Fathers Day 2011

Yesterday was fathers day and it was a great day. I got to sleep in, well as much as you can with 9am church. Jenny made a lovely breakfast of blueberry scones. We then were off to church where they handed out Dad’s root beer with a medal on it that said “Top Pop”. I think it was a clever hit. Then home to a little nap and a nice lunch of bread, cheeses, crackers, bruschetta and salad. Next off to Jenny’s parents for a family meal. Busy day but really nice.

Jen had the idea of preparing a clever video for her dad of the grandkids being interviewed about him. I love Jenny’s videos, I am also probably a little biased since they usually contain my kids. This one is quite entertaining, I was in tears laughing so hard. So I though I would share, enjoy…

Relocating H2O

It is a custom in this frozen place to relocate newly fallen frozen H2O (aka snow) from the sidewalks and driveways to the grassy areas. This allows people and vehicles to use the areas without the fear of falling, slipping or getting stuck. I hope yesterday was the last time I will have to do this until the fall.

On Friday it was relatively warm and the existing snow melted, we though spring was here finally… Well, not quite yet. Calgary is known for it’s bazar weather so this should really come as no surprise, however, Calgary also isn’t known for it’s large snow falls. We really don’t usually get that much snow, this year has been an exception. Yesterdays snow fall was quite a large one.

 

Smoking

Jenny and I have been spending some time recently painting a rental property of my dad’s that he bought 4 years ago. When he first bought it there was a “cat lady” who lived in the one side of the place. By “cat lady” I mean an older lady who lives with her cats and who’s house has a continuous haze of smoke hanging above your head. We decided to no longer allow smoking in the place and so decided we needed to repaint the place, among other things. Last week I was painting the ceilings with a paint that is meant to lock in the smoke stains, it is a flat white color and I though I would snap a picture to share. If this doesn’t speak for the effects of smoking I don’t know what does.

Hayden Turns 4

Hayden's birthday was low key last year. His birthday fell right after Halloween’s busyness and just before Adalia’s arrival. We had a nice family dinner at the Grandparents house, celebrated with his uncle Derek who’s birthday is just 3 days earlier. The theme this year was Dinosaurs! Hayden has grown to really like typical boy things, despite the constant attempts by his sister to turn him into a little girl. He is into cars, transformers and dinosaurs. Jenny ventured to make a lovely dinosaur cake.

The party was low key but the presents were abundant! A little cash for the little man from the great grandparents and about 30 dinosaurs and accessories from the grandparents.  Grandma couldn’t decide that to buy when she went shopping so she got it all. Big ones, small ones, ones that move and ones that make noise. We don't have a picture of them all but you will just have to believe me.

 

And of course, as is the tradition, the birthday movie.

Halloween 2010

I am going back a bit and writing about some things that happened in the fall that I never posted about. Halloween 2010 fell on a Sunday again but that didn’t stop us from celebrating it a day early. We had a ward trunk or treat on Saturday that we went to and got all dressed up for. Since Jenny was quite far along in her pregnancy we looked for a dress up idea that we could incorporate the pregnancy bump in. She had found some ideas but we decided on the skeleton family theme. People seemed to love it, and think it was creepy all at the same time. We got a few odd looks as we drove to the party. I have to say I liked it a lot better than last years costume. Last year I could hardly see, was hot and stuffy and kept tripping over kids including my own.

Halloween is a special holiday in our home and requires us go all out. Since the actual holiday fell on Sunday