The Smell of Rain and Cookies

Ice Skating

2012-01-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Lily and Gabe often ask to go ice skating and I finally took this them this week. We first had to make a stop to exchange Lily's skates for a (much) larger pair and then we headed to Mt. Baker Park.

Lily helped Gabe get going and after a couple falls he started to get his balance. The ice was pretty slushly with all the warm weather we're been experiencing but the still had fun.

John loved walking in the grass in his skates but was much less certain aboou the ice! I did get him on the ice but only for a few minutes.

The Hunt for the Perfect Tree

2011-12-13T10:46:00.001-07:00

We had the best time hunting for a Christmas tree in the woods. Our friends, the Moon family, took us to their favourite hunting ground and we spent the afternoon on the prowl. After finding the tree we built a campfire and roasted hot dogs. This was also the moment that I discovered that my camera had opened up and lost it's batteries!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

I love that next to the Nativity set are some Medieval figures and Gabe's Lego Enterprise!

And finally, some cuddles on the couch. We're slowing decorating the house - a little bit here and there every day.

John turns 5

2011-10-23T16:19:00.000-06:00

Card and Lego from G and G Rene!

His very own scooter!

Movies from G and G Meng!

Yummy cake. John chose a cake from the Cake Bible and help make and decorite it.

We went to the skate park to try out John's new scooter.

Disneyland - Day 1

2011-10-12T20:06:00.000-06:00

We're here! Our first day was picture perfect. Gorgeous weather, shortish lines, and a great time!

Almost got John's face in the picture!

Gabe, trying to pull out the sword in the stone. Guess he isn't the long awaited king.

Our very first ride - John was terrified. Oops.

Birthday Trifle

2011-09-01T15:33:00.000-06:00

Richard's birthday is always a busy day with our parish feast day but we managed to have a "big breakfast" between Matins and work and a birthday tea with trifle before heading to Creston for Vespers.

And we're still enjoying trifle two days later! Yum!

Day at the Lake

2011-08-23T13:35:00.001-06:00

We spent a fabulous day at the lake yesterday. The lake was incredibly high:

This is the lake in spring when it is always lower but usually only rises to that very faint green line. This year most of the roads are flooded and the water is up to the trees - which makes for fabulous swimming.

John caught a lots of crickets and a butterfly:

and took some pictures:

Some other kids found a turtle and brought it over to show us:

Swam and swam and swam:

And enjoyed the sun:

The Kids' Super-Duper Awesome Double Marble Tower!

2011-08-08T17:06:00.002-06:00

Camerawork by Lily Rene, introduction by Gabriel Rene, stunts by John Rene...

Busy Week

2011-08-05T09:09:00.006-06:00

We've had a busy week....and not a whole lot of pictures to show for it! Too busy for the camera, I guess. The highlights include Gabe losing his first two teeth! Here he is sticking his tongue through the gap.

Lily got her ears pierced. She's been waiting a long time for this!

We spent a gorgeous afternoon at Horseshoe Lake. Swimming and relaxing. Completely forgot my camera on that outing. We came home to camp in the backyard as the lake was so high many of the camp spots were gone and the mosquitoes were horrendous.

I sprained my ankle - but I'm not showing you pictures. Yuck.
John rediscovered the joy of playdough.

Afternoon at the Lake

2011-07-25T16:16:00.000-06:00

Summer Fun

2011-07-23T08:35:00.000-06:00

Horseshoe Lake

2011-06-07T11:46:00.000-06:00

Last week we made our way out to our favorite camping and picnic spot for the first time this summer. It was a bit too early to set up our tent (and we need a new one!) but we had a very relaxing evening enjoying the lake, a campfire and the view.

All Dressed Up

2011-05-23T09:28:00.001-06:00

These three were just so cute sitting together I couldn't resist taking their picture. Gabe stuck his tongue out in the first shot but I snuck another one in there quickly!

John and Gabe sitting on top! of the pew during church. They both picked out appropriate clothes by themselves for church - yay! I especially love that John is wearing a tie with a polo shirt! The cowboy hat came out after church.

Fort

2011-05-11T15:08:00.000-06:00

The fort is now completed from a adult standpoint and is ready for improvements by the kids. They are loving having their own special getaway. Yes, the neighbor's house is very close but this is a quiet and removed spot at the side and back of the house.

Spring?

