Jeff and Tanya

Finally....

2012-01-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to begin!!! I know it's been forever since I've wrote anything. I just haven't really been interested in blogging. I love reading other people's blogs, but it's sometimes tough for me to get going and actually write something or post pictures. I hope there are still some of you readers left out there...

Gabs got a haircut...

Church Christmas concert...

Megan all ready for her school Christmas concert...

Megan has her school Christmas concert at the beginning of December. She wore her special "candy cane" dress from Grandma & Grandpa V. Her class sang a song and said a little poem. It was really cute! Because of the teachers strike, it was only during the day, so Jeff was unable to come because he was working. So I took lots of videos, so he could still watch her.

We had a wonderful Christmas with family!! Both of Jeff's brothers and their wives came out this year...and we had an extra special new addition to the family. Eric and Traci had a baby boy, Arthur James, just 10 days before Christmas. We were so grateful that they made the trip up here with a newborn. I LOVED snuggling that sweet little boy, he is such a blessing to our family.

Christmas Eve, we all went to the early service at church and then all of Jeff's family and my parents came over for dinner and the evening. It was so nice to all be together!

My "dog" wrapped Christmas gift from Jeff!

Holding cousin Arthur for the first time..

Christmas morning, we spent at home, just our little family. The kids loved opening their presents and just playing with them. I had made our breakfast the day before, so I just had to put the caramel French toast in the oven. In the late morning, we headed over to Jeff's parents place and opened more presents. We had lots of fun!! Then we had an amazing Turkey dinner and headed home for the kids bedtime.

Playing with his new car garage!

We celebrated Christmas with my parents on Boxing Day! Mom made a delicious brunch for us and then it was more present time. We just hung out and relaxed and enjoyed our time together.

Funny story! My mom opened her gift from my dad and she pulled these pants out of the box...

My mom very kindly said, "oh, what size are these?"...we burst out laughing, they were a size 18!! My dad said the sales lady was helping him and she had picked out the pants and they were supposed to be size 10.

**Eric took lots of pictures at Christmas and now I can't seem to get them onto my blog, I will try again another time.

Jeff was off work most of the week and it was SO nice to have him home! I was able to go out shopping one day with my sis-in-law and we had fun. I am so thankful for our families!!

Jeff was so thoughtful and bought us tennis rackets for my Christmas present. We had talked about starting to play tennis last summer and so this was great. Although, we can't use them just yet! There is a great park up by our house that also has a tennis court, so we thought in the summer we can play some tennis while the kids play at the park!! I find it so much easier to exercise in the summer, I'm just not a big fan of the winter:(

I'm trying to think back to before Christmas and remember things that happened. We had some family photos taken in the fall that we used for our Christmas cards this year. Our good friend is a photographer and she took these for us. We are really happy with them. The kids were really good for most of the shots, but Marty doesn't like to sit still and pose of photos!

Just before Christmas, my friend lost her husband to a heart attack. Megan and her daughter are really good friends at school. I have gotten to know her over the last year or so. We get together for playdate's and just to chat. I got the phone call early one Monday morning from a mutual friend of ours. I was completely shocked! My friend had just lost her dad three weeks earlier and she was really close to him, and then to loose her husband. My heart just aches for her. I was able to go over to her house and be with her that first day and I actually managed to see her every day for the week, just to be with her. And some amazing ladies from our church provided meals for her family everyday. I know this was a huge blessing to her. I've never been through this with a friend before, so sometimes I'm not sure what to say or do, but I'm just trying to be there for her right now. She has two daughters, ages 6 and 9. So, if you think of them please pray that God would give them comfort and strength as they go through this journey. And that maybe through all of this that they would find Him!

On a different note, my parents leave for 2 weeks in Mexico soon and then Jeff's parents are going to Hawaii for a month!! I'm starting to get a little bit jealous of all these people that get to go somewhere warm during the winter. I would love to go on a vacation, but a vacation with the kids is just not quite a vacation...maybe when they are a bit older! I'm thinking our next vacation will be to Disneyland in about 3 years.

Thanksgiving, Halloween and more...

2011-11-06T14:21:00.001-08:00

Once again, I'm so far behind and can't remember all that's been going on around here!

Megan has been loosing teeth like crazy this month. In 3 weeks, she lost 3 teeth!! She is now missing her two top front teeth and I think she looks so cute!!

Lots of fun things going on around here...

She had a Halloween Party at school last week and I was able to help out for it. I love helping out in her class and just being around all the kids. The kids played a bunch of games at the party and they all dressed up in their costumes. Then they got to have a yummy feast of snacks!! The kids were all so well behaved and had so much fun

I even got dressed up and went as Minnie Mouse...

The evening of Halloween, we had some friends come over for pizza and then we headed out down our cul-de-sac to do some trick or treating. We only have about 10 houses on our street and it's the perfect amount! After that we went to one of the churches in town to see a concert by Dougy Dug Dug!! The kids sing worship songs of his in Kids church, so they were super excited to see him in real life!

It's been so nice outside lately and the leaves changing color are so beautiful. I took some pictures of the kids in the backyard the other day before it got too cold out...
Taking pictures of 3 little kids is no easy task....

Gabby starts her speech classes this week. I went to a parent info meeting last week and I think it will be a great program for her. She goes once a week for an hour for six weeks. There will be 2 speech pathologists for every 5 kids. They go to stations like crafts, games, etc. and the kids interact with their parent and speech helpers to determine what sounds they need to work on.

I've been doing some home decor projects around here. I love going to thrift stores and finding things I can redo or paint. I painted a little sofa table I bought a few weeks ago and last week I bought a little round side table that I'm going to paint and distress. I will take some pictures when it's done.

I think I forgot to blog about our Thanksgiving weekend! My brother came up for the weekend and it was SO nice to see him and we got to hang out a lot. We did Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year and it was really fun. My brother did the Turkey and our mom's both brought things, so it was pretty easy for us!

On the Saturday morning, my family headed out to Davison Orchards for the morning. They had all their pumpkins on display!! We went on the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch and the kids loved the petting zoo.

We also went to a pumpkin patch in town a few days later with some friends! It was in the afternoon one day, so it was pretty quiet and the kids had a blast. We went on another tractor ride at this farm too...

I can't believe we are into November already!! I've started Christmas shopping and I'm almost finished getting everything for the kids. They are so easy to buy for. This year, we are just buying them each one bigger gift and then stocking stuffers. I really want them to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas!!

Whew...ok, that was a blog post with tons of pictures!! Hope you enjoyed them!!

An update...

2011-10-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Life is just trucking along...nothing really exciting going on. I guess that's why I haven't blogged lately.

Megan is doing great in grade 1...she loves school! She has made some really good friends and I'm very happy about that. In fact, today she went to a dance class with her friend as a guest and she got 3 invites from her little friends to go to the same class. I told her she just needed to share her time with all 3 girls. Megs has a great teacher and she I learning lots. We have been struggling a bit with Megan at bed time. I think she is over tired from school all day and still getting used to the new back to school routine. I think things are starting to get better. She actually went to bed great tonight!!

Megan lost her middle upper tooth...she is growing up!

Gabby is growing up so much these days. She just seems older...although she still whines and we are working on that. She gets bored easily and especially when she doesn't have someone to play with. She is so used to having Megan around to play with. She is getting used to her being back at school too. The girls have been playing so nicely together lately. They will play polly pockets or zoobles together and spend lots of time in the playroom. Both girls love to color and make crafts, so I often find then making things in the scrapbook room! I have been taking Gabby to the StrongStart preschool. I used to take Megan there when she was younger. Gabby loves it and it's HER school!! We are trying to go once a week and it's great because I can take Marty too and he loves it as much as she does!

Marty is such s fun little guy!! I can't believe he will be 3 in February. Time is going way too fast!! But, he's still my baby and always will be. He is talking so much and he says the funniest thing. Tonight after his bath he said to Jeff "good evening"!! And then he put the towel over his face and pulled it down and said "here he is"!! He loves to play his little toy guitar and sing Hallelujah. He makes up his own songs. He will stand on the coffee table and sing his heart out. He is such a little boy and he is very active. Thankfully he still naps for 2-3 hours a day and always wakes up happy, no matter what!! I really need to get on potty training him. I just haven't been motivated as he is my last baby and there is no pressure to get him out of diapers. I have put him in underwear a few days and he doesn't seem to get it. I just need to be consistent and stay home for a few days straight.

Jeff is still running or biking every day. I think he has exercised for a week straight without taking a break. He said last night, maybe I should take a day off from exercise!! We even ran together one day last week at the school field. We let the kids play at the park and we ran laps around the field. Of course, Jeff is in WAY better shape than me. I ran for about half an hour and then went home to make dinner and he ran another 10 kms!! He said running with me was just his warm up!! We bought an stationary bike, so that he can ride in the winter. I have been using it too. I'm trying to ride it at least 3 times a week. Jeff hasn't used it much yet, because the weather has still been nice enough for him to ride outside.

I'm still working one a day a week and I really enjoy it. It gets me doing something a little different than the day to day mommy job!! I love the people I work with and we always have a good time. I usually work at the office on surgery days, which means we get a hot catered lunch. I think I chose the right day to work:) I have also starting going to a women's bible study at church which started last week. It's Beth Moore "living beyond yourself". I think it's going to be really good. I can only go for the first 6 sessions because starting in November, Gabby will be part of a speech program at the health unit for 6 weeks. She just needs to work on a few word combination sounds, like "tr","dr", "str". The speech therapist said she should be able to fix those sounds with this 6 week program. I figured it was best to get her the help she needed before she starts school next year.

I have been busy doing little "projects"! I enjoy looking at crafty, do it yourself, blogs. This week I made some modge podge wooden blocks. Jeff cut out some blocks for me from 2x4's and then he sanded them for me(what a good husband!). Then I painted them, antiqued them and modge podged some letters on. I think they turned out pretty good!
I also made my first pillow cover! I watched a YouTube video on how to make an envelope pillow cover and it was pretty easy. I think it turned out well, considering it was my first time really doing any kind of sewing.

Front..

Back...

Last weekend I went out with a few friends to see the movie "The Help". I would highly recommend it. I had just finished the book and then saw the movie. I loved it!! It was very accurate to the book. The movie was really well done and very clean, which is unusual these days! After the movies, us girls went out for dessert and I didn't get home until 11:30pm...so late for me!! But, I was able to sleep in the next day!

A few weeks ago, we went to a grandparents day at the care center Jeff's grandpa lives at. It was geared for the kids and they loved it!! The girls got their faces painted and played lots of games. There were prizes and snacks everywhere!

We also discovered a new park in our neighbourhood! It has lots of wood to walk around on, kind of like an obstacle course. We've been going there quite often, especially since the weather has been so nice! There are also tennis courts at this park and Jeff and I were thinking we could start playing tennis and let the kids play at the park. Maybe we'll try that in Spring.

I think that's a pretty good update on our family, sorry it's so long!! I will try to update more often. Thanks for reading!!

Our weekend getaway

2011-09-09T12:53:00.001-07:00

Okay...I'm back!! It's been a busy few weeks, but we are settling into routine once again.

These pictures are from a few weeks ago at the water park...

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I went on a little weekend getaway!! We went to Seattle. We had such a great time together. It was great to get away, just the two of us. It had been a year since we went away to Vegas.

We left on Friday at lunchtime. I had dropped the kids off at my in-laws place in the morning. And a very special thank you to my amazing in-laws for graciously watching our kids for the weekend!! We got through the border really quickly and figured we stop at Target in Bellingham to do a little shopping. I had not booked a hotel, I thought we would just find one while we were down there...big mistake!!
We shopped for a bit and then we were getting hungry and we wanted to go to the Olive Garden for dinner, but the wait was too long. We settled on Denny's because we were so hungry!! The service was terrible and it took forever to get our food. By this time it was around 8:30pm. We thought we should get a hotel and then just relax for the evening.

We probably stopped at 5 hotels in Bellingham and they were all booked!! I couldn't believe it. So we decided to drive a little bit towards the outlet mall. All along the way we stopped at hotels and they were all totally FULL!! We started to get a little worried that we wouldn't find a place to stay. Jeff was fine to sleep in the car in some parking lot...I was not! We finally stopped at Holiday Inn near the outlets and they were full and the clerk called a different hotel and they had one room left. We took it and gave our credit card info over the phone to book it. It was a good thing we did, because when we got the hotel(about 20 minutes away) another couple was standing in front of us and they would have taken that room...whew!! It wasn't the nicest hotel, but it was fine. We got to that hotel around 11pm, so there was no relaxing for the evening:(

We met my brother and his wife at the Seattle Outlet Mall at 10pm. It was SO good to see them!! We had a great time together. We shopped until about 3pm and then headed back to their place in Seattle. They have such a cute little apartment. We hung out at their place for a bit and then went to a beautiful restaurant for dinner. We figured we should have seafood since we were right by the ocean. We went to a place called Salty's and got to sit on the patio for dinner and sunset...so beautiful!!

We forgot to bring our camera to dinner, so these were taken with Alicia's phone...

The next morning, Jeff, Loren & Alicia went for a run near their place. They are all into running and I know I would never have been able to keep up with them. I stayed home and had a shower!! Then we had some breakfast and Alicia went to work and the rest of us went to a store and then Jeff and I headed home. We didn't want to cross the border until it had been 48 hours since we came through, because we had spent our limit and didn't want to pay duty.

I know it looks like I'm holding hands with my brother...but I am not!!

We stopped at another outlet mall on the way home and had some lunch along the way. It was nice and relaxing. We made it home just after 7pm and 2 of our 3 kids were still awake. We were happy to see the kids again, but it was really nice to get away for a few days!!

Jeff and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary the next week and we didn't do anything special because we thought our time in Seattle was our celebration!! We did put the kids to bed and then we made dinner for ourselves and watched a movie. I am so thankful for my amazing husband and all the years we've been together. I could not ask for a better man for me!! I'm so glad I get to share this journey of life with him. God has truly blessed me!!

And now, back to reality and back to school for our Megan. She had her first day back to school on Tuesday. She only went for the morning and she still went back to her kindergarten class. In fact, she was still in her kindergarten class today, as they will place them with their new teachers/class today. I'm looking forward to finding out which teacher she got. I actually requested a teacher for her, so we will see if she gets her...I hope so!! Megan is happy to be back at school, although the day before school started she said she didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay with her sister and brother. But, now she's fine!

I still can not believe she is in grade one!! And next year, both girls will be in school...that will be such a big change for us.

Camping in Osoyoos

2011-08-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we headed out to Osoyoos with 3 other families for 5 days of camping! We went to the same campground last year and it worked well with our kids. The lake is very warm and we can all camp close together!

We drove down on Wednesday morning and set up camp when we got there. The weather was hot, hot, hot again, but not quite as hot as last year at close to 40 degrees. We went to the beach after we set up camp. The kids loved playing in the water and at the beach.

Every night a different family would do dinner. It works out really well because we feed the kids first and then put them to bed and then the adults have dinner and uninterrupted conversation after that! The boys would usually go waterskiing before the adults had dinner.

Jeff brought his bikes along and he went for several rides while we were there. He would go first thing in the morning before it got too hot. The 4 ladies went for pedicures one morning in Osoyoos and the men stayed at the campground with all the kids...it was wonderful!!

Jeff slept in the tent with Megan and I slept in the camper with Gabby and Marty. It worked out really well. The kids took a little longer than usual to fall asleep, but they all slept great during the night. Marty napped really well too, I think he was tired from being outside all day and going to bed later.

We played at the beach every day and we enjoyed floating on our friends floating island!! It was massive and the kids could play in it.

