Utah

Patrick had to go go down to Utah on business so we figured we would tag along for the week. I had only been there one time before for just two days and it was over ten years ago so I really wanted to go agiain and take the kids this time.

We knew it was going to be a long drive so we split it up over the weekend. The first night we stopped at the Stewarts in Lethbridge and then on the Saturday we drove 8 hours to Idaho Falls. Sunday morning we drove the last couple hours to Salt Lake City. We figured Sunday would be a perfect day to take in the sights on Temple Square.

Temple Square was incredible! The only downfall was that it was FREEZING! It was way colder in Utah than it was in Edmonton. In fact, on one day Edmonton was the warmest city in North America with the exception of Florida. Great time for us to choose to go south!

Patrick worked during the day so the kids and I had to keep ourselves busy while he was gone. That proved to be a fairly easy and fun task! We went to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and went to the Dinosaur Museum, we did a lot of shopping and swimming and we caught up with some friends and family!

We went to this fabulous place in Orem called Hang Time. It is an indoor trampoline park. The kids jumped from the trampolines into huge foam pits that they loved. They even learned to do flips, thanks to mom's friend Amelia. Heidi and Hallie came out for the day and had a hoot. We loved spending more time with them! Once Patrick finished work he came and joined us as well. He was in heaven flipping into the foam pits but after a while he got a little dizzy so he preferred to play on the trampoline dodge ball court. It was a great time and a fantastic work out. I think we need to open one up in Edmonton!

We had an incredible vacation and we were sad to leave the mountains but happy to get back home to our own beds!

Piano Recital

Leah had her first piano recital this month. We are so proud of the progress she has made! Thanks Nana for encouraging her to get started.

Soccer

This year I had the opportunity to coach Dillon's soccer team which turned out to be one of the highlights of my year!

I am not going to lie and say that I am a huge soccer enthusiast and that I know everything there is to know about the game but I figured I could do an OK job for a bunch of 5 & 6 year olds.

I had players who had obviously played before and were quite confident on the field and others that were still trying to figure out the rules of the game. Some players had never played the game before and quite often would score on our goal because they couldn't figure out which way we were going. And I had one little boy who was so painfully shy that he would not step foot on the field for the first game. I really had to work with him, holding his hand and running with him up and down the field. Over time my strong players got stronger and my new players got the rules all figured out while that shy little boy ended up running from one end of the field to the other without my assistance. That was one of the proudest moments of the season.

These kids taught me a lot and I will miss them so much. Mostly I am grateful of the time I got to spend with Dillon. What great memories we made!

Playing Catch Up

I have really enjoyed reading all of my siblings posts lately and realized that I have been really slacking in the blogging department so I decided that I would take a couple of moments this moments and posts some special moments from the past couple months.

 April Fool's Day is a big day in our house and Leah and Dillon got started first thing in the morning. They must have spent days coming up with ideas to trick Patrick and I. By breakfast I had had enough and I was ready to retaliate. They were off in their rooms planning their next demise when I called them down to eat. Much to their surprise they found this,an egg made out of marshmallow and a peach in the middle to look like the yoke and a cup a juice with a straw in it that was actually jello.

The kids loved being pranked and doing the pranks. They can't wait until next year!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend mostly because it was a quiet weekend with the family. We spent time together just being us. we didn't do much exciting but we did bake cupcakes and have friends over for dinner. It was the perfect way to spend the 4 days off together.

Leah has had an incredible grade 3 year which we are so grateful for. Brookwood school has been such a blessing for her as she has grown and developed in ways we could have never dreamed for her and this school has played a big part in that. This year she has participated in Running Club, Choir and Spirit Team.  We had the opportunity to watch her choir perform on several occasions and they are a very talented bunch of kids! But her favorite, by far, was Spirit Team. She loved performing and she was lucky enough to be a 'stunter'. Unfortunately, I only got one picture and it didn't turn out great but at least I got it. Hopefully she will get the opportunity to do it again next year because it was one of the highlights of her year.

At the end of May, Ken and Deb celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary so we threw them a surprise party at park in Red Deer. They thought they were going for a leisurely motorcycle ride with some friends but ended up at a their surprise party, they were shocked. What a great day it was!

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids (sans Mallory).

Now I feel a little more caught up. There is more to come as June has been CRAZY with so much fun activity that I will for sure need to brag about!

Dillon's 6

On March 16th Dillon turned 6! To celebrate, his grandparents came up for a party the Sunday before, we had a family party on his actual birthday and we had a friend party on the day after.  It was an entire week of  parties, fun and plenty of sugar! 

Every year for the kids birthday I let them choose the theme of their party and whatever kind of cake they want. This year Dillon wanted a space party with all the planets and astronauts and he wanted an alien cake. Dillon and I had the funnest time decorating for the party and I really enjoyed making an 6 eyeballed alien cake!

Dillon invited several of his friends from school and his closest neighborhood friends over for the party. We played space games, ate space food, hit a space pinata and made alien crafts and had a wonderful time!

