We went to the cottage!

We went to the cottage with Ryan's family in July. It is close to Hillside Beach. We spent a few days with the whole family and it was so fun. My kids were in heaven to have their Aunts, Uncles, and of course their Grandparents at their beck and call.
We played in sand dunes, swam at the beach, rode in a canoe, watched sunsets, rode a bike, took a first step, had a 3rd birthday party, picked wild blueberries, and had a fabulous time.

It was a really great relaxing holiday. Hope you are having a great summer!!

Summer Holiday in Alberta

We had such an awesome trip to Alberta last week. It was so fun to see family, be at the farm, go camping, and just to be together. We started off with some craziness. We decided to drive through the night so that we wouldn't waste a day. This turned out great because Grandma and Grandpa were able to spell us for some cat naps on Saturday. We headed to the temple on Sunday before church for our walk around and some photos!

We hit the Raymond parade on Monday. This is one of my kids favorite things to do in the summer. In Winnipeg we have the Santa Claus Parade in the bitter cold (usually) so my kids are all over a warm summer parade where they actually throw candy at you. It was so fun to see so many of my extended family!

These pics capture two of my kids favorite activities at the farm this year. The quad and the trampoline. I think Natalie would have spent every possible minute on that trampoline if she could. This year she is a little less spontaneous and was mostly sticking to jumping in the middle thankfully!!

 We went camping in Waterton for one night. We were going to do it for two but everyone got a nasty cold so we only ended up there for 24 hours. We did some hiking, eating, playing, and sleeping. It was an awesome experience and we will definitely be camping longer next time. The girls were so happy to be together running around with their arms wrapped around each other. Jared is moving not really crawling but getting places so he ended up in the camping supplies bin.He doesn't look too upset about it!

This was our campsite it had beautiful mountain views from every angle.










The week ended with both of my sisters coming down for a hike to the point, lot's of laughing, talking, and a campfire.

We had a great holiday and made lot's of new family memories on the farm. I will definitely miss the beauty of the country but it is good to be home again!!

Whirlwind

It seems like spring is a whirlwind around here. We have had so many fun family adventures this month I need to catch up before I never catch up!! Warning: pic overload.

We had a really fun weekend at the beginning of the month going to see the snake pits. The kids were so excited to see that many snakes in one place. We ended off that fun family day by going to Gimli ,walking the boardwalk, and eating toasted coconut soft ice cream! YUM YUM!

Abby has kept busy in her soccer games and has kept us busy running to the games. She really loves it and is enjoying her first soccer team.

Natalie wishes she was playing soccer and often tries to get on the field before I can stop her!

Mother's Day came and went. I had such a fabulous day this year. My family spoiled me. My husband gave a wonderful talk in church and my kids were awesome. Abby made me multiple cards and was so excited to give them to me.

I have been blessed to have two wonderful examples of Mother's in my life and I am so grateful for both of them and all that they teach and do for me. Don't know what I would do without them!!!

Love you Mom's!!!

Last week I got my garden all planted. It was so fun to start from scratch by digging a spot, hauling some dirt in and planting the seeds with the kids. They were so excited today to see the lettuce and herbs already popping out!!

I can't believe the May long weekend has come and gone. We had a fantastic campout in the backyard. We roasted hot dogs and slept in a tent. Well some of us did (Abby and Ryan). I stayed out until Jared's first feeding then came back in. Natalie joined me about 2am but it was fun and made for some great family memories!!

Isn't he handsome? He loved his first tent experience. Mostly I think he loved watching his sister's be goofy!

Hope you enjoyed the whirlwind tour. Until next time!!!