The last day we were there we all took a boat ride and found a beautiful little beach. It reminded me of the Oregon coast and sand dunes. The sand was beautiful and very hot. The water was so warm and the kids loved swimming around there. It was very relaxing!!

The campground was very dry and our sites were dusty and covered in fine dirt. The kids thought that was great for playing with. But, everything was covered in dirt by the time we went home. After 5 days, I was ready to come home and feel clean again!! Next year, we might try some other campground with a little more grass and less dirt.

On the way home we all stopped at Tickleberrys for Ice cream. We stopped at just the right time because shortly after we got there, there was a huge line up.

We had great little vacation with some great friends!!

A near death experience!

2011-07-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

The week before last I went on a little adventure with my staff. Our boss took us for a staff bonding trip...and boy, was it ever bonding!! Unfortunately the weather was not great. It was cool, windy and rainy:( I don't have any pictures of our little trip.

We went White Water Rafting near Lytton. It was my boss and his 2 friends and the rest of our staff is 9 ladies. All the ladies were a little hesitant to go(except one). We left the office at 8:30am and our boss provided us with starbucks coffee, muffins, danishes, etc. The drive was about 2.5 hours long. As we were getting close to our destination we saw some of the rapids from the highway and we got even a little more nervous. The river was so HIGH and RAGING fast!!

We got to the resort and had lunch and got all suited up in our wetsuits, lifejackets, rain gear, and helmuts. It was still very cool and started to pour rain. We drove the bus to the spot where you get into the boats and we were all freezing and wet. Not a great start:(

We got into the boat. All 10 of us could fit in one boat. Oh and I forgot to mention it was the raft boat that you paddle, not the motorized boat. We got instructions on how to paddle and safety and then we were one our way.

That's when everything went wrong...we were 3 minutes into our trip on the boat and we hit our first HUGE rapid and the boat flipped over and we were instantly all in the cold raging river!!! It all happened so fast that I didn't even realize what was happening. It was hard to breath because the water was so cold and the river was carrying us away. I popped out of the water to catch my breath and then I would get sucked back down. I finally got a hold of the rope that was around the boat(good thing I was listening to the safety instructions!). Our rafting guide and one guy flipped the boat and we were able to get back in. Oh, and it was cold, pouring rain with 50/km hour winds! We all survived, but it was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life. We paddled to the side of the river and 3 girls went back to the resort and 3 of us went on the motorized boat and 4 people stayed in the paddle raft.

It was meant to be a fun staff trip, but I think our boss felt so bad about what happened. Of course, it was not his fault and we definitely bonded as a group!! I'm sure we will talk about it for many years.

We drove back to Merritt to have dinner and then headed back home. We made it back to the office around 8:30am. So that was my big adventure!!

On to other news...we moved Marty to a big boy bed last week. It was strange taking the crib down, since we have had it up since before Megan was born. It's definitely the end of an era for us. It's a little sad to see my babies growing up:(

The first night was great, he didn't get out of his bed and he was SO happy to be in the big boy bed! The rest of the week was TERRIBLE. He gets out of bed and opens the door or turns on his lights at least 20 times and we have to go and put him back into his bed. It is exhausting!! I don't remember having this kind of trouble with the girls when we moved them to a regular bed. I am seriously tempted to put the crib back up or put him in a playpen...but I know he needs to learn to sleep in a bed. So we will keep going and hopefully he learns to stay in his bed soon!!

We've had beautiful weather here lately and we've enjoyed evenings at my parents pool, playing in the backyard and BBQ's with friends!! Finally it feels like we have had a bit of summer:)

The lice around here are gone and I'm SO thankful for that! I'm still a little paranoid and have not let the kids play with some of their stuffy toys. And I'm still doing laundry a lot with hot water...just to make sure.

And that's all for now...

Kind of a yucky week:(

2011-07-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty yucky week around here:( It started when I found lice on Megan's head!!!! Seriously, it freaked me right out. I tried really hard to be calm and not panic, so that Megan wouldn't panic. She was at a birthday party last Sunday with all the kids from her class at school and she told me later that they had played dress up at the party...so I'm guessing that is where she picked it up. But, let me tell you...it is a NIGHTMARE!!! Welcome to the joys of elementary age children:)

Megan had some live lice and tons of nits(eggs) and Gabby had a couple and I had a couple:( Both Jeff and Marty have been fine. But, we treated everyone with special medicated shampoo, just to be safe. I had spent hours and hours going through Megan's hair and pulling out the nits. Today alone I pulled nits from before 1pm to after 3:30pm...I am one tired mommy!! I have not seen a live lice on Megan since Thursday now. So, now I'll check the kids heads every day and then I may re-treat with the shampoo in 7-10 days, just to prevent a re-infestation.

So, we have been home for 3 days straight and everyone around here is going a little stir crazy!! But, I'm hoping and praying the worst is over!! We had several playdates earlier this week too, so I had to make lots of phone calls to let everyone else know what had happened and to check their own kids...I felt horrible about that:(

Jeff has been working crazy long days and weeks lately to get a job finished. He has been working 10 hour days and then working on the weekends. So, I'm just ready to get back to normal again...hopefully soon!!

Megan's last day of kindergarten...

Just to compare, here she is on her first day of kindergarten...

It's been awhile since I blogged, so I will try to remember some things we have been up to. On the July long weekend, both of Jeff's brothers and their wives came up for a visit. It was so great to be together as a family again!! I think I have the best in-law family ever!!!

One night, our dear friend came over to babysit our kids and all us adults drove to Penticton to see Cirque de Soleil Drallion. It was a great show. It was my 3rd Cirque show and I still really enjoyed it. In my opinion it was better than Mystere that we saw in Vegas last year.

Another night, we went to our friends house for a BBQ and our kids had a sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's house(thank you so much mom & dad!!) It was so strange waking up in the morning and having no kids. Jeff went to work that day and I headed over to his parents place and then we all went to the beach for the morning. It was actually a nice warm summer day!!! We are now waiting for more summer like weather to arrive here:)

Eric & Traci are expecting their first baby at the beginning of December and we couldn't be more excited for them. The kids keep talking about their new cousin...it's so sweet! They had an ultrasound last week and found out they are having a BOY!! We are absolutely thrilled that Marty will have a little boy to play with, and I get to pass down all my boy stuff to them:) Traci is already showing and she has the cutest little baby bump.

Last weekend, two of my girlfriends and I drove down to Ikea/Old Navy for the day! We left at 6:30am and got home around 9pm. It was such a fun day!! We spent several hours at Ikea and then headed to Old Navy for a bit. We had planned to go to the Olive Garden for an early dinner, but none of us were very hungry. But, we did spot a little outlet mall and headed in their for a bit. The day before we left, Jeff said "I should put some music on the IPod for you guys for the drive" and I said "I don't think we will need it, we'll probably just talk the whole time". And sure enough we talked for 8 straight hours of driving and talked while we shopped, so there was no need for music:) You know you have good friends when you can talk all day and not run out of things to talk about!!

I bought a bunch of stuff at Ikea and have been doing some decor changes in our house. I bought 2 new white bookshelves at Ikea. I have decided to with white stuff in our living room because the dark furniture gets dusty so fast...and I don't love to dust! It's still a work in progress...next I want to get rid of the rose colored lazy boy chair and maybe replace it with something else!

I moved the dark wood bookshelf that was upstairs to downstairs and turned it on its side to make it a cubie for shoes/hats, etc. I think it looks great downstairs and gets things a little more organized. And we will need that especially when all the kids are in school and have backpacks and things. I bought the baskets at Ikea so they fit perfectly into the cubies.
This past week I took Gabby to the speech therapist again since it had been 6 months since the initial consult. The therapist said she can definitely notice an improvement in her speech from 6 months ago!! She still has some trouble with words starting in "tr", "dr", "str". So she is going to be in a program in the fall, where her and I got one morning a week to the health unit and she will get help with her specific trouble. The therapist used a tongue dispenser to get Gabby to put her tongue in the proper spot to say those sounds and then she would say them perfectly, so I think we just need to teach her to re-position her tongue for some words. The therapist figured she would only need the one 6 weeks session and then she would good!! I'm happy to help her now before she starts school next year.

Oh and remember I planted some raspberries bushes several months ago and I was told you they won't produce fruit on the first year, but...

We have a busy week ahead of us with playdates, meetings, work and I'm going whitewater rafting with my work! I'm excited for it, but also a little nervous. I don't want to fall into the raging rapids. I'm thankful that I like the people I work with, so I know we'll have a great time:)

Trying to catch up...

2011-06-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh....this blog is getting away on me again! I just can't seem to catch up with everything that has been going on. Now I have to think back several weeks to what we have been up to.

A few weeks ago, we bought a trampoline for the kids! They have wanted one for awhile now and we found a great deal on a used one. They love it and it is getting lots of use. We bought it from a family that lives only a few blocks from our house and this is how Jeff transported it to our house on our little truck...

One of the bike stores in town was having a "mini" bike race for kids and we wanted the kids to try it. We brought all their bikes down to the store and they got their own race numbers...so cute! Marty did the practice round and the girls did not want to participate. I think Gabby would have done it if Megan had. Oh well...we gave it a try, maybe next year they will do it. They also had a BBQ at the bike store, so we all had some hot dogs and Jeff looked around the store.

We had a great Fathers Day celebrating my dad, Jeff's dad, Jeff's grandpa and Jeff!! They are all really incredible fathers and I feel blessed to have each of them in my life:)

We had all our parents over for a BBQ dinner of steak, potatoes, salads and of course desserts. Jeff's favorite dessert is peach pie and we had some homemade frozen pies from last summer when Jeff and his mom made tons of pies. So, we had one peach pie and then I made homemade Boston Cream Pie...I think they both went over really well!

I bought Jeff a new bike helmut for Fathers day. It wasn't the right color, so Jeff exchanged it for a different one. He has been riding as much as possible, probably 3-4 times per week! He really loves it. And on the days he doesn't ride his bike, he usually goes for a run. He's a machine:)

Megan's class at school had a special Fathers Day celebration a few weeks ago!! It was such a special little date for Megan and Jeff. The kids gave their dad's neck/back massages, showed them their school work, read together and finally Jeff got a special gift from Megs. His very own Fathers day bookmark! It is SO cute and he has it in his book right now, so he can look at her sweet little face whenever he reads his book:) **we have pictures from this, but they are on the other camera. I will try to add them later**

Megan is done kindergarten on Wednesday and I can not believe it!! She had her year end class party today and they went to an indoor play place and did rock climbing, gymnastics and played. Megan had so much fun! I'm looking forward to having her home for the summer and not having to get everyone ready and out of the house for school by 8:15am! Megan and Gabby have been playing really nicely together lately and I know Gabby will love having Megan home too.

We went camping this past weekend for our annual church campout! We went to Kettle River Provincial Park. It's a very nice park with big open spaces. The river was really high and flowing fast, so we didn't let the kids go anywhere near it. We went up Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday afternoon. The weather was rainy and cold the first night, but the days were pretty nice. We were in a tent and it was fine, but I'm trying to convince Jeff to get a tent trailer...we'll see how that goes! Maybe we will get one in a few years. I think we would do more camping if we didn't have to tent. I just don't like being dirty and not having a dry/clean place to hang out if the weather's not great. We still have a fun time and the kids absolutely loved it and loved playing with their friends. The park also has a nice playground and we went there lots. The kids didn't fall asleep until about 10pm each night and were up before 7am...needless to say, we were all tired yesterday and are still recovering! We all had a great sleep last night in our own beds:)

We have a busy week coming up...both Jeff's brothers and their wives are coming for a visit and we are so excited to see them! I can't wait to see my sis-in-law's new little baby bump...and I can hardly wait until December to meet our newest neice or nephew:) We are all going to see the Cirque de Soleil show on Saturday and I'm looking forward to some grown up time with our family. Our friends(thanks Jas & Warren) have gracious offered to watch our kids for us...I think I have some pretty great friends:)

I hope we have some better summer like weather this week, so we can spend some time outside!! It sure has not felt like summer yet...

A little of this and that...

2011-06-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Megan and Gabby have been in gymnastics lessons for the past few months and they both absolutely love it! I got a great 1/2 price deal for the lessons on Twongo. Gabby goes on Monday mornings and Megan goes after school on Wednesdays. So it's been a little busy with driving them to and from. But they love it...so it's worth it!
Gabby...

Megan...

I bought some "make your own popsicle" containers at Superstore a few months ago and figured it was time to make some. I wanted to buy the containers at the end of season last year and they were sold out everywhere. So this year, I bought the first ones I saw:)

I kind of made up my own recipe for the popsicles...

I cut up 2 mangos...

2 bananas...

and added 2 small containers of vanilla yogurt...

I poured it into the popsicles and I drank the leftovers...it was yummy!!

I think they like them...

I also tried an awesome new banana muffin recipe. A girl I work with brought some to work a few weeks ago and they were amazing!!

They are Crumble Top Banana Muffins...try them, you will not be disappointed! I usually double the recipe because they are so good:)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I had a soccer game last night at 9pm...that's right, it started at 9pm! For those of you that know me, that is usually when I'm heading to bed. So it was hard for me to get motivated to go. Besides the fact that it was POURING RAIN and had been for several hours. I knew the field was going to be soaking wet. We play rain or shine, so I knew it wasn't going to be cancelled:( The moment I stepped onto the field, my socks and cleats were soaking wet. But, we got used to it and still had fun. By the middle of the second half the rain had stopped and it was a comfortable temperature. It was just hard for me to unwind and settle to sleep after that. I don't think I fell asleep until close to midnight!

The kids love to play on their bikes on the driveway. We are planning to train Gabby to ride a 2 wheeler this summer!

Also in the plans for summer is potty training this little guy...

SIX

2011-06-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at 4:50am for some reason...but then I remembered that it was almost the time that we had Megan exactly 6 years ago today!! I can not believe how quickly the years have gone by. Megan made us parents for the first time and we are so thankful for that.

I can remember the day I went into labor with her like it was yesterday. It was about 4pm(I know because I was watching Oprah!) on June 3rd and I was having some mild contractions. Jeff came home from work and the contractions were starting to be more consistent, but not painful yet!! Around 8pm I decided to go to bed to see if I could sleep a little bit if this was the real thing. My water broke about 10pm and we headed to the hospital. At this point the contractions were PAINFUL and OFTEN. We got to the hospital and I was only 2cm dilated:( I did not want to go home because the contractions hurt so much. They gave me a shot of demerol and told me to have a hot shower. I sat in the shower at the hospital for about 3 hours...it was such good pain relief for me! Around 4:15am, I felt the urge to push and the nurses told me to get out of the shower and into the bed. I was fully dilated at this point and pushed for about 45 minutes and she was out!!! I had thought throughout my pregnancy that she was a boy, so I was shocked and SO excited she was a girl!! She is such a gift to us.

Megan is such a incredible blessing to us and I know to many others! She has such a kind and gentle heart and I love watching her grow. This past year has brought about so many new things for her, with starting school full-time and making new friends on her own. She is growing more and more confident every day. In fact, her teacher wrote her a little note yesterday and it said "Hope the birthday celebrations go well tomorrow. Megan is becoming more confident everyday and is a real pleasure to teach (and very, very clever too!)." Of course, Jeff and I are just bursting with pride in our sweet girl!

We had a big birthday party with a bunch of her friends this morning. We had 7 girls and 5 boys come to celebrate with us. She invited all the girls from her class at school and then some other friends too. It was the first time we have done a "drop off" party. It turned out really well. Thankfully it was an absolutely beautiful day outside!! Jeff played some games with the kids and we had the bouncy house outside too. We got pizza for lunch along with lots of other snacks and then birthday cupcakes for dessert!!

