Edmonton - day 2

Well, day 2 started abruptly at 6am when the radio came on and blared music at us. We didn't set it! But thankfully the kids didn't wake up and we went back to sleep for a while. Praise God that they slept all night with only 1 little peep from Colin!

We had breakfast out and then did a little shopping, more window shopping, in the morning. By lunch the kids were starting to really wonder why we keep going out to eat! After lunch we went to "the acreage" so that Meredith could watch Colin while we went for a tour of the Castle Downs area with Sarah, the children and youth director. It was really fun and we learned a lot about the church and area. I was so very thankful that Colin slept and didn't make strange when he woke up in a new place. But Meredith is so kind and has plenty of toys to keep him occupied.

Then we went to Rosie's for supper. She is such a sweetie and we had a wonderful time visiting. And from there we dropped off Tim at the church for a meeting with the Board and Search Committee. I just need to do some ironing and then into bed. Hopefully it will be another sound sleep tonight.

Edmonton - day 1

Hello everyone,

We just had the best day and I just had to tell someone. So the early part of the day didn't start off that great, because between Colin teething and Nadia getting to bed really late, I was up most of the night with someone. But after that it started getting better, with a great finish. So here's what happened. Grandma made us a wonderful birthday breakfast for Nadia, who is actually 4 today. Then Nadia was so excited about her presents and about eating the most beautiful princess cake Grandpa made. I'll have to post those pictures later.

And then we got in the car to drive to Edmonton. I was fearing the drive a little, but packed lots of toys and fun snacks. To my amazement the drive seem to go quite fast because the kids were busy playing with toys. Colin didn't even fall asleep until almost 2 hours after his normal nap time, even though he didn't sleep the night before. He must have been having fun. And we arrived in Edmonton, a 5 hour trip and we didn't have to show 1 DVD and Nadia didn't even ask for 1! To me that's a huge answer to prayer.

Then we met Darcy and came to the hotel. It is amazing. We have a 2 bedroom with a jacuzzi tub and bunk beds in the second room! Nadia loved it right away and has been pointing out all the cool things about our "house", like 2 tv's and the "mini water park"!!!

Then we went out for supper at a little Thai place beside the hotel. It was sooooo good, and Colin ate just about as much as I did, he loved it so much. I hope that spicy dish doesn't come back to haunt us tonight.

When we came back from supper the kids took a dippy in the "mini water park"!!! And now they are both sound a sleep in the same room, Nadia on the top bunk.

My family is so great. The kids have made this day a really fun one, when it could have been so bad...from the lack of sleep. And the icing on the cake for me was that we got invited to someone's house for supper tomorrow. I'm so excited. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, I just wrote this post on our new laptop courtesy of Tim's Dad!! Thanks Dad.

So tomorrow we will get into the real visiting and getting to know each other thing. But today was sure a great start to this trip.

PS. Jen, we're in Edmonton to do a first time meet and greet weekend for the lead pastor position. They've also called it a pre-candidating weekend.

4th little girl party

Okay it's not the 4th little girl party we've had, but it was Nadia's 4th Birthday party on Valentine's Day. Her birthday isn't actually until the 20th, but we will be driving to Edmonton that day so we had it the weekend earlier. She thinks that since she had her party she's now 4. Above Nadia is helping to make her cupcakes, okay chocolate muffins for her party.
We had a scavenger hunt for little Dora stickers which Tim and I hid all around the house. I hid them individually and Tim thought it would be more efficient to put little piles all over. Anyway, I think the game was a huge hit. Here they are looking all over my pantry for little sticker.
Opening the cards. We always say, please, please, please no gifts, just cards. So they sat around and looked at all the home made cards. They were so excited about it, almost like they were presents. I was quite fun to watch.
The girls all decorated their muffins. The icing was a little runny because I was trying to make it more pink and added too much raspberry juice. But it held the decorations anyway. I don't think Nadia could have got anymore on there.

We almost forgot to do candles and sing, but Daddy remembered.

I had a craft and another colouring page for the girls, but they decided to play princess dress-up instead. Which was really fun. They all got dressed up and then I helped them practice thier "show" for the big people.

At the end of the day Nadia decided that now she's a big girl and she can put herself to bed. So she tucked in her puppy, read him a story, prayed by herself and went to sleep. What a girl. We're so blessed to have her.

my sweetie

I just had to show-off my beautiful bouquet from Tim. He is so thoughtful, he even took the time to order just what I would love. I feel so special. And orchids are my favourite. So I can enjoy these ones until my potted ones bloom. Thanks honey!

goodbye

Today we said goodbye to our very big fig tree. Tim and I bought this tree when it was about 4 inches tall and it had about that many leaves. It's traveled with us to many houses and places. But as you can see it's just getting too big. It's now about 7 1/2 feet tall and about 5 feet wide. So I finally found a friend who just loves it and said she has the perfect spot for it in her family room. I'm so pleased it's going to someone who will love it and care for it. Nadia was quite sad to hear it was leaving, but I told her that after we move we'll get a new little one and it can be Mommy and her tree. And we can water it and wash it together. She's pretty pumped about it. Which makes the whole thing easier. Good bye old friend.

homemade fun

I just love watching Daddy play with the kids. He has so much more energy than me after supper. Here they're running around the dinning room table and screaming. It's very loud. And Nadia is holding on to Daddy's pockets and getting swung around on the corners. I think Colin is taking a little break in the background.
Nadia and Colin made up a mitten game. They both had on a pair of slippery mittens and then crawled around on the floor, sliding and giggling. It was pretty entertaining. We've been out of the house more this month so there aren't as many photos of the kids. I'm trying to get the camera out more often.

update

I thought I should give a quick update about our visit to Castle Downs Church in Edmonton. We are still going for a meet and greet it's just that the date was changed. We are now going the next weekend, Feb. 20-22. And yes, we will be driving to Edmonton on Nadia's 4th Birthday. Although we've talked about it and I really don't think she cares because we are having a little girl birthday bash the weekend before. So if you have any really fun games for 3-5 year old girls, please let me know.

I know...2 posts with no pictures. I'll try to post some of those in the next few days.