2011-04-16T17:08:00.000-06:00

Lily, Gabe and John are trying valiantly to make spring a reality. We awoke to lightly drifting snow this morning. The sun came out this afternoon but I snapped this photo just before beckoning them inside to beat the rain. Even with sleeping bags they were cold in their fort.

School Today

2011-03-29T14:51:00.003-06:00

morning :: noon :: night

2011-03-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

a little glimpse into our day

John John

2011-02-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

John John

2011-02-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sledding Party

2011-02-10T13:31:00.001-07:00

When we asked Gabe what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "I want to go sledding... in the dark!" So we invited friends to join us at Idlewild Park, made cupcakes and hot chocoloate and carted firewood to one of the fire pits on the hill. The weather cooperated with a dusting of fresh snow and warmer-than-usual temperatures, so we didn't freeze and the hill was in perfect condition. We had a blast! It was really one of the best birthday parties the kids have ever had. But you can see that I didn't get very good pictures. And then the batteries died...

Evening Conversation

2011-01-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was tinkering in the kitchen this evening after dinner and overheard this conversation between the boys while they were quietly playing Lego in their room.
John: Do you love me Gabe? (He had to repeat the question at least three times before getting an answer.)
Gabe: Yup.
John: I love you. I love Lily too.
Gabe: a response that I don't remember. It wasn't till about here that I realized I should be writing this down!
John: We love all people too.
Gabe: Not everyone.
John: Well, God loves all the people. Tons of people.
Gabe: Yeah, all the people.
John: Tons and tons of people.
Gabe: God loves Himself.

It wasn't until halfway through the conversation that I stopped what I was doing and grabbed a pen. The kids say things all day long that I wish I could remember. And I didn't even get all of this one but you get the gist of it. I even managed to get a picture of them!

Target Practice

2011-01-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Gabe received The Dangerous Book for Boys for Christmas and the first project was bows and arrows! He also informed me he will now be more dangerous because of his book and Grandma, who gave him the book.

Aebleskivers!

2011-01-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yum! I made aebleskivers, for the first time, for breakfast this morning from my great-grandma's recipe. The offical concensus seems be that we won't make pancakes ever again.

Sledding

2011-01-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

We've been sledding a couple times this winter but today I finally remembered my camera! Last year John loved to go to the sledding hill but spent all his time making snowballs and laying in the snow. This year he loves actually sledding - he went up and down without hardly any pause.

It's so nice to have an older "kid" come too! Joanna has so much more energy than us and hauls the kids up the hill, races, and gave piggy back rides back to the car!

Silly Puppy

2011-01-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is Mitzy's favourite place to sit while we are eating dinner..but it's a bit crowded with the games we haven't put away!

Last Family Gift

2010-12-31T19:32:00.001-07:00

We opened our last family Christmas present yesterday - a night at Fairmont Hot Springs. Last year we decided to start a new family tradition: buy a big family gift and stocking stuffers only for individuals. The kids have lots of toys, books and stuff and there's always presents from grandparetns. Last year our family present was Mitzy. How do we do anything to compare with that! Well..three days of family fun. The first was a new game and all day Christmas playing games. The second was a family night out to dinner and a movie. And here's the third day....definitely a hit!

12 Years Today!

2010-12-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

Christmas morning - Part 2

2010-12-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Christmas morning

2010-12-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Uh Oh!

2010-12-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

I made doughnuts for breakfast on Monday. They were much much too easy to make and so much better than store bought. We may be in serious trouble here.

Desktop Decorating

2010-12-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Snow Forts

2010-12-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

It has been snowing almost constantly for the last three weeks (until yesterday) and the kids each built a snow fort. They are wearing their special birthday hats - which they love and really keep them warm!

Wine Glasses Rack on my Hutch

2010-12-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here it is all finished - well, Dad is going to build me a couple more racks but mostly done. It really completes the kitchen. I love having all my dishes all at hand.

Catch Up

2010-11-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

Mom reminded me that according to my blog John was 4 yet.

So, here's a summary of our past month.

Bobbing for apples at our Halloween party.
Camera - shy supermen.

Apple pie for the freezer.

Gabe & Lily in the Remebrance Day parade/celebrations.

Lily is 10 today!

2010-10-05T18:19:00.001-06:00

My beautiful girl is getting so big. It's delightful to watch her grow into a thoughtful, kind and spunky young woman. This year I have watched her grow in confidence as she became a Girl Guide (introducing herself to the troop as Mary!), an avid reader, a blossoming pianist and a confident Reader in the parish. Can't wait to see what the coming year brings.

