Relaxing in Three Hills

For the past 3 weeks, I have been trying to fight off this cold (not much success I might say), but I am trying my best to get rid of it before my holiday on Friday (Amanda and I are heading for a week in Florida).

Well, before I hit the beaches of Florida, might be a good idea to have my bathing suit which I keep at Sara's as she has the hot tub. So I headed up to Three Hills Friday - stopped in Amanda's place to finalize our Florida plans (very excited about that as neither of us have explored that State before), and then head off to Sara and John's. Erin was at the house with all the kids as Sara and John left to take part in a fundraiser trail ride - Erin is a pro though - she had all 6 kids in hand. Bedtime went pretty smooth too - with the exception of our little Casendra. She had no interest in going to sleep. After feeding her, rocking her etc, we finally tried her swing. After about 30 minutes she finally went to sleep. Erin and I had a few chuckles, as Casendra was smiling periodically as she slept. Of course the funny part was probably seeing 2 adults trying to get one baby asleep!!

I didn't think I was a light sleeper - but I guess I was as I heard Casendra the three times she woke up during the night. The first two times were easy fixes - I repositioned her so she was on her back and she had her suzie - she immediately went back to sleep. The third time around 4:30am, smart thinking Erin had already pre-made a bottle for me before she went to bed, so after a few seconds in the microwave, I feed Casendra. It didn't take long after she finished her bottle she was asleep. It was nice to have some cuddle time with Casendra too. We headed to Amy's later in the morning where she feed the kids as well as eggs with toast for Char and I. Amy treated me for my birthday to our favourite Tea House - it was great to just catch up and share with each other.

I did have every attention of heading back to Calgary Saturday afternoon, but when I got back to Sara's - I sat down with Casendra, Char, Sierra and Ethan to watch a couple of movies and before I knew it, it was supper time. It was cute - Casendra wanted to be like us - eat food - so Grandma Char made up some cereal so she could joined us at the table as we ate our spaghetti. So that Grandma Char can take care of Sierra and Ethan's baths, I tried my best to get Casendra asleep. It took some time - but by the time the baths were done and the kids in bed, I had Casendra asleep in her bed. By the time this all done, it was dark outside which made me decide to stay another night. Erin, David and their kids were in Calgary, so I went to bed in the basement at 8:30pm!!!

It was a beautiful sunny day as I drove back to Calgary this morning. David and Erin were speaking at Chestermere Fellowship on their experiences in Tuva where they live now. Though I go to their blog site often, it was great seeing the people, the culture and the environment they face every day as they live in Tuva. Thank you for sharing David and Erin.

The Smell of Pine

Here is the huge machine that not only lifted Garron to the top of those pine trees, but it also pulled the trunks with most of their roots up from the earth too. It was amazing to watch.

Here the machine is pushing down the pile of pine branches - if you love the smell of pine - Amy and Garron's was the place to be on Saturday. That is Journey at the fence watching Garron's dad adding more branches to the pile.

Journey watching as Garron saws the trunk into smaller sections.

Solomon loved seeing the "big truck" in his backyard. By the time we left that day, there was plenty of clean up and more sawing branches into smaller pieces - perfect for their firepit - you can already see how much it has opened up the backyard. Now the fun begins - what do we do with all this extra space??? Grass?? Garage?? A hot tub for Amy??? We will have to wait and see.

And the Trees Come Down...

On Saturday morning, we arrived at Amy and Garron's place (the "we" were Sierra, Ethan, Casendra, Grandma Char and myself) and this was the scene we saw. Trees being sawed down!!! Hey who is up there anyway??

Well, it's Garron - of course!!! It was quite the process to watch - kept us along with the kids entertained. First you saw off the branches from the trunk. After all the branches are removed, then you tie off sections of the trunk, so as you saw it, the trunk section won't damage cars/buildings below. Garron's coworker was able to borrow this huge machine to lift Garron up to the row of pine trees that two days to remove. BTW - Amy told me that it was Garron that made that box that he is standing in just for this project. Wow - what a handy guy you are Garron!!

