Greetings from Banff

Yes, we arrived safely and no we weren't held up in customs as I feared. The flight into Toronto was one I'd like to forget (I hate those prop planes) but the flight into Calgary was much more relaxing. We arrived Saturday afternoon and took an hour and a half shuttle up into the Rockies. We wandered around town Saturday evening and just tried to unwind. Although the cuisine is a far cry from back home, the scenery makes up for it!




Yesterday we visited the Columbia Icefields and along the way visited Lake Louise and a few other scenic spots.






Today we took the Gondola and had lunch atop Sulfur Mountain. The height was a bit hair-raising, but the view was spectacular!

We are having a great time. I have been doing ok until I talked to Alex on the phone this afternoon, then I almost "lost it". But it did make it a bit easier that she doesn't appear to miss us in the least. Her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins have all been keeping her very busy. She was rattling on and on about all the stuff she has been doing and the fun she has been having.

Off to dinner now, but I just wanted to jump on quick and catch up. I will have so many photos when I get back that it is going to be hard deciding which ones to share!

We're Outta Here

I won't be online much for the next week. We leave Saturday morning and I have a ton to do beforehand. Shawn has a conference in Banff Canada (which is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains) and I decided to tag along. I am so excited to get away and have some time alone, but will miss Alex terribly. It is the first time we will be leaving her, and going so far for so long has us all a little anxious. But she is looking forward to it too! She is staying with Grandma and with my sister. She is excited about spending the week with her cousins. They are so good to her and I know she will have a blast.

As you can see the scenery is amazing and I am looking forward to exploring the city, the mountains, the lakes and the countryside with camera in hand. I am sure I will have a plethora of photos when I return!

4 Year Pictures

Not much of an update

Since it has been nearly a week since my last post, I thought I would jump on and give a little update. Only problem is that there isn't much news to share. And since Shawn has held my camera hostage for a week doing "work stuff", I don't even have any new pictures to post.

Oh, I guess we did have a bit of excitement. My father-in-law has been sick again lately. Well I got a call at work around 10:30 Friday morning from my mother-in-law that I needed to get home because the ambulance was on its way for Bill. They still don't know what is going on really. The usual...night sweats, chest pain, crazy blood pressures, crazy blood sugars, and this time a really high pulse rate. He is stable, but they aren't really sure what's up. They will do a stress test tomorrow. Hopefully it is nothing that requires surgery as we go out of the country later this week.

And Pepper got a hair cut today. We took Alex to Adventure Landing and she bought more junk with her tickets. One of the things was this little tub of slimy pink goop. Since Pepper insists on being where Alex is and laying in whatever Alex is working on, you guessed it...goop ALL OVER the cat. So not fun trying to sheer a cat who is hell-bent on driving her with sharp teeth and nails into your skin!

Well, that's all for now!

The Nursery

I called today to see if STAR had heard anything about our fingerprints. I figured we were only at week 7, but thought it was worth a shot. Much to my delight...I found out that our prints were back within two weeks!!! Which means the ONLY thing we are now waiting for is Shawn's TB testing. God help that man if he doesn't have it done this week...I will be changing the locks and he can sleep in the playhouse.

Thought I would celebrate by posting what we have done so far in the nursery.

Kaitlin's 1st Sleepover

Alex's cousin Kaitlin stayed over last night for the first time. We tried once awhile back and she got home sick and had to go home. Since I relish my sleep as I do, I never pushed a second attempt. But both girls have been begging. So last night, and with grandma and her parents just down the street, we tried again. And they had so much fun!






It was ice cream Sundays for dessert and then they watched My Little Pony before bed.






Grandma dropped off matching pajamas which Alex refused to wear because it wasn't a nightgown (though Kaitlin later convinced her to wear them).






And bedtime was a breeze too. As you can see...they fell fast asleep...and no, I did not use Benedryl!










This morning they slept in until after 8:00 (sigh of relief).









We enjoyed some breakfast and of course playing with all of Alex's toys. It's a shame my poor girl doesn't have enough things to play with.







And yes, Pepper too joined in on the action.

Summer Sleepover

My little girl is having a sleepover at her friends tonight. How did this happen that she is old enough for this? Teri posted about their night on her blog.

So...Good night my sweet baby girl. Mommy and Daddy miss you, but hope you are having oodles of fun!!!

Berry Picking

This moring we enjoyed berry picking with friends. Brown's Berry Patch has a large assortment of "u-picks". Today's specialties...blueberries and cherries. The blueberries were rather slim picking, but the cherries were plentiful! Here are a few pics form the day...

Happy 4th of July

So I know it has been dry lately and we have needed rain for a couple of weeks now...but did we really need to get it all dumped on us in one day...and for the holiday? Geesh!

Although we never made it to the parade and the festival was mostly a bust, we did manage to get in a few hours of celebrating. Friends of ours came over for dinner. Alex turned into a wild banchee (sp?) chasing Emma around the house. Tyler just looked on like they were crazy. After dinner we got over to the sports park just as they were beginning to take down the inflatables. Luckily Alex was still able to have 3 or 4 turns on different ones before they put them down for the night. We then met up with my sisiter-in-law and the kids. All of the kids enjoyed playing around the field while singing and dancing with glow sticks. The best part of the evening was watching Emma and Alex as they watched the fireworks. The amazement on their faces was so refreshing. I guess it was a good day afterall!

The Last Hoorah

Yesterday we celebrated Allie's 4th birthday one last time. She had a fantastic time at Strong National Museum of Play. What an awesome party they throw!!! We played games with the party planners, rode the train and carousel, filled up on pizza and cake, received awesome party bags and got to play throughout the museum. And tell me these kids don't look adorable...






...Shutterfly pictures to come, but off to a Baptism first.