Pictures!

So I deleted some old pictures so I could post some newer ones...so get ready for an overload people!

Tanner recently watched the movie Wolverine and he decided he wanted to "play" wolverine in the car on the way home from Calgary so this is how he played. Have you heard the Popcicle Stick Wolverine story? That's a good one too if you haven't heard it.

I really love this man more than I can adequately express! And I really love taking pictures of us in the car...lame, but whatever!

 Here is what we did to celebrate 1 year in our house! How exciting. We really lived it up with our favorite thing to do...fire pit it up

 We went up to Calgary for a work bee at my Mom's. We try to do this every year and this year mowing the grass was Melany's job, but I couldn't wait so I did it...you can see why. Love 'ya Mel!

                                 I tried to steal a bite of Tanner super juicy, yummy pear but...

                                                      he wouldn't have anything of it.

                 Emerson finally showed up to the work bee (with Megan, Dean and......

                                                        this ADORABLE boy!

 Tanner's bed is finally completed! It was a lot of work to stain it, but SOOOO worth it. It turned out absolutely beautiful! This picture does NOT do it justice at all.

 What a nice looking family of monkeys. Tanner loves his stuffies.

 We went to a Cradduck family reunion and Tanner found some shade and played with his backugans.

                                                               My nephew

                                                      My Brother in law

                                                       One of my other nephews

                                    This little owl was quite interested in looking at Tanner.

    These are all owls in an aviary. It really took my breath away when I saw it. The birds are all right there.

                                         The Bald Eagle. He was HUGE! and gorgeous!

 They had a flight show. The eagle flew and took food out of the trainers hand. It was an amazing experience.

                              Anyone who wanted to, could help spray off the eagle after.

Tanner holding a barn owl. So cool! We had a 'hoot' at the Birds of Prey Center today!



We've been hitting up the pool almost daily and I've been training for the Raymond Triathlon next month. I am taking a serious beating right now. I run pretty religiously, but to add a 7-10km bike ride plus swimming...this better be worth it...haa haa. I'm just doing it for fun. It's something to work towards and I'm actually really loving the swimming part of my training. Too bad we have a seasonal pool only.

We are having our family pictures next week, which I'm so excited about. It's been 2 years so this will be nice.

 This is 2012's Cardston Kids Marathon picture. It was spitting rain and we ran almost the entire last mile. Then we headed home so we could drive to Salt Lake with my Mom. Oh look! There's Susanne and Shelby in the background.

 My Mom had to take pictures all along the way and this was our first stop. Tanner and I went swimming and had races. It was really fun.

 We got to Salt Lake and we went to this mall that had this train and Tanner and I rode it. It was a really good train ride and Tanner waved at people like he was the king of that train. It doesn't take too much imagination to imagine that scene.

 The Salt Lake City Temple. Oh how I love this place! There were at least a dozen brides around the grounds having their pictures done. We could have spent a whole day there watching groups of weddings.

 We wandered around Temple Square while killing time before we met my Aunt for lunch. It has a mild repetitive theme from when we were there 2 years ago...Water!

              The grounds were so beautiful! Don't you just love that Tanner has his Canada shirt on?

                                                                   See? Water!

                                                           The Tabernacle was lovely.

 We hung out in the evening just watching t.v. trying to stay cool. These were fancy pants chairs. They massage and heat up (if you're cold blooded like Tanner). They were divine! I even slept part of the first night in one.

 Tanner loves to read in the car and he read a great deal while travelling to Salt Lake. Thanks to my Mom for getting him 3 Captain Underpants books.

 The Harlan Taylor run. I came in at 36:35. I was 95th out of 132 people for the 5k. Numbers don't really matter to me. I just like to run. I have a really funny story about this run but I can't share it on my blog so if you want to know, call me or ask me the next time you see me.

 Tanner did SOOO good! He did the 2k and came in at 14:54 and was 34th out of 79 runners. Sadly, no one was waiting for him at the finish line so he had to wait until Matt and the rest of our family showed up 5 minutes after he finished. So sad : (

                                                                       3 cute boys

                                                I just love this picture!

                                                               Best cousins!

 These 2 are going to get into a lot of trouble when they're older....just look at those faces. Oh yeah, Tanner got glasses. Doesn't he look so cute? So smart and studious.