Casendra giving kisses

Sara and I were just have giggles as we watched Casendra giving kisses to the mirror - it looks like she has a twin and having one of those secret sister moments. It was adorable to watch. For me, it is so neat to see all the new discoveries a little one makes - it gives you a different take on this.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall....

When arrived at Grandma Char's house, Casendra was amusing herself in front of Char's mirror closet door. It was so cute to watch as she seemed quite memorized seeing this image looking back at her doing the same actions. She would giggle and was totally entertained - with childrens laughing it is so contagious that you have to smile and chuckle along with them. Of course she would look up at us to make sure she still had our attention. It has been great watching all of Casendra's discoveries as she begins her exploring. She is in that almost crawling stage - so we better watch out as soon she will be a little lady on the move!!!

Birthday Date with Sara

Are those horns you wearing Laura??

Yes they are!!! Sara and I went to Montana's for dinner tonight. If you are there on your birthday - you get a bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce, singing staff and the privilege to wear the Montana Moose Horns!!! Hey - that hat of horns was heavy!!! (ask Grandpa Andy he wore the same hat in March). I can now cross of my list of "Things to do in my Life" - "Wear Montana's B-day horn hat and turn completely Red" - CHECK!! DONE!! Sara and I had a good laugh about the whole thing.

So this is what I look like without the horns on - much better - don't you agree? Sara came down from Three Hills this afternoon with Casendra, Ethan and her brother Jon. I arrived at Grandma Char's house with Ethan giving me this big waist hug - a hug as soon as you come through the door - best ever - thanks Ethan. Visited with the family before Sara and I headed off for our birthday date - dinner and a movie. With her being in 3 Hills it is hard to plan our dinner and movie dates - so today made it extra special for us. We went to Montana's and then went to see Babylon AD (it had Vin Diesal in it) - okay movie but the ending left us perplexed - definitely not what we expected. Anyway, it was a wonderful evening for chatting and just enjoying a movie together. Thank you Grandma Char for looking after Casendra and Ethan (and the dog Ally too) while Sara and I were out. Thanks Sara for a great evening - it was great just hanging out. We definitely another one.

Birthday full of surprises

Well, today I turned 38 years old. What is that saying - another year older, another year wiser? Well, older yes, wiser -will have to get back to you on that or better yet ask friends or family if that is the case. Personally, I think I have become stronger - this year so far professionally has been like WOW. The doors that can lead to different avenues in my field were open - the reabstracting study; my scanning of charts at the cancer (this is the beginning end of the infamous electronic paperless health record); becoming an inpatient coding trainer on top of being a trainer for the Daysurgery discipline and recently being a data collection assistance for a breast cancer research project (it is on the molecular level - genetics to your risk of metastasic breast cancer). I have grown stronger in my confidence to push my "comfort zone" larger to encompass so much more than my own expectations. For me it is a cool observation - knowing how low my self esteem was at one point.

Yesterday (16th), I walked into the Tom Baker scanning room and I saw in the distance a gift bag - and I replied - thanks gals (kidding of course) - here it was actually for me. Lori, Karen and Jen had bought me this cute teddy bear (oh my - is it ever soft). I was so touched as it was totally unexpected. Just the thoughtfulness - wow. This morning I arrived at my desk at ACH (my home site is FMC), and my desk is fully decorated with a balloon, noise makers and Happy Birthday Banners and a plate of homemade lemon cookies. Here, Rhonda from FMC (we sit beside each other at FMC) had come over last night and did all that for me. The coders at ACH smiled as they were impressed on how "all out we go" for our birthdays. The ACH had given me a card on Friday - unexpected as I only met them like 2 weeks ago when I came over to train a coder in the inpatient discipline.

I got singing messages too - My sister inlaw Kristin sang for me as well as my "sister" Amy - they both did beautiful - thanks guys!!

Of course, my Birthday week started off with so much fun with my second family and all the kids. I smile every time I see my elephant - it is going to be a great memory for me and I am thinking for all of them too. We have plenty of photos capturing our time together too - I have our group photo as my desktop wallpaper at both FMC and ACH!!! One more celebrate get together - tomorrow I am meeting up with close family friends Marilyn and Wally as well as their son Chris at Stage West - dinner theatre. Marilyn and Wally have spoiled me -ever since I have moved to Calgary in 2005 they have treated me to a night at Stage West. It is always a great time to catch up from our busy summers.