The birthday balloon cupcakes...

Megan has been blessed with some really amazing friends and we are so thankful for that!

Jeff took Megan on her birthday date this morning too. They went to McDonald's for breakfast(her choice!) and then went downtown to City Park to fly her new butterfly kite. The kite was a birthday present for us and she absolutely loves it. We gave it to her yesterday, when it was windy and our family went to the school field to fly it for the first time. Then Jeff and Megs went to Value Village and she picked out a new chapter book, her favorite, Junie B. Jones!! She was so excited. And just to brag a bit about Megan, yes she is in kindergarten and yes she is reading chapter books...again so proud of her!

So Happy Birthday Megan Sara...we love you more than words can say!!

Also a big happy birthday to my dear sister-in-law Annie for tomorrow!! And...in completely different news, a HUGE congratulations to Jeff's brother and his wife, Traci who are expecting their first baby in December. We are so excited for them and can hardly wait to hold their precious baby at Christmas time!!

Catching up...

2011-05-27T13:17:00.001-07:00

Well I've been really bad about keeping up with my blog lately...I guess I just feel a little unmotivated. And we have been busy with life too!

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but Jeff got me a Mac computer for Mothers day...not exactly what I was hoping for but I am enjoying it. Although I still find it frustrating because I don't know how everything works yet. I do love that it uploads pictures much more quickly than my other laptop.

I had a great Mothers Day!! We went to church in the morning and then had a relaxing afternoon before we headed to my parents house for a family dinner with Jeff's parents and his grandpa. It was a beautiful warm day and we sat in the backyard and even went on a little walk.

Here are a few pictures of me and my angels on Mothers Day...

The weather has been so up and down around here lately, so when we had a nice warm day last week I took Gabby and Marty for a walk to the park. I had both kids in the double jogging stroller and they are definitely getting heavy in there:) I think I got my workout for the day! We had packed a little picnic lunch to take to the park and for most of the time we were the only ones at the park. It was just nice to get out and enjoy the nice weather while we had it! The kids loved playing and having a picnic and they were both tired and had a great nap when we got home.

Jeff has been hard at work in our backyard this week. He was putting in new drain ditches for better drainage. He is currently working on the 3rd drain and then he will be done. He has been working on it every afternoon/evening after he gets home from work. Last night his friend came over to help him and they worked until 9:30pm. Next, on the house projects is re-surfacing the driveway and then start working on the front sidewalk/deck and front yard landscaping!! It going to be a BIG job, but we are excited about it.

I planted raspberries for the first time this year in our backyard. We all love raspberries and we had lots in the garden when we moved into this house, but we ripped them out when we put the hot tub in. We have an unused "garden" area in the backyard and thought it would be the perfect area for raspberries. I planted them several weeks ago and they are looking great. I'm not expecting to get any fruit this year, but hopefully next year! I also planted 2 large boxwoods in planters on our deck. We decided we need some more "green" on our deck and we think they look awesome. They just add so much to the look of the deck. I can't wait to hang out there now...just waiting for some warmer weather!!

It's been so long since I last blogged that I don't think I've even mentioned that I've gone back to work one day a week. I only work for 5 hours, but I really love it. Jeff's mom graciously takes our kids every Tuesday and usually I just run around and do errands on those days, but now I'm working instead. I do miss my "day off", but working feels like a nice break too. I really love the girls I work with and I enjoy my job too. It's super flexible, so I only work 9am-2pm...so that I can drop off and pick up Megan from school. When all the kids are in school I would like to work 2 or 3 days a week, so this way I keep my foot in the door!

Jeff has been itching to get out on his road bike more. He has been sick with a cold and nasty cough for about 4 weeks now and is finally feeling a little better. He went for a few bike rides last weekend and he's hoping to go again this weekend. He really loves it! He took some pictures of his bike last weekend because he said it's not going to look new forever:) Marty loves bikes too...

This weekend we have a family fun night at Megan's school and the kids are SO excited about it! Megan is hoping to win a cake on the cake walk. I remember going to my family fun night at a kid and my favorite was always the cake walk! Then we have no plans for Saturday and Sunday, Megan has another birthday party to go to and then we are going to Jeff's grandpa's for dinner...should be lots of fun!!

To my Mom's...

2011-05-06T13:52:00.001-07:00

I am currently writing this post while I sit outside in our backyard on the laptop! I am LOVING the sunshine!! I'm really hoping Spring is finally here...it's been a LONG winter. Marty is inside napping and Gabby is playing here by my feet.

Well, it's Mother's day today and I just have to say I think I have the 2 best Mom's in the world!! Thank you for being Godly women who I truly respect and admire...

I am so thankful to you Mom for always loving and encourging me. Thank you for your calm and gentle spirit (which I wish I had more of!), thank you for being an incredible grandma to our kids. I love you more than words can say!

And to my Mother-in-law, thank you for loving me as if I were your own, thank you for always being there for us, thank you for your amazing love for our kids and for us. We love you so much!

I now I have the incredible privilege to be a mommy to my 3 angels! Some days it is the hardest job on earth, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am SO blessed to be a mommy to Megan, Gabby and Marty. They fill my life with so much joy!!

Megan doing some yoga and showing me her work around her classroom...

Megan had a Mother's day tea with her kindergarten class this week. All the mom's were invited to it. It was so special and fun to be a part of it. We got to go to different stations, draw a picture together, make a bracelet, get a hand massage and get a photo taken together. Then the class sang a few songs and did some yoga and dancing. Then each child presented their mommy with a gift. It was a homemade bookmark that each child had made. It was the sweetest little gift ever!! I, of course, was a little teary eyed and Megan asked why I was crying. I will keep that bookmark as long as I live:)

It was also Teacher Appreciation week this week and Megan and I decided to make her teacher a little gift. I saw this idea on a blog and I thought it was so cute. It's flower cut outs glued to pencils and then put into a little vase with easter grass. The little note Megan wrote says "Thank you for helping me to "bloom". Megan has a really great teacher, so I wanted to do a little something for her.

The Mothers day bookmark Megan made me...

I can not believe that Megan has less than 2 months left of kindergarten. I'm looking forward to having her home during the summer, so we can do some fun things!!

We had a super busy weekend last week and a pretty busy week this week. It feels like I haven't been home much, so I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Jeff has been feeling a bit sick this week, he had a fever for a few days and he's congested. It feels like sickness never really goes away in our family:( I'm hoping we have a sickness-free summer!

Jeff and I went on a date last night and we had a great time. We went out for dinner and then wandered around Home Depot and Walmart(I know really exciting hey?!?!) But, running errands without the kids is SO much easier and more relaxing. Jeff's parents graciously agreed to watch our munchkins, thank you so much!

Happy Mothers Day to my mom and my mother-in-law and to all my friends and family who are mothers. May you feel honored and blessed and loved in a very special way today!!

Easter weekend

2011-04-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! Both sets of our parents were out of town for the weekend, so we spent most of the weekend with friends.

We went to church on Good Friday to focus on the sacrifice Jesus made for us. It's a hard day to remember, but so thankful that it's not the end...thank you Jesus for being our risen Savior!!

We had beautiful weather for most of the weekend and spent lots of time outside!! Sunday morning we went to church and had a great service of celebration. We had a little Easter egg hunt when Marty woke up from his nap. On Sunday afternoon, our friends had us over for their family dinner. It was so nice of them to include us. The kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt at their house too. Our house is over flowing with chocolate!

Every year, we have a potluck dinner with our friends over Easter. We had the potluck this year on Monday. We usually have it at our house, but this year we went to some friends house. The kids had a great Easter egg hunt in their "forrest"!! Marty was more interested in playing, the in hunting for eggs.

Group shot...

The kids were all dressed up in their "Easter" clothes on Sunday. We had to get some pictures of all three together!
Trying to get a picture with all 3 is no easy challenge...

I've been sick with a chest cold for the past week. I'm on the mend now, but yesterday Jeff wasn't feeling great:( Marty has a snotty nose, but the girls seem to be fine.

I'm on a women's soccer team again this year. We have had 2 games so far and I'm loving the team I'm playing on. All the ladies are so nice and encouraging to each other. We've lost both our games, but the score on both games was 2-1...so not too bad! I pulled my quad last year and I'm in better shape this year. I have been doing some running and more stretching and so far my quad feels great. I can tell I'm in better shape this year too because my lungs don't hurt so much when I'm running. Usually for the first month of soccer I'm so tired and so sore!! I'm still a little sore the day after the games, but it's a "good" sore:) Jeff is so supportive and encouraging of me playing soccer. I usually have to leave the house about 5:15pm and so he has to feed the kids dinner and bath them and put them to bed on his own. He is totally capable, but I know it's a lot of work! I'm a SO thankful to have such a wonderful husband:)

We have a busy weekend coming up...friends over for dinner, 2 birthday parties, church, etc. Should be lots of fun!!

Look who's 4...

2011-04-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

So today my sweet Gabrielle turned 4!! Seriously, where does the time go. I looked at the clock this morning at 7:37am and remember having her at about 7:50am. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Gabby is such a blessing to our family! She has so much personality and character. I love watching her be herself. She has such a great sense of humor and makes us laugh a lot:) We love you so much Gabby, you bring us so much joy!!!

We had a little kids birthday party for her on Friday morning. A bunch of her friends and their mommies came over and we snacks and visited and the kids played in the backyard. I could not believe when I opened the curtains that morning, that we had snow on the ground:( I was NOT impressed. I turned out to be a pretty warm morning and the snow melted quickly and the kids were happy to be outside.

The garden party...

Gabby wanted a flower cake(I was glad, because it was easy!). She was so excited to see it and of course, eat it! She got lots of new toys which she is loving. We are truly blessed to have so many amazing friends and family that love our Gabby!

Megan decided the morning of the party that she wanted to stay home from school and help with the party!!

Saturday morning, Jeff took Gabby on a birthday "date". It was so cute! They got some breakfast at McDonalds(her request!) and then went to Knox Mountain for a little hike/walk to the first lookout. Gabby walked the whole way and had so much fun with her daddy! Gabby thrives when she has one on one time with us. We are trying to make more of an effort to do that with our kids.

And today, her actual birthday we had all the grandparents over for dinner! She got a few more presents and then we had her favorite foods for dinner. She requested macaroni and sausages!! So, I made homemade mac 'n cheese and Jeff bbq'd some sausages. And we had Banana sour cream cake with cream cheese icing for dessert...so yummy!!

We got the girls new comforters for their beds for each of their birthdays. We gave Megan's her comforter today too...I like things to match! They were pretty excited to go to bed tonight.
I also found these cute little lanterns at the dollar store! I think I will go back and get one more because they match their room perfectly!
On Tuesday it is my brother's birthday and I know he reads this...so a BIG happy birthday to you Loren!! We love you so much. We can't wait to see you again!!

Our wonderful house guests...

2011-04-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

We had some wonderful house guests come visit us last weekend! Auntie Kirsten and Uncle Malcolm came for the weekend. I always love having them come over, they are the easiest house guests and so much fun to have around.

They came into town on Thursday night, but visited with some other friends before coming over. We were in bed when they arrived at our place. We were all so excited to see them in the morning!! The kids were almost bursting with excitement and they were making tons of noise that I was sure they had woken them up.

We had a relaxing breakfast together that morning. Jeff was at work, so he didn't get to see them until the afternoon. We hung around the house and the backyard and then Malcolm and Kirsten took the girls to the park and I stayed home to put Marty down for his nap.

It had been close to a year since the kids had seen Malcolm(Kirsten came by herself in August) and they warmed up to him very quickly! They had him read books to them almost instantly...so cute!

We had dinner together that night and once the kids were in bed we played some games...although Jeff did go to bed early as he got up to go swimming at 7am the next morning.

On Saturday, Kirsten and I ventured out to Value Village and Homesense! A few of my favorite stores:) We had a great time just being together. I love that even though it had been 1/2 a year since we'd seen each other, it's like no time has passed. It's just so comfortable.

Our family had a birthday party to go to that evening, so Kirsten and Malcolm went to my parents place for dinner. But, I gave them a strict curfew to be home by 7pm...so we could still spend the evening together!! We played some more games and just visited.

Kirsten and I talk a lot about hair and hair products. We have similar hair, so we are always throwing out different techniques and ideas. Malcolm was sitting with us during one of those conversations and I'm sure he was thrilled to hear us talk about hair for probably 1/2 hour!! He is such a patient man:)

They headed home early Sunday morning and the time just went by so fast...as it always does. The kids and us were sad to see them go. Megan said can they stay for a week next time?? I guess we'll have to do some convincing and see what happens:)

Thank you Kirsten and Malcolm for making the trip out here to see us! We always love having you and you know you are welcome here anytime:)

Palm Springs Vacation

2011-03-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous holiday to Palm Springs this past week!! Jeff's parents took all us kids and grandkids to Palm Springs for the week. It was a great week of being together as a family, which doesn't happen very often because we don't all live close to each other.

We left home just before 6am last Saturday morning and our first flight left at 7am. We arrived in Palm Springs around 1pm. It was the first time in an airplane for Gabby and Marty and really the first time Megan could remember(we flew when she was 11 months old). The kids were really great travellers. The 3 hour flight from Calgary to Palm Springs got a little long with Marty because he doesn't like to sit still for that long!

We arrived in Palm Springs and it was warm and sunny!! We went to the rental house and checked it all out. It was a beautiful home and just perfect for our holiday. The house had 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The girls shared a room and Marty slept in our room with us.

Mom and I went out that afternoon to get some groceries and when we came home Eric and Traci had arrived. We pick up Curt and Anne from the airport later that evening. It was so great being together again. The kids had a blast all week from all the attention they got from their grandparents and aunties and uncles! Truly a blessing for us to have family that love our kids as much as we do.

The next day, Mom & Dad, Eric & Traci and Curt & Anne went to the tennis finals that were happening in Palm Springs and Jeff and I and the kids ventured out to the outlet mall. It was a cool and rainy day, so perfect for shopping! Jeff got lots of things and I got a few things for me and the kids. It's not quite as much fun or relaxing shopping with 3 kids!

On Monday, Mom, Traci, Anne and I went out to a spa and got pedicures and then went shopping at ROSS. I think we spent 3 hours in ROSS...so much fun:) We had a great time together.
Most afternoons, we spent lounging around the pool in the backyard. The first 2 days of the week were cool and rainy, but the rest of the week was beautiful, sunny and warm! It was so relaxing to sit around outside and so nice to see some sunshine.

The men went golfing one afternoon and had a great time together! We took walks around the area and around downtown Palm Springs. Jeff rented some bikes for 4 days and he managed to get out for lots of bike rides. I got to do lots of shopping...I can not get enough of shopping in the States, I just love ROSS, Target, and outlet malls. The deals are always SO much better there than here.

Jeff parents graciously watched our kids for us one night, so all us siblings could go out for dinner...it was such a blessing to us! We went to an area called The River and ate at a yummy restaurant there and then went to Cheesecake Factory and took dessert home to share with Mom and Dad...SO delicious!

On Thursday evenings in Palm Springs, they shut down the main street in downtown and have a market with vendors. There were TONS of people!

Jeff and his dad took the girls to a place called "Boomers" one afternoon. It's a mini golf/games place. The girls really enjoyed it.

Megan, Gabby and Marty loved the pool in the backyard and spent lots of time in it. The girls even went in on the cooler rainy days...they loved it! Marty wasn't scared of the water and he had a blast in there too. I think I need to put him in swimming lessons!

