Changes changes changes

Well, it has been a year with nothing too major happening so we had to try to shake it up again.
This time we are not only have a new baby in 8 weeks, (JANUARY 2 @ 11:00 AM) to be exact, but want to move AGAIN.
So we will find ourselves being relocated to Chicago, Ill. fairly soon after I have our baby.

Travis was released on Sunday as Bishop. Which will give us a bit more time with & help from him, as our family will start to undergo some extra stress with all this coming up. I took some pictures on Sunday to document the day he was released. I think the only thing that got his mind off of being sad about the change was the permission he got from Ben to come & pick up his new gun. It was the biggest smile I saw on his & Nate's face all day!




Tana's friend was very sad when she realized what was going on. I had to take a few pictures of them...since they both looked so cute & even matched!!

Family Pictures 2009

We had our pictures taken by Vanessa Ross again this year! They turned out wonderful. Here are the pictures!! YEA!!

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Halloween

I love HOLIDAYS...maybe it was growing up in the States, or just having an awesome Mom who always celebrated everything!!! So, I am trying to follow suite. I decided to costume our family in a Peter Pan theme. Colleen is Tinkerbell or pinkerbell as she says, Montana is Tigerlilly, Travis is a Pirate & I am Wendy. I am very excited that we have already been able to wear our costumes & enjoy the season. The girls are so excited to wear their costumes to school on Thursday, attend the Stake Halloween Party [at 6:30 on Friday] then go trick-or-treating!!!

We are just hoping that the snow stays away....or at least melts!!

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Potty Training

We are officially one week into potty training. Coco is doing very well with not peeing on her princesses panties...That is all I have to say. I did not get officially mad at her until tonight, with #2ing her panties. Every other time I have found her in the bathroom trying to clean herself up. Tonight was a different story.

She purposely hid from me, told me she didn't, then wouldn't let me clean her up! EEEWW! So GROSS! I though only boys would do stuff like that. NOPE, my girls don't care to be dirty!! AAHHH!! So the cold shower threat was put on for tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

We did find out... we are having a GIRL

So I am excited to announce that our newest addition to our family will be a GIRL. I am very excited...the rest of the family will be excited too when she joins us...I know it!!!

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California Trip

T & I just took the girls to for a quick trip to California to visit Sea World & Disneyland. What a GREAT TIME!! Both parks were absolutely fantastic!! The girls were great travelers & had so much fun with everything we did.

We were even able to stop & visit one of my good friends from high school!! That was a totally added bonus to see Lori & her beautiful family.

Disneyland was so fun for all of us, but I think that we enjoyed California Adventure land the best. Lunch at Ariel's grotto was TOTALLY worth the expense! The Bug's Land section was so cute, the parade was marvelous & we just couldn't stop smiling. Also, we stayed at a nice hotel that was NEXT to the park, with a HEATED pool & breakfast...+++ in my book. Tana loved getting to swim everyday while Coco took a nap. She spent her hour swimming on Monday & Tuesday impersonating the animals that she saw at Sea World. We have quite the dolphin on our hands!

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Coco's in Preschool

Coco & our neighbor go to preschool together. They are so cute & go VERY happily!!! These are a few pictures of them on their first day.

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Baby Stella

Landry & Jon had baby Stella Vey on Tuesday at 1:33 pm she weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. & was 19 inches long!

This is the first baby that is had by one of MY siblings!!! YEA YEA YEA!!

fun adventures NO CAMERA

True to form, I have had a super fun week with my family & didn't have my camera to document a single thing! Wednesday afternoon I decided to pack up my kids & meet Daddy at the Fairmont Chateu Lake Louise....I AM SO GLAD THAT WE DID! What an amazing time we had swimming together between Daddy's conference meetings, walking around the lake & having dinner in bed(while watching TV)! A super special evening. I even let girls get the extra night time energy out by jumping on the bed & giggling till they were soooo exhausted. The poor people who were rooming next to us!!!!

