Road Trip!

Road trips can ONLY bring a family closer together...especially LONG ones. haha. The girls did so well and we have such a blast visiting family and friends. Some of the fun things we did were hung out in Malad, ate GREAT ice-cream, visited the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Pointe, ran in a 5km race, saw lots of "Princesses" come out of the temples, made memories with friends we miss tons, sang happy birthday to Zaden, went on the biggest slide ever!, and had so much fun shopping everyday (I"m serious!!!
I LOVE family vacations- we really needed one. It was good to reconnect with the girls, spend time together, and do what we wanted to do. Everything was on our schedule and it felt so good. Thanks to everyone that we were able to visit with, their hospitality, and the fun that we were all able to have together. We can't wait to come back for a visit soon!
We were able to do alot of teaching with our kids during these couple weeks we were gone. The song "I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE" really came true to them as they were able to see brides "Princesses" come out of the temple married to their "Prince". Elle was so intrigued by them and could have sat their all day watching them. She has talked about them ever since. We took so many pictures, so I really am trying not to post too many. I don't know how to make them side by side, but I guess that would have made this post look alot better- oh well. We had so much fun doing everything that we did!This race was so much fun. Jared ran it in 22 min (6th in his age group & 16th over-all got men), and I ran it in 28 min (18th in my age group & 32 nd over-all for women). I feel a tradition coming on. haha. We LOVED doing the race together!

happy happy 25th birthday

WOW!!! I can not believe that I am already 25...where did the time go??? For an entire month before the BIG day, I was struggling with the fact that I was a quarter of a century. I actually made a list of 25 things (I won't share them because they are kinda "silly" things that I want/NEED to do in my life) to figure out what I want out of life. I have to say that the week before my family reminded me that I really have everything that I need right in front of me. I am so blessed and have accomplished many great things that I am so proud of in the last 25 years. I LOVE Jared and the Girls!

I had such an amazing week celebrating with my family. Jared & the girls treated me to a week worth of surprises including cupcakes, flowers, blizzards, a date, hand-made cards, and a series of "happy birfday" songs..haha. I have such an amazing family with one VERY thoughtful husband. What a wonderful week!!!Thanks also to a special friend who made me a wonderful birthday cake that was enjoyed by some of my very closest friends and family!!!

Long Time Over Due...

I guess I have put this off for long enough...it's been almost 3 months now that we have kept this secret from everyone but our families (NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!!!). But maybe I should start from the beginning...
After Christmas, Jared and I started talking about our plans for the future and the changes that we wanted to make for our family. We decided to meet with a realtor to just get a quote for the price of our house here in Okotoks. In about 10 days from this decision, our house was up on the market and after 1 showing in the first 24 hours we had an offer that we just couldn't turn down. WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!! It was such a hard, exciting decision to make- it almost gave me a heart attack how quick everything went...but such a relief (that I didn't have to keep cleaning my house for all the showings) at the same time.

The next BIG decision that we had to make was: WHERE WERE WE GOING TO MOVE??? We made a long list with our realtor the night that we sold our house so that we could start the search for somewhere else the next day. (See, everything was going so quick!!). We looked at most of our list- but nothing felt right. Everything was priced too high, or dirty, or a bad location. I was looking for something that would be perfect for our family now and in the next (hopefully) 10 years. We wanted certain communities and I started to feel sorta selfish and picky...maybe we shouldn't have sold our house that I really loved!
Being kinda discouraged, we looked at building brand new. I walked into the 3rd showhome and everything felt RIGHT!!! We took a few weeks to make the final decision and SIGNED WITH STEPPER HOMES!! We are so excited and can't wait for our home to be finished. It's in the first stages (they'ved poured the basement and framing should be done in a couple of weeks). We have been staying in the basement of some really good friends for a month now. We are so grateful that we have space for our family and that it is comfortable. Thanks guys- we really appreciate it!!! We are enjoying this little "adventure" and are excited to live in our new home!!! (We should be in sometime in August).

Easter Bunny & Traditions

I love being able to pass traditions onto my children. I loved Easter as a kid....we always had a big dinner as a family and then did an Easter hunt inside AND outside. It was so fun!!! Since my mom and dad were down in AZ this year we (us sisters) still decided to continue on with the traditions. We dyed eggs, had a few delicious dinners compliments of Nadine, watched Conference, had the Easter bunny visit, ate treats, searched for eggs. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins and understanding the egg hunt....each year is getting funner and funner with each holiday!!! I am also so grateful for the Easter season and the time that we get to reflect on the importance that this holiday plays in our lives. I feel so indebted to the sacrifices that were made for me. I LOVE family and that we were able to enjoy this Easter around lots of family.