 My Mom was invited to be on the Seniors float for the July 1st parade in Raymond. This caused much confusion to those who were visiting Raymond that knew her (like several of my cousins and a few of my Mom's friends) because they thought she had moved to Raymond. Nope! She's just so awesome that she was invited on the float. It's been a dream of hers for a long time and my Aunty Elaine (one of my Mom's dearest friends) invited her on after talking to the lady in charge of the float. I just love my Mom!

 We drove to Waterton but it was raining so we just walked around and window shopped. We did come across these deer while driving up the road to Cameron Lake. It's just so beautiful there. Tanner really wants to do Red Rock Canyon and I am planning on doing the triple mountain hike. I forget the name of it but you hike 3 of the mountains and you get to put your name in a book to say that you hiked these mountains. It's supposed to be kind of a big deal.

 When we went up to Calgary for the day a couple weeks ago, the boys had a water gun fight. Just a little side story, my Mom has had this yellow sprinkler since we were kids...(even before my Dad died in '91) and it is a bit of a treasure. We used it all the time when we had our fashion shows in the backyard or when we jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath...this was the sprinkler we used. Such good memories. We are all a little surprised it has lasted this long but it's super sturdy and doesn't have any cracks in it or anything.

                                                          It got pretty intense

 They attacked Matt BIG time!

 He had to use the BBQ cover to protect himself. I mean, how fair is it that 2 little boys with water guns attack their Dad/Uncle who has no water gun???? lol

 And this cute little guy enjoyed the sun and fun games going on

Megan finally had to get in on the action too. Everyone had fun!


So that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods.

A medal

My husband deserves a medal. No, really, he does. He is like the sunshine in my occasional rainy cloud. Here's why:

-tanner isn't night toilet trained. this has been REALLY hard for me. i hate it, actually, but i never say anything to him about it. matt and i decided that we were going to try to get him night trained before his summer adventures next month. guess who's gotten up to take him EVERY night for the last 2 weeks 3x a night? not me. matt. yep, i haven't gotten up once.

-he allows me to be me...silly, crazy, occasionally moody, happy, irritating me. he compliments me in so many ways. he is so laid back and easy going which is exactly what i need

-when i am frustrated/irritated/annoyed about the same problems with my life, weather it be personal, family, friends, work, health, etc, he never gets annoyed at my need to whine about it at least 5 times before i get over it.

-he still thinks i'm pretty when i don't always feel that way

-how do i even explain what an amazing dad he is! the BEST! him and tanner have this bond that tanner and i use to have when tanner was a baby. i'm still his mother and we still have a bond, but matt and tanner have this bond that goes beyond just being a parent. they are best buds

-he very rarely complains about anything i ask him to do (let's face it, he's human and does occasionally complain)

-when we were at value village last week so i could get some shorts/capris that fit he was looking at some clothes and when we were getting ready to leave i asked him if he found anything he liked and he said "this shopping trip is about you, not me". AMAZING, right?! i told him he could get something if he found something he liked...it wouldn't bother me but he told me there wasn't anything he liked enough to get.

-just about every sunday, he gives me the 'whoa, you're hot' whistle.

-he is really knowledgeable about stuff i didn't know he knew

he's just an all around great person.

Discoveries

In the last little while, I have made a few discoveries. Some of them new, some are things that I'm more aware of.

