2010 so far...

Well, we're almost two months into the New Year already.  Every year by the end of the holiday season I look forward to the "quiet" month of January, but it turns out life is just as busy as always.  Ah, but we love (almost?) every minute of it.  Here's what we've been up to so far in 2010.  Well, ok, actually we'll start with the end of 2009 (does that make sense?  maybe I should just go to bed...  I'll just post these few pics first):

We celebrated Christmas a few times with various family members (I have yet to see the movie Four Christmases but someone told me about it and it sounds like one we should see).  Here are the kids with their cousin Tim, and with their cousins Oscar and Lucy:

 

 

While home for Christmas we took the kids and cousin Oscar sledding at the infamous local "Sugar Bowl":

The second last night of the year we had a visit from some long-lost second cousins (actually, they're not lost - we know where they live...)  We are all kind of hockey fans:

We had a fun fondue New Year's celebration here at our house.  Then soon it was back into the school routine, but I guess Lewis was still tired out because he fell asleep in the sled one afternoon as I was dragging it across the bumpy field on the way to school:

 We've had lots of snow in the last couple of months.  Lewis "helps" me shovel the walk and the kids like to build snowmen when the snow is just right (I think the accessories may still be out in the yard under some more snow...):

 

 

While his sister learns at school, Lewis has been busy trying out all his Christmas toys.  

He was especially proud of the Tinkertoy "scarecrow":

Jaina loves to participate when she's home too:  

We got to get up a little bit earlier one January morning and go to watch the Olympic torch relay, which practically went right past my friend Rachel's front door...

And, most recently, someone got his first pair of "real skates" and loved the test run:

And now, spoiled lucky ducks that we are, we will again be escaping the winter weather for a week, on a family trip with my in-laws!  Photos to come shortly (?) upon our return!  
 

"Christmas Letter" 2009

Merry Christmas to all!  The season is here again.  Once again we realize that while we are busy living life, another year has passed!  We would like to share some of the highlights and other significant events with you...

Matt is still enjoying his job at Shaw.  Aside from that, he's been keeping busy going to hockey games to watch the Flames play, and with odd jobs and renos around the house.  Even though we very much like this house that we moved into a year and a half ago, the list is long - it seems like as soon as one item is crossed off, another is added!  We put a swingset in the backyard for the kids this summer and inside we are enjoying some updates to the bathrooms, basement, paint, etc.  There is much more to do in the yard but that will have to wait until Spring now, since (a lot of!) snow has fallen and the ground is frozen.  Some of his fall work plans were put on hold after his carpool was rear-ended on the way home from work one day and he suffered some minor whiplash, minor but still painful enough to throw off any plans of heavy lifting or building this fall.  He's feeling fine now though after a few months of physio.  We are still loving our neighbourhood, it is very friendly and we have gotten to know a few more of the neighbors through walks to school, barbeques, a summer block party, and Christmas parties.  It is a very friendly place and it is nice to know we can help one another out too when needed.

I am still enjoying my time at home with the kids.  Aside from cooking, cleaning, organizing, laundry, playing, trying to work out, scheduling, driving, shopping, reading with the kids, helping with homework, gardening, laundry, volunteering at school occasionally, pretending to scrapbook, making a few cards, laundry, playing with my camera and, I admit, wasting time on the computer and watching tv...  I have also continued on as a Sparks leader in Jaina's group.  It was lots of fun last year and I really enjoy being part of an organization I got so much out of when I was growing up.  It can be busy at times but well worth it.  Some of our highlights from last year were a sleepover at the Zoo and an overnight camp in May.  This year my sister and I and other family and friends participated again in the Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society, in memory of my mom.  We participated in Taber this year and it was a lot of fun at the smaller venue.  We were proud of our team's fundraising achievements, many thanks again to all of you who supported us and the cause.  (And watch out!  We'll be bugging you again soon as we plan to participate this year too.)  I've really been missing my mom a lot this year, day to day and especially at this time of year which was always such a fun time together.  Its still very hard not having her here with us. 

Jaina has started Grade 1 and is still enjoying French immersion.  It is amazing how much she has picked up now that she is in school full days.  She turned 6 in October and also lost her first tooth!  It was very exciting and we are amazed at how she is growing up seemingly so quickly.  She enjoys going to Sparks, swimming, and decided to try rhythmic gymnastics this year which she likes very much.  After much begging this fall she is also signed up for a session of "real" gymnastics this winter.  She enjoyed playing soccer this past spring too. 