Abby is 5

Abby has had a pretty eventful couple of weeks. Last Monday she turned 5. I can't even believe that I have been a Mom for five years already. She had two birthday days really. We had the family over on Sunday and her kid party on Monday. She was so excited to get a scooter and has been riding it non-stop.
Here are five things about this girl:

1. She is determined at everything she tries. Even in Primary on Sunday when she got asked to help with the sign language for our Mother's Day Song she was concentrating so hard. She is always trying her best!!
2. She loves crafts. Anything she can do to create things she will do it. It is so neat to watch her always making little notes, cards, and other fun things. I have quite the collection already.
3. She is independant and outgoing. She has never been one to need Mom or Dad to hang around. I still remember her going to nursery and she just waved and went on in.
4. She is a sporty girl and is always wanting to learn new games. She just started playing soccer and is doing amazing on her team. She was so excited that she has a real uniform!!
5. She is a super sensitive and caring girl. She notices when Mom is having a bad day and always tries to help.
We are so grateful to have this beautiful girl in our family. She is such an awesome daughter. I can't even believe she will be going to kindergarten in September and in true Abby fashion she can't wait to start. Mom on the other hand is more nervous than she is I think.

We had a garden themed birthday party and painted flower pots, did a scavenger hunt, and planted a flower. It was super fun except all the people in attendance were boys. We gotta find her some girl friends. The boys weren't that excited to paint flower pots I tell ya!!
Happy Birthday Abby!!!!!

Hello Again!

It has been some time since I last updated. It was on my brain but just never got to the top of the list. I was looking at some of our pics to see what I missed showing everyone and there were lot's of snow shots and it feels like a long time ago that we had enough snow to build snowmen already. I am not complaining it just feels like time is racing by.

When spring comes at our house out come the bikes. This year Abby's got a makeover by Daddy. I think it looks pretty spiffy and Abby is pretty proud to ride it all over the neighborhood.

Natalie got her first tricycle this spring and rides it amazingly far at least in my opinion. She loves that she has her own "bike" and will ride as far as Abby will ride.

For Easter weekend we were able to head out to Regina to the temple. It is so fun to go out as a family. Our kids were so excited to go. Abby couldn't wait to stay in a hotel and go swimming. The next day we woke up to a blizzard and our nice walk and talk around the temple turned into run and touch it then get back in the van. Abby conveniently had to use the washroom and was so excited that she got to enter the temple. It was a sweet family experience to share and be able to share our testimony about the temple and why it is so important to us! Now I realize that it looks like Natalie is very upset she just had cold, wet feet by this point but hey it's our temple pic!! We also have an extra girl with us in this pic. We were watching her so her parents could attend a session.

Easter came and went. We were lucky to be able to color Easter Eggs for Family Home Evening on the Monday then travel to the temple on Good Friday. Easter Sunday brought the Easter Bunny, reflection, Easter Egg Hunt, and Yummy Easter Dinner. I can't seem to get any of the Easter dresses pics up so this is the girls from Easter morning. The Easter Bunny always leaves chocoalate carrots at our house which is what Natalie is holding. They also got some ears for the egg hunt later on. I love Easter and thinking about the many blessings we have to know that our Savior lived and died for us and that through him we can all be ressurected and live with our families forever!!!

Of course the pics of Jared are all on the other camera but I will post some better ones soon. Here he is on the road trip trying to see everything that was going on. He kept trying to crank his neck so he could watch the movie on the DVD player. It was pretty cute. He is almost 7 months eating lot's of veggies, fruit, and cereal. He loves to sit up, jump in his exersaucer, and jolly jumper. He loves his sisters and always has big smiles for them. He is still his father's son in personality for sure. Nothing phases this guy too much.
We are all getting excited for more spring and summer. I can't wait to start getting into my new garden space and seeing what I can do. We also can't wait for all the fun summer stuff... the beach, holidays, and yummy fresh fruit and veggies.

Manic Monday!

