Spare time spent on the ski hill

We have been skiing a lot this month- with Justin not working, we want to take advantage of his extra hours at home! Turns out its a good thing we did a lot in January- the first 2 weeks of Feb was so cold that we haven't gone since.

On this trip Kalia and Barker were on a snowboard and Remy did a run from the top on her snowboard. Which took rather long, but she will get it. We should have done it in the morning before her legs were tired. Also- next year I want the fancy bindings you just step into! 

snapshots

Barker is still a bit below reading level- we have been working on reading with him- Dogman is still his fav

Breakfast before school is when we work on sight words.

Uno is still a favourite past time around here.

The other day Remy was setting the table- for the family. However, she just wanted Mommy and Remy to eat so she wouldn't set the table for the others. In fact, when the other kids set the table she would take off their plates and cups! 😂😂 We were all laughing it was so cute.

Edmonton

Our Yearly Winter Edmonton Trip! 

We drove up Thursday night after school. The drive was pretty easy going, except when we almost came to a stand still on QE2- but we were able to detour before hitting the bulk of the cars. Mom drove up with us, and up until that point I was driving- when I chickened out about backing up an exit ramp, Justin jumped in and drove the rest of the way. Which was fine- because the roads started getting questionable at that point.

We ate at Red Robin that night and headed back to the hotel for bedtime. The kids fell asleep fairly quickly, and were up early and ready for a day of swimming. This year the hours of West Edmonton Wave Pool changed to 11am-7pm. Which means when you drive up to swim, and your kids wake up at 7am there are quite a few hours to kill before it opened.

The temple was a great stop to show the kids. 

Maybe next year when we come up, we will take Kalia and Annaliesse to do Baptisms for the dead the evening we arrive :)

Checking out the pool before it opened- noticing that most of the wave pool was drained. It was sooo low our kids could touch all the way to the end, turns out it was drained for a big DJ party the next day. Which was really just as well, as the kids loved being able to touch the entire way.

See how much fun we are having! What a great day! Kalia and Annaliesse LOVED the slides- Kalia was big enough to go on ALL of them this year. Remy loved the wave pool and was in it pretty much constantly.

Every thing was going smashingly- until Barker got sick about 3 pm. I thought he has just swallowed to much water, or had a head ache. He fell asleep in the cabana and napped for just over an hour- he woke up and was worse. He cried and cried and cried. It was a bit frustrating for him and us. We had planned on staying right till 7pm but ended up leaving at 6pm. No big dinner like usual, we took the girls though a drive thou and headed back to the hotel for bed.

Barker fell asleep rather quickly after barfing a few times, he woke up feeling a bit better, until breakfast. Where he barfed again in front of everyone. Justin and I decided to head home, and Mark and Lindsay offered to take Kalia and Annaliesse shopping with them for the day. Which was soooo nice of them. Taking home a barfing child, along with 2 very mad preteens who wanted to shop, was NOT on our bucket list. Off the girls went with Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Mark- and we went home. Barker barfed ALLLLL the way home, until the 3 of us fell asleep North Calgary.

Kalia and Annaliesse had a great day- a really great day. They got home just before dinner and were so excited to show us their treasures. AND by the time they were home Barker was starting to feel better. It was a fun weekend that could have ended better.

Blums Puppies

High River Activity Day Girls were lucky enough to be able to visit puppies!

A sister in our ward, Sister Jane Blum had 2 dogs that had 10 puppies each! Thats 20 puppies!!

Annaliesse was so excited to get to feed puppies and hold them for a whole activity- a big Thank you to Sister Jane Blum for letting them come and the activity day leaders who took them!

Snapshots

I love this picture with Grandpa, Annaliesse, Arlie, Lindsay and Remy.

This game, Camel Up is so fun- I uber love the girls reactions in this pic

We took the Youth to Laser tag in January and it was so fun.

These four sitting and sharing and being quiet- I had to document.

