Snapshots

This week flew by. Justin left Monday afternoon to work in Edmonton for the week. Nearly everyday was so busy- I think the kids got to speak to him once. At least we had less time to miss him... except Remy. Remy asked for him nearly every hour. She LOVES Daddy.

Mom watched my kids for me twice and each one she was greeted by crazy kids and a messy house each time. Sorry again. Thanks mom!

Remy and I have been all over and everywhere together this week. Lots of driving, enjoying the fall view, doing phone calls, emails and organizing for children's choir, a upcoming trip, Young Women's activities and craft group.

Sometimes when the kids get home from school they want to do everything. Mom can I paint my nails, Mom can I do a craft, Mom can you fix my shirt, Mom have you seen my little skateboard, Mom I want a snack, Mom I cant find my shoes, Mom can I go sell magazines... ect. Now this all happens right after school or as I am making dinner. I said yes to everything the other day.. which ended with very happy children, a very messy house, a late mommy, and 20 things that didn't get done. Oh well.

We did the Science Centre this week too... where you guess it. Remy spent about 25 minutes at her favorite spot. The Hand Washing Station.

Also I update my phone and now it won't let me upload photos onto my computer. Which makes me really unhappy. I am not sure what to do about it. My computer is so old iCloud won't work either from my computer. Any ideas?

Saturdays Shed

Saturday morning we drove down to Raymond so Justin could help Dad, Rob and Mason fix Grandma Chipman's Shed. 

It was a very short trip. We left at 8:00 am following Dad, who had Barker and Annaliesse with him in the truck. Needless to say it was a quiet ride down for us, we listened to music while Remy watched Frozen and Kalia read.

It was raining when we got there, but stopped shortly. Jen came in with her kids, so our kids had someone to play with outside while the men worked.

Annaliesse really wanted to help, as did Barker. They did odd jobs like carry wood to the garbage pile, Uncle Rob let Annaliesse unscrew the door hinge. He patiently talked her through it for like 8 minutes, just standing there holding the door, being so encouraging while she slowly got it out.

It was good to see Grandma but she is so tired from her last Chemo treatment, we overwhelmed her a bit, but I think she liked seeing the kids. Aunt Gill was kind enough to come over and help Grandma do lunch for all of us.

It really wasn't warm all day, but thats what hoodies and cousins are for. After lunch I headed over to see Grandma and Grandpa Martin with the kids while Justin finished up. I wanted a picture with them, cause I don't have many, but Grandma was in her moomoo. Gotta love lazy Saturdays.

Dad dropped Justin off when they were done, we visited a bit longer then headed over to see Grandma Selman before we left. She was in her chair for her afternoon nap, and we woke her up. Another short sweet visit with Grandma. As always she loved seeing Barker, who is named after her late husband, the girls wanted to play her a piano piece, but not today.

We were on the road for home by 2:00 pm. Kaila had her Best Friends Birthday Party at 4:00 and I had the General Women's Broadcast at 6:00. We pulled in and split ways. Kalia off to the party, Annaliesse across the street at a friends house, Justin and the 2 littles to the skatepark and I blogged.

This was Kalia's first invitation to a sleepover, which our family does not do. It is something we have just decided we are not doing as a family. The kids have known this for a loooong time, but that didn't make it any easier. I picked her up at 9:00pm and she was almost in tears, she cried on the way home, cried herself to sleep and all morning Sunday. As hard as it was on her, we stayed positive and talked about good things. Sometimes its hard being 9, and sometimes its hard being a parent.

The Women's General Conference was wonderful like always. I love hearing our leaders speak to us, with revelation for US right now. After I had the privilege of seeing a friend from High School and visiting with her after. So great to catch up! Saturday was great.

#HIIBF2016

The High River International Hot Air Balloon Festival came back to town!!

Of course we had to attend the Balloon Glow Friday night, with Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma Moxley and Aunt Sherilyn and cousins!

This year as we were watching the balloons blow up they had a balloon on its side, half way blown up that the kids walk in. Justin took our kids, while Grandma and I saved our viewing spot, then once Aunt Sherilyn got there Justin and the kids went back again with cousins.

Watching the balloons blow up seriously never gets old. Its so exciting to watch them get bigger and bigger then stand up!

This year there were 19 balloons.

I got terrible pictures this year... sorry future self. I did try! The one with all of us who came... its so blurry SO BLURRY.. but it was so crowded and getting dark, it went terrible.

Barker, Annaliesse, Becket, Kalia and Mckenna all got to get in a basket! I would LOVE to take a ride in one, one year... maybe when we 250$ extra... each. Once it was dark, and we walked into the Balloons Remy was done. She spent the rest of the evening shouting HOME, clinging to me or Justin or Dad, she HATES loud noises and crowds.

We stayed till just about 8:45 pm, once all the balloons are up and glowing.. you spend about 20 minutes or so walking around. It gets really warm, because of all the hot air, and its dark. Easy to loose people in the dark, and absolutely crowded. Take some photos, walk up to all the balloons, get turns in the basket sometimes, see people you know, and its time to go home.

This last picture is from the website, by one of the photographers on the hospital roof. A much better representation of how beautiful and awe inspiring it is. Everyone should come to the balloon glow at least once!!

007 YW

We had such a fun YW activity last week.

We took the girls shooting! 

It also happened to be the start of The High River International Hot Air Balloon Festival..