Lewis turned 3 in August.  He is quite happy being at home, playing toys, drawing and colouring, playing playdough and having stories read to him.  He is now out of diapers (which, for the most part, is great!) and soother-free. He has a couple of friends on our street who are just a year older than him so he also enjoys playing with them.  He is also doing gymnastics which he really likes too and he wants to take swimming lessons like his big sister.  This fall we attended a 6 week session of storytime at the library which he really liked. We've managed to keep him out of too much trouble this year, not having broken any more teeth, narrowly avoiding stitches on the other side of his forehead and surviving a sprained foot... 

Some other major events of the year were:

A new nephew and new niece in the family!  My sister and husband welcomed their first child, Tim, in March.  They are in Calgary too so we get to see him often (but not often enough, he's such a cutie pie!).  Matt's brother and his wife welcomed Lucy to their family in June, and we are thrilled to have a niece.  They are in Edmonton now so we enjoy seeing them more often than we used to.  

Celebrating my granny's 90th birthday in May.  We had a wonderful gathering of family and friends for a dinner, and a tea at the manor where she lived,  and she loved every minute of it so much.  It was great to see family from farther away.  It was wonderful to celebrate her many years, together with her.  Sadly, a month later, she passed away shortly after falling and breaking her hip and having surgery.  We were so thankful for the opportunity to celebrate her 90th birthday with her in good health and great spirits.  We'll miss her very much.

A fun-filled summer, including taking a family vacation.  Matt, the kids, and I drove out to B.C. to visit some family.  We stayed with his aunt and uncle who live near Vancouver, and had a wonderful time visiting them and sightseeing around Vancouver.  We then visited with some of our favourite cousins who recently moved away from Calgary to Kelowna, first in and around Kelowna and then out to their family cabin near the Shuswap for a weekend of swimming (and some magnificent forest fire watching as well...) .  It was nice to get away this summer after the stresses of last summer.

Taking a family trip this fall (again) to Puerto Vallarta with my stepdad and stepsisters.  We all took him as a birthday gift as he celebrated his 60th birthday this year.  It was a great week of fun and relaxation in the sun.  The kids had a blast swimming and playing at the beach and we enjoyed spending time with everyone. 

We will be enjoying Christmas and New Year's with family and hope that all of you enjoy this time with your family and friends as well.  All of our family and friends will be with us, if not in person then certainly in thought, memories, and the spirit of the season.  We love you all very much and wish you a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and year.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Michelle, Matt, Jaina and Lewis

Mexico Trip

I'm not sure that it will be an annual tradition, but we took off to Puerto Vallarta again in November with my stepdad and stepsisters. This trip was to celebrate my stepdad's birthday, we all took him. It was a great week of sun, fun, family and relaxation. The kids, being another year older, had lots of fun. Happy Birthday Steve! Here are some photos:

Boo!

Fall Flies By...

As I mentioned last post, the kids seem to be growing up before our eyes. This is just some of what's happened this fall:

1. Jaina started Grade 1:

2. Lewis turned 3:

3. Jaina lost her first tooth:

4. We finally broke Lewis of his soother habit (because "the dentist said so" - its amazing how much pull people other than mean ol' mom and dad can have...). It was not traumatic for him in the least, but now he has started to drop his afternoon nap many days and he now has much difficulty (and us much frustration) settling at night.

5. Jaina had her 6th birthday:

It is certainly amazing how quickly they are growing up. Sometimes it makes me feel like this too:

Busy Busy Summer

Well here it is October already, about time to do an update on our busy busy summer! It's been so long since I posted, we did many things this summer, that I think I have actually been procrastinating on this post because I didn't know how to sum up the whole summer in a somewhat condensed manner (plus I bought a new digital SLR camera that I have been wanting for a long long long time and took just a few less than a million pictures so I have spared you by making a slideshow representative of our summer):
What did our family do this summer? We:
1. Went to a Canada Day parade in Airdrie. Lots of fun.
2. Visited family and friends in Taber and Lethbridge. Went to yet another parade (a CANDY parade) in Coaldale.
3. Made multiple trips to two of our favourite places, the Zoo and Heritage Park.
4. Ate lots of ice cream.
5. Took the kids to Calaway Park for the very first time. They absolutely loved it, and had a blast riding the tamest of the tame rides. But their fear if a ride so much as hovered a foot above the ground confirmed our decision not to visit Disneyland in the fall.
6. Jaina went to overnight camp without me for the first time (at the camp where Matt used to work summers), Lewis had his first sleepover alone at the Grandparents. They both LOVED their weekend.
7. Matt and I escaped to Waterton to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.
8. We celebrated cousin Oscar's 2nd birthday.
9. We attended a couple of family weddings on Matt's side. Lots of fun to see relatives again.
10. On a sad note, Matt's grandpa passed away in August at the age of 96 years (4 years shy of his goal to be 100). He had an incredible zest for life and was an amazing person. We can all only hope to live as long as he did, in the great condition that he was. He will be missed.
11. Matt and I took the kids to B.C. We stayed with his wonderful aunt and uncle and explored Vancouver.
12. We made a side trip out to Vancouver Island to visit Matt's cousin and her family. Jaina had her first horse ride and both kids loved the acreage and animals there. It was a great visit.
13. We came home through Kelowna and spent a few days there with our beloved cousins Nate and Kristie and family who moved there in May. We enjoyed lots of beach and playground time.
14. Then we went with Nate and Kristie to Kristie's family cabin on a smaller lake in the Shuswap. The kids had an absolute blast together, as did the grown ups. We spent two days swimming off the dock and hanging out, and Matt and I even got to try wakeboarding for the first time. We had quite the view of a forest fire at Notch Hill.
15. Then we came home and our kids continued to grow up before our eyes (more to come next post).