If you can't already figure it out - this has been a great birthay - the best birthday present one can receive is the time with family and friends - plus if you have someone like me - camera happy - you will have photos to look back on to remind you of those times too.

Thank you everyone for your wishes - I have loved all of them.

Wonderful Beary Birthday!!!

These are the flowers that Peter gave me. Thank you for the beautiful bouquet Peter.

My animal - Morgan the Elephant, Highschool Cheerleader!!!

Last month, I had joined Char with her granddaughters Sierra and Ocean to see the movie "The American Girl" at Chinook Mall. After the movie, they showed me the store Build a Bear. You can tell the two girls were pros on what types of animals and outfits they liked. Char had mentioned they do parties. Well, got my wheels going - David and Erin and their three kids Emma, Josiah and Hudson were coming back to Canada from Siberia for a visit. So within weeks after my first introduction to the store - I had Sept 14th all reserved for 13 people. I thought it would be great fun and then Emma, Josiah and Hudson would have a Build a Bear to take back with them to show their friends in Siberia.

The day is now here - it was everything I could have asked for and more for a birthday gift. It was so much fun to just watch the excitement on the kids faces (Sierra, Ethan, Emma, Josiah, Hudson, Journey and Casendra) and on the moms' faces too (Char, Amanda, Amy, Sara, and Erin) as they got to choose a type of animal, seeing what types of outfits to choose from and figuring out their names at a drop of a hat (the store prints off birth certificates with the animal's name on it). It was great to have family friend Margie sharing in all the excitement too - thanks for coming Margie. Of course once we got to Grandma Char and Grandpa Andy's place - it was time to show off their stuffed animals to Garron (son Solomon), Peter, David and Grandpa Andy waiting for our arrival. David and Andy prepared the BBQ for the hamburgers and hot dogs and of course the wonderful yummy chocolate cakes for dessert!! We missed having John P and Jon J in our celebration as they were out of town building bins - missed you guys - catch up at the next family gathering!!!

When I got home, I had enjoyed a great chat with my mom. We talked about family - how we do come from a small family (for me - it is just my parents and brother) but at the same time, how my mom and I are blessed to have surrounded ourselves with friends who are more than just friends - they make us feel a part of their family too. This afternoon while during dinner and even last Sunday up in Three Hills during supper time - we gathered together sharing stories, sharing laughs - Simply... enjoying being together. It is so cool for me over these years to be a part of the James Family - I have enjoyed the friendships I have made with all the family members as well as their children. I agree with Amanda's comment on her blog - being an "auntie" is a wonderful thing - it has been great spending time with all their children - precious memories and times for me.

Thank you everyone for making my birthday such a special day for me.

Casendra - our Cutie Pie!!

Casendra - our family Cutie Pie!!! Need I say more. She is flipping herself over and moving around the room going backwards mine - so we figure the next stage is the crawling and standing while holding onto the furniture. She was so good at the Build a Bear and all the excitement of the day too. Thanks Casendra for my cuddles and hugs today too.

Casendra with her Uncle Peter

Uncle Peter what do you have in your hand?

Hey - I'm coming to get a closer look Uncle Peter - Oh its your phone - Click!! - Hey Casendra I just took a picture of you!!

Let me take another one Casendra!!

Solomon at the Park

Garron and son Solomon joined Amy and I at the park. He had fun running around watching everyone else on the bigger playground equipment. Here he is deciding on how to get off this step to the ground. He was so cute to watch - especially his cute laugh after succeeding and landing on the ground with both feet.

Having Fun in the Park

After dinner and the presents opened, Sierra had asked me if I would go to the park with them - so off we went to burn off some of that sugar energy. Here are Sierra and Ocean showing off their talents on the monkey bars - they were really good swinging to each bar.

Journey did some climbing up to the slide.

Emma crossing off their movable stairs

Ethan climbing up this rock and then sat on the top enjoying the sights.