Happy Birthday little Dude! We love you so much and we are so grateful that you are a part of our family!

Leah's Baptism

On December 10, 2011 Leah was baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. It was a fantastic day, one that she had been anticipating all year long. It was perfect, everything that she had been hoping for.

Almost her entire family was there for the occasion, with the exception of the Ontario Hill cousins, we missed them terribly. The rest of the family made the trip to Spruce Grove/Edmonton from all over the province which meant so much to Leah. We also had friends from several corners of the city come to support her. Having all the family and friends there made the day even better.

Grandma and Nana gave the talks at the baptism and they were definately a highlight. We were so grateful for all of the time and thoughts that went into those talks. Some serious waterworks from this mom...thanks for that ;).

We are so proud of Leah and the girl that she has become. We feel honoured to be her parents and to be allowed to be a part of this journey with her.  We love you Leah!

The Adventures of Peter Pan

This week is Leah's 8th birthday, a very big day in our house. As most of you know, we take birthdays very seriously and like to go way out on our special day but when I asked Leah what she wanted for her birthday this year she simply replied "I don't need a party because I am getting baptised and that is present enough".

I was very impressed with her answer but I still felt the need to do something for her as a family so I bought her tickets to see the play Peter Pan. We didn't tell either of the kids where we were going, we just told them to dress up and get in the car.  They were so excited!

When we got to the theatre they realized what they were going to see and they couldn't contain the excitement. Minutes later I looked over at Dillon and he turned a few shades of green, leaned over the garbage can and tossed his cookies. My heart sank, I felt terrible for him and for Leah, the play was supposed to start in 30 minutes and Dillon was sick. When I started to put his coat on him to take him home her immediately perked up and said he felt much better "let's got watch Peter fly!" So with a little hesitation we found our seats in the theatre. Five minutes before curtain Dillon leaned forward and threw up everywhere (my coat caught most of it).  Patrick and Leah got to enjoy the play while I took my little sickie home. What an adventure.

Happy Early Birthday Leah!

Our New Home

On August 21 our house finally sold and the buyer gave us 30 days to find and purchase a new house. Needless to say I was very stressed and starting to question my decision. Luckily, Karri and the girls came up for a couple of days to help me in my search. We toured several homes and were astounded at some of the things we saw. Some homes were immaculate and others were...well...unsanitary. Towards the end of the day I was a little discouraged. Then we stumbled onto this home, the one we fell in love with and eventually bought.

We have to be out of our house on September 26 and we don't take possession of the new one until October 15th so we will be homeless for a couple of weeks. Luckily, Patrick's boss has offered us his holiday trailer to saty in for those couple of weeks. What a blessing that is! I was not looking forward to the cardboard box on the side of the road, this is definately a step up. ;)
Once we are in our new home I hope to host lots of parties and celebrate lots of occasions. The first one will be Halloween and I can't wait!

Summer 2011...It's A Long One

We have had a great summer so far and do not want to see it end. This summer has been full of fun, adventure and even learning some new things. 

We have spent a great deal of time in the mountains. Patrick and I had the opportunity to go and explore the mountains twice just on our own while the kids got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. 

On one of our trips we hiked a mountain called Cirque Peak, one of our favorite hikes. Unfortunately conditions were not favorable to reach the peak this year but we got as close as we could. There is always next year and maybe we will bring the kids with us!

It is a tradition in our family climb a mountain every summer as a family. Patrick and I had selected a few that we thought the kids would be interested in doing but then when we stumbled onto Castle Mountain we decided that this was the one that we had to conquer.

Castle hike was 540m elevation gain in 3.7 km (one way). It was pretty straight up for the majority of the hike on a very narrow path on the side of the mountain. I was really proud of the kids for making it to the top with very little complaining, it wasn't an easy hike. The views were incredible all the way up, so worth the work. It always feels so good to achieve something great after working so hard!

At the top!

 

 We hiked Cascade Falls...actually we climbed Cascade Falls.

We loved our time in the mountains and we loved camping in the mountains but the time had come to leave the mountains and go camping at Old MacDonald's Campground. There is definately a difference between camping in the mountains and camping at the beach. Patrick and I prefer the mountains for the peace and quiet and the nature while the kids prefer the beach for all the fun. Wow are we ever getting old! :)

We have also been very lucky to see all of our cousins this summer. The kids and I got to go down to Karri and Dave's for a week and spend time with cousins, we LOVED that! Parker and Matt are Dillon's heros. He wants to be just like them when he grows up and I can certainly see why. Parker taught him how to ride a two wheeler and Matt did everything with him including taking him down a waterslide on his shoulders. "He's the coolest" according to Dillon.

 We also welcomed another cousin into our family this summer. Christy had a little boy, Jones Caddis Switzer on August 8th. This makes 13 cousins for the kids. YIPPEE! Congratulations Switzer family.

It has been a wonderful summer! We have two more weeks left and we are going to play hard right up to the very last minute!