Yes I used the threat of no Easter Bunny if you don't behave the bunny did come. Abby received a small Easter bunny and a Disney movie. She was so excited that the bunny came. Natalie got some yummy treats too!!

One of my favorite Easter traditions is the Easter dress. Growing up my Mom always made me one and I was doing good until this year. Grandma and Poppa bought the girls their Easter dresses and boy were they cute!!!

We had a really fun family activity last week and got to go fly in a small plane. One of our friends is a pilot and is moving away so we took the opportunity to go fly with him. It was so fun watching all the sights from above and watching Abby be amazed at everything she saw!! Ryan even flew for a bit.

Of course both of the girls are growing up like crazy here are some of the things they have been up to.

Abby has started riding a bike. It has been so much fun to help her and watch her catch on and just go. She is so excited to ride a bike just like her Daddy and wants to know why she can't go on his hour long bike rides with him?

She has also started saying mealtime and bedtime prayers seriously one of the sweetest experiences of parenting is watching your children's testimonies grow.

Now see this cute face. Our little Natalie started crawling last week and unlike her sister is into everything. I remember people asking me why I didn't have my DVD's locked up or my CD's put away but Abby was just never interested. Well here comes trouble. Natalie gets into everything she can she would still eat all the flyers if I let her and loves crawling straight towards the entertainment unit. Such fun!!!!

Now the past week we have had this little gal at our house.

Watching Skiddles for my sister has  been a lot of fun. My girls love having her Natalie is constantly chasing her and Skiddles is running away. Abby loves walking her and acts like such a grownup holding her leash. I am quite happy to return her to her family tomorrow. Not totally sold on the dog thing but it has been fun.I also think Skiddles is slightly overwhelmed being in our noisy baby crying house. I think she will be quite happy to return to a home of quiet days!!!

Wasn't General Conference awesome? Loved it. I was so thrilled to get so much counsel as a parent although I was telling Ryan it worries me about what might be coming!!

I also loved watching the final half of the NCAA finals. I haven't watched basketball in so long and I was so rooting for the underdogs but Duke won. So sad. It was such a fun game to watch.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!!

Spring or Not Spring that is the Question

Well it has been some time since I last blogged. I took a nice long break. Mainly because Abby has discovered you can play games on the computer and every time I sit down,"Mommy I want to play one of my games."

The last week we have been enjoying some warmer weather and lot's of outdoor time. I love it when I can take the girls outside. Abby loves being outdoors and loves exploring. It is so refreshing to take a walk with her and watch as she appreciates the simplest things.

Natalie has been growing like crazy. She is now 8 months old. Still no teeth but man she is sure acting and sleeping like she is getting teeth so we will see. This is her favorite place on earth. On the floor surrounded by paper. She loves anything paper and you have to watch her otherwise it is straight into the mouth. She is starting to get mobile these days not technically crawling but scooches her way across the floor.

What can I say? Here is my little reader. Abby has started reading books outloud. Obviously not truly reading them but saying the basics of the story that I have read to her. It is so fun to watch and see just how quickly she learns a story. Since she went to a princess birthday party she is really into princesses these days. I picked up the book Cinderella on the weekend and she loves reading it. The other day she said she was bored so I was like go read one of your books. "Mom I can't read I am too little." Then she proceeds to sit down and read her version of the story. I love how their little minds work how they want to be independant and dependant at the same time.

We have had some fun family times the past few weekends swimming, looking at show homes, and last weekend going to the primary Olympics party.

We were the Dinos and had traced a dinosaur on the back of our uniforms. Abby insisted we be called the Smith Family team so original. We all won a gold medal so I say pretty good performances by all. Abby's favorite were the scooter races. Dad was pretty excited to beat Mom in the tug of war. We are so lucky to have such a fun ward who plan such fun activities. It was a great time.

This morning when I woke up there was snow on the ground. Hence the title of my post. I know it won't last super long but I was really hoping it was spring. Please come back spring we love you!!!!

Abigail and Natalie

Well I have officially finished all my family memories for February  and to be honest it was exhausting to do a blog entry everyday. I admire those who have the energy and time to do it. After today I may take a break for awhile. Just thought I would share what we have been up to this month at our house.

First off we discovered Natalie has a head full of curls. It is super cute but they don't really stay unless her hair is wet and I am not about to start hair products with a seven month old.

Abby and Ryan had a great time building a "castle" in the backyard. The weather has been so mild we have been outside a lot the last couple of weeks.

Natalie decided she does like to eat after all and is now eating veggies and cereal. Still not interested in meat. Here she is eating her first Mum Mum cracker.

Bedtime is occasionally a challenge and one night Daddy was so tired he took them both into bed with him. Eventually everyone got to sleep.