Science with the Microscope

2010-09-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

The kids were tired and grumpy after being up later for liturgy the night before so we abandoned the math and got out the microscope. The morning was devoted to poking ourselves in an attempt to make a slide of a blood cell. After much effort Joanna suceeded!

Back to School!

2010-09-08T20:19:00.000-06:00

Yay! It feels so good to be back to our school routine. We decided to celebrate both going back to school and my 4 new piano students!

Good thing he likes baths...

2010-08-26T10:32:00.000-06:00

because he emerged from his mud pit filthy!

Isabelle's (& Tom's) Quilt

2010-08-11T18:21:00.000-06:00

I was so trilled to finish this quilt in time for Isabelle and Tom's wedding. Isabelle paid me the best compliment by saying that she now knows what she would grab in the event of a fire - this quilt!!

Brighton

2010-08-06T03:08:00.000-06:00

Knole House

2010-08-06T02:31:00.000-06:00

Cranbrook & Tenberton

2010-08-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

Southwark - London

2010-08-02T15:58:00.000-06:00

Day at Lewes

2010-08-01T11:46:00.000-06:00

This was our day on Friday. Can't imagine why I didn't have time to post them till now!

The wedding yesterday was beautiful. Lily felt so special all day as flower girl - she got a special hairdo, lip gloss and got to spend the morning with Emma and Isabelle. She led the procession down the aisle beautifully and was so grown up.

The Wedding

2010-08-01T04:10:00.000-06:00

Berry Picking & a Drive

2010-07-30T02:50:00.001-06:00

I also added some pictures to the Bodium Castle album!

Tower of London

2010-07-27T02:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the Tower of London.

Ashdown Forest

2010-07-26T01:04:00.000-06:00

We spent a quiet day on Sunday. We were all worn out after a long day in the sun on Saturday.

Bodium Castle

2010-07-25T05:21:00.001-06:00

We spent the day at Bodium Castle yesterday. It was the perfect castle to visit with the kids. It has a moat and although the inner walls are mostly gone the towers are intact so we were able to climb the stairs to the to of the tower. That was really scary with John because the stairs were so steep and tall - I ended up carrying him back down. They also got to dress up in real armor and see a trebuchet (catapult) shoot, watched an abbreviated version of Macbeth on the castle grounds and just enjoyed the gorgeous castle grounds.

I'm planning on posting our photos from each day on Picasa web albums. You can get there by clicking on the photo here.

Tunbridge Wells

2010-07-23T10:05:00.000-06:00

Kayak Point

2010-07-09T14:02:00.000-06:00

A gorgeous summer evening at Kayak Point - I don't think I'd been there since Richard and I had our engagement photos taken!

4th of July in Arlington

2010-07-09T13:59:00.000-06:00

Music Camp

2010-07-06T18:49:00.000-06:00

Lily enjoyed another awesome week at Music Camp this year. The first photos are from her solo in Don't Worry Be Happy. She did such a good job, especially as she went out into the audience and interacted with people. We listened to the practice cd in the car during our paper route today and the boys sang along to all the songs. Gabe knew the words to many of them and sang along - I hardly ever him sing long enough to hear so it was fun even though I am sick of the songs!

Grandpa's Visit

2010-06-24T09:07:00.002-06:00

My hutch finally has a home! Dad made this for me about 12 years ago - it just made it out of the shop and to my house yesterday. Today we're going to go pick out some hardware and stain. I can't wait to put my dishes in it!
Garden plots finally have some green in them and some bark mulch around them - thanks Bartletts!!
The kids couldn't get outside to play with Grandpa early enough this morning.

Art/Science Craft completed

2010-05-31T13:56:00.000-06:00

Bliss...

2010-05-22T08:05:00.003-06:00

A mountain lake, a campfire, and my family. Absolute bliss.

Craft time

2010-05-18T12:53:00.000-06:00

I love it when craft time can move outside! Hopefully we'll have some pictures of their projects later in the week.

Dress up

2010-05-12T08:34:00.001-06:00

Morning Cuddles

2010-05-11T10:10:00.000-06:00

March happenings

2010-03-25T13:38:00.001-06:00

We did a small modification in the kitchen which has made a huge difference!! The refrigerator was where the picture is now hanging and made the entrance into the kitchen quite tight - especially as it's the main entrance to the house. So we cut out a hole in the wall in the entry way and put the fridge there. I love it!