The kids slept great at the house! I didn't nap Gabby all week, so that she would go to sleep good at night and it worked great. They woke up a little earlier than at home every day, but they did really good.

We left Palm Springs on Saturday afternoon. We got to Calgary and after we were all in the plane and ready to fly home, they shut the Calgary airport due to a power outage on the runway:( We were SO disappointed. I just wanted to be home at that point because the kids didn't nap on the first flight and they were get restless. I also wasn't feeling good, I think I got a little motion sick on the first flight. After about 1/2 hour the power was back on and we were able to fly home. We arrived home around 10pm and didn't get home until almost 11pm. Marty did fall asleep on the flight to home, but only for about 45 minutes and he hadn't slept ALL day otherwise..he was a grumpy tired boy!

It was hard to say good-bye to everyone and one week didn't feel quite long enough. Especially, when we came home and woke up the next morning to SNOW! It was a fantastic holiday and we have great memories and pictures of our week together. Thank you SO much Mom and Dad for making this holiday possible!! We are forever grateful and have so many wonderful memories:)

Marty's Party...

2011-02-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

I am unable to move the pictures around, so this is how it's going to be I guess! I started this post a LONG time ago. I had trouble getting the pictures up. So here is goes...

We had a full house here for Marty's birthday party on Saturday evening!! We had about 20 adults and about 20 kids. And all the kids were 6 and under:)

The kids spent most of the time downstairs in the playroom and they had fun playing together. There were people everywhere in our house...it was busy, but fun!!

We had a race car party theme for Marty's party. He absolutely loves cars and trucks and pretty much anything with wheels right now. I made a race car banner and some flags for decorations. We had hot dogs and smokies for dinner, along with some appies and of course, birthday cake for dessert!

Marty was thrilled with his birthday cake. I made a race car for him! When I was decorating the cake the morning of the party, some of the icing started to run, so it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped...but it still tasted good!

Marty absolutely loves it when we sing happy birthday to him. So, when we sang to him at his party, he lit up and was all smiles. It was SO cute!!

He also loved opening his presents and was so excited when he got some new trucks!! We are blessed with incredible friends and family who came and celebrated with us. We are so thankful:)

Jeff had started to feel a little sick on the day of Marty's party and then a few days later all the kids got it and yesterday it hit me:( I feel like we have been endlessly sick for months now...I'm so ready for Spring and to be healthy for awhile. Megan missed school yesterday because she had a fever and was so tired. She pretty much laid on the couch and watched TV all day. We were all pretty lazy yesterday, but today we are feeling a bit better. The fevers are gone, we just have runny noses now and a bit of coughing.

The last two nights I've gone to bed at 8pm because I've been so tired and the kids have been waking up at night. Last night, Marty and Gabby slept through the entire night, but Megan was up wanting water, to go pee, etc.

The girls missed swimming lessons yesterday because of their sickness. But, they are doing so great with their lessons. Every week we they are getting better and better and more comfortable in the water. They have a great teacher and they are learning so much. Megan will happily put her whole head under the water now!!

Happy Happy Birthday Marty!!

2011-02-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little boy we know!!

I am amazed that 2 years ago we welcomed this beautiful little boy to our family. He is such an incredible joy and blessing to us. As many of you know, Marty was a little surprise baby for us...and we are beyond thankful that we had him. God knew exactly what he was doing when he created Marty for our family!!

I still remember the day of his birth like it was yesterday. It is also Jeff's dad's birthday today...so a big happy birthday to him as well!! The day Marty was born, we were supposed to go to Jeff's parents for a birthday dinner. I had had my membranes stripped in the morning and did lots of walking that day. I started having contractions while I was watching Oprah! They weren't painful, but within about 1/2 hour they were getting worse. I called Jeff's mom and asked if she could bring the dinner over here, as I wasn't feeling quite right. They came over right away and by the time they came over, we needed to leave for the hospital because the contractions were really painful and close together. And just 2 hours later, we were holding our beautiful baby boy in our arms!! My love for him is so deep...a special bond as he is my only boy and my baby:)

Marty, we love you SOOOO much!!

You melt my heart...

when you say "I wuv you"

when you give kisses and

when you call for your sissies in the mornings,

when you wake up so happy and always with a smile on you face,

when you say "book" and sit on our laps so we read to you

when you snuggle your blankie and puppy at bedtime

when you stand on the coffee table and sing into the plastic bowling pin and sing Jesus!

when you lift your arms out and say "carry" so we pick you up

when you call daddy "my buddy"

when you get so excited when you see a horse and say "orsey, orsey!!"

when you scrunch up your nose and say "meow"

when you chase your sissies around the house and squeal in delight

when you want a snack and say "cookie" in your deep, raspy voice

...my list could go on and on!!

I love you sweet boy, more than words can say!!

We will be officially celebrating his birthday with a party on Saturday with some friends and family. We are having a "Race Car" party for him. I will post pictures of his party after the weekend!!

Do It Yourself

2011-02-09T19:30:00.001-08:00

So, I'm in this "do it yourself" crafty mood lately! I saw a wooden sign on the internet somewhere and thought to myself...I could do that! We have left over wood window trim, so I painted the ends which had never been painted. Then painted on the word "Bath" and antiqued the edges with brown paint and attached a pretty ribbon. We now have it hanging in our main bathroom. It's not perfect, but I quite like it!

I also found a couple of "chunky" candleholders at Value Village last week. They were silver and I was really looking for something either dark brown or black. Then I thought, I could just spray paint these...so that's just what I did. I bought a bottle of spray paint from Walmart for $3 and the candleholders were $3/each and I think they turned out great, I'm really happy with them! And they go perfectly in the spot I wanted them for...

Now, I'm always on the hunt for little treasures, that I can paint!! I went to MCC and Value Village again this week and came home with a little table from MCC for $3.50!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'll come up with something. I've been loving reading other people's crafty blogs lately too. Here is one of my new favorites craftomaniac.blogspot.com

Another great find...a clock that I had been eyeing for awhile and it was finally on sale...

I went out with my good friend on Saturday. We went to one of our favorite stores and just looked around and then we wandered around HomeSense for awhile(we both LOVE that store!) and then went to Moxie's and had a little dinner! It was so nice to get our without our kids and she even left her 8 week baby at home...so, it was really a night out for her:)

At HomeSense I found this super cute Monkey stool for Marty's room. I'm going to be doing his big boy room in a Monkey theme...I'm pretty excited about it! Although, I'm in no rush to put him in a big boy bed, he's still my baby:)

We had parent/teacher interviews for Megan last Friday. Jeff and I were able to both go(thanks to Mom V. for watching the kiddos for us!). Her teacher said that she is doing awesome and is one of the more advanced students in the class, so she is going to be challenging her and few other students a little more. We are so incredibly proud of her! Her teacher showed us a chart that Megan had done that had her write her number up to 100, with a few of the numbers filled in by her teacher. Megan did it perfectly and her teacher said none of the other kids had done it as well or a neatly as Megan had...my heart soared! Ok, enough bragging about her:)

Megan was in desperate need of a haircut, I think it had been a year since she had one. It was getting really tangling and long and hard to manage. She was excited to get a haircut and so we went on Friday to do just that. Gabby insisted on coming along too, she just wanted to watch! Megan's hair is just below her shoulders now and it's SO much easier to do and I think she looks pretty darn cute!!

Megan attended a birthday party on Sunday at the bowling alley. She has been bowling a couple of times and she just loves it! She was the only girl at this birthday party...I think it was 8 boys and her, but she didn't seem to mind. And she had one of the highest scores in bowling!!
Our almost 2 year old...

Sunday afternoon/evening we went to some friends house to watch the Super Bowl. We are not big football fans, but we go for the socializing. Well, actually Jeff got right into the game and he watched pretty much the whole thing. The ladies stayed upstairs and we just ate and visited. The kids entertained themselves and played with their friends! It was a fun time:)

The girls started swimming lessons again today. They were a little nervous at first and wanted the same teacher they had last time. I didn't know if it would be the same teacher or not. Well, we got to the pool and it was a different teacher...and she is awesome! The kids loved her. She was so good with them and the girls did great. I can definitely tell that they have improved. Megan even put her eyes in the water today. We bought the girls googles for Christmas and they seemed to be more comfortable putting them head in with the googles on...so, whatever works! I want them to be comfortable in the water for when we go to Palm Springs, since there is a pool in the backyard of the house we are staying at.

I started this post several days ago...so, I'm adding a little bit more now! We made and decorated Valentine's cookies for Megan's class. She was so excited to help and she did a great job!! Blogger doesn't seem to be letting me upload anymore pictures right now:(

So...I think that's all for today!!

Life...

2011-02-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh....I know it's been awhile since I've blogged:( I've been really bad at taking pictures. And sometimes there's just nothing exciting going on in our lives that I feel like maybe people don't want to read about our "boring" day to day life!

I get into "decorating mode" with our house sometimes...these last few weeks I've been in that kind of a mode! I really love metal stars and I already had a few in our house, but I found a new store that I love, so I bought a few more. I also bought some new frames for our kitchen eating area and I want to fill them with black and white photos of the kids(I just need to get some good pics of the kids first!)

We also recently bought a new sectional couch for our downstairs TV room. We bought is used through the internet and it was listed at $350, but we offered them $300 and they took it! And even better is...we sold our old sectional for $250!! So the newer sectional only cost us $50. I was so excited!! For those of you that know me, know that I LOVE a good deal:)
The new sectional is smaller and fits our TV room so much better, and it's more comfortable and looks more modern.

The school Megan goes to had a fire in it yesterday. I didn't hear about it until after she got home from school. I guess one of the kids in the other kindergarten classroom plugged in a hot plate and then some plastic toys feel on the the hot hot plate. The whole school was evacuated and the kids were out in the cold for about 1/2 an hour. The were only able to grab their coats before leaving the school. Megan was pretty excited because she said they saw fire trucks, ambulances and police men!! No one was injured and there was not a lot of damage to the school.

We joined Twongo last week. I'm always very unsure about websites like this, but my friend told me she used it and it was legit, so we gave it a go. They had a deal for gymnastics for 53% off the regular price. I bought one for each of the girls. The regular cost was $152 for 9 weeks of classes and we got it for $68...again, I love a good deal:)

The girls start swimming lessons again next week. I got an email from the instructor and she wasn't sure the class was going to run because it wasn't full, but she now said it's a go! I'm happy about that because I really wanted the girls to be in swimming lessons from now until we go to Palm Springs, so they will be comfortable in the water!

In a few short weeks, it's going to be Marty's 2nd birthday!! I still can not believe that he will be 2 years old. I am LOVING this age so much. It's so fun watching him learn so much and talk so much. He melts my heart:)

Gabby is slowing decreasing her naps now:( Actually, I'm totally okay with it. She goes to bed so nice on the days she doesn't nap, but she still needs a nap in the day every 3rd day or so! She is at an age right now where she wants to be doing school work too...just like Meggie. I bought her a preschool work book and she loves to learn. She can spell her name and do the alphabet and count to twelve!!

I've started attending another women's bible study at church. It just started up again for a 6 week session. It's another Beth Moore study and I love her! She's so real, and funny and has a real heart for women. I would highly recommend doing a study by her if you ever get the chance.

Jeff's mom came back from her cruise last week and we saw her beautiful pictures. It look like such a nice vacation!! And now my parents have left for their cruise. So now I'm starting to look forward to our vacation in about a month and a half!!

Sorry, this post is so random and I'm hoping there are still a few of you out there that read this:)

A little of this and that!

2011-01-10T13:34:00.001-08:00

Marty had his 12 month shots last week...that's right he is almost 2 years old!! I'm way behind on the shots. I partly delayed them because of the autism rumors and partly because I forgot. Anyways, he ended up having 5 shots today:( So sad!! He had 2 shots in each arm and one in the leg. He was a real trooper. He cried really hard when the needles were going in, but when it was all over he was happy as a clam. He even said "tank you" to the nurse when it was all done! He weighed in at 26 lbs and 34 inches long. The nurse said he was 25-50% for weight and 75-90% for height. Sounds about right...long and lean, like his daddy!

I kept Megan home from school on Friday because she had a fever. It seems the sickness never goes away around here:( She had the fever for 2 days and then it was gone. She didn't have any other symptoms and she wanted to eat a lot...very strange! Anyways, she is back to normal now and was happy to go back to school today.

The kids all got Zu-Zu pets for Christmas...here the girls are "building" a house for the pets!

Megan is doing great with her new teacher. Her old teacher went on a teaching exchange to Australia and Megan has a new teacher from Australia. She has quite an accent, so I asked Megan if she can understand her well and she said yes!! Her new teacher seems really nice and great with the kids. They have a home reading program in kindergarten and they bring home a different book every night to read. Megan is now able to read simple books and gets better and better every day. She sounds out the letters and then makes out the words!! I'm one proud mommy:)

We are struggling a little these days with discipline with Gabby. She is one strong willed child!! She doesn't like to listen to us. She has been in time-out quite a bit lately. I said to Jeff we need to read some books on how to deal with her. At the same time...she is SO loveable!! She has a great sense of humor and is very affection. She loves to have fun and horse around, especially with daddy! Jeff and I were talking about how amazing it is that all our kids have the same parents and are raised the same, but their personalities are so different and you really have to raise each of the individually. Not always an easy thing! But, I wouldn't trade any of them for the world:)

I managed to got out for 2 girls nights last week!! One night with a couple of girls I used to work with and another night with some other girl friends. It was so nice to get out and have some uninterrupted adult conversations. I am so thankful for all of my friends...I think they are all pretty great!!

Gabby giving Marty a hug...Jeff's mom went on vacation this week for 2 weeks!! She is on a cruise with a friend of hers. I'm slightly jealous that she gets to go somewhere warm this time of year. But, we are looking forward to our family trip to Palm Springs in March...we're going to have so much fun!!

Marty is obessed with his blankie. I found him like this lying on the kitchen floor holding his blankie and sucking his thumb!

Jeff has been going to the indoor track in town to go running lately. It's to cold to run outside right now, so this is a good alternative. The only downfall is the track is across town. He wants to run the same 10km race he did last Spring. He came in 3rd last year and he wants to come in 1st this year!! He would like to do it in less than 40 minutes. I think last year he was around 41 minutes. The race happens the day after we come home from Palm Springs, so I guess he can run lots there. And it should be warmer there!

That's it for today. I've been really bad about taking pictures lately, I'll try to be better this week!!

2010 Memories...

2011-01-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

I was looking through my calendar from last year and thought it would be fun to document some of our great memories over the past year!

I can not even remember what we did last New Year's Eve...but I'm pretty sure it didn't involve staying up past midnight!!

January - This month involved a bit of a sad memory because last January we lost Jeff's Opa. We were blessed to be able to spend lots of time with him last Christmas and he passed away shortly after. We will always remember him!! The girls talk about him often and even pray for him sometimes:)

February - I registered Megan for kindergarten and couldn't believe we had a child starting school. We also celebrated Marty's 1st birthday and Dad V.'s 60th birthday. We had a big birthday party for Marty with lots of friends and family!

March - Jeff and I went away for a night for the first time since we've had kids! We went out for a nice dinner and then went to a hotel...we were so excited to sleep in. Jeff also did his first 10km run in the campus to campus race. He came in 3rd place!! I was so proud of him. Kirsten and Malcolm came for a visit and we love hanging out with them and always look forward to seeing them again!

April - Megan had her first ballet dance recital. It was so cute watching all the little girls on stage!! We also celebrated Gabby's third birthday with a BBQ and lots of friends and family!!