Here is a slideshow, about 1/1000th of the pictures taken this summer:

Super Science Fun!

On Friday we took a little trip to the Science Center. Jaina had been asking me to go for quite a while, since we found out that the special exhibit currently there was about the author Robert Munsch and his books, which we love. It turned out to be the best day we've ever had there. I suspected it might be a good day to go. Jaina finished kindergarten on Thursday, but most kids still had school on Friday. So it wasn't quite summer holidays yet. But it was the last day of school. So, no school age kids. No field trips. No day camps. It was even better than I expected. We practically had the whole place to ourselves. The kids could actually try out the hands on exhibits without waiting, and could have as much time and as many turns as they wanted. No crowds to fight. No need for patience. And, lots of opportunity to take pictures of my own kids without others in the background! (Hence the rather lengthy slideshow below). The Robert Munsch exhibit was extremely well done and lots of fun (amazing what the science centre can do to create a hands-on experience, even with a literacy theme) Here are many photos of our day:

Little Lucy

We are very excited to welcome our new niece to the world! Lucia Beatrice Olfert was born on June 16, 2009. Congratulations to Jason and Michaelia, and big brother Oscar. We are so happy to have a niece (and a "girl cousin"). In fact, Jaina is very happy that their family is now the "opposite" of ours, a big brother and little sister. We were lucky enough to be able to go up to Edmonton this past weekend to meet her, and she is super adorable (and so far, a content, sleepy girl). We also went up as a family trip to celebrate Father's Day, and enjoyed our stay at a hotel with a pool and waterslides (not West Ed, another one only 5 mins from Jason and Michaelia's house...) The kids had a blast meeting their new cousin, playing with Oscar, staying at the hotel, and playing at the waterpark (we went swimming twice Saturday and once Sunday, joined by Oscar and Jason on the Saturday). We had a nice visit with our family too. Here are some pictures of the new arrival:

Relay for Life 2009

Last weekend we had a team that participated in the Relay for Life to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. This was our second year doing it, and we decided to do it at the Taber relay, and our team was named "Bev's Babes" in honour of my mom. It turned out to be a beautiful night. The weather was amazing and the candlelight luminaries were an emotional tribute to those fighting cancer or those whom cancer has taken away. Our team really pulled together this year and besides supporting one another on this emotional night, we also raised just over $8000 for the Cancer Society! (We have had some donations since the relay...) Thanks to everyone who donated and/or participated. We plan to do it again next year too.



On a sad note, my Granny passed away yesterday, after falling and breaking her hip and undergoing surgery for it, she had had heart problems last week and just couldn't recover fully from the stress of surgery, I guess. She was 90 years old, and lived a full, fun life. Fortunately we had a very nice visit with her on Sunday when we were in Taber after the relay, and we are so glad we all got to celebrate her 90th with her a month ago. She will be missed.

Edmonton Escapades

On the May long weekend, we enjoyed a visit to Jason and Michaelia's house in Edmonton. The cousins had a great time playing together and we enjoyed a really nice visit, as well as having our first chance to see their recently purchased house in Edmonton and all their modernizing renos. Very nice indeed! We had a fun-filled weekend, playing at the wavepool, a bbq at the park, and a visit to Fort Edmonton. And we even had a chance to catch up with an old friend and her family (old, as in long-time, Heather, not old!) on our way out of the city on Monday.

Here is a slideshow of the kids having fun at the park and Fort Edmonton.