-Tanner is terrified of dogs. Susanne's dog is the only dog he's okay around.
-Tanner got glasses. He loves them and is obsessed with cleaning them.
-My Dad liked Jazz, which is funny because I just started listening to it and actually enjoy it quite a bit.
-My Mom is awesome! We had a really great visit while going to and from Utah.
-I love revell-o's. I use to only like fudgeicles but not anymore.
-I can no longer eat hamburgers or hamburger meat. It does not like me at all
-I have a love/hate relationship with the heat. I can tolerate and handle it for a couple of hours, but if I'm in it too long it's not good. I tend to get a headache if I'm out just sitting in it too long. I have to be doing something to keep my mind off of it. I am enjoying it this year more than last. It's good for me.
-I'm an over-thinker...BIG time! It's hard for me some days to live in the now. I'm trying, and hopefully I'll get better at it but it's a bit of a slow process.
-Although I'm not a clean freak, messes/clutter bother me. I'm not as much of a pack rat as I once use to be so that has helped.
-I miss having my family close by
-Walking 3km in wedge sandals is not the best thing
-I've messed up leading the music at two different times lately (once at a funeral, and then last Sunday) and even though I knew how to lead to the timing, the song and timing didn't match in my mind when the organist started playing and I struggled. For some this might be stressful, but it is teaching me that it's okay that I'm not perfect and that I have to just carry on. I can't just stop leading the music because I can't get it and sit down.
-Tanner is a really slow bike rider. I ride as slow as I possibly can and he's still 1/4 of a block behind me. He knows how to ride faster but doesn't. He like to 'casually' bike.
-I really strongly dislike travelling on Sunday's. I like to stay in Raymond on Sundays and be with my family, and occasionally when we get invited over to dinner somewhere with friends.

Our trip to Salt Lake was good. It was pretty hot but we weren't outside all the time. I got 2 new pairs of Jeans. It's too hot to even put them on so on a cool day I'll put them on and post a picture. Shorts are the order of the day...and skirts.

A little bit of this and that

There's some pictures for you until...oh let's say a month or two. Tanner attended his first Cub a ree. He really loved it. And I finally got 2 pictures of Tanner's baptism.

My Mom and Matt's Mom came down 2 weekends ago for Tanner's final musical performance. He did so good. He also was part of my Aunt's back yard variety show. He did 2 little magic tricks that he had practicing for a couple months.

You know what I heard on the radio a couple weeks ago? There's a school that has a no 0% policy. So basically what that means is that no student ever fails. WHAT!!!! What does that even teach our children? When they get out into the real world, it's going to be a sad sad thing when they learn that if they don't work, they actually fail. This is utterly ridiculous!

I hate the end of school time! I pay to have my child educated, not go on a half a dozen field trips and swimming parties the last 2 weeks of school. It throws every child's routine in school off, and I don't know about your child(ren), but mine become highly lippy and defiant. This happened last year too and then as soon as school was done, he was back to normal. Next year, I'm thinking of just not sending him the last week or 2. It's such a waste. I could be taking him on my own to fun places.

We had a HUGE miracle happen last week. We have been trying to sort out Tanner's scheduling for him to get his appliance and financing etc. We were originally quoted a certain amount but when they called last week it's actually going to be just a little over half of what they originally quoted us. I am so so so thankful for this. So he'll have his appliance put in in September and then 6-9 months later he'll have a bone graft (so somewhere between March and June). I try to not think about when he has his bone graft surgery and how much pain he'll be in and how long we'll have to be in the hospital and how much time I'll have to take off work and how much school he'll miss. It can become very overwhelming and stressful so I try to tell myself to just wait until we get to that bridge but that's hard, if you know me. I'm a planner. I worry about how it will affect everyone else...Matt, my family, the nurses and doctors (because I can be a little bossy with my child in the hospital), the people Matt and I work for, our finances. See...I'm a worrier. When he was a baby, I didn't worry so much about this stuff because we were in Calgary and I had my family to help me and I nannied for an AMAZING family that was so generous and accommodating. So I worry. Anyways, I am truly grateful for this miracle and even more so for the miracle of Tanner and getting to be his Mother. In my heart of hearts, I know, without a doubt, that the Lord will provide the way as the time comes.

I went on this crazy diet for a week...yeah, I only lasted 4 days and then I got tired of it. I lost 5 pounds and have only gained 3 of it back...so I guess that's good.

Cell phones...I just need to vent about this because it's driving me nuts! I keep thinking we should get cell phones...you know, because we're probably the last people on Earth that don't have them. Anyways, then I think "No way!". It's not only another bill to pay but lately there are people that I don't even talk to as much anymore because when I'm talking to them they text or if their phone beeps they check it. I'm sorry, but today I feel like if I have to be friendless because everyone else in your digital world is more important that a real person conversation, then fine. People seem so distracted by their cell phones and updates etc. that I would not get one just for the fact that it would be sheer hypocrisy for me. Sometimes I just wanna yell "get off your phone and pay attention to the person right in front of you!". So that's my rant for today.

