Basement Development

 

This year, we decided to finally develop our basement, especially as we were becoming a family of six. Here are some pictures of the progress so far.

 

 

Megan's future room

Megan's room



The hallway

Future rec room

Rec room looking toward the stairs

School!

As many know, Megan has started on her long journey through school as she attended kindergarten last year. Now she's in Grade 1! We are almost through the first week of school and Megan is doing well. I neglected to take my camera with me to take a picture for her first day of school so here is a picture of her waiting for the bus for her second day of school!

 

 

Waiting for the bus!

 

The boys came to the bus stop too!

 

On the bus!



A new baby!

As many of our friends and family know, we have been expecting a new member of our family to join us this August. On August 21, at 12:34 pm, Hannah-Rose Lorraine Mantel was born weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz, 3 oz heavier than her big sister. Delivery was a bit rough on mom and baby but both are doing fine now!

 

 

 

Hannah-Rose

Megan and Hannah-Rose

 

Casey and Hannah-Rose

 

Ethan and Hannah-Rose

 

Hannah-Rose and Daddy

 

Hannah-Rose

 

The whole family

 

Mommy and Hannah-Rose



August Farming

As has become our family tradition for almost all the long weekends between spring and fall, we once again packed up the kids and headed to the farm for the August long weekend. Due to a sudden death in the family in December, we were a man short for farming this year and chose to hire out some of the more particular jobs such as spraying. Here are some pictures from our weekend at the farm.

 

 

Megan driving Casey on the garden tractor

 

Daddy and Ethan

 

The sprayer that we hired to help out with harvest preparations.

 

Grandma and Casey on the other garden tractor

 

Having fun swinging

 

Megan the farm girl with her pink Riders hat, cut off jeans, and her brother's shirt

 

Casey and Daddy in the tandem (yes he's there!)

 

Megan and Ethan helping Grandpa with the swather.



Celebrating the Stampede

As many people know, this year was the 100th "birthday" of the Calgary Stampede. As such, we decided to take the kids downtown to watch the parade. Due to the heat of the day, the length of the parade and several other factors, we didn't stay long. We also chose to let the kids stay up really late one night in order to watch the special fireworks they had in honor of the 100th Stampede. Here are some highlights.

Taking the train to the parade

Pre-parade entertainment

The official start of the parade

Stampede Showband

Ian Tyson - parade marshal

Fireworks presented by TransAlta Utilities for Light Up the City

More fireworks



Our BC Vacation

This year, after Megan was done school, we took a trip to BC for our main summer vacation. While there, we linked up with family in both Abbotsford and Kelowna. While in Abbotsford, we took a day trip into Vancouver which included seeing the Olympic torch which is still set up next to where the ceremonies took place. Here are some of the highlights!

The Olympic Torch

Killer Whale statue

Near the harbour

Ethan the Totem Pole

Casey the Totem Pole

Megan the Totem Pole

On the beach with the Kelowna cousins

Having fun at the beach.



Last Day of School!

I guess I oopsed earlier with my last post. This post should have come before Megan's Kindergarten grad but better late than never I guess.

I had previously blogged about Megan's first day of school so I thought I'd also post pictures from her last day of school. As it can happen, the weather was better for her first day of school than her last. While Megan was able to wear a sweater, skirt and sandals for her first day of school, she wore jeans, rubber boots, and a rain jacket for her last day as there was the possibility of rain that day. So here are some pictures from Megan's last day of school.

Waiting for the bus.

Last bus ride of the year!

Kindergarten Graduation!

Tonight we officially celebrated Megan's graduation from kindergarten! As one of the kindergarten teachers mentioned, tonight's "grads" will be the Class of 2024! Kind of strange to think that Megan will graduate high school over 20 years after I did!

They had a neat little ceremony for the kids where they got to wear "hats" and received "dipolomas". Here are a few pictures of Megan, her class, and some of her friends.

Megan's friend Janelle and their teacher, Mrs. Williams

Megan getting her "diploma"

Megan's class with teacher Mrs. Williams and assistant Mrs. DeGelder

Megan and her "diploma" and "hat"

Megan and her friend Melissa



Casey turns 2!

As happens every year, another birthday rolled around. This time it was Casey`s turn to celebrate his second birthday. There was no party this year as the invites were sent out at the last minute and there was a conflict on the weekend with a family wedding. We did give Casey some gifts anyway though! Here are some pictures of what he got for his birthday.

A semi-truck

A truck to drive!

We also bought him some Curious George books which I neglected to take a picture of.

Easter 2012

As has become a yearly tradition with our family, we made our way to my family's farm for Easter. This year, the weather threw in a couple surprises for us. When we arrived on Thursday night, everything was relativly dry and snow free (unlike last year). Then on Friday, the snow came! It snowed pretty much most of the afternoon after we got back from the Good Friday service in Swift Current. Fortunately by the time we left on Monday, the snow had pretty much melted away. Here are a couple pictures of the farm yard from that weekend.

Looking into the farmyard on Monday

Looking toward the road

Grandpa and the kids in the tractor on Friday

Tractor ride with Grandpa on Friday