May - We took our first big trip as a family of 5!! We drove down to Portland to visit Eric and Traci. We had a blast with them and enjoyed seeing their new house. The kids did surprisingly well on the long drive. Oh...and the shopping was great too:)

June - I started playing soccer with a new team, but unfortunately I pulled my quad muscle in the second game and was pretty much out for the rest of the season:( We also enjoyed lots of summer BBQ's and dinners with friends!

July - We went on our annual camping trip with our friends to Osoyoos Lake! It was SO hot. We enjoyed skiing behind the boat, eating s'mores, swimming in the lake and yummy dinners surrounded by great friends. Can't wait to do it again this summer:)

August - Ahhh...probably my favorite memory of this past year...our trip to Las Vegas!! We had such a great time with our dear friends and Jeff and I still talk about all the fun things we did there. It was so relaxing to go on a trip without the kids, although we missed them. I knew they were safe and happy with the grandparents looking after them:) We also celebrated my birthday in Vegas, which was a big highlight for me too.

September - Our official 10 year anniversary!! We didn't do anything exciting on our actual anniversary because we had already celebrated in Vegas. Curt and Annie came for a visit and we always have a great time with them. I'm pretty sure we had a wild game of charades with them! Megan started school and had a bit of a hard time adjusting to it at first, but she has a great teacher and has made lots of new friends! Loren also came for a visit and we always love seeing him:)

October - We had a big celebration as it was our church's 50th anniversary! Lots of old friends and family came out for it. We had Megan's first parent/teacher interview and of course, she did great and her teacher said she was a delightful child! We are so proud of her. The girls started swimming lessons and Gabby was a little hesitant at first, but was more brave every week. They can't wait to back for more lessons now.

November - We celebrated Jeff's birthday and my mom's 60th birthday! We had a big surprise birthday party for my mom and we were excited that my brother came out for it too. I am very thankful that my mom lives so close and we get to spend lots of time with her!

December - This month we had lots of busyness! We celebrated Jeff's mom's birthday by going out for dinner and then having dessert back at our place. I'm also very thankful for my mother-in-law who lives close and blesses us in so many ways! We had Megan's first school Christmas concert and it was absolutely adorable. And our very dear friends welcomed their baby daughter into the world. I am so in love with her! I actually feel like she is a little bit my daughter too:)

And now we start a New Year...2011!! I am so thankful for all the blessings God has given to us and look forward to all HE has in store for 2011. May God bless you richly in the coming year!

Our pastor spoke on this passage yesterday in church and I think it is a great reminder...

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" (NASB) Lamentations 3:22-24

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas has come and gone...and it always seems to go by so quickly! We had a wonderful Christmas. Here are some of our memories and lots of pictures... Daddy and Megs on Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve we went to our church service and then my parents and Jeff's parents came over for appies and presents! The kids opened their Christmas pajama's and the girls opened their big gift from all the grandparents and us...a doll house! They loved it. We didn't take it out of the box until the morning and then Jeff put it together.

My parents got these super cute necklaces for the girls...I love them!

We put out cookies and milk for Santa before bed. In the morning, the cookies and milk were gone. Megan asked Jeff if he ate the cookies or if Santa did and she didn't want us to trick her. So Jeff told her that Santa was not real because we don't want to lie to her. She has never really been into Santa before this Christmas and I think it is because of her friends/teachers at school. We have always talked to her about Christmas as celebrating Jesus. Anyways, we told her it is still fun to pretend that Santa brings presents and not to tell her friends that Santa is not real!

The argyle vest that Marty is wearing was a hand-me-down and then I found these matching socks, I couldn't resist buying them!

CHEESE!!!!

Christmas jammies...

After the kids were in bed on Christmas Eve, the adults played some games and ate some more food!

Christmas morning Jeff put together the doll house for the girls and then we opened more presents. The kids had so much fun!! Marty didn't really get what was going on, but he had fun just playing around. We just hung out as a family for the morning, and then in the afternoon Jeff took the girls downtown and they road bikes for a little while. It was such a beautiful warm winter day! I stayed home while Marty napped and I got ready for Christmas dinner!

Wifesaver for Christmas morning breakfast...

Opening stockings...

The girls each got a pair of swimming goggles in their stockings!

Putting the doll house together...

Jeff and I had decided to only get each other something small this year(like $20)...well, I think he went over the budget, a little!!!

We had our parents and some friends and Jeff's grandpa over for Christmas dinner. As I mentioned before, it was my first time doing a Turkey and I think it turned out pretty good! Although, I had lots of help from my mom's:) We had a wonderful dinner together. I feel very blessed to have such a great family and friends.

The kids table at Christmas dinner... for some reason I didn't get one of the adult table:(

On Monday, Gabby was not herself:( She was very pale and lethargic and I was worried about her. So I took her to the walk in clinic and she had tonsillitis. Poor little thing! She didn't even complain about a sore throat or anything. The doctor put her on antibiotics and she was doing great by the next day!

Then in the afternoon we headed to Jeff's parents place to see Eric and Traci. They have been here all week and we have really enjoyed spending time with them! We spent the night there and played lots of games and ate lots of food. We hung out there the rest of the day and it felt like Christmas that day, especially with all the fresh new snow outside.

In the late afternoon we went to the bowling alley. Megan has been once before and it was Gabby and Marty's first time there. They loved it!! Marty was not feeling great, he had a cold, but I think he still had some fun:)

We went over to some friends house one night, had a birthday party another night, did some shopping, Jeff and Eric took the girls sledding, the list goes on and on...and then next thing we know it's New Years Eve!

Eric took these pictures when they took the girls sledding. It's SO nice having photographers in the family:) I love these pics...

We spent New Years Eve with Jeff's family and we had a delicious fondue!! We fed the kids dinner first and waited until they were in bed to have the fondue. After dinner we played games and then we headed to bed just before midnight. I can't remember the last time we stayed up past midnight on New Years Eve...it's just not as exciting as it used to be, especially when the kids still get up at 7am:)

Eric and Traci did some family photos for us while they were here. Unfortunately, we didn't get too many pictures because it was SOOO cold and the kids did not want to cooperate:( But, they did get a few good shots...

Marty is NOT happy here, he does NOT like the cold:(

This picture melts my heart...love these kids!!

So now we get back into our "normal" routine! Megan goes back to school on Tuesday and Jeff goes back to work Tuesday as well. It has been nice not having to take Megs to school every morning and get all the kids dressed and packed up. We have been enjoying the relaxing holidays!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas:)

All things Christmas...

2010-12-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

First off, a huge congratulations to our dear friends Jen & Isaac, on the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Charlotte Mae!!

She was born first thing in the morning and Jeff and I went to visit her that evening! I totally forgot what it was like to hold a newborn. She was only 8 hours old and already so beautiful and peaceful!! I'm in love with her:)

Jeff and I walked out of the hospital and I said to him, "doesn't it make you want to have another one?" and he said "not at all!"...what?!?! I don't know if it is materal instinct or what, but I could totally have another one after seeing her. Of course, that is not going to happen and I am perfectly content with our little family!

Last week, we got hit with another cold...surprise, surprise, it's sickness season! It hasn't been too bad and we are on the mend now, just in time for Christmas:)

I can't believe it's Christmas in less than a week! I think I'm ready. Jeff and I are hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for our families this year. It's just our family and all the grandparents, none of our siblings are home for Christmas(well, Eric and Traci will be here after Christmas!). I've never done a Turkey before, so we'll see how it turns out!

Megan had her last day of school before the holidays on Friday and she had a great time! They had a "Ho-down" dance party in the gym in the morning. I took Gabby and Marty to watch and dance too. Gabby was a little unsure of all the kids, but Marty loved it and wanted to dance with all the kids! It was so cute:)

Megan had a busy last week of school...decorating gingerbread houses, Christmas crafts, visits from Santa, dance party and Christmas party! She also had to say good-bye to her teacher. She was a little sad about her teacher leaving a few nights ago, but we talk about her a lot and she seems to understand. She's now looking forward to meeting her new teacher in the New Year.

Going out sledding at the school hill...

This week, Gabby decided to give herself a little haircut!! I remember a few years ago when Megan did the same thing! I didn't think I had any scissors around that Gabby could get at. I was on the phone the other morning and it was really quiet in the house...then Gabby came out of the bedroom and she had white cream all over her face. Then I went into the bedroom and saw a pile of hair on the floor. I asked Gabby what this was and she said "I cut my hair!". It actually isn't too bad, Megan's self cut was way worse.

Megan and Gabby had their Christmas concert at church this morning! They sang a couple of Christmas songs. It was adorable!! Then they had a Christmas party and got to decorate sugar cookies and make Christmas crafts!

As I sit here and write this, it is snowing like crazy outside and really starting to look a lot like Christmas! May we remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas...thank you Jesus that you came as a baby, for US!! There is no great gift we could receive...

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Missing teeth and Christmas concerts!

2010-12-10T13:04:00.001-08:00

Again it's been weeks since I wrote anything!! So I'll try to recap the happenings around here lately!

Last week was Jeff's mom's birthday(yes that is 3 birthdays in a few weeks in our families!). We went out for dinner and then mom and dad came back to our house for birthday cake and a game of Ticket to Ride! I am so thankful to such an incredible mother-in-law. Thank you for always being so loving and supportive to our family. We all love you so much:)

Little drummer boy! Serious concentration...

Megan lost her first tooth this week! It has been wiggly for a few weeks now, but a few days before she lost it, it got REALLY wiggly. She lost the tooth at school and brought it home in a little plastic bag. She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come. Apparently, the thing to do these days is to leave a glass of water by your bed and when the tooth fairy comes, she drops her fairy dust into the water and that is the color of your fairy! Megs fairy was blue...she loved it!
I still can't believe we have a daughter old enough to be loosing teeth. I still remember her getting those first tiny teeth at 8 months old!

Before...(just the night before she lost the tooth!)

After...(I know the pic is blurry, but you can see the tooth missing)

The girls were invited to a friends birthday party last Saturday! Our family was invited to come to the party early and have lunch with them. We had a great time visiting and when the birthday party started all the kids and the dads took the kids toboganning(sp??). My friend and I stayed at her house with our 2 little boys, who were napping! The girls loved sledding down the hill. Jeff was so tired(and so were the girls) when they came back home. Jeff said it was a really good work out for him:)

I took Gabby in to the walk-in clinic on Monday. She has been complaining for a few days that her ears hurt. She is not one to complain...she's one tough girl! She was waking up several times in the night, which is very unlike her, so I knew something was up. The doctor said she had lots of wax and he couldn't see into her ear well, but the one ear looked red. So he put her on antibiotics and she has been great since then. Although, she does not like the antibiotics!! It's banana flavored liquid and she spat it out a couple of times. I think she's used to it now.

We had some friends over for a playdate the other day! Abi and Marty are 5 months apart. They had fun playing together!

Megan had her school Christmas concert last night!! It was SO cute. They had one concert in the afternoon and one in the evening. We went to the evening one, so Jeff could come too. She wanted to have her hair curled for the concert. This is a picture of first thing in the morning and by the time the concert started in the afternoon, most of her curls were gone:(
We just found out this week that Megan's kindergarten teacher will be leaving:( She has been selected for a teacher exchange program, so she will be going to Australia to teacher for an entire year. She is leaving at the end of December. And the teacher from Australia will be coming here to teach our kids for the rest of the year. I thought Megan would be really sad about her teacher leaving, but she seems ok about it. I guess we'll see in the New Year when she gets the new teacher. I'm a little sad because her teacher is so great and Megan has learned so much for her. I just have to trust the new teacher will be just as great!!

We don't have a Christmas party for Jeff's work this year. Instead, his boss gave him a gift certificate to a restaurant! It is a little strange not having any Christmas work parties to go too. But, it's nice because now we can go for dinner any time...such a treat!

And...I'm SO excited because our dear friends are having their baby girl on Monday morning!! They have 2 little boys and are expecting a girl. I am so excited to hold a newborn baby again. I guess I have to live vicariously through my friends with new babies!! Hopefully in my next post, I'll have some pictures to share.

I think that's all I can remember right now!! Hope you all have an enjoyable weekend...

It's been awhile!

2010-11-18T15:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm so far behind on blogging now, I don't even know where to start!! I actually started writing this post about a week ago, so I'll try to recap all the things that have been happening around her lately.

Last Monday was Jeff's 32nd birthday!! We celebrated together with his parents at their house for dinner. His mom made his favorite dinner...homemade spanikopita!! Along with farmer sausage, asparagus, corn on the cob, pita bread and finished the meal off with his favorite dessert, peach pie. He was happy!!

I am so thankful for an amazing husband and daddy to our kids. I could not ask for a better man to spend my life with...I am blessed!! I love you so much Jeff.

That night, Gabby and Marty slept over at Grandma and Papa's house because it's normally
Grandma day on Tuesday, so it just worked out! We brought Megan home with us because it was a school night. Megan was sad to go to bed that night because Gabby wasn't there with her...so cute!! The next morning I helped out in Megan's kindergarten class. I love helping out and watching all the little 5 year olds interact.

We didn't do any gifts for birthdays between the 2 of us this year. Well...we were in Vegas for my birthday, so maybe Vegas was our birthday gifts to each other. The kids made Jeff a cute little birthday card and they were so excited to give it to him.

In other news, I took Gabby to see a speech therapist on Monday. My family doctor thought Gabby's speech was normal for her age, but I just wanted to make sure. She has trouble with some letters like "d" and "r" together...for instance she will say "gress" instead of "dress", or "Geff" instead of "Jeff". Anyways, the therapist thought she was normal for her age and even could say some words ahead of her age, but we are going to work on the letters she has trouble with. The therapist said to just keep saying the words back to her, so that eventually she was say them correctly too. We are going to go back when Gabby is 4 years old, just to see her progress. Gabby was SO well behaved and cooperated well for the speech therapist. I was so proud of her:)

Being silly in the bathtub...

Last Sunday, it was Family Sunday at church. All the kids stayed in the service. It was so sweet watching all the kids at the front of the church singing there songs. My girls love to sing!! They sang "I've got a River of Life", "Love the Lord your God", "Jesus Loves Me". It melted my heart seeing all 3 of our kids up there singing...well maybe Marty was just standing there looking cute.

On the weekend we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday!! My brother came up for the weekend. We went out as a family on Saturday evening for dinner to a Greek restaurant. And then after dinner my dad blind folded my mom and drove her to our church where 40 of her friends were waiting for her. We had a surprise party for my mom!! It had been a busy week leading up to the party because of getting all the food and making the desserts and decorating...but so fun and worth it. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing mom, who is also one of my closest friends!!

We have had sickness in our house for the past week or so:( Marty started with throwing up on Friday, Gabby started on Sunday, Jeff on Monday and Megan on Tuesday night. So far, I have not felt sick and I am so thankful for that!! Thankfully it seems to only be a 24 hour flu.

I'm reading a story to the girls and Gabby's holding her "barf" bucket...

We had our first big snowfall this week!! The girls wanted to get all bundled and go outside and play. I love the look of the snow, but I do not like the cold temperatures. Yesterday, I walked Megan to school and it is -18 degrees...not fun!!

We also decorated our house for Christmas last weekend. I put the tree up and brought all the boxes upstairs and then I told the kids we could decorate. They were SO excited!!

I think that's all for today. I'll try to update more often so my posts aren't so long...

Photoshoots...

2010-11-01T13:18:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a few weeks since I posted, so I'll try to remember all the things we have been up to lately!

I can not believe we are into November already!! I've been trying really hard to get my Christmas shopping done. I'm almost there! The kids are pretty easy to buy for, so that's always nice.

