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!!!!

Tara

Tara is my sister in law and married to my brother Phil. She is an amazing person that I have gotten to know a little bit over the past few years.
I remember a family reunion at  Woolford Park on the Smith side with all the cousins and we sat on the blanket and just visited. She has had a really interesting life and overcome a lot of challenges and I learned so much from her. I remember being in awe at how talented she was. She is super musical and into dancing. We shared a common bond of being stake music chairperson for awhile and it was so nice to have someone to bounce off ideas on. She is so easy to talk to.
I think my other favorite memory is when her family came to visit us in Winnipeg. It was right after I had Abby and was adjusting to motherhood and was pretty much feeling overwhelmed. She totally talked to me about how hard it was after she had Landon and gave me some awesome practical advice that totally helped me. I am so grateful that my brother found her and that she is part of our family.
Love you Tara.
 It is her birthday tomorrow so have a wonderful day Tara!!

Cole, Naomi, Adam, and Noah

This is a really old picture of my neices and nephews but they have moved so far away that I can't really take many pictures of them anymore.
Cole is the oldest and my favorite memory of Cole is from when we had a family reunion at the farm and he was running around chasing all his cousins and trying to tickle them. He is a really funny kid and has a great sense of humour. When I went to BC to visit them I think a took a whole roll of film of Cole and Adam they are super cute and photogenic. Can't you tell by Adam's sweet smile?
Naomi is the only girl in a house full of boys. She is super cute. She is really quiet and sweet. She loves babies and was happy to play with Abby at the family reunion.
Adam is the cute one with the glasses and he is my cute little daredevil nephew. I know he is always trying new things and playing tricks on his parents I am sure.  Noah is the baby and as such I don't have a ton of cute memories of him.
They are all great kids and I am so glad that got to be a part of our family. They have great parents I know and I hope they are loving the beach in New Zealand. So jealous. In fact Dave was telling me they went surfing on Christmas Day. How fun is that?
Love you guys!!

Madyson, Jordanne, Dallas, and Reid

Madyson is my oldest niece. I remember when she was born. She was the first grandkid on both sides and of course was spoiled. I remember her being a bunny at Halloween and she was sooo cute. I remember watching many a Disney movies with her while babysitting.  She is a super amazing writer and is now in college pursuing her dreams.
Jordanne is my cute redheaded neice we used to lovingly call "carrots". She is my social butterfly neice at least she was when I lived there. I remember when they were taking highland dance and they would perform on their front lawn in front of the town house. She used to ask me to read more stories at bedtime when I babysat. A girl after my own heart or maybe just avoiding bedtime?? I guess we are a little alike because she is applying to go to nursing school in the fall. I know she will be a super awesome compassionate nurse!! When we had a family reunion a few years ago she left me a little note in my scriptures. Yeah we are totally alike!! Love it!
Dallas is my halloween neice. Yeah born on Halloween and full of tricks. She was a dancing queen, musicican and I remember running to the Mac's store with her. They used to live right behind a Mac's store and every time I babsat they used to beg Auntie to go to the Mac store.
Reid was born when I lived in Edmonton and looking back I feel like man I wasn't any help to my sister in law when that occured. OOOPS! I remember visiting him in the hospital. He was very welcomed after three girls. He is a total trickster and has grown up so much since I left Edmonton. I can't believe he is in YM already and going on Scout camp and all that stuff.

I love all these guys and am so grateful that I was able to live in Edmonton for a few years and really get to know them better. They are awesome members of my family that I love!!

Mom

I first met Mom when I was serving in the Young Adult ward RS Presidency. She was a really great leader and always had great advice for our little presidency. I admired how dedicated she was to her calling. Every calling she has had in the church since I have known her she always gives it her all. That is a great example to me.

One of my favorite memories with her is driving out to Alberta with her on the way to my wedding. She drove out early with me so I could spend some time with my family. Ryan had told her I liked to sing in the car when I drive so we sang together. It was fun.
We had some great girl outings going to  the Nutcracker with Beth, going for sushi, and other things before the grandkids came along.

Really since I have had my kids I have really come to appreciate her so much more. She is such a thoughtful loving Grandma. I am so spoiled to have her so close. She is always calling to see how my day is going. She takes Abby for sleepovers to give us a break and they are always willing to babysit.
I love that my kids love going to their Grandparents house.
I really appreciate that we live so close and have so much time to make lot's of memories together.
Love you Mom!
I honestly cannot find a picture of Grandma with Natalie oh my we are such terrible photographers. I am sure Poppa has one!!