Then on our departure home we explored Lake Moraine, what a beautiful place that our Heavenly Father created for us to enjoy. We had so much fun wandering through paths, bridges, over trees & throwing rocks in the Lake.

Tonight, (Friday) we went to the Calgary Corn Maze. So awesome. I can't believe that we have never done that before. We went with some friends & the kids just had a great time running everywhere. I really enjoy living in the Calgary area. There are so many cool, different things to do!!!!

I am Glad

Today I woke up very happy...
I want to write down why so I never forget.

I am glad that I have a husband who wakes me up before going to work to kiss me & tell me he loves me.
I am glad that I have a little bed bug who likes to snuggle with me every night
I am glad I have a little girl who wants to be a "diarrhea" but really means ballerina!
I am glad that Tana tells me I am the bestest mommy in the whole wide world
I am glad that my kids love to have fun & have ice cream picnics when I get ready for the day!


I am glad that I can spend time playing with my family at the lake
I am glad for a healthy body, healthy family & adventurous kids
I am glad that I have so many crafts I want to do I am not sure which to do first
I am glad that I am having another baby
I am glad that I have activity day girls that are full of life & energy
I am glad that I have wonderful parents, siblings, & in-laws
I am glad that I have amazing friends who support me
LIFE is really good & I am GLAD that I can thank my Heavenly Father for it



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First Day of Kindergarten

Montana has been waiting a YEAR to go to kindergarten & it finally happened on Thursday. She was SOOOO excited to get ready, meet her teacher & GO! When we finally arrived at the school she marched up to the teachers & said hello, grabbed her name tag & then started to introduce herself to other children. I know that she is the ABSOLUTE youngest, but she sure didn't seem it! After school she told me all about her playing blocks, a ball game where they learned each others names & the little sinks in the bathroom!

The only problem we had for the day was, Colleen. She was SO ripped off that she didn't get to go to school! She was crying & trying to chase Tana out of the gym to go with her class.

I am so proud of my BIG Girl....and yes, I did cry!



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Lion King

Travis was given two tickets to "The Lion King" from a client, so I was able to go with Montana. We had such a wonderful time: getting dressed up, going for Gelato, waiting for the show to start and the AMAZING PERFORMANCE! During intermission I bought Tana a Simba doll which she just loved, for the week....I have no clue where it is now! After the performance we were able to visit in the car, as we were stuck in the parking lot for 1/2 an hour! Tana said, "Mommy, thank you so much, I love you...it was so fun to see the hyena's!" My sweet daughter has an amazing obsession with any animal wolf-like!

It was such a treat to bring her to the show. I hope that she can remember it when she gets older. My Mother was so wonderful at exposing me to cultural events, I hope I can do the same.

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Summer Away

We were so blessed to be with family again this summer. We had 3 great weeks with the Korella's at Flathead Lake & an awesome week in Orem, Ut. with my family at Landry & Jon's new home!
The girls had so much fun enjoying the family, outdoors, water, sandbox, motorbike, trampoline, dip-stic-athon, tea parties, movies, bugs, snakes, badminton, boats & waterskiing!
Tana finally learned to willingly waterski on her own...we are very proud of her. Colleen didn't give any of her cousins bruises by hitting too much, we are not so proud of her, but still love her dearly!!! :) There are some really cute video's of the kids at the lake, take the time to watch....

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We are having a....BABY

I went to our 18 week ultrasound today with the whole family in tow, SOOOO excited to find the gender of our newest edition and the baby wouldn't stop moving!!! AAAHH!! So we know that it is active! It was very fun to see its arms, legs, etc. but I was so disheartened not to know! I just love being ready for things to come, now I have to wait! Maybe it's good for me. There is only one picture that doesn't look too alienish...

Last Day of Preschool & Sewing class

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Life has been fun. We have had fun doing the sewing class, been down to the Lake for a few days, played with friends & Dad is finally calming down between church & work!

Long awaited......POST

We visited the Saskatoon Farm yesterday, so fun!
We went out for a date ride the other night!

montana learned to ride her bike over the weekend!

