Grandma

This week my husbands grandmother passed away. While it is sad that she is no longer with us, I find comfort knowing that she is pain free and with her eternal companion. I first met this remarkable lady shortly after my husband and I got married. I was amazed at her strength and her love for her Saviour. She will be missed.

Christmas, New Years and Walking

Christmas was a blast. We made the trip down to visit my family. It was great to see all the cousins together laughing and playing. There was a ton of food. My brother made the majority of the food and it was so good. Way too much...but boy can he cook.

Christmas Eve all of siblings and most of the nieces and nephews were at my parents house. We did the traditional nativity reading and even had the kids act it out. We read Santa stories, sang some songs, ate good and the cousins all opened the presents they bought each other.



Christmas day we got up and opened stockings in the bedrooms. We then went downstairs and opened presents with my brothers and parents. Jenna was not really into opening presents. I opened most of them for her. She did enjoy putting everything in her mouth. Benjamin and Daniel loved all of their presents. Most of my siblings came over again for Christmas dinner. Again lots of food, laughter and memories.

On Boxing day we were able to take in a World Junior Hockey game. We took Benjamin and he was so excited. He loved looking around taking it all in. I think his favourite part was the zambonie. Part way through the first period he looked to me and said that it was time to go home. So it was fun trying to distract him and entertain him till the end of the game. Luckily Grandpa took pity on him and bought him some popcorn.



New Years Eve was quiet. We stayed home and had a quiet evening just us. New Years Day was similar. We had a bunch of snack food and ate that and had fun with our family.

During the two weeks off of school the kids slept in almost everyday. It was wonderful. We were hardly awake before 8:15. Somedays we were still in bed at 9:00. I marvel to think that all 3 kids slept in. Now that school is back on the sleeping in has come to an end. I miss the sleeping in, but it is nice to get back into the old routine.



On a completely different note, Jenna is up and walking everywhere. The last few days have seen a great improvment in her ability. No longer will she crawl if she falls while walking, but she will pick herself back up and walk. It is very cute to see her walk around the house. I was beginning to wonder if she would walk before she was a year old. You see, my other children were 8 1/2 months and 10 months when they were walking well. Jenna is also getting at least 2 more teeth.

Three

That's right. My little Daniel is now 3. It's hard to believe that he is almost a sunbeam.

He was born in Winnipeg and I must say that I have fond memories of the whole labour/birth of him (I know it seems odd, but it's true). I was so sick a few days before he was born. I woke up on the 11th (a week early!!)with contractions and eventually made our way to the hospital. After being assessed, it was discovered that our babies heart rate was very high. At that point I almost became a high risk patient, but thankfully they realized that it was more than likely due to my dehydration. So they pumped me full of fluids and the heart rate came down. He was so small when he was born. At 6lbs and 13 oz and not even 19 inches long he was small. He seemed to stay tiny for so long.


He is such a blessing to have in our family. From a very young age his odd goofy sense of humour was very evident.


Happy Birthday Daniel

5 Years and Counting

It is hard to believe that Benjamin is already 5. He is so excited to finally be 5.

Just over 5 years ago, my husband and I thought it would be great fun to have one last date before our first baby was born. We purchased tickets to go see Les Miserables. Yes it was 1 week before my due date but I have always wanted to see it. My sister and her husband were coming up to see it with us. Well as you may have guessed, our baby decided to come 1 week early. (I have yet to see Les Miserables)

He is such a blessing to have in our family. He is always curious and up to something. From an early age he was on the go (crawling at 5 months and walking at 8 months). He has a wonderful spirit about him. We love him so much.





HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN

First day of school

Benjamin started school at the end of August. He was so excited to be going to school. He helped pick out his new back pack, his pencil case and other school supplies. He goes for a full day every other day.


It was a very foggy, cool morning.

I was sad to see him go, but excited that he is beginning a new chapter in his life. Daniel misses him like crazy. I asked him to make a sad face because Benjamin wasn't at home and this is what he gave me:




Sidenote: Jenna is crawling now. She can sit on her own, go from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting. She is teething and is currently cutting 4 teeth. She has two teeth cut through completely and enjoys grinding her teeth.

6 years

This week we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. It has been an amazing 6 years. This year we went out to for supper and dessert. We were able to go without any children. Thank you to those family members who watched our kids so that we could go out.

The past 6 years have been fun and exciting.

We have moved into 6 different places.

Lived in 2 different provinces and 3 different towns/cities.

We have 3 beautiful children that keep life exciting.

We have made countless trips to the temple.

We have gone to visit were Andrew served his mission, been to Navuoo, driven down to Utah and gone to Alberta.

We have been able to go to 3 sibling weddings in the temple

Shed many tears and laughter

Through the years we have grown closer together and at time it seems like our lives before our marriage was so long ago. I love my husband so much. His love for life is contagious. I love his dedication to his family, church and his calling. He is such an example to me and to the children. Our boys always miss him when he is at work. They look forward to him coming home. They often ask me as soon as the wake up, "When will daddy be home." He is my strength and light. I am so blessed to have had him for 6 years and get to have him for the rest of eternity.

Tails of Ponies and Other Fun Times

I have done it. I have finally put Jenna's hair into a pony tail. She has sported pig tails and looked like a cute little bug.

The boys love having a sister. They are always picking out a hair clip to put in her hair and have fun picking out an outfit for her. They enjoy having her wear dresses because then she looks like a princess. Daniel has become really attached to her. He will often lay down beside her and talk with her.

Jenna is growing so much. She has begun eating rice cereal and has two teeth that came in a few weeks back.

Benjamin and Daniel continue to make up games that I don't understand, but I don't complain...especially when they are playing so well together. We have had lots of fun going to the playground and going to the library. They were able to make their very own Eye Spy page.

Benjamin's Eye Spy page

Daniel's Eye Spy page

And what a better way to end a summer night than to roast hotdogs over a fire.