Happy Halloween!!

How can it be Halloween already!! The kids were so excited to carve pumpkins and get ready for dressing up. Jayda got makeup to wear and for days on end so bugged me to put it on!!! I was ready to throw it out!

The pictures are a little out of order! We went to quite a few houses and they ate a lot of candy. Everyone is so generous with what they give out!!

Jody and Ricky joined us again this year. It was so much fun! Ricky is 3 1/2 and gets so excited about everything!! The Telus flag stuck in the ground, cats, solar lights etc, etc! He is so cute! I was also surprised that Keagan wore his wizard costume. He wanted to be Batman again (I think he has worn it at least 2 times for Halloween) Aunty Trisha found it for him and I think it is super cool. He has a magic set at home and plays with it all the time. He couldnt see very well and got pretty hot.

The last harvest

The kids and I went for one last ride with Dad this fall when he was combining the canola. The kids just love to be with Grandpa and I think they help keep him awake!! You will have to check out Trishas post, she wrote a very nice tribute to the farm boys. I am sorry that this is so late being posted.....I havent been very good to keep up this blog!

Waiting for the bus

Keagan may be hard to get out of bed in the morning for school but he is usually out waiting for the bus for 20 minutes. He loves to ride his bike up and down the driveway until the bus comes. Jayda has to make sure that she says hi to Bill the bus driver and then we walk back to the house. Keagan doesn't have much to say about school but I know that he likes it! He has been learning so much. The first week he said that it wasn't as much fun as kindergarten and he liked recess! I sure hope it will never be a fight to get him there.

Lets try again!

Keagan wouldn't let me get a good picture of him on his first day of school....he just doesn't cooperate!! It drives me crazy, doesn't he know that I am a scrapbooker???? One day he will wonder why there isn't many pictures of him!! So these were the second or third day of school!

So I was fairly proud of my pretty pupcakes that I made for the party!! All the kids enjoyed them (they mostly just licked the icing off and left the cake!!) I got the cute stand from Tanya's garage sale (she always has the best stuff!!) and it worked perfect!

How many parties can a four year old have?!? Today Jayda had Madi, Kenna, Bilan, Selma, Ricky, Rayden and Easton over to help her celebrate. They had so much fun!! Jayda had such a hard time waiting for the presents!! They made their own pizza's and some of them had a few bites out of them before they even got to the oven! We all enjoyed pizza and then "Pupcakes" as Jayda calls them. Then she opened the presents!!! What a lucky girl. Once that was done there was a pinata downstairs. They all enjoyed hitting that and I am pretty sure that Keagan got most of the candy-even with Ben holding him back!! That sure made him mad!! Jayda got LOTS of Polly Pockets (lots of pieces to lose!!) so the girls had a great time playing with them. Kenna & Selma got to stay for a sleepover with Jayda and they are all asleep!! AH peace and quiet!! This party planning is tiring!!

Happy Birthday!!

I can't believe that Jayda is four!!! Where has the time gone?? She has been planning her party for months and now it is finally here!!! We had six girls over for a princess party. They had lots of fun and loved getting their toes airbrushed!! It was just so hard to wait until they were dry. They enjoyed pupcakes and waiting to open presents was so hard for her. She got lots of nice new toys and she stayed up past 9 playing with them!!

New Kitchen Stools

We FINALLY got our stools!!! We've talked about it for years.....They are quite comforable and the kids love sitting there to eat!! They were a tenth anniversary present from Mom, Dad, the Nielsens and Tera. Thank you so much we love them!!!

Rolling Hills Campground

We went to the Rolling Hills Resevoir with Grandma Patterson, Nasra, Bilan, Selma & Mohammed. We hadn't been there before and were surprised at how nice it was!! The kids had fun in the water & Keagan had fun spraying Selma with water (Selma couldn't really figure out how to shoot the water at Keagan). Another great summer day!

My friend Melissa posts these photo collages on her blog and I just love them. So I am trying to figure out how to put them on my blog so bear with me while I learn!!!