Matt and Tanner went to a Father's/Son's camp out a couple weekends ago. They had so much fun. Tanner had so much fun, in fact, that when he got home he fell asleep for 2 hours. Ahhhh...I love that boy!

I can't wait to get away this week with my Mom and Tanner. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her and being away from life for a little while.

Father's day was great. Matt enjoyed his day and he made the best steak ever! It was so yummy. We usually do steak and potatoes with a vegetable for Father's day. I gave him the option of ribs this year but he chose the steak. He's the greatest BBQ-er I know.

So that's it for now. Happy rest of the month!

Large or Medium

Here's the thing...I've lost some weight. I'm not posting numbers because it is not about how much. I started with the goal of being healthier and not about how much and I feel really good, but all my clothes are too big so I'm wearing belts (I only have 2) a lot! I have this mild fear, though. I'm afraid to buy tops in the size that I think I am. I know, totally silly and irrational but I can not bring myself to buy a top that fits. I really want a pair of jeans that don't fall down...is that too much to ask? I am heading down to Utah next month and I am hoping to get a pair down there. So check back next month to see if I got a pair...maybe I'll even post a picture of me wearing them.

Tanner has been loving his bike. I LOVE that he loves his bike. He's foot loose and fancy free with that thing. We have such a great little neighborhood and the kids all just go from house to house and play with each other. It's so much fun for Tanner. When he has no friends to play with, I feel sad for him because I'm not the best 'play' mate and I can feel his disappointment.

We've been in our house a year! The only thing I really want to change is our front door. I want a door that has a window in it because our front entry is so dark. Other than that, there's nothing I want to change. We're hoping to get our lawn in next month so that will be new. In honor of this big milestone, we had a hot dog roast with s'mores and cupcakes.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. Some days I feel like blogging is such a waste of my time and that blogging has served the purpose I wanted it to but other days I feel guilty for not blogging more. The other reason is that we live in a small town...and there are still A LOT of things I need to learn about living in a small town. Anyway, I feel at a bit of a crossroad so we shall see what happens.

A giveaway

2 years ago we had an amazing photographer take our pictures. She is doing a Mother's Day giveaway and you should all go and enter!

Just go HERE

But hurry because the contest ends today!

Tanner

We had a great time in Calgary. After a quick visit to the Cleft Lip/Palate clinic, we went to see my sister and have dinner with her family and my Mom. Tanner will be getting a spacer in his mouth in September and then 6-9 months later he will have a bone graft from his hip and have that piece of bone placed in the gap in his mouth. The recovery in the hospital is 3-5 days and then he has to rest at home for1-2 weeks after he's out of the hospital. Full recovery is 6 weeks. So if we are at 9 months, June 2013 will be his surgery.

It sounds so robotic to read that back but we knew this was the next phase and I'm not too worried about it. I am a little worried, but not too much...at least right now. I don't really talk about his surgeries publicly because it's kind of a personal thing, but I know this will be a major surgery for him because he's much older now and I'm not sure about his pain tolerance to what I'm sure is going to be intense pain for the first few days. He is generally really good with being sick. He's not a mope-y, whiny child when he's sick, but this is a little different. His head surgery, by far, was the hardest surgery for me. Everything before and after that surgery has been easy. I realize that might sound a bit odd to say it was easy but, comparatively so, it was. This surgery will have the longest out of hospital recovery so that's going to be something new for us but it's just a small space of time in the eternal perspective. We have been so immensely blessed that Tanner has such a happy, positive disposition and I know that helps him in not only surgeries but in life. 

So that's what is happening with Tanner in the next year. 

Other than that, things are just great. Tanner has learned to ride his 2 wheeler, finally. He is rarely inside now. He always wants to go for a bike ride. The freedom that comes from knowing how to ride a bike is pretty powerful...lol.

We also got a dishwasher and it came this last week. I can't say I'm in love with it yet...I find I can taste the detergent on the glasses a little bit, but other than that its really convenient to throw the dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on before bed.

That I'm worth it.

This may sound like I'm tooting my own horn but I recently realized that I can be generous/nice to people just because I want to...even when they aren't as nice/generous to me. I guess that's what you call tuning the other cheek.