I took a bunch of pictures of the kids in the backyard last week and I didn't realize until after I had taken all the pictures, that the camera was on the wrong setting and the pictures are a little blurry:( But, we had a fun time anyways...

We got some fall family pictures taken by our friends yesterday. I think they turned out pretty good! At least everyone is looking at the camera!

I helped in Megan's classroom one day last week. I made sugar cookies with 3 of the kids(including Megan). We had a great time and the kids were really well behaved. Megan was VIP the day I helped, so I got to see her be her teacher's big helper. It was SO cute! I forgot to bring my camera:(

The kids LOVE to play in daddy's truck...

Megan had a busy week at school last week, she had pumpkin carving, VIP day, Halloween Party!! She had so much fun. She is really loving school. And, she got invited to her first birthday party for one of the girls in her class. She dressed up as a butterfly for her Halloween party on Friday. All the little kids dressed up at school was pretty cute!!

We went over to our cousins place to do some pumpkin carving one evening last week. We didn't end up doing the pumpkins that night, just because we didn't have enough time. But, we did manage to get a picture with all the 2nd cousins together with Great-grandpa!! They are all 5 years old and under...

And....the kids were SO excited to go out trick or treating for Halloween. Megan and Gabby totally get it and love going around our neighbourhood to get treats!! Marty wasn't too sure what was going on, but he had fun just running around in his costume. I couldn't get enough of the kids in their costume...seriously SOOOO cute!!

A monkey, mouse and ladybug...

We are getting good use of this monkey costume. Megan wore it for 2 years, Gabby wore it for 2 years and now Marty will probably wear it for a couple of years!! I just love it!!

On Friday night, Jeff's parents offered to take our kids for a sleepover:) I know I've said it before, but we are SO blessed to have both sets of grandparents in town to help us with our kids. Thank you so much mom and dad V for blessing us in this way! We went out for dinner and then did some Christmas shopping. We slept in the next morning to 8am...without interruptions, it was wonderful! Then we ran a few errands before picking the kids up at lunch time. Then, that same evening, we went to our friends place for a potluck dinner...so fun!!

We had a really fun, but busy weekend!!! Now we just need to rest a bit this week:)

Enjoying Fall

2010-10-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

We are getting right into the swing of things with this Fall season upon us! Last weekend was a busy one for us. It was Thanksgiving weekend, so I was glad that Jeff had a few extra days off!

A little sister love...

Our church celebrated it's 50th Anniversary this past weekend. We had a semi-formal banquet/dinner on Saturday night. And then a great Sunday morning celebration at church. It was so great to see so many people back, who had been part of the church at some point. It was great to be together and celebrate! Jeff's grandparents were founding members of the church 50 years ago. We think we are very blessed to have 4 generations still going to the same church!! One of the old pastor's spoke at the banquet and his message was "the best is yet to come". It's amazing to see how God is working in our church right now. We feel blessed to be a part of it!

I LOVE this picture of Marty!

Saturday morning, we ventured out to the pumpkin patch with our friends. The kids had a blast running around in the hay maze and seeing some animals...and the best part was the tractor/hay ride!! I love the colors of Fall and I love to get pictures of the kids with pumpkins, so here are a few attempts...

Marty loved this slide, he would go up the ladder, down the slide, over and over again! Marty was trying to pick up one of the pumpkins...

Jeff had Friday and Monday off during the Thanksgiving weekend, so he was able to come with us to drop Megan off at school and he also picked her up. She was SO excited that daddy could come to her school too!

Playing in the hay...Gabby got her very first professional haircut this week! She was so excited to go to "the Beaners"! She had watched Megan get her haircut there once and so she knew it was a fun place. She was a little nervous at first and didn't even want to smile for me. She was so well behaved and we think her haircut is SOOOO cute!!

Before...(her hair is very thin and fine and it was still her baby hair!)

After...

Jeff and Marty came to watch the girls in their swimming lessons last week. We brought the camera along and got a few pictures!

Working on their back floats...

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!!

painting & people

2010-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

We had our first parent/teacher interview for Megan this week!! I still can't believe we are at that stage of life already. Megan was so excited for us to come to her school and show us what she has been learning. Jeff got off work a little early and we headed to the school.

In Kindergarten, they do a screening test for the parent/teacher interview. It has 6 "tests", to see where each child is at. Not to brag, but Megan aced all 6 tests!!!! We are so proud of her. Her teacher said that she is a delight to have in her class:) Of course, we already know that. She is getting better and better at leaving me at school now. This whole week there have been NO tears. And, today Jeff had the day off work, so the whole family walked her to school. She was really excited to have daddy come and show home him how the mornings go! She only went for a 1/2 day today and so Jeff picked her up from school too...she loves her daddy SO much:)

It seems like this last month or so has just flown by. We have been having such beautiful weather for October!! The kids go outside every day to ride their bikes and play.

We had such a busy weekend last week. Friday night we had some friends over for dinner. Then Saturday morning we painted our kitchen and our bedroom closet. Jeff managed to get 2 bike rides in on Saturday, so he was happy about that!! Saturday evening, we had Jeff's parents over dinner and a visit. Then Sunday morning we taught kids church and went to Red Robin for a quick lunch. And Sunday evening we had some other friends over for dinner!! So busy...but, so worth it!!

Here's a before pic of the kitchen(it was time to get rid of the navy blue and brighten the kitchen up a bit)...

After....(please don't mind the messy kitchen!)

We are really happy with it. I just need to get a few more things to decorate the kitchen a bit more. The lighter paint brightens up the kitchen so much. We had to paint our bedroom closet because my awesome dad built me a closet organizer for my birthday!! I love it. Although, now that everything is organized...my closet looks so empty(time to buy more clothes!:)

On another note...Marty has been talking up a storm lately! It is SO cute. I absolutely love this age he is at right now. His newest words are color, balloon, sissies, puppy, baby, all done, thank you, etc. He also likes to do animal sounds. My favorite is a kitty cat, he has the funniest meow! He has also become a little more difficult and has started throwing temper tantrums. He will throw himself down face first on the ground and cry. He is quite dramatic!

The girls had swimming lessons again this week and they are doing great!! Lots of progress from the week before. They both put their faces into the water this week. They both love going and talk about it all week!! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress after 6 weeks.

Family days!!

2010-09-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

We had a family day together on Saturday!! We ran a few errands and then went to the park and played and also went for a little walk on the trails. The kokanee salmon are spawning right now and the kids loved to watch the fish in the creek. Then we came home for lunch and Jeff went mountain biking with his friend and I watched their little girl. I can hardly say "watched", because she sleep for 3 hours!!

That evening our friends came over for dinner and we had a great time!!

The kids just love being outside and the weather this week has been beautiful!! We are lovin' it. I can't believe that it will be October this week.

Sunday morning we went to church and then to over to our friends place for dinner and then to a meeting at church!! I actually have gone out twice this week in the evening...Jeff is always so great about staying home with the kids. But, he gets to go out biking and running, so we balance each other out!

Watching the fish in the creek...

Yesterday, I went on a field trip with Megan's kindergarten class. We went (again) to the Park to see the kokanee salmon spawning. Megan and many of the other kids had never been on a school bus, so it was really cute to watch them...they were so excited!!

This is how Marty likes to go on the teeter-totter...

Megan was so happy that I came along on the field trip. I think I mentioned it before, but she is having a bit of a hard time with school these days. She has been crying almost every day because she misses us. It just breaks my heart to see her sad, but I know I have to keep pushing her. Her teacher said that she is a little sad when she first comes to school, but a few minutes later she seems happy. She has made some new friends and I think that helps. I sat with her teacher on the bus on the field trip yesterday and we had a great chat. She is such a great lady!! She said that quite a few of the kids are having difficulty with the transition, especially with the full day kindergarten. I'm really not a fan of the full day kindergarten:(

Yesterday, Megan and Gabby started swimming lessons. I have them in a different program this time. It's called WETS swimming. It's supposed to really help them learn to swim, as apposed to just playing games and singing songs. There are only 4 kids in the class, the other 2 kids are a brother/sister. Megan and Gabby were both a little hesitant at the beginning. Gabby was SO stubborn...the teacher would ask her to do something and she would just sit on the step and say "no"!! But, by the end of the hour, both girls were in the water and having fun. Megan and Gabby were both blowing bubbles and almost putting their faces in the water. So, we'll see how next week goes. They are both still talking about it and saying how fun it was!!

A new women's bible study started this morning at our church! It's a Beth Moore study on Esther. We watched the first video today and it was awesome. She is very full of life and entertaining. I think it's going to be a great study. And it's been overwhelming with the growth of our church and there are about 50 women attending this bible study!! It's so exciting to see what God is doing....

Oh...and I want to wish my brother-in-law Curtis, a very happy birthday today!!!

Brothers, Birthdays & Bikes

2010-09-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

My brother came up for the weekend and we had a great time with him!! The kids love to play and horse around with uncle!!

We had some friends and my brother over for dinner on Friday night and then we just spent the evening visiting away...

Friday night, I started to get a sore throat and had a horrible sleep. Megan had a runny nose last week and now Jeff, Gabby and I have the cold. It's not too bad, but it's never fun being sick.

Saturday morning, Jeff, the kids and I ran some errands and then Jeff bought himself a brand new mountain bike!! He is so excited about it. He has been looking for one and doing lots of research for a while now and finally he decided on one. It was on sale, but still expensive in my books! He hasn't had a chance to go for a ride yet, because the weather has been awful...SO wet and rainy:(

A close up...

Sunday morning we went to church and then we had to leave a little early to get to a birthday party at noon! It was at the Energyplex and the kids loved the gymnastics play time there. I had never been there before, but Jeff's mom takes the girls there probably once a month or so, so the girls knew exactly what to do! Then the kids had pizza and birthday cake and then played some more. The only downfall was that the place was PACKED, it was raining outside on a Sunday afternoon and I guess everyone had the same idea!

Megan is doing really well at school. She is in her second week of full days now. We miss her a lot in the days and we are all very excited to see each other at 2:30pm!! Every morning when we take Megs to school, Gabby asks to get too and she's a little sad when I tell her she can go to school when she is 5. I'm going to start taking Gabby to a parent/child preschool. I'm thinking about going once a week. It's a drop in preschool and it's open every day from 8:45 - 11:30am...and it's free!! I used to go when Megan was little, but we haven't been in a few years. I think Gabby will love it:)

Megan told me today when she got home from school, that she cried a little bit at school. I asked her why and she said because she missed us. She said the teacher sat and talked with her and then she felt better! I really think this full day kindergarten is a little much for a 5 year old. There have been several kids in Megan's class that have had real difficulty being away from their parents all day.

Gabby refused to smile for the picture...

I can not believe the weather we have been having this month. I was talking to my neighbour today and we said that it has rained every day since the kids started school. It felt like we had such a short summer this year:( There was quite a big storm her the other day and there was a beautiful rainbow, actually 2...

But, in this cooler weather, we have been enjoying the hot tub a lot!! The kids love being in there. The girls start swimming lessons next week and I think they are going to do great! They are in a class together and I hope that helps them to be brave in the water!

Firsts

2010-09-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe that our Meggie is old enough to go to school! I still get a little choked up thinking about it. She started Kindergarten yesterday. She only went for one hour and I stayed with her for her first day.

Here's Megs on the morning of her first day of school. I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, I would make her anything she wanted. She said stuffed french toast...so that's what she got!!
Ohhh...my sweet girl goes to school!

She was a little nervous and excited to go. She has a really nice teacher and a great classroom, that looks really fun! Today, she goes by herself for 2 hours. And believe it or not, there are 2 other Megan's and one Maggie in her class this year!!

Walking her to school...

Next Wednesday will be her first full day of school, until then she goes a few hours every day.

Also, on Monday she learned to ride a 2 wheeler bike!! We are so excited and proud of her. We took the training wheels off her bike awhile ago, but she didn't seem confident to try it on her own. The whole family went outside on Monday morning and Jeff moved all the vehicles off our driveway and carport. So the kids had lots of space to ride around.

Megan just kept trying and trying and finally she got her balance and she was so happy. After that, she was confident and excited and everyday she practices riding and is getting better!! Pretty soon she will be able to go on a bike ride:)

Marty loved taking a turn on the "big" bike!

Gabby loves to ride her bike too!

Jeff got the hot tub up and running last week and the weather has been cooler, so we are enjoying it! We took Marty in for the first time on the weekend. He was a little unsure at first, but now he LOVES it. Jeff took the kids in the hot tub last night(while I was out) and he said Marty has no fear and will try to jump into the hot tub from the side!! We will definitely have to watch that little guy.

Hugs for Auntie Annie...

Uncle Curt and Auntie Annie came for a visit this past weekend and we spent lots of time with them!! On Saturday, Jeff's mom (thank you so much mom!) watched the kids and the rest of us went to some wineries in Oliver. It was lots of fun and a beautiful day...

Our first stop...

But, then on the way home, I was driving and I hit a deer with our van:( I felt awful about it. None of us saw the deer coming down the hill and then he ran right onto the road and I hit him. There was no time to react. He wasn't a very big deer, but the hood of our van has a big dent and our one head light is smashed and the front bumper has a crack in it.

The view from the top was amazing!

We always have fun with Curt and Annie and the kids absolutely adore them!! They bought the girls each a sticker book and Marty a little board book and it kept them entertained for a long time...so fun! They came over with mom yesterday to watch Marty and Gabby while I took Megs to school and they went in the hot tub with them and had a blast!! I am so thankful that our kids are so well loved by so many people:)

10 years!!

2010-09-02T13:32:00.001-07:00

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend!! What a great day that was. God has blessed us and continues to bless us. I am overflowing with blessings and thankfulness for the past 10 years with Jeff and look forward to many more....I look back and think in some ways, it feels like much longer than 10 years and other times, if seems like it can't be that long! I could not ask for a better man for me. Jeff, thank you for always being there for me and loving me no matter what. Thank you for this incredible journey of being parents together. Thank you for working so hard to provide for our family. Thank you for the way you love me and our kids!! You make me a better person and I love you more than words can say.

A Marriage Prayer

Lord, be in this marriage

In a special way,

May we feel Your presence

Each and every day.

Grant us both good humor

To surpass our coming years;

May there always be much laughter,

May there always be less tears.

Give us strength and courage

To follow in Your will,

To trust You in the valley

As we do upon the hill.

Give us both the eyes of love

So we'll always see

The goodness in each other,

Secure us, Lord, in Thee.

Give us words of kindness,Lord,

Help us both to live

So our lips are ever quick

In saying, "I forgive."

Give us hearts that beat as one,

Bind us ever near;

May our love grow deeper,Lord,

With each passing year.

Lord, be in this marriage,

Keep our love brand new;

May we love each other, Lord,

The same way that *You* do.

Happy 10th Anniversary to you Jeff, I love you!!

Las Vegas!!

2010-08-30T14:44:00.001-07:00

We came back home on Saturday night after an incredible vacation in Las Vegas!! We had an absolute blast with our friends and enjoyed every minute of our trip.

We had SO many pictures, so I'll try to pick my favorites to share!

