Azia turns 9!

Azia turned 9 years old on March 16th. (I'm obviously a bit behind on this entry). She didn't have her party until the next weekend and it was doosey! She decided she wanted to have a sleepover. She invited 7 friends and they had fun making lip gloss and watching movies in the theatre. (Unfortunately, the screen and projector still aren't quite installed, but they were happy watching movies on the plasma.) The girls were up until well past 1am!

Some things we love about Azia...
-She is very creative. She writes incredible stories, has great illustrations and makes very crafty cards.

-She has 'the moves'! Azia is quite the little dancer and does some pretty slick (and silly) dances.

-She has a great smile. Azia has 2 dimples and I love them! She has an infectious smile...even with the quarky teeth!

-She loves all things flip flops.

-She is a great friend and sister.

A Glimpse of Heaven

Once in a while, the kids surprise us by actually being kind and thoughtful towards each other. Just a couple of quick examples...

The other morning, we were hanging out in the office, barely awake. Parker comes in and says to Azia, "Good morning Sleeping Beauty!" Now, isn't that just about the sweetest thing a brother can say?

Then yesterday, Azia was freaking out about having to practice her piano. Wayne was busy trying to get the boys ready for bed and I was on my way out the door to my dance class. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw Emmy come upstairs, give Azia a shoulder squeeze hug and ask if she could help her work through her songs! Wow! (This was a surprise since it is usually Emmy who is throwing a fit about trying to figure out her songs!)

Ahhh, it was heavenly bliss...for a few minutes anyways.

Spring?

Remember those winter pictures I posted just the other week? Well the snow is all but gone, the sun is shining and it is starting to feel a bit like...dare I say...Spring? That is the way it usually goes around here in Southern Alberta. One day it will be -20 degrees Celcius then the next day it will be +10 degrees! Our snowpacked driveway is clear and dry and the kids couldn't get outside fast enough to play. One of the new 'fun things' at our new house is this...

Summer nights are going to be FUN...playing b-ball all night. All are welcome to come and join us!

Cardiff is playing on one of the snow/ice drifts that didn't quite melt away. That one will probably be around until July! The Bean was just happy to be out (even though he wanted to crawl around the soggy lawn). Today was a good day.

Heavenly

Fresh strawberries are always heavenly, but when you get one that looks like Angel Wings....

Winter Pics

We were hit with another round of winter. We woke up one morning to this glorious, wintery scene. When you see something as beautiful and peaceful as this, it almost makes winter bearable.

But with the snow, came the task of shovelling our new, LARGE driveway. This picture only shows half of the driveway!

I'm Back!

Here is a massive 'catch up' post. Things have been a bit chaotic the past few weeks. Read on and you'll know why! I also hate to admit that I am about 4 months behind on my 'real' journal writing. It is so much easier to sit and type out an entry rather than hand write it, but I am determined to keep my personal journal going. (Well, maybe I'll just finish the bound one I have now and then publish my blogs into a bound book. We'll see....). It's good to be back....

The New House...Finally!

To say that the last 17 months have been a trial, would be a gross understatement. We thought that building our dream house would be a fun, exciting experience, but it was anything but that! Wayne played the role of general contractor as he was constantly on the phone to the trades and the real contractor to find out what was supposed to be happening then and what needed to be lined up next. Progress was made, but then something would go wrong and would set us back.

Well, we are happy to report that the house is done! We moved on the last day of January. I had said that it had better happen before February and it did...barely! We hired a couple of movers to load our dozens and dozens and DOZENS of boxes, 5 sofas, 5 beds, 6 dressers, a crib, a piano, a fridge and 3 big screen tvs, as well as other odds and ends. It took about 7 hours and two loads!
Thankfully, we had my parents and our friend Deb Duncan help us for the entire day! Wayne's parents kept the kids overnight the night before so we could finish packing and move without them under foot.
So, was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Now what are we going to do with all of our free time now that we are not having to hound the builder or the trades?!