I made peanut noodles the other night for dinner and it looked so good I had to take a picture.

John's newest favorite game is to be buried in hole made from blankets and pillows. He's such a funny bunny. This can keep him busy for hours!

Gabe's pics

2010-03-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Gabe got a camera for his birthday and he's been having so much fun with it. Here are some highlights:

Classic John.

I love this - a bug he saw in church!

Furry & Wet Friends

2010-03-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Our new fish - safetly ensconced in vases out of reach of John (we hope--he's pretty inventive).

Mitzy got a haircut last week and lo and behold, she has eyes!! So fun to actually see her face. John is very concerned that Mitzy isn't going anywhere - he was really upset when we dropped her off to be groomed. He keeps checking that she's our dog and we keep assuring him that she's ours forever...

When the house gets quiet....

2010-02-22T19:19:00.003-07:00

...I start to worry.

Tonight after dinner Gabe and I were reading a book. Lily was practicing piano. Richard was checking email when we thought, "Where's John?" Well, he was in Lily's room but what was he up to was the real question. Then I heard the toilet flush and John suddenly announced that Lily's fish was dead and he had flushed it!! Oh no! Lily had just checked her fish before dinner - it wasn't dead.
So tomorrow we'll try to fit in a trip to the pet store to replace Lily's 'favorite' fish.

Lily wins 3rd Prize

2010-02-20T16:23:00.002-07:00

Lily above baking her Coconut Cherry Bars all by herself.She won 3rd prize at the Bake Sale and Tea this afternoon. She's here with one of her Girl Guide leaders.

Is it spring?

2010-02-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jenga!

2010-02-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

My biggest littte guy is 6!!

2010-02-04T20:24:00.003-07:00

Showing off his awesome new bike!
Bowling with friends.

New Floor!

2010-01-30T11:10:00.003-07:00

We love it!!

A week dominated by....

2009-12-23T20:02:00.001-07:00

...unfortunately not by the above Christmas baking and decorating. The last three or maybe even four days have been dominated by poo and vomit. Gross! Gabe was throwing up Sunday night, we spent our "day off" cleaning out the basement toilet and Lily was throwing up tonight. That doesn't include the vomit Richard had to deal with at work. Yuck. Hopefully the next couple of days with be much more seasonably oriented as we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord.

Lord, have mercy. Please let nobody be throwing up on the 10 hour drive to the coast.

Christmas came early

2009-12-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

We decide this year to get one big gift for the whole family; she arrived early:

Can you believe it?

2009-11-21T18:05:00.001-07:00

Are you amazed to see hockey pictures here?!
The men is our parish went to a hockey games last week and R had such a good time that Tuesday he brought home two tickets from work and he and Gabe went to the game that night. The local team donates tickets occasionally to the Salvation Army and we were the lucky recipients.
i
The past couple of weeks have been full of other happenings as well. Lily joined Girl Guides and is having a blast - as I'm sure you can imagine. We also joined a Homeschool Coop that meets on Fridays and is going to an awesome opportunity for all of us to meet to people and learn new skills - we just caught the end of Spanish! And below is Lily's latest history project - a model of Jamestown.

Fun Day!

2009-11-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Carving pumpkins is one of the kid's favorite parts of Halloween. Last year we were spoiled and got to carve lots of pumpkins but with the early freeze this year we only had one.

Gabe was Spiderman, of course! He wore his spiderman costume over spiderman jammies. So cute. We got John a Superman costume because we couldn't find Spiderman in his size but he decided not to wear it. And when we got to Marla's house to trick or treat he decided he didn't even want to go! So funny. He had fun playing with Sam's toys and handing out candy. I missed getting a good picture of Lily; maybe she'll dress up again today. She put together her whole costume - a black cat. Cute.

What month is this anyway?

2009-10-26T14:51:00.000-06:00

John is 3 today!

2009-10-23T15:58:00.001-06:00

We decorated cupcakes this afternoon and ate them and decorated more! John blew out 2 sets of candles it was so much fun.

And here he is opening his big present from Mom & Dad - a pirate ship! As I type, the pirates are making war on all who come in range!

October is flying by

2009-10-17T19:50:00.001-06:00

Lily's birthday was almost 2 weeks ago and I'm just now downloading the photos. We've started a new tradition on birthdays where the birthday person gets to choose all the meals for the day and then we do something fun as a family like go bowling. Lily wanted fondue for dessert so here are the kids thoroughly enjoying the chocolate and fruit!