Not really a manic Monday but I love that song and in my head it was a manic Monday. We have been sick at our house for the past week. It started with Abby, a little bit of Daddy, Mommy, and tonight Natalie started coughing and sniffling. Not so fun!! By the way I think it should be illegal to get sick as a Mom.
Being sick and not getting enough sleep is truly exhausting but I love my job and wouldn't trade it for those 2am snuggles and cries of Mom!!
Well today I registered Abby for kindergarten. We are putting her in French Immersion and the school is pretty close a little bit of a walk over this lovely bridge. She is so excited to start school it is really a blessing to have her enthusiasm in our family. When I went to register her the morning classes were already full which was pretty surprising since registration started on Friday? Anyway I guess everyone is super eager. I was feeling bummed because I was hoping for morning and she said well Mom I guess we will never be late. Seriously she overhears everything I say. I was talking to Ryan about how getting their on time with all three for 8:30am will be a bit tricky and I hate being late. Here she tells me not to worry if we have afternoon kindergarten we have all morning to get there. What a cutie!
Natalie had a bit of a rough day and took a fall in the library parking lot. She hit her chin on the cement pad and cut her lip. Nothing like walking into a public place with a screaming bleeding child. Luckily I was prepared and cleaned her up and we sat down for a couple of minutes before she realized it hurt and the tears started rolling and we quickly exited.
I am pretty sure Jared just laughs at all of us girls and all the tears and emotions. I am sure when he is older it won't be so funny but for now I think secretly inside he laughs and laughs.
Anyway we made it home safely after all our adventures and Abby gave her FHE lesson. Daddy did the activity. We talked about Nephi building a boat and Daddy brought out all the toilet paper we had just bought and we spent a lot of time  building our own boats and other such things.
Happy Monday!!!

January- Where did you go?

I just looked at my blog and realized wow it has been a long time since I did an entry. You would laugh to know that in my daytimer it is marked on one particular evening as a task to do and never gets done. Anyway a whole month of 2012 has gone. I have done really well on some of my ambitious goals and have had to restart some again. Such is life.

Mostly I have these three to thank for the lack of blogging. Aren't they cute? We have been soaking up every minute of this awesome winter.We get outside daily doing something. Sometimes I am too ambitious and we come home with three crying children but I like to think that someday they will thank me for giving them a love of outdoors and being motivated to accomplish things.

Ryan and I went on a date. We went skating at the forks it was so fun. It was one of our Christmas gifts to each other to plan a date each month. This month was his and he didn't disappoint. My feet were sore at the end but it was fun to be just the two of us for a few hours.

I have been baking a lot. We had fun making these CTR pretzels from the January

Friend magazine. Mind you this baking really isn't helping my whole physical health goal but fun.

Jared is four months old already. He is trying to roll over. During tummy time he bends up those knees and lifts his head up and tries to move. He loves to make lot's of noises and is constantly telling me stories. He sleeps like a dream (knock on wood) and is really great. I love going and getting him in the morning with his big smile.

If I could describe Abby in one word lately it is motivated. She learned how to set goals in her preschool and came home and accomplished her goal in one day. Her new goal is to learn to read and she is working really hard at it. She is growing up so fast and last week I picked up a kindergarten registration package and have been silently freaking out about it. Well not so silently to my husband. Anyway I can't believe she is old enough to go to school already. We found this bear on the sidewalk and she went and knocked on the lady's door to see if it was hers. She is always trying to help and do the right thing.

Natalie completely surprised us just over a week ago and went potty all by herself. She has been in big girl panties ever since and it has been really great (knock on wood). I can't believe how fast she has caught on. She is still her cute little mischievous self and has forced me to put a lock on my fridge and freezer. Now don't be alarmed but this girl will pull anything and everything out and hide under the kitchen table and start eating it. She keeps me on my toes but when she pulls out her big hearty laugh you can't help but smile and enjoy one of her big bear hugs!!

Lastly I had a birthday. I can't believe I am 34 years old already. I am starting to understand now when people say they feel like they are in their 20's still. I was totally spoiled by husband and family and had a great weekend. Loved these beautiful flowers from my hubby.

Hope everyone had a great January!!