View of our Neighborhood

It's hard to see it all without zooming in here, but we have  a great recreation area by us. It was one of the big selling features for us. I stood on the top of a hill and took this panorama to try and capture it all. 

9 ball diamonds

a lake

3 beach volleyball pits

an outdoor arena/basketball court

a huge skate park

2 playgrounds

a skate park

a picnic area 

a summer concession stand

and miles of paved bike/running paths

So in love with this! If the wind would just die down so I could really enjoy it, I'd be happy. 

Hello chinook winds!

Easter Fun

We had such a fun Easter this year. A few quick days in Lethbridge, a few in Hanna, both sides of the family visited, two Easter hunts, two Easter meals, two tired kiddos on Monday.

Brad's mom coordinates a big egg hunt each year in a school that my brother-in-law is the principal of, so there's lots of room for the kids to run and play. 

 It's coordinated by number, so each grandchild can only pick up their eggs. Everyone has fun, the little kids have time to find their eggs a little slower and the bigger kids eggs can be hidden in trickier spots.

 It's such a big family that there are lots of helpers for the kids. Laura and Emma were best friends this trip. What a good cousin.

 Cousin pile-up!! 8 Grandkids here, 9 missing, plus spouses and a great grandchild...

 And with a school, comes a gymnasium!! Jackpot! The kids ran off a lot of chocolate in here playing What Time is it Mr. Wolf and having egg races.

 Yes, Emma's cheating in this egg race, but in her defense, she already ran the length of the gym four times before it was her turn, because she was so excited. Plus, look at how fast she can go when she holds the egg on the spoon.

 The second day in Lethbridge was more family time. We celebrated Brin's birthday, ate good meals together and played.  

 Em showing Granddad Beary and her ponies. 

This little girl is growing up too fast, just sayin'

"I can eat this, right?"

 My oldest clown insisted on wearing her pink sunglasses and bunny ears all day. 

Emma and I stole a moment with my littlest niece, Lily.

So busy, but so fun. Hanna is up next.

The Move

We have too much stuff!

 Look at the size of this truck! It pulled up and parked on our street, taking up the yards of our house and two of our neighbours! 

Sweet mother! 

Thank goodness I purged for three months leading up to the move!

 

 

They started packing Friday, resumed Monday, loaded up the truck, and showed up on our new doorstep Wednesday at 9 am.

Meanwhile. the girls and I headed off Sunday so Gracie could start school Monday, and we could get the keys to our new place!

 

Loaded up and ready for a new adventure!

We spent Sunday night at my grandma's place in Crossfield and the girls actually slept! I thought the excitement and the fact that they were sleeping together might keep them up all night. 

 My big plans to clean and organize the new house were dampened when I got the stomach flu, but we got everything ready for the movers Wednesday.

And we unpacked.

We got most everything put away and made our beautiful new house into our home.

We're still working on organizing and need a few more things, but so far, it's looking good. 

I think this might be one of my new favourite corners. A rocking chair and an awesome curio cabinet full of scrapbooks. 

 

 

Soon, it will come together. For now, we're happy here. 

Okay... the kids

We're moved and things are going great, so maybe now I can post some of the kid's goodbyes. 

They both handled all of the move like troopers! Even the last day of school there were no tears, just excitement. 

We had lots of goodbye play dates in our last couple of weeks. I didn't capture them all, but this just goes to show how many great friends we had in Edmonton. 

 

And the teachers we'll miss most at Florence Hallock School:

These people are all so special to my girls. Sweet, kind and so, so fun... all of them!!

Until we play again...

Layouts - Lego and Crashes

One of Gracie's favourite past times is to build with her Lego sets. She follows the steps and builds each set once, then she tears them apart, mixes them up and builds whatever comes to mind, houses, stables, castles, waterparks, whatever she feels like playing with that day. 

That's freedom!

And this.... this is one of those pictures that probably actually captures a me moment, more than a Gracie moment. 

When we were camping, Gracie wiped out hard on her bike. Face first. On cement. She loosened two teeth and chipped another. Her lips were swollen. Her face was scratched. She was bleeding and crying. 

She was with her dad (thank goodness) who calmed her down and cleaned her up and got her back on her bike. She said she was excited to lose a tooth.... I couldn't keep my hands off of her for the rest of the trip. Everytime she walked by me, I broke a little. 

My baby was soo hurt and she was fine!! I was not. 

This kid is tough! Parenthood is hard on the heart.

Layout Love - Sweet and Silly

Oh, you two!

 Sweet and Silly describes you to a tee. 

This layout uses some older product from Basic Gray, mixed with some newer embellishments. 

 

 This great cardstock below is like kraft with a touch of gold. I love it!

The vellum with gold hearts is pretty awesome, too. 

What a couple of hams!

Happy Birthday Em, pocket pages

These photos are from Emma's fourth, 2nd birthday party. Haha! Christmas birthdays mean you celebrate with family over and over. The Benedicts, the Sacketts, and the Higginsons each had a party, and then we had a family party at home. 

Lucky girl!

More Crate Paper products here. A little American Crafts, MME, and Pebbles. Great lines, all of them!