John laughing

2009-10-14T07:54:00.002-06:00

I was going through photos on the computer last night and came upon this video:

My little cutie pie will be 3 next week!

Gold panning

2009-10-04T19:59:00.001-06:00

We went to Fort Steele yesterday on a field trip with Lily and Gabe's school. They learned how to pan for gold and Gabe even found some! Apparently all the streams and rivers in this area have gold and there are still people in the area who make their living finding it. There is even a stream nearby that has no claims on it so anyone can pan there and there is gold to be found. Some historians say that more gold was pulled from the Wild Horse River gold rush than from the Californian rush.
Anyway, the kids had a great time. I was so cold - they panned for two hours without feeling the cold but I did! Then we all had dinner together cooked in the wood stove in the cookhouse. The fire wasn't started early enough and it took forever but who cares when you have a bunch of other kids to play soccor with and a donkey to meet.

Kite Flying

2009-09-29T21:19:00.000-06:00

Faces

2009-09-23T20:44:00.000-06:00

I just downloaded the newest version of Picasa and it has a neat new feature where it sorts all your photos into people albums. So as I type it's scaning my files and sorting them. It just pulled up this cute picture of Gabe - I don't even remember this photo.

Yellowstone Canyon

2009-09-23T19:15:00.001-06:00

In case you didn't feel like wading through all those photos in the last post here's some highlights:

Yellowstone

2009-09-10T08:22:00.004-06:00

Just a warning if you are going to watch the photos - there are 300 of them!! I added comments which you'll see as you watch.

We are having a great time here - only 2 days left to explore. We're going to find more geysers today!

End of Summer

2009-09-01T18:27:00.001-06:00

This is what I've been up to the last couple of weeks:

The picture doesn't really do justice to the amount of canning I've been doing so here's a list (I love listing what I've done!): 14 quarts, 7 pints cherries, 10 quarts peaches, 7 1/2 pints rhubarb jam, 7 1/2 pints cherry jam, 7 pints pickled beets, 6 pints bread and butter pickles with 12 cups more cucumbers soaking to can tonight, 5 quarts stewed tomatoes, 10 quarts diced tomatoes. In the refrigerator is a batch of green pepper/jalapeno jelly which has to sit overnight before cooking up and canning tomorrow. I'm also hoping another box of tomatoes is coming my way tonight and I'll use up the rest of the green peppers and jalapenos sitting in my back entry in salsa and more stewed tomatoes. I might be making jalapeno jelly too; I have that many peppers!

Shockingly, I haven't spent all my time in the kitchen. Below are pictures of our parish picnic on Sunday in celebration of our Feast Day. And I met with Lily and Gabe's teacher and have planned out the kid's school year! Gabe is starting Kindergarten!!

water fight!

3 legged race

Another Quotable Quote

2009-08-23T20:10:00.001-06:00

As John was climbing down from the top bunk his Dad says, "You're going to an adventurer or wanderer."
John replies, "I'm going to be a rooster."

"I'm not a boy, I'm a John John!!"

2009-08-19T15:22:00.003-06:00

The John John in his new sandbox!

Fishing at Horseshoe Lake

2009-08-12T08:52:00.000-06:00

Grandpa brought the kids fishing poles. They had a blast fishing at the lake; Lily got the hang of it right away. Unfortunately their bait kept falling off the hook!

More Camping

2009-08-04T20:12:00.002-06:00

Lily and Sina were so sweet together. Lily watched out for Sina, carried her around, brought her dolls and then started telling me she wants a little sister - boys are no fun! Yikes. Lily and Justin made pancakes for breakfast on Monday morning.

John & Jensina

2009-08-03T20:34:00.000-06:00

They loved the lake and playing together in it!

Time for an Update!

2009-08-02T14:20:00.004-06:00

It's been such a busy summer! Since getting home from vacation we've had visitors just about every weekend. On Sunday evenings we've been going out to Horseshoe lake and camping which has been great! We're headed out there this afternoon after everyone has their PLN (Post-Liturgical Nap).
We are overjoyed to have the Hewletts with us for the long weekend and have been spending lots of time out at our camping spot. This is Justin and Lily having a great time on the lake.