A Good Read

I recently finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, and loved it! It is just amazing what one person can do! I recommend that you read this book.

The Big Jump!

Hanging out with the Weir's this summer has been a lot of fun and has made Keagan a little more adventerous!! He has been watching them jump from the tramp into the pool for a few weeks and he finally decided he could be brave enough to do it (with a little bit of encouragement from the side lines!) I love the big breath he takes before he jumps in!! Enjoy!

Anyone know how to make the video so it isn't side ways???

Keagan is now a swimmer!!

So Keagan has always hated getting splashed and would never put his face in the water. No matter how much you encourage him or in some cases try to bribe him he WILL NOT get his face wet!! Luckily we have been spending a lot of time with his Payne cousins (who could be fish) and a little bit of that has rubbed off on him. We set up our pool and he has been diving, snorkeling and swimming like crazy!!! I can't believe it and it surprises everyone that sees it!! I am so excited for him & he is loving swimming! I also have a video to share (if I can figure out how to do that) of him being super brave that I will post later!!

Travers Dam

I took Vanessa, Aiden, Adrienne and my kids out to Travers Dam (part of Little Bow) for an afternoon of fun. Some friends were camped out there for the weekend. Ben & Cody Plumb & his kids were also out there. Vanessa, Aiden & Adrienne are fishes while mine just stayed at the shore & played!! They all had a great time and a few of us managed to get sun burned!! It was very hot but thankfully the wind was blowing. A friend of Cody's had his sea doo out so he took a few for a tube ride-Ben & Cody did not enjoy it at all!! but Vanessa & Aiden loved it!

I just love this picture!! Nothing better than a bit of sand in the bathing suit!!

Chase loving the water

Keagan watching his cousins swim (they are the small dots in the left of the picture. It didn't get very deep and Ben was out swimming with them. They had tons of fun with their Uncle.

Adrienne.

Guns & painting horses

So thanks to Glen Keagan has a new passion!! Glen is a big time hunter and got his pellet gun out thinking the boys would like to shoot it. At first Keagan really didn't want to "Mom it is dangerous. I might shoot someone!" A little coaxing and we convinced him it was totally safe. Note to readers: he was 100% suppervised the whole time. Glen is very experienced and told Keag all the rules and helped him with every shot. So from then on, and days later, Keagan thought it was so cool. They even shot two gophers!! So now he desperately wants a gun.....sorry Keagan but that won't be happening for quite some time!!

Ashley & Jayda spent hours grooming little Squirt and he just stood there and let them do it!! This little pony has been "loved" by a lot of little people in his life. I was very disappointed when my battery died as Auntie Tammy got the paint and brushes out for the girls to paint him with!! So they painted him green and red and he continued to just stand there!! Then they bathed him (and the paint didn't come off....) So much fun to be had at the Hamilton's zoo!

Tammy is a very dear friend of ours and her and Glen have been married for one year (and we quite like him too!!) they are a great match! We don't see them often but when we do it is always a great visit.

BUSY!!!

We have been so busy the last few days!!! I took a lot of pictures and hopefully soon I will get them posted!! Fun has over ruled working and the kids (and Mom) are pretty tired! Looking forward to the week since Madi is coming down & is going to a summer camp with Keagan. Have a great day-I better get ready for work ;)

A visit to the Weir's

SORRY IT HAS BEEN AWHILE!!!!

We were at Rob & Sarah's on Father's Day and had Vanessa's birthday cake. I can't believe that she is 12!!! I remember the day she was born, Ben & I were camping in the creepiest camp ground on Vancouver Island when we got the call. I had one of those cell phones in a bag!! (The good old days!) lol

Ben & Aiden shot some hoops.

Adrienne put makeup on Jayda!! They could spend hours doing this!

And Keagan played with Grandma's pet goat! He really wanted to bring it home with us!! I can't believe how friendly she is! We saw her the other day and she is loves to be around people! She cries at the door when everyone goes inside! Grandma just loves her goats!