Skiing fun!

As many people know, here in Alberta we have a provincial holiday on the third Monday of February. This year, we went skiing at Norquay with Grandpa and Grandma. Unfortunately, Ethan's ski pants stayed in the van so when Grandpa took him skiing, he had to borrow Megan's. Casey and I spent most of our time there exploring the lodge. Here are some pictures!

Casey hanging in the lodge.

Grandpa and Megan (taking using digital zoom through a frosty window)

Coming in for a break

Ethan ready to go skiing!

Grandpa and Ethan (digital zoom again)

Coming to the bottom of the hill.

Joint Party

As Ethan isn't old enough yet to go to school, we had a second party the day after Megan's for both kids. Unfortunately, only Grandpa and Grandma were able to come but still, a good visit was had by all.

A big hit with Ethan (and Casey) - a book of Thomas stories!

Tinkerbell birthday card

Pink Flames Jersey!

Ethan also got a train table for all his Thomas trains that fits under his bed! Unfortunately, I don't currently have a picture of it and Megan got some triple ruffle leggings by KPea Original and a big coloring book for presents.



Megan's Sixth Birthday

This year, as Megan is in kindergarten, she got to have a birthday party of her own with some of her friends from school. She had a great time and I'm sure is looking forward to a repeat of this event next year with her Grade 1 friends!

Pin the tail on the donkey

Gathered around the table for cake!

Waiting to blow out the candles

Candles are out!



Catching up!

I realize I haven't blogged in awhile, so here are a couple of big posts to catch everyone up on what's been happening.

In December, Megan and Ethan participated (and I use that term very loosely :)) in our church's Sunday School Christmas program and Megan also participated with her kindergarten class and several others in the Section 1 Christmas program. Here are a couple pictures from those programs.

The church Sunday School Program

Calgary Christian School Kindergarten classes

 

Megan's Hockey Game

I recently had the opportunity to go to a Flames game and decided to treat my best girl to a rare girls night at the Saddledome! Here are some pictures from that night.

In her seat

Overlooking the ice.



"Matching Jammies"

As anyone knows who has two kids of the same sex, sometimes you unintentionally (or intentionally) get matching clothes for them such as jammies. Since Casey's arrival, we have bought the boys jammies either at the same time or different times that have "matched". Here are a couple pictures of the boys in their "matching" jammies.

Monsters!

Sports! (Of course)



Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween, all three kids wanted to go trick or treating. Here are a couple pictures that I took of the kids as we were heading out.

Megan the Butterfly and Ethan the Dragon

Casey the Monkey.

Yes, Casey's costume was and is too big for him but he didn't let that stop him from being a monkey when Mommy wanted him to be Pooh.

Casey's First Haircut

Today, Casey got his haircut at for the first time. I forgot to take my camera along to take pictures while he was getting it cut so I made sure I took a few after we got home.



SCHOOL!

We officially have a kindergarten student in our house! Megan seems to love school and we are thankful that she knows some of the kids in her class from Sunday School. She also enjoys taking the bus to and from school. Here are some pictures of our little student!

First day of school in her classroom

Waiting for the school bus

On the bus!



August Long Weekend

As many people know, Jason helped my brother Ryan move to Toronto in June. As a result, my dad's truck was left in Ontario so Jason, Casey and I flew out to Ontario at the end of July to pick it up and drive it back. Here's a slideshow with highlights from our trip!

Stampede 2011

One other thing we did while Grandpa and Grandma were visiting from Ontario was take in some of the Stampede. The older kids got to go on rides, we watched some of the heavy horse hitches, and Jason and I took his parents to see the chuckwagon races. Here's a slideshow with some of the highlights from the Stampede.



Heritage Park

As was seen in my last post, Grandpa and Grandma Mantel came out for a visit from Ontario. One of the things we did while they were here was go to Heritage Park. I'm pretty sure Ethan's favourite part was all the train stuff they have there including a working steam train! Here's a slide show with some of the highlights.

Catching up

It's been a busy couple of months it seems around our house. Megan has offically lost her two front bottom teeth and has at least one new one coming in. Ethan is getting to be a really talkative kid and Casey is now walking and tries to climb everything in sight! We've had a couple more trips to the farm along with a trip to Kelowna and Abbotsford. Here's some highlights from our summer so far.



Easter 2011 and Casey's Birthday

This year, as we have many years before, we went out to the Olfert Family farm in Swift Current, SK for Easter. This year, there was still tonns of snow in the yard so the men worked at moving the snow for most of the weekend. Here's a picture of Casey with a couple of his birthday presents and birthday cake as well as some video of the snow moving in the farmyard or more acurately, how to get a tractor that`s stuck in the mud, unstuck!

Megan's New Smile

Megan has offically lost her first tooth! The tooth fairy will probably visit her tonight!



Hockey Day In Canada

Every year for the past several years, CBC has hosted a Hockey Day In Canada in various communities across the country. This year, my brother Ryan and his wife Pam invited us to join them at an Edmonton Oilers game on Hockey Day In Canada. Megan and Ethan stayed with Grandma while we took Casey with us. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Casey the happy traveller



Pre-Game Ceremony

Ceremonial Puck Drop

Wearing ear protection in case the game is too loud!

Mommy, Daddy, and Casey

Uncle Ryan and Auntie Pam



Dressing room doors

Us in front of the dressing room doors.

Playing with Grandpa

We were fortunate this year to have Grandpa and Grandma as well as Auntie Pam and Micah around for the weekend of the kids' party. The kids took full advantage of the time to play "horsey" with Grandpa!

Micah, Megan and Ethan "riding" Grandpa

Megan and Micah on Grandpa.



Birthdays 2011

As we have been doing for the past couple years, we once again held a joint birthday party for Megan and Ethan. Here is a slide show from the day.