So, life has been very fun lately.

Unfortunately I lost my camera charger in Arizona so I have not taken ANY pictures of my cute girls since the beginning of April! What a bad Mom, and the worst part is that I went to buy one and it costs $60.00 to replace it! BRUTAL!

Since we have been back from Arizona, we have done lots. We had front yard installed by Evergreen Turf. Who do a wonderful job & our yard is a beauty because of it! That took 2 days to go in and we were completely sunburned since the girls had to stand outside ALL day to watch the men put it in!!! Then we have visited the zoo a couple times and been to the park a ton.

We are so glad that our friends the Pillings moved back to Calgary. Montana & Colleen have loved playing with their girls who are the same age. We are also just so grateful that we have such great friends around us. Life is really enjoyable!

Some wonderful friends threw Dorienne & I a joint birthday dinner & movie...which was AWESOME! I have just loved living in Calgary, I have been so blessed to make such great friends here.

Travis then took me to Las Vegas for my birthday, which was a wonderful getaway. We saw KA, Phantom of the Opera, shopped, walked & swam. What an awesome birthday! Travis you are a wonderful husband. Thank you again Amanda & Jesse, and Jeanne for watching the girls! They also had a great time.

Then for the fun purchase as of late is.....drum roll please.....DIRT BIKES!!! Travis has decided that we all need to learn how to dirt bike. So we have! It is actually soooo much fun! Montana has a Honda 50 with training wheels, I have a Suzuki 125 and Trav got a KTM! We have great time pilling around the farmers fields nearby our home! It has proven to be a good saturday activity & Travis now heads out late at night with his friend Kirk to ride along the Bow River. Thank goodness that the sun stays up till 9:30pm. Sorry Lindsay, one more excuse for Kirk to go out!

We are currently enjoying a visit from Trav's parents and at the end of the month my Mom will be here! YEA!

Ohh, for any of you reading in town.
I am hosting a home party on Saturday May 23rd from 1-3:00pm.
It is called MISS MAE, modern acessories for modern parents the website is www.missmaebaby.ca

Our trip to Arizona



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Recently at Church we have discussed the importance of knowing what our Prophet is currently teaching. I have thought so much about this because we all say,"we are grateful to have a living Prophet on the earth today" but how many of us take the time to read his latest words? I must confess I am usually guilty of being ignorant.

Although, I just took the time to read President Monson's message on www.lds.org called, "Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith" what a beautiful message! I know that if I start to take time to truly listen to the Prophets counsel & apply it to my life my family will be blessed.

Also, the Churchs stance on BIG LOVE is a good read & a great reminder to find the higher road.
You can read it on the Church's official website...www.lds.org

Have fun reading!!!

Some Thoughts

Last night I was able to attend our wards enrichment night, which was amazingly beautiful & motivating. The theme was "Celebrate You" and what a good idea! The dinner was great, friends even better & the speaker Cindy Ady was Fabulous.

Here is what I took away from the night.

Just before Cindy spoke I was speaking with some friends & remember saying,"I don't believe that I really think during the day." So sad, although being a Mother is often routine & nothing really to analyze over. Then Cindy stood up and spoke. The theme that I took away from here message was, that life is long and there are many opportunities that come up but, there is a season for each opportunity that we are given. As I was listening to this woman who has accomplished so much in her life: scholastically, family, government; I began to feel as if what I was doing was more important than making lots of money or being someone important, because I am important. I am the most important person in the world to my daughters & husband. I am so grateful to have the job that I do!! I love my family so much & I find that my best memories are the ones with my girls.
I truly need to invest myself into my children as I would any project, job or craft! I read a Dr. Seuss quote last night that made me realize that I can read to learn as much as I need during this period of my life, until I am finished being a stay at home mother.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” mcleodbr

Dr. Seuss quote

Our Princesses

I have decided to compile all the pictures of the girls into one great slide show! They all seem to have a common theme of Princess!

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