(Badly Belated) Birthdays: New and Ninety

Ok so once again it has been much too long since I posted, but life has been busy. That's a good thing though, being too busy living life to have time to blog about it, right? That's what I've been telling myself anyway for the past 3 months...

Two major events have happened in my family since I last made time to post here:

My sister Veronica and her husband Chris welcomed their first baby, Timothy Walter Falk on March 5th. He is happy and healthy (not to mention, adorable. Ok, I'll mention it - he's adorable!!). Part of the reason I've been putting off posting this is that all the photos I took of him brand new at the hospital are hiding somewhere in cyberland and somehow got missed when Matt updated our computer and put in the new hard drive, they're hiding on the old one and he's promised to rescue them soon. We're thrilled to have a new nephew and happy for them as they are adjusting very well to life with a baby. So here are a couple of the few photos I have taken of him, one after Easter dinner at our house and another of the happy family at the baby shower.
At the beginning of May we travelled to Taber to celebrate my Granny's 90th birthday with her. We had a tea at her senior's manor and then a dinner for a great many family and friends at a hall later that evening. She was thrilled to see everyone and enjoyed the day thoroughly. It was great to see many family members and family friends. Here's a picture of Granny with our family and Veronica's family at the tea (sorry for the bad photo, too many cameras were out) and one from the leftover eating party the next day at my aunt's house, which I love so I thought I'd include:
Other happenings: In April we had all our Olferts here for Easter and to celebrate Matt's mom's milestone birthday with a girls' afternoon at the Alice in Wonderland Ballet, and a wonderful (grown up) family dinner out downtown. We also rented scaffolding and painted our front hallway/foyer and changed the chandelier. Also in May, Jaina and I have been to Spark camp, we've celebrated my birthday (not a milestone), visited Jason and Michaelia and our other nephew Oscar in Edmonton, and brought our yard a bit up to our new neigbourhood's standards. So, more to come hopefully this week on some of our other activities.
For now, a much overdue:

Welcome Timothy!

Happy Birthday Granny!

My Beautiful Princesses

Lately, I've been trying to work out again, especially on weekend mornings when we don't have to rush off anywhere. I can't say it's been going great, but I try, I really do. It's hard though because usually Matt sleeps in (he's been working the more than occasional night shift again) and I take the kids down to the basement with me, where they proceed to tear it apart. In the course of a workout that's just over an hour, they manage to make the basement look like they've been living down there for a week, or a tornado has gone through. Oh well, I try and tell myself, at least they're having fun. They do get some elaborate schemes going, Jaina is still, as ever, such a "director". The funniest was last weekend. I was running on my treadmill which is in a room just next to the main room where they were having a lovely time together. All of a sudden I hear a little voice announce, "Look Mommy, I pincess!" and I look over to see my little boy adorned in the beautiful, fancy, Snow White costume his big sister owns, and just beaming. Here he is with "Mulan". Aren't they pretty? He walked around in the dress up shoes for a while but had them off by the time I got back downstairs with the camera. And then I had to pause to see them dance and sing. Thought I'd share:




The next day he was a winged fairy, but I didn't have my camera. He also appears sometimes as a ballerina. Or a beach-goer, clothed in his sister's shorts and what is, according to her, "his favourite shirt" which is white and a pretty lime green and reads "I love ice cream." I hope later in life he is not going to blame my quest for fitness for any issues he may have??

The School Bus Sled

Just had to post this picture. It's a picture of the kids ready to head to school on a typical morning. It shows how we've been getting to school for the past couple of months. My legs are getting a great workout, pulling the kids up the street and across the field to the school. Usually only Lewis rides and often I can convince him to lay down, which is the lightest load to pull. I don't mind, it's fun for them and it's certainly about a hundred times easier than carrying a toddler puffed up in a snowsuit who has stopped short in his tracks and refused to take another step halfway to school in the snow and wind.

One day I will reminisce about all of this wistfully, right?

In the Snow

Here's a little slideshow to show how much snow we've had in the past few weeks.

Of course, it's all going to melt into a big mess as temperatures have now been on the plus side, as warm as 9 or 10 degrees C for a few days. So many people were getting their cars stuck in the snow right on their own streets, and it's just as bad in the slush. Friday morning I saw the garbage men pushing out my neighbour across the street!

We've been doing lots to keep busy in January.

Matt painted and replaced the fixtures and toilet in our main floor bathroom (all by himself, with the instructions and his plumbing book! So impressive!)
Jaina's keeping busy making crafts she got for Christmas. Here she is with the princess she made all by herself.
Lewis has moved out of his crib (for safety reasons!) and Matt converted it into a bed. This is making life interesting with some early early mornings and listening in the evenings for an escaped toddler...