I love this picture of Elle..she looks so big here and was so excited that she was finding so many eggs on the hunt!!!

Updates

I have just updated for the past couple of months- keep strolling down. Sorry for all the pictures!

The New Belly Button

On March 16 Elle had her umbilical hernia repair done at the Children's Hospital. She was so excited to FINALLY have it fixed (just like Paige's) and to be at the hospital (just like Mommy's work). We prepared her with stories and a slide show that the hospital website provided so that she new exactly what was going to happen. It worked- she new step by step what was going to happen and was so BRAVE!!! She couldn't eat or drink for at least 12 hours before and had to be distracted while we waited for them to take her to surgery. We read books, watched a movie, took pictures (Elle is quite the photographer...haha), and played with some of the toys that they had. They finally called for "Elle Baker" and she wanted to go with the nurse all by herself- no tears or anything (she chose bubble gum tasting anesthetic and was pretty excited about that). She held her hand and didn't even look back. Jared and I had tears in our eyes as we watched her go all the way down the long hallway towards the OR. We waited and waited for her to get into recovery. Dr. Wong came out afterwards and talked to Jared and I- the hernia was bigger than he expected, but it's fixed and went well, they removed a cyst off the end that they sent away for biopsy (it came back clean)- we were pretty anxious to get to see Elle at this point though.

This is after she got out of recovery. She was so "drugged up" that when she saw Jared she cried and said "Mommy" then held her breathe, turned blue, passed out, and they called a CODE BLUE (I felt like the worst mom ever for not being there when she needed me). I was talking to my mom giving her an update at this point and once I heard the Code overhead I ran back into Day Surgery knowing that it was Elle- I just had a feeling something was going to go wrong. She was fine after she passed out, but everyone was pretty nervous and watched her pretty close (she had O2 on for over 12 hours because she couldn't maintain her oxygen levels). They wanted to have her stay overnight so they could watch her and once she actually woke up- she liked being the center of attention with all the staff and getting to eat as many popsicles as she wanted.


This is her bandage that they drew for her- she LOVED it and would show anyone that would look....they bank lady, friends, the nursery teachers, neighbors.

This entire experience really made me reflect on how much I LOVE her! She is so special to us. It made us so sad to know that she was hurting and I would have done anything to change places with her. I love her so much and it brings tears to my eyes to think about this experience- it was so stressful. It broke my heart. The staff at the hospital were amazing and took such good care of us. Thank you- we really appreciate everything! Elle is healing awesome and doing really well. It's amazing to see how quickly she recovered. The NEW BELLY BUTTON looks awesome and we are excited for bathing suits!!! I love you Elle!!

Fairmont Ski Vacation

We had so much fun going out to Fairmont, BC with the Woolf family for a skiing vacation. It just so happened that it was also during the Olympics so we were able to watch and LOUDLY cheer on the athletes from Canada. It was so fun to do this together with my family- they are HUGE Canada fans! We had fun watching olympics, swimming, playing games, eating, taking walks, and just hanging out. Perfect holiday! I hope that my kids will always appreciate and have fun memories with all the sounds, smells, and sites from Fairmont just like I have from when I was young. This trip is pretty special to me because Elle tried skiing for her very first time- she loved it for about 45 min and then wanted to "get these sticks off her feet". I learned how to ski on this exact same hill when I was young. It made me smile to see her in between Jared's ski's coming down the hill. Here are a few pictures from the trip. Beware...my girls are pretty cute (not that I'm biased or anything) haha.


She was so cute...but had to be able to feel her dad behind her or she would lay down until she found him. haha.

I love my sister- GO CANADA GO!!!

Paige was so cute swimming with her tongue out the entire time. She would probably drink that entire pool if we let her. haha. What a goof!

All the cousins chilling outside in the hot tub- it was pretty chilly outside, but so much fun...watch out for falling rocks though!!! haha


This little sister LOVES the park- and wants to be so independent. She goes down the slide all by herself and laughs the entire time. She is so different this way than Elle is- not cautious at all!



Jared and I also were able to go on a date while we were there. It was so much fun going skiing/snowboarding together and enjoying something that we both love doing together. It's been so long since we have both done this together- what a fun date it was too! The view was amazing- did I mention that I LOVE Fairmont??