Mom brought us all home a nativity from Peru! Laura accidentally left hers here for a few weeks, mine is the mini one :)

Heather and I made Soap this month-Remy and Mateya had a great afternoon playing away while we were busy in the kitchen.

Blog Book Jul-Dec 2018

Our Blog Book arrived!

I am in love with the Emerald Green I choose this year.

You know what that means, the kids take turns reading it and pull out ALL the old ones to read. 

It helps that a couple times a year, I incorporate our Blog Books into our Front Room Mantel Decor. It reminds the kids it is ok to read them and they have easy access to all the books. Sometimes they comment on a memory they want to see, and it tests Mommy's knowledge on what year it was!

Custom Mountians

As you read earlier in the month, Justin didn't go back to work right after Christmas- like usual. We got the news his company wasn't ready for him until March 01. Which was surprising.

Lucky for us, these Custom Mountian Wood Art kits were a hit. Justin has been able to work on and and off this month in the garage doing more kits. We have sold enough to help not drain our savings and not to many that we can't keep up.

I wish I had taken pics of ALL of them... but here are a few.
This painted one he made for his Mom.

Sometimes he had helpers in the garage- and sometimes slower downers.
Justin filled over 15 orders ranging in sizes- they are beautiful and we are so happy to provide art, that people can finish and enjoy working on.

Tumbling Class AKA Mommy Chat

Remy and Ray have been taking a tumbling class this month. 

Its been nice spending 45 minutes watching them doing tricks and playing in the foam pit- what makes it even better? Lauren and I have 45 minutes of uninterrupted chatting every week. 

They think the foam pit is hilarious and the tricks tricky. 

Can we just stay 5 forever?

Then I found Remy selfies on my phone and I just about died. Adorable, people. Adorable.

Camel Up, Tsuro and Karaoke

Sometimes you just need a relaxing Saturday where you play board games with slurppies.

Have you tried Camel Up yet?

Our kids love this game. 

In Camel Up, up to eight players bet on five racing camels, trying to suss out which will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. ... Camels don't run neatly, however, sometimes landing on top of another one and being carried toward the finish line.

Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Mark got us Tsuro for Christmas and we have had a great time playing it.

Tsuro is a board game for two to eight players. ... Player turns consist of placing tiles on the board from the player's hand. Then they move their respective pieces along these paths.

Justin and I headed out that evening on a date night with Conways and Bucanns. Mug shots for wings and then out to sing Karaoke- where the music was loud, to many people and yet still so much fun!

Baptisms for the Dead

Kalia was interviewed and found worthy to receive a limited use Temple recommend.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, or with what Kalia can do with a limited use Temple Recommend, let me explain. 

We believe that performing baptisms for the dead allows this saving ordinance to be offered on behalf of those who have died without accepting or knowing Jesus Christ or his teachings during their mortal lives. Those who have limited use Temple recommends are able to attend the temple to preform this ordinance. Kalia was able to be baptized for 12 members of our family, who passed without the opportunity to hear, learn or accept the Gospel. If you would like to know more about Baptisms for the Dead, here is a link.

Justin and I thought it was important we take her to the temple for the first time as a family. We also thought it would be special for her grandparents to join us, Uncle Mark and Aunt Lindsay joined us as well. 

It was sooooo cold that evening, so we took a few pictures before her hair got wet.

Kalia was lucky to be able to talk to a member of the Temple Presidency who gave her a promise, that if she attended the temple regularly in her life she would be blessed with the spirit in her life. 

We were all blessed to feel the spirit as Kalia performed baptisms for the Moxley family, Aunt Lindsays family and some for my family. We had some little memories from this first trip of Kalia's

• Uncle Marks, surgery wound bleeding all over his shirt
• Not being able to print out temple names, resulting in us waiting for 40 minutes for Mark and Lindsay
• Grandpa getting wet, trying to be helpful (and was asked) and then wasn't needed! So he got wet for no reason

We all went to Costa Vita for dinner after, which Kalia loved. A big Thanks to Aunt Laura who babysat for us, so we could take Kalia.