On Wednesday R and I was to the staff party for the Salvation Army and it was lovely! They took us out to Fort Steele for a steak dinner followed by a steam train ride. This is the view from the train:

This photo is from the drive home from vacation. The kids were so great on the drive when we got to Yahk (only 45 mins. from home) we stopped for ice cream cones:

Cultus Lake

2009-07-05T20:40:00.001-06:00

We only had one day of sun during our week at Cultus Lake - but we sure soaked up that day in the sun! And the rest of the week we enjoyed playing games, visiting Bridal Veil Falls and generally laying about.

New Car

2009-06-18T08:24:00.001-06:00

We did it! We took the plunge and traded in the Yaris and Previa for a new car. We are so excited to be driving a new car in time for vacation. The turning point was last week with driving to Calgary...the van was just getting more and more dodgy and I saw Deron and Stacy's new car. So we thought it doesn't hurt to check it out - and low and behold we could trade in both vehicles and we're going to save money. Yay!!!

So this is us about 2 minutes after driving it home blessing it before even going into the house.

*So funny, I love it that an hour after posting I already have 3 comments! So here are some answers: Yes, it's a Mazda 5. We've had real debates over what kind of vehicle to get which is part of the reason we hadn't even looked till this week. We need something fuel efficient, somewhat roomy and not expensive. So here it is. We found it thanks to Deron and Stacy. The Mazda 5 is a "cross-over" between a car and a mini-van. It's insured as a car so we'll save on insurance but it seats 6 so we all fit plus one. There isn't tons of room for stuff but we plan to put on a roof rack as soon as we have the funds.
And yes, we'll be twins with Deron and Stacy again. I think theirs is black, too?

Catch Up

2009-06-03T11:56:00.001-06:00

I've been too busy to blog this last week but here's some highlights:

Kootenay Fish Hatchery

Lemonade Stand
(a school project for Lily over the weekend)

John getting good on his tricycle (and wearing doggie pants made by his mama).

Family Night

2009-06-03T11:52:00.001-06:00

About 3 years ago we instituted "Family Night." It started with me needing a break from the regular dinner routine and has been a hallowed Sunday night tradition. (Or sometimes Monday) It usually involves pizza (usually homemade), lemonade and a movie. What the kids really love about this is that we eat in front of the TV!!! This past Sunday we tried something different - chicken wings, and boy were they awesome.

Horseshoe Lake

2009-05-19T08:12:00.001-06:00

Horseshoe Lake is just 20 minutes out of Cranbrook and has free camping! We went out there yesterday and set up our tent for the summer. The campsites are very widely spaced with outhouses spaced between them. There is no water or garbage and the sites are not the gravel parking lot of Provincial Parks. This is what we've been looking for through all of our married camping experience - a place we can get to by car, doesn't cost anything, and isn't the parking lot style that makes me wonder, "why bother?"

day in Creston

2009-05-17T07:58:00.003-06:00

We spent the day in Creston for the Annual Creston Valley Blossom Festival. The kids loved the parade!

From May 2009

After the parade we went out to a friend's parent's dairy farm. The kids got the full tour meeting all the calves and had a great time running around. This was probably the best part of the day and it had nothing to do with the Festival!

From May 2009

Practice time

2009-05-13T18:23:00.004-06:00

This is a familiar and welcome sight these days. Lily has been diligently practicing and the boys are bothering her too much. Though tonight she did tell John to go away and find something else to do - like pick his nose!!

**Oops, that should say "not bothering her..."

Meet Mr. Apple

2009-05-13T09:05:00.003-06:00

Gabe and Lily got it into their heads to make fruit/veggie people the other day. My only stipulation was they had to eat what they created!

The Amazing Singing John

2009-05-07T09:30:00.001-06:00

I love all your comments. The best thing about having a blog is feeling loved. I love being able to share what's happening with our family and hearing from all of you.

Going Crazy

2009-04-30T18:42:00.003-06:00

The kids were driving me absolutely crazy this morning! Lily was taking HOURS to do her math lesson, Gabe was whining and I don't even know what John was doing but it was all too much. So I packed them into the van along with the camera, binoculars, notebooks and pencils and we headed to Elisabeth Lake, which is just a 2 minute drive. I had warned them last night that I wanted pictures of them in their Easter clothes for Grandma so they didn't protest too much when I made them get dressed.
Our little outing was just the thing to break up the mood. We ran, drew pictures of ducks and trees and felt much better.

Weinie Roast

2009-04-20T18:42:00.002-06:00

Our first hot dog and marshmallow roast of the year. They tasted so good.

John's legs are long enough for his tricycle! He really rode it for the first time this evening.