We drove down to Bellingham on Tuesday morning. We left home about 6am(thanks SO much mom for coming that early to watch the kids!) and arrived in Belligham about 10am. We stopped at Wal-Mart to get a few things and then went to the Airport to check in. We arrived in Vegas at about 3:30pm. And it was HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

We checked into our hotel and the first room we had smelled like smoke, so we asked to be moved. The second room we had, someone was still staying in!! So...finally we got a room after that. We stayed at the MGM Grand hotel and it was great! We decided to check out the Strip and enjoy the evening! The boys went on the Rollercoaster at the New York New York hotel and then we stopped at a few other hotels.We had dinner at Caesar's Palace and then watched a few fountain shows at the Bellagio. The fountains were one of my favorite things about Vegas...they were just so beautiful!! We headed to bed at about 11:30pm that night and that was a earliest night of the whole trip.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel buffet(we had free vouchers because of the inconvience of our room changes). Then we went to Tix for Tonight to see what we could get for shows tickets! We got tickets for Cirque de Soleil(Mystere) and Phantom of the Opera. Both shows were awesome, but my favorite was Phantom....seriously AMAZING!! Loved every minute of it. Jen and I did a little shopping at ROSS while the boys waited in line at the ticket place. Then we walked around a bit and then went back to our hotel and spent the afternoon at the pools.

I had an ice cream cone for dessert for breakfast...

Our hotel had 5 pools and a lazy river!! It was beautiful and felt so nice since the weather was so HOT. Every day was between 40-42 degrees!!!

It was my birthday that day and we went out to a nice little restaurant for appies before going to our Cirque show. Jeff gave me the best gift...he had video taped messages from the kids for my birthday. They talked and sang to me in the video. And he also gave me a card that the kids had written in. It was so special and I was crying like crazy...it really touched my heart and it made me really miss our kids. I think I have a pretty incredible and thoughtful husband:)

Here we are at the restaurant and I'm opening the card from Jeff and the kids...
We watched our Cirque show and then met up with Kristi and Basil back at the hotel, as they had just arrived. They hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we went to another restaurant. Then we just walked around the Strip again and made our way back to the hotel. The Strip is really long, probably 2 miles and we walked so much on the trip. We definitely got our exercise!!

The next day(Thursday) we all slept in...until 9:00am!!! Then we met for breakfast and then Jeff and us girls headed to the outlet mall for a day of shopping. Isaac and Basil went to the Stratosphere hotel to go on some rides. The outlet mall was great and Jeff got tons of clothes for great deals. I didn't get too much for the myself, but that's okay because Jeff needs clothes WAY more than I do.

We came back to the hotel after shopping and we all got dressed up and ready to go to Phantom of the Opera. It was so fun getting dressed up to go out every night!! The guys had brought along fancy dress clothes too, but we figured it would be torture for them to wear them in the smokin' hot temperatures!
Phantom of the Opera was AMAZING!!! We all loved it. The shows in Vegas are just incredible and there is so much talent there. After dinner, our wonderful friends took us out for dinner for our anniversary!! Seriously, we have the best friends ever:) Friday was our last full day in Vegas and we took a Taxi down to "Old Vegas"!! We walked around there for awhile and the boys played some black jack in one of the casinos. The gambling is cheaper in old Vegas then on the Strip. It was another hot day, so we went back to the hotel and went straight to the pool!!

Just being silly!
A photo with some "Vegas" ladies...
Awww...the beautiful pools!
Me and my honey...

That evening, we all decided to go our separate ways for dinner. We had a free voucher for the buffet, so Jeff and I went there for dinner. We all met up after dinner again and walked the Strip. Kristi and Basil had an early flight the next morning, so they went to bed. Jen, Isaac, Jeff and I went to watch the pirate show at Treasure Island, but it was cancelled because it was windy. So, we headed back up the Strip towards our hotel. We stopped to watch a few more fountain shows at the Bellagio.

Jen and I were so tired after walking most of the day and it was probably midnight by this time. Jeff and Isaac wanted to go back to "Old Vegas" to see the laser light show. They hopped in a taxi and got home about 2am and we were up by 7am to catch our flight back to Bellingham.

We were all tired and just rested and tried to sleep on the flight home, but we were in the back of the plane and it was SO loud:( We stopped at Walmart in Bellingham on the way home to get a few things and then made it home around 6pm that night. We were so excited to see the kids after 5 days away!! And I think they were excited to see us too.

It was an absolutely awesome vacation and a great way to celebrate my birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary!! We are incredibly thankful for our friends for making the trip with us. And we are incredibly thankful for our parents for looking after our kids while we were away. We couldn't have done it without you, we love you...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We are so blessed with amazing friends and family in our life...my heart is full:)

Waterpark Adventures...

2010-08-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

We've had lots of fun this week playing outside in the hot weather!! I've been bad at taking pictures again this week...but we were at the waterpark yesterday and a took a bunch there. They are the pictures scattered throughout this post!!

Last Friday night, we had some friends over for a "Rock Band"(the video game) Party!! We thought it would be fun to have a no-kids party for something different. We had 3 couples come over and we spent the first 2 hours or so sitting on the deck on a warm summer evening! We just chatted and ate some yummy appies. Jeff made his very delicious cheddar, bacon potato skins. I made a mexican dip and a dessert. Later into the evening we headed inside and played Rock Band for about an hour. We had a great time...lots of fun with great friends!!

Jeff is now into biking, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not! But, he had a mountain bike and now he has his dad's 1973 road bike as well. His dad bought it brand new in 1973 and it's still in great shape. Jeff took it to the bike shop and got new tires, brakes, cables, a seat and new handlebars. He really enjoys riding it!!

On Saturday morning, he rode bikes with 2 other friends and they rode to Penticton. It took them about 2 1/2 hours and then I drove out there and we had brunch together and then went back home for naptime. His 2 friends are training for the IronMan, that is about 2 weeks away. Jeff isn't training for anything special, he just really enjoys biking and running!!

Sunday afternoon, we went swimming at my parents pool again. It's so nice to have a nice pool to go to, to cool down in this heat! Then we had dinner together at their place. It's really quite convenient to swim from 4-5pm and then it just happens to be dinner time!!!!
Water fight...

Jeff's parents took the girls for the day to Tuesday and they always have a blast with Grandma and Grandpa. It was another hot day and they had a water fight and apparently got Grandma soaking wet in her clothes!! Their Grandma days are so special...the girls look forward to it every week and they have a really close relationship with their grandparents and I'm so thankful for that!! I don't even think our kids know how blessed they are...yet:)

We had dinner on Tuesday at Jeff' parents place and it was delicious...chicken, potatoes, greek salad, corn on the cob and yummy peach pie(one of the pies that Jeff and his mom made together!). I still can't believe they made 13 pies in one day!!

We leave for Las Vegas next week and we are getting SO excited!! I know that the kids are in very good hands with their grandparents while we are away, but I know we'll miss them. And then we are just a couple weeks away from Megan starting kindergarten. I just can't believe it's happening so fast. She is going to love it...she loves to learn and she loves friends. I think she will do great!! Gabby is really going to miss her in the days, because they always play together now. But, Gabby will have to learn to play with Marty now, and they will have fun too!

A weekend with Auntie

2010-08-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend with Auntie Kirsten! She came up on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. It was so nice to just have her around and hang out and talk lots!!

We didn't have any special plans for things to do, but we kept busy! Auntie got lots of snuggles from the kids...We went for a stroll to the mall on Friday morning and then got some Tim Horten's and headed to the park to let the kids play...

Marty held on to his timbit for about 10 minutes before he started to eat it...funny boy!He doesn't really like to sit still for pictures!
Jeff did lots of exercising this weekend...Saturday morning, he went for a run and then rode his bike to our friends house and went for another bike ride with him. I think he ran for about 45 minutes and biked for about 2 1/2 hours!! Seriously, I think he is amazing!! Then on Sunday morning, he went for another bike ride. He really enjoys it:) On Saturday morning, Kirsten, I and the kids went to BC Tree Fruits and picked up a bunch of peaches. Kirsten wanted some to take home and Jeff wanted 30 lbs so that he could make 10 pies!! Yes, you read that right...HE can make 10 pies!! I don't really enjoy making pies, they are so much work and time consuming. It was actually really cute, him and his mom make the pies together last night. He rode his bike over to his parents place after work(it's about a 40 min ride) and then he made pies over there from 3:30pm and he got home at 9:30pm!!! They make 13 pies. He can't wait to eat them:)

Three beautiful girls... Kirsten and I played a few games of Ticket to Ride! She is the one who introduced us to that game, so it was fun to play with her again. We went swimming at my parents pool on Friday afternoon and then we had dinner there. After dinner the kids decided they wanted to have a dance party!! On Sunday, Kirsten came to church with us and then she headed home after lunch. It was SO great to see you again Kirsten and we always love having you...come back again soon and bring your hubby with you!! A few weeks ago, our friends moved and were getting rid of their kitchen table set. I really like it and they said we could take it! We sold our old table set yesterday. I think the new set looks so much more modern and I really like the dark wood...

There are 6 chairs with the table and another leaf that can be added. I love that it makes into a big table, so we can have lots of people over for dinners!

And I think that's all for today!

The long weekend...

2010-08-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

We haven't been taking to many pictures lately, so I don't think this will be a long post. We had a great long weekend! Jeff was off for four days and we spent lots of time together as a family. The kids always love spending time with their daddy!!

The girls made a fort on the deck and wanted to have their lunch in there...
Out for a walk downtown on the long weekend...

Jeff helped our friends lay sod in their backyard on Saturday morning. And then helped them move into their new house on Sunday morning. Jeff has really been into riding his bike lately. He has a mountain bike and he is borrowing his dad's old road bike as well. He went for a ride on Monday morning for about an hour and there wasn't much traffic because of the holiday. I am continually amazed at all the athletic things Jeff has been doing lately...running, working out, biking. I'm really glad he's enjoying doing these things!

I went to my soccer game last Tuesday night at the University fields. The game was at 9pm under the lights. Both teams were there and ready to play, but the lights weren't on and we couldn't find anyone to help us. It was too dark to play at that time, so the game got cancelled:( I was disappointed because I haven't played in 5 weeks because of my quad injury and I wanted to play. Anyways, we have another game tonight, so I'm looking forward to that!

Posing with Ogopogo!

Love these guys...

Daddy and his kids!

Happy boy!!

Sitting on the deck with some friends...

Enjoying the pool in the hot weather...

We went to my parents place for a swim and dinner on Saturday afternoon/evening! Megan was so brave and swam on her own for the first time(with her lifejacket on). Once she got the hang of it, she didn't want our help anymore! Gabby likes to swim some of the time, but she's also happy to sit on the stairs and watch. Marty loves the water and he loves to be thrown into the air and splashing around in the water!

And...we are SO excited, Jeff and I are going to Las Vegas!! We booked the trip the other day and now it's only about 3 weeks away. It's going to sneak up on us really quick. I'm a tad nervous to leave the kids for 4 nights, but I know they are in good hands with the grandparents!! We are going there to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and we are actually in Vegas for my birthday too. We want to see a show while we are there, but we don't know which one yet!

I'm also excited for this week, because Kirsten is coming for a visit!! We always LOVE having her come here. The girls are already asking when she is coming! We don't have any real plans for the weekend, but I know that we'll have fun together:)

Summertime!!

2010-07-22T14:58:00.001-07:00

Today it's raining so I figured it was a good day to blog! We have had such beautiful weather lately, we are spending lots of time outside. The kids have been getting lots of use out of the slip 'n slide!!

Even Marty likes it...

On Tuesday, Jeff's parents took Megs and Gabby camping overnight to a campground fairly close to home. The girls we SO excited to go. They each had packed a backpack with toys and books they want to take along. Grandma picked them up about 10am and they headed out!!

They played at the beach that day and the girls tell us they had a water fight with Grandma and Papa...so cute!! Megan had requested the meals for the camping trip. They had sandwiches for lunch, burgers for dinner and french toast for breakfast...sounds like a lot of carbohydrates to me!!

Beautiful girl!!
We talked to girls just before they went to bed that night and they were having such a fun time. But, I guess they didn't fall asleep until about 9pm that night!! Needless to say, they were tired the next day. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma and Papa for investing in the lives of our kids(and in us) we are SO blessed!!

Since, we only had Marty for the night we thought we would go out on a date!! I can't believe how easy it was to only have 1 child!! We went to Red Robin for dinner and then I got an ice cream cone and we headed downtown to walk around in the sunshine...it was wonderful!! Marty had a great time too, having all our attention:)

I love when he squats like this!!

When we got home, Jeff went for a run with his friend and then they jumped in the creek to cool off!! Jeff is still running about 3 times a week...he usually does 8-10 km's. I'm trying to convince him to do some races, but he doesn't seem to interested. Jeff has been working at the Yacht Club for the last few days and yesterday it was really hot, so after work, some of the guys went in the lake for a swim. It is so nice living close to a beautiful lake!!

When Eric and Traci were here about a month ago, they took some family pictures for us. We are very fortunate to have great photographers in the family. I can't seem to get the other ones to come up...but this one is my favorite!!

I have one more little story to tell! Last week one night we had put the kids to bed and then Jeff and I went on the deck and played a game. After about half an hour we heard someone crying inside. I went inside and heard Gabby crying downstairs. I went downstairs to send her back to her room and I walked around the corner and saw her...her face and arms were covered in blood!! I freaked out a little and brought her upstairs to get Jeff's help. She wouldn't tell us what happened, we asked her if she fell and she said no, bumped into something and she said no. I cleaned her up and we saw the blood was coming from her lip. It looked like 4 distinct cuts. Well, Jeff went inside to see if he could find something out and he said the house looked like a murder scene...blood in the ensuite, down the hallway, on the walls, etc.!! I guess Gabby had gone in the ensuite to go pee and she found my razor and was shaving her mustache...just like daddy!! What a girl:)

I think that's all I have to update today!! Hope you have a great weekend.

Camping in Osoyoos

2010-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

We have been away for the last 5 days...camping in Osoyoos!! We had a blast and it was HOT HOT HOT the whole time.

Our campsite...

We camped at a beautiful campground right on Osoyoos lake. We went with 2 other families and there were 6 adults and 7 kids between us. The weather was so nice, and I hate to say it, but maybe even a little too hot. We were very thankful for the lake, so we could cool down a bit. We pulled Isaac and Jen's boat and we spent lots of time on the lake.

We arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon on Wednesday and set up camp. We had a really nice site with lots of shade and close to the lake and the bathrooms! Marty didn't nap in the truck on the drive and by the time we set up camp it was probably 3pm...so he didn't have a nap that day. But, he was still happy and went to bed really quickly!

The boys loving the sand...

After we set up camp, we all headed down to the lake to cool down! I was so proud of the girls for how brave they were in the water. I think it helped that the lake was so warm.

Out for a boat ride...

Jeff and Megan slept in our little tent and I slept in the camper with Gabby and Marty. I think it worked out quite well. Although, Jeff and I are not used to sleeping with the kids and they move around a LOT at night!

Gabby was excited to sleep in the bunk bed with me...

I hadn't waterskied in many years, so I wanted to try again. The first time I tried I got up on the 4th time and the second time I skiied, I got up the first time. I was pretty happy about that!

Hanging out in the dingy...he was NOT a fan of the water!! He doesn't like to be cold:(

We found a really cool sandbar in the lake and parked the boat and just hung out in the water. The kids loved being with their friends.

Our wonderful men...

Each family did a breakfast and dinner during the days we were there. It made it much easier for planning and bringing groceries. We had some delicious food...steak, chicken, salmon, potato salad, pasta salad, tacos, cheesecakes, etc.

Camping is not complete without s'mores...

We would feed the kids dinner and then put them to bed and then just the adults would have dinner together. It was wonderful to have uninterrupted conversations!! We are so blessed to have such amazing friends. The couple that makes dinner comes up with a few discussion questions every night...it is so fun and we learn more and more about each other.

The boys went boating/water skiing every morning and every evening while the water was calmer! Jeff went for a couple of runs while we were there...even in the smokin' hot weather.