I feel like this picture is one of a kind.

I was a bit nervous thinking the girls would get bored, and not want to do it the whole time...

but I was wrong. Some of the girls were awesome AWESOME shots!

Dad and Justin were kind enough to be our instructors, we kept reminding the girls to NOT shoot the bishop... the headlines would be dreadful...

Young Woman Shoots Bishop with 22

Bishop wounded at Mutual

Weapons training at Young Women's is being questioned...

Lots of laughing and cheering by all. 

2 of our girls hit 9/10 on their first try! 

They really liked Justin's 22 with the cross hairs thingy... I am sure it has a actual name...

Pretty sure we turned our girls into 007

007 girls who ended with hot chocolate and great beef jerky!

Thanks for the great evening girls.

First Friends Party

In our family we celebrate Birthdays with family. We invite Aunts and Uncles and cousins... and between the two of us, there is lots of family to celebrate with as the kids grow. With our families being so close it has always just worked for us... We had a ton of family in Raymond to celebrate with, and then when we moved to High River, Justins family is close in Calgary! It worked really well, giving us a chance to see family and hang with them!That is until our kids got old enough to be invited to party after party after party, and not have one too. So Justin and I decided that when our kids turn 9- they can have a friends party (I really didn't want to do one)!! And then one every other year after that. 

Kalia turned 9 this year. And boy was she excited. 

We rented out the High River Pool and a room for a hour after for pizza and cake. 

20 kids

They got all the floaties in the pool.

Had the rope and diving board.

Of course there was a diving contest.

They even let them get in the toy cupboard!

Kalia had friends from school, friends from church and 4 cousins that made the drive to celebrate with her!

Pizza and caesar salad... a big thank you to Aunt Laura and Mom and Dad for helping!

Tania made the cake for us again this year... she did a fantastic job as always!

She was so excited to have all her friends there!! Thanks to everyone who came out to support her!

First Garden Harvest

Monday mornings. Either they start off with a bang, get right on the to do list and accomplish everything... Or Monday morning passes slowly while we hang in our Jammie's and pretend the weekend isn't over yet. 

Today was the first kind. It was a little bumpy getting the kids off to school. They missed the bus and Barker had another meltdown about going to school... I ended up driving them in my pjs and no shoes- it got better after that. 

Remy and I headed down stairs so I could walk on the treadmill... Then we headed into Costco and Children's place to meet Daddy! Barker is hating pants season, probably because all his pants are full of holes, one quick sale later and that was fixed. Justin has been saying for a few days how empty our fridge is! Take your husband to Costco and your fridge is suddenly full!! We took Remy for lunch before heading hole for naps. I love how much one on one time we get to spend with Remy. I wish we could go back and get this much one on one time with the other kids at thing age.. time passes to quickly. She is so freaking fun!

We arrived home where Jocii had left me a lovely surprise for watching Briggs last week. Thanks so much Jocii!!! 

While Remy napped we worked on the garden. Picked all the tomatoes and Zucchini! I am hoping to get a few bottles of salsa or sauce from this... We shall see. 

We still had enough time for Justin to work on a Christmas present for Mom in the garage and for me to walk down to a friends house for a few minutes, while Remy still slept and the kids weren't quite done school. I LOVE the fall!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell, the colors, the feeling.. Just everything. 

Kids got home and we told them as soon as the girls got their piano and home reading done we would pull the carrots. Annaliesse was so excited she got everything done in a very timely fashion... Kalia, well she had a rough time. She is very emotional right now, and if any correction goes on it is greeted with bawling.. makes everything a bit dramatic.

We had another FHE Friends Fire Pit tonight too. It was a small group this time we just a few friends who could make it. The kids all played like usual... Kalia and Annaliesse learned how to dab at school today. 

Another fun Fall day here... I wish this season lasted longer!

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ Happy 9th Birthday Kalia ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Happy 9th Birthday Kalia!!

September 2015

We attended our first Women's Conference together tonight. First of many :)

October 2015

First Activity Days! You love activity days and how fun it is!

November 2015

Kalia you are a huge helper. You love your siblings unconditionally, even when sometimes they are being pests or mean back, you love them. 

December 2015

You love arts and crafts. Constantly asking if we can do a art project, or make a friendship braclet, paint, sew or craft. I admit, often other things are going on, and it has to wait... but I will try harder to do more projects with you. Don't stop asking me, please.

January 2016

Remy loves your hair. Remy loves everything about you.

You are so good with her. A amazing big sissy.

February 2016

More crafts. You did this project all on your own... and loved every minute of it

March 2016

Cousin love. Always asking when can we play with cousins.. 

April 2016

You have a very silly side. VERY SILLY. 

It can be a bit frustrating, but your always looking for a fun time.

May 2016

You are kind. 

June 2016

You love love love to wrestle. In this pic you had just been told to stop, as we were trying to watch Barkers Preschool Play. Wrestling with Dad and Grandpa is definitely a top 10 thing for you.

July 2016

You love the beach. Paddleboarding. Swimming. Jumping off the dock. Playing in the sand.

Eating sandy snacks. Summer, is your thing.

August 2016

Lover of getting things done. Lists, questionnaires to get a prize, worksheets, simple to the point tasks... your a fantastic little worker bee!

September 2016

Kalia you are so loved. Our family wouldn't be complete without you. 

We may butt heads from time to time, but know that we only want whats best for you. 

We love you Booeee!