We love hitting the parks and going for a walk or playing on the structure. The girls both love being outside!!

These two are pretty great kids and I am glad to be building many memories each day with them.

Now for those of you who read about my family and my great memories I don't want you to get any crazy ideas that my family is all perfect and wonderful. We are just like any other family and have our moments but in my effort to focus on the positive I wanted to share what I love and remember the most about them. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!!

Grandparents

I have had many great influences in my life some of which are my grandparents. All of my grandparents have passed away. Ryan has one set of Grandparents still alive. I will share some of my memories of my grandparents.  I was pretty spoiled and grew up close to my Grandma and Grandpa Smith. I remember them coming to the farm almost every day when I was little. It was so fun to see them and play with them. I remember my Grandpa driving me to piano lessons and home when my parents couldn't. One such instance proved a little more exciting than planned when the police pulled us over because my Grandpa was driving on the wrong side of the road. OOPS! I made it safely home but Grandpa soon after wasn't able to drive anymore. My other favorite memory is he would come out and push me on the tree swing in their backyard and just take time to play with me. I loved that about him.
My Grandma Smith was pretty special. I used to sleepover at her house whenever I had early morning basketball/volleyball practice. She had the coolest house ever. She would always make me yummy suppers and we would sit and visit in the living room after. Usually ending with some tv. She loved watching her shows. In elementary school I interviewed my Grandma about the depression and gained such an appreciation for what I have and what kind of heritage I have. During the summerof my high school years I lived in town at my Grandma's so I could get to my Flamingo Hotel job. She was always worrying about me getting enough rest and hanging out too much with my friends. Never fail though she would always have dinner ready and waiting for me after work. She was such a special lady and I am so glad I had the opportunity to live with her and really get to know her.
My Grandpa Thomas I don't remember very much because he died when I was pretty young. He was an awesome fisherman though and I do remember going out in his little silver boat and spending the day fishing. I especially remember my brother Phillip getting the hook caught in my hair.
My Grandma Thomas was a really neat lady. She was super talented musically and I loved that about her. She played the organ well into her 90's for her ward. She also played the violin beautifully. I remember staying at their little house in Donnelly Idaho and walking to the corner store for an "Idaho Spud". It was so fun to go and visit them.

Ryan's grandparents on his Mom's side are the Rand's. I don't really know much about them since I never met them. I do know that they lived in a small town. His Grandpa was a judge in the town. Grandma was a very proper lady from what I gather. I know that they must have been great parents.

This is Ryan's Grandpa(His Dad's side).
We were able to go and visit them when Abby was just over one in Nova Scotia. I learned a lot about Grampy while I was there. He is an expert bird caller and he was calling the crows one morning and I told Ryan I think Grampy has lost it. He then informed me Grampy is skilled at this and he was truly calling the birds.
My other favorite memory was when we went for breakfast with the boys. Grampy goes to breakfast/coffee every day at the same resaurant with the same guys. It was so cute. He was telling everyone that he had his Great Granddaughter with him. Ryan and I were just a sidenote. It was super cute.

Of course we had some fun times with Grammy as well. She is such a sweet lady. She has sent me these two adorable quilts for both of my babies.  One of my favorite memories of her is playing scrabble with her here in Winnipeg. She is like the best scrabble player ever and I was just amazed at how talented and smart she is.  Every Christmas we get two things from Grammy that I love. One is hand painted cards that are amazing the other are hand painted eggs to put on the Christmas tree. They are so special to us and we look forward every year to see what picture is on the egg/card.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with such great heritage and grandparents who are such great examples to me!!

Leslye

My sister Leslye and I have had a lot of great memories together. I don't remember a lot of things from when we lived together on the farm but since I have grown up a little we have had a lot of fun times together.
One of my favorites is when we drove out to Winnipeg together to visit my sister Vicki. I learned so much about her just by being in the car with her for such a long drive. She helped me as I got my first speeding ticket and then we surprised our sister together for her birthday. Super fun times.
After I had Abby she was so cute when I was really exhausted and the tears were coming easily she was like somebody help her. She didn't feel like she could help me because she didn't have kids. I think she was a big help because she is good at recognizing when we need some help. I was so grateful for her coming and being able to help me.
I love when she comes to visit and we get to do fun sister things together. Going for lunch at Olive Garden, shopping for nursing uniforms, and talking about our favorite books together.

I don't know if this qualifies as a memory just something about Leslye that I love is she is so considerate about giving gifts and showing appreciation. She always sends the sweetest things and is such a great Auntie to my kids.

Today is her birthday and I hope she has a wonderful day! Love you Leslye!!!!