We were having fun taking some family photos in the water...
We had such a great time with incredible friends and memories!! Can't wait to do it again next year...

A Father's Role

2010-06-23T13:37:00.001-07:00

The weeks just keep flying by around here! I can't believe that June is almost done and it doesn't even feel like we have had any summer yet:(

I think it has rained every day at some point, for at least the last month. I'm ready for some nice weather and for summer to stick around.

We had busy, but fun weekend!! Friday night, we went to some friends house for a BBQ. Saturday morning, we went to my parents house and my mom and I made waffles with custard for Jeff and my dad for Fathers Day!! It was a beautiful day, so after breakfast, we went for a swim in my parents pool.

The girls giving my dad the card they made him...

Saturday night, we went for another BBQ to friends house for a birthday party! After the party, Eric, Traci and Curt came over to our house and we played "Ticket to Ride". We bought the game when we were in the States and I love it!! Fun times.

I think Eric is not happy about someone's move...

Sunday morning, the girls and I made french toast for daddy for Fathers Day! That's right...I made 2 breakfasts in a row for him:) He was happy! Then we headed off to church and after church there was a Fathers Day carnival and lunch. The girls had a blast in the bouncy houses/slides they had rented!! We had burgers and hot dogs for lunch and then went home for nap time.

Gabby being silly and eating a chocolate brownie...

My happy boy first thing in the morning...such a sweet little man!! He seriously melts my heart.

Gabby wanted to give Marty hugs, but he was more interested in his milk!

After naps we went to Jeff's parents house for Fathers Day dinner! The kids hadn't been bathed since Thursday, so that night I figured it was time...they always love having baths and Grandma and Papa's house! Really such a fun weekend:)

Speaking of Fathers Day...I have to say that I am so blessed to have the dad and father-in-law that I do and an incredible daddy for our kids. Thank you all for being such amazing men of God. Thank you for loving me and my family so much. Thank you for always be there for us. Thank you for spending so much time and investing in our lives. We love you with all our hearts!

The girls made cards for Jeff for Fathers day in Kids church on Sunday. The card had their hand prints painted on them and the poem was this...

A Father's Role

On this paper you will find

some tiny handprints that are one of a kind.

They're here to remind you the role you play

in the foundation that you lay.

God has given you this great treasure.

Teach me right and share my pleasure.

I learn from you in every way

so be careful of the words you say.

Hold me tight and calm my fears.

When I cry wipe away my tears.

In all these things I feel your love

and learn to trust the Lord above.

I just love that poem! The girls were so excited to give the cards to daddy!! They totally adore him.

And now we are having a more relaxing week! Jeff's mom had the girls yesterday and they went to the park and then played with water guns in the backyard in the afternoon. They always have so much fun on Grandma days:)

This weekend the birthday parties continue...we have 2 parties to go to on Saturday!!

Taking it easy

2010-06-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Jeff's brother and his wife are here on vacation for a week and we are loving having them!! They are staying with Jeff's parents, but we get to see them lots.

I love the little freckles on her nose...

Yesterday, mom and Eric and Traci took the girls to the Energyplex for the morning. The girls go there quite a bit with mom and they are getting really comfortable there now. They all had a blast!! And I know the girls had a great time and were exhausted, because they were sleeping so quickly at bedtime last night.

Last week at soccer I pulled my left quad muscle! It was so painful. I was kicking the ball with my right foot and I felt something pull in my left leg. I dropped to the ground and couldn't get up. It was in the first 5 minutes of the game and I was so bummed not being able to play:( It's been a week now since I pulled it and just yesterday it started to feel better. I'm really hoping it heals quickly, so I can get back to playing. But, I don't want to play/run to early and do more damage to it. I'm just trying to take it easy.

Eating some stuffed french toast for dinner...he loves to rub his dinner on his face and in his hair!

The day after I pulled it, I pretty much just sat on the couch and iced my leg all day. The kids were great and Meggie was so helpful. She would get ice for me and help me put my leg up on the pillows. It was really sweet!!

Megan got a very special planter with some goldfish from her Auntie Jas for her birthday. Here we are putting the fish into the planter...sadly 3 of 5 fish did not survive:(That evening, Jeff was planning on going to his parents house to help them pull out some bushes. I asked him if he could change it to another night because my leg was so sore. He said he would just go and be back as soon as he could. About 2 hours later, he came home and said come look outside for a minute...so I did. I came out the front door and a bunch of his friends were there and there was a piano in the back of our truck!! I was SO surprised. I have wanted a piano for a while, but we didn't really want to spend the money right now and the kids are a bit young to start playing. But, he got it for free!!! Friends of his family were wanting to get rid of it and they thought of us. Jeff was sneaky and didn't tell me...he's such a sweetheart!Check out the name of the piano...I think it was meant to be!

And we are loving the piano!! It has been so many years since I have played, so I went online and tried to relearn a little bit. I'm pretty much starting from the beginning again. I'm really enjoying it and so are the kids. Megan and Gabby are pretty gentle with it and love to play it. The piano is over 100 years old and still sounds great!!! I think I will still wait a few years before I put Megan in lessons, if she wants to.

Friday night there was a family fun night at the school near our house. It's the school Megan will be going to in September. The girls really wanted to go, so we had a early dinner and then headed over to the school. There were bouncy houses and carnival games. Megs and Gabby were a little hesitant at the beginning, but it didn't take long for them to enjoy it!

Me and my girls...Gabby wanted to sit in the police car and turn on the sirens...

On Saturday afternoon/evening we went to the park with my parents to have a picnic! It was a beautiful day and the kids always love playing at the park. Marty loves to climb on anything he can and he has no fear...we really have to watch him!

Meggie got these roses from a little friend of hers, for her birthday...

Jeff's dad, his brother and him really enjoy photography, so they went out the other night and took some photos. Here are a few of the pictures Jeff took...
Overlooking the city...
I better get going...we are off to some friends house for dinner! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Party...

2010-06-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

The party was SO much fun!!! The kids and the adults had a blast. I had been praying all week that we would have some good weather for the party, because I can't fit 30+ people in our house. The weather was beautiful all day, and then just before the party was to start...it wasn't looking so good:(

We were inside the house for a little bit, but the weather turned around and it was beautiful outside again!! The kids loved playing in the backyard and just being with their friends.

The kids made some "candy" necklaces, made with licorce, fruit loops and lifesavers! We instructed the kids that they could make and wear their necklaces, but they couldn't eat them until after dinner. I think most of the kids obeyed....except our little Gabba!! She hid underneath the slide and was eating away. Such a funny girl!

We had pizza and fruit and veggies for dinner. It was great because we fed the kids first and then the adults ate. I wanted to do something for dinner that was not too much work for Jeff or I. Usually we do a BBQ, but then Jeff ends up at the BBQ the whole night. With pizza, everyone could eat outside and we didn't need utensils!!

Someone really enjoyed his pizza...
Meggie really wanted a Cinderella cake for her birthday party! So...I attempted it. I had made the cake a few days earlier and froze it, so it was be easier to ice. So the morning of the party, I took it out and began frosting and decorating it. Part way through icing it, half of it feel down:( I was getting frustrated, but tried to piece it back together. It turned out ok...not quite what I had envisioned.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday sweet Meggie, Happy Birthday to you!

Gotta love blue icing...

I think she liked the icing...I don't even know if she tried the cupcake!

Typical Gabba...you ask her to smile for the camera and she frowns!! Love her.

Meggie was SO happy with it though and that's all that matters! Megs had gone to the dump with Jeff while I was decorating the cake, so when she came home and saw the cake she said "Oh mommy, I love you so much"...totally melted my heart:)Megs was so excited to have her friends come for her party and was just such a happy girl that day! She got tons of fun presents and some really cute clothes(which I love!).

After dinner and cake, a few of the adults had a super fun game of soccer. We played in and amongst the kids. I was the only girl that played, but I had fun with the boys! I was so thankful for our big backyard, to be able to do things like that:)

Earlier in the day, Gabby went on a date with Auntie Jassie to get Megs her birthday present. Such a cool gift...I little planter with water plants and 5 goldfish. And we don't need to feed the fish, they feed off the water plants! Gabby helped pick out the goldfish, she was thrilled:)

This was just before people started to arrive for the party...Marty had just woken up and I love the little smile on his face... Also, around lunch time, my brother surprised us with a little visit!! We were so excited to have him celebrate with Megs at her party. We hung out with him all day on Saturday and he stayed after the party and helped us clean up and then we talked and played Rock Band too!!All in all, it was a great birthday party!! We are so blessed to have amazing family and friends that love our family so much:) I'm so thankful that our kids are being raised in a "community of family and friends" knowing that they are loved and cared for. My heart is full!

FIVE

2010-06-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up vividly remembering the birth of our first daughter! I also went to bed last night remembering that at 10pm, my water broke. I can not believe that 5 years has passed since God blessed us with our beautiful Meggie!! Happy Birthday sweet girl:)
I don't think there are words to express the love you have for your child. We just didn't know what we were missing until we had her. And my heart just continues to grow with love for her.

She is such a bright, beautiful, caring girl!

We had a fun little day today! I asked her what she wanted for breakfast and she said a bagel with peanut butter and honey...easy for me!! Gabby and Marty gave her some gifts...a read-along princess book set and a magnetic dress up doll kit. She absolutely loved them!! Then we got dressed and went to play group at our church for the morning. The kids had a blast running around the gym and playing with all the toys. Then we headed home for lunch and I put Gabby and Marty down for their naps.

Then Megs and I went outside while the sun was shinning and we pulled weeds and swept the carport and decks. She loves to help me with outside chores:)

When Jeff got home we gave her the present from us...a big girl bike!! No training wheels on this one. She doesn't know how to ride a bike without training wheels, so she will be learning soon. My parents got her a helmut, which she will be getting tomorrow. Then she will be set and ready to go!

We had asked her yesterday what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she said she wanted to go to McDonalds!! Isn't that what every kid says?!?!? So...that's what we did. We had dinner there and then let the kids run around the play structure for a little while. I actually hate those play structures because there are so many germs in that place, but the kids love it, so we let them every once in a while.

Tomorrow is the big birthday party and she is so excited about it!! I will have to do a post on her party in a few days.

In other news...I joined a soccer team for the rest of the summer! The last time I played was 2 summers ago and let's just say my body could tell it had been that long. My first game was on Tuesday night and my quads were hurting so much after the game. But, I woke up in the morning and I felt pretty good...but the next day was b-r-u-t-a-l!! I was so sore, it hurt to walk up and down the stairs. Today I'm feeling pretty, so I'm hoping that each week gets better!! It felt so good to be back out there playing...I love playing soccer and it seems to be a great group of girls I'm playing with!

We had a great weekend with Curt and Annie. On Saturday night, Jeff's mom had a surprise 30th birthday party for Annie. It was really fun and she was totally not expecting it! We put the kids to bed there and then we all spent the night there, so we wouldn't have to transfer the kids to take them home. The kids went to bed okay, but Meggie woke up 4 or more times during the night...and I was SO tired the next day!!

On Sunday night, Curt and Annie and mom and dad came over for dinner(thanks for bringing the steaks mom!) and then we played a highly entertaining game of charades!! So fun!! But, we definitely missed having Eric and Traci there:(

Well, I'm going to go watch hockey with my hubby now...yes, you read that right! We are totally into the Playoffs!! Jeff has some money riding on the Flyers and now I'm into it too:)

Vacation to Portland

2010-05-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well...this might be a long post since I haven't written in about 2 weeks!! We have been on vacation for the last week...and it was great!!

Jeff got a new camera that he ordered and had shipped to Eric and Traci's place. All these pictures are with the new camera...hope you enjoy them!

We left last Wednesday morning and drove to Abbotsford and stayed with our good friends. After the kids woke up from naps there, we headed out to have a visit with my grandma. I hadn't seen her in about a year and it was great to see her new place and to see her again. The kids were pretty good there, but Marty is into everything...so we had to keep a close eye on him, since grandma's place is not child proof!!

We went back to our friends place and had a delicious meal together! Jeff did some electrical work for them and we just hung out and enjoyed the evening together. The kids slept great and we headed out first thing on Thursday morning to Portland!!

We had no wait at the border, which was great! But, we still had a 5 hour drive ahead of us. The kids were okay on the drive. Megan was great, Gabby was whinny and Marty was a little cranky too:( But...we made it there!! Marty was SO ready for a nap when we arrived at Eric and Traci's place.

Eric and Traci moved into their new place about 6 months ago and it is so nice! Marty slept in the walk-in closet in the bedroom we stayed in and the girls had their own room. It worked out great! Eric and Traci treated us so great...wonderful meals, shopping trips, fresh muffins for breakfast, etc. We are blessed to have such incredible family, who are also our friends:)

Traci having a dance party with the girls...

Traci had to work on Friday morning and so the boys, the kids and I headed out to do some shopping. And can I just say, the States has WAY better shopping than Canada!!! Such good deals there and Oregon has no tax...I'm such a big fan of that. My favorite stores are Ross, Target and a new favorite Kohl's!!

Friday afternoon, Traci treated me to a Cirque Du Soleil show "Kooza"!! All I can say is...AMAZING!! We had such a great time together and the performace was incredible. I highly recommend seeing a show if you get the chance.

The boys had pizza for dinner and the kids were ready for bed when we got home! Jeff and Eric had taken the kids to the park after dinner for some play time. We hung out in the evening and I think every night we played "Ticket to Ride". We bought the game down there! It's such a fun game.

On Saturday, Eric had class in the morning, so the rest of us went to see Shrek Forever After 3D at the theatre. The kids had a little trouble keeping their 3D glasses on, especially Marty and Gabby. Gabby has a small head and the glasses didn't fit her face! The movie was really good and they all sat well through it...even Marty! This was their first time seeing a movie at the theatre ever, so I think they did pretty good.

On Sunday, we went to Eric and Traci's church with them. The kids went to the kids church and had a fun time there. We put them in a class together and they were happy to go. We kept Marty in church with us, but we had to take him out a couple of times...he doesn't like to sit still for too long:)

While the kids napped in the afternoon, Traci, Meggie and I went out and did some more shopping:)

On Monday, we went to the Portland Zoo. It was the only day it didn't rain while we were there! Meggie was a little scared of the animals at first, but she warmed up to them. We had to reassure her that they were behind glass or fences and they weren't coming out. Also, there was a dinosaur exhibit and she didn't like the noises they made.

Gabby loved it and wasn't afraid of anything! We put Marty in the backpack at the zoo, so he wouldn't take off on us. He did great in the pack for the first 2 hours of so, but then he wanted out...so we let him run a bit. And he was SO happy!!

The girls feeding the Lorakeets some nectar juice...

Megan checking out the zoo map...

After dinner on Monday, we took the kids to the park to play and explore and then headed back home for bedtime...because, we had a long drive the next day!

I was a little nervous about doing the 9 hour drive home on one day, but it worked out pretty good. The kids actually did better on the way home than on the way down...weird!! Megs slept for about 1/2 hour, Gabby for about 15 minutes and Marty only a 1/2 hour too!! I was hoping he would sleep at least an hour or 2...but no such luck. But, he was pretty happy and content. We only stopped once to have a little lunch and then back on the road. We left Portland just after 8am and got home at 5:30pm.

We are happy to be home and back into our routine, but we had such a great vacation...thanks to Eric and Traci!! And we miss them already, but we get to see them in 3 weeks when they come home:)

Jeff only has 3 days of work this week and then we look forward to Curt and Annie coming for a visit this weekend....should be lots of fun!!

Hope you made it this far and enjoyed seeing all the pictures!!