In recent weeks I have been able to push my physical endurance much farther than I thought I could. I am really proud of myself for being so good with my exercise and diet.

Maybe in a year?

To let stuff go much easier than I do right now.

I am here

It's been a while...as if no one noticed...haa haa. For Easter we headed up to Calgary.


This picture, really, is for my Mom. This is Tanner's cub car rally. He came in 4th and we were so proud of him!

This is also from a previous visit but I just adore this picture.

Yeah, we like to play with Lego. We're cool like that.

This is my food for my birthday lunch. I ate it all! Or did I?! Megan was taking me out for lunch and when we showed up, Melany and Amy were there to surprise me for a sister's lunch. It was really nice to spend time with my favorite sisters : )

Tanner 'played' Risk by himself.

We headed out to my sisters, Megan, place for Easter dinner and the hunt

In our family, the kids get gifts at almost EVERY get together...even if it's 'just because'

2 happy loving cousins.

I'm not really sure who this nice looking couple is.

Just being silly is something we like to do.

Oh yeah, for those of you who didn't know I was pregnant...this is my new baby. HAAA HAAA...this is my nephew (and NO I am not pregnant)

The hunt is a-foot. These are special egg hunting rabbit ears. You can hear where the Easter Bunny has left the treats.

Emerson had a pair too.

Such silly face making boys!

Me and my sister, Melany. I am SOOOOOO happy she is back home!!!

Here's a little story...true as it is...the adults (really, it's just my sisters and the spouses) in my family have a separate Easter Egg hunt. This is something we take very seriously (well, some of us more than others) and it gets physical....VERY physical. There's shoving, pinching, grabbing and one year there was blood shed. It's a competition on who can get the most. This year I won by default because Melany cheated. I NEVER win and I don't do this to win. Amy and Melany take this very seriously and Melany 99% of the time wins. I, in fact, am usually the loser. I didn't even care that I won this year and was even going to give my stuff to Amy so she could win, but that's breaking the rules. If you break the rules, you loose. Anyways, this is my loot bucket.

Matt and I celebrated our birthday's while we were there. It was super low key, which was really nice this year.

I really wanted an iPod docking station and I got one! I am so happy and I LOVE it!

Matt got tools and beef jerky. He was very happy.

This picture is just for laughs. At big dinners, we all label our plastic cups. I always write 'The Queen' on mine. So I wrote 'The King' on Matt's because....well, it was our birthdays and we were the King and Queen that day. So my sister's friend, Brittany, decided to be 'The Joker' and Melany had to, of course, get in on the joke so she was 'The town whore'. Slightly inappropriate but still funny enough.

We had a great birthday and Matt got his Costco cake he wants every year but I never buy. I had a surprise birthday party for him and so I bought the cake. My taste buds are still numb from all the cake and chips we ate. I even have run every day this week to burn some of the calories. It was so yummy, but so bad for me.

****************************************************************************

In other randomness news:

-Melany is coming this weekend and we are going to IHOP. It's her favorite place to eat and now that Lethbridge has one, she's coming to try it out.

-We got a dishwasher. It came today and hopefully it will be installed next week.

-Matt's Mom bought us furniture (it's birthday, christmas, house warming, anniversary for the next 5 years). It should be here in May. I'll post pictures when they come.

-Work is....well, let's not talk about work shall we.

-We are hoping to have grass in the next month or 2. I am beyond excited. Although I truly don't mind Tanner and his friends playing outside on the dirt hill in our backyard, I want grass to lay on and have a patio set on.

-I can't believe that school is over in 8 weeks! Didn't they just start school????

-I am realizing a lot more that not everyone you think is dependable, is in fact dependable. It also is teaching me that not everyone has time to give. We all have things we can give and for some people, time is hard to give. Sometimes, for me, that's a really hard lesson.

-Tanner's printing has finally gotten really good. I don't have to remind him with every word he prints that he need to print nicely. This is a huge accomplishment for us! His teacher has been concerned about it all year...along with us. He just rushes and doesn't quite understand the importance of why he needs to print clearly. Now that he's gotten better, we think it will be a huge help for him.

I guess that's all for now. Until next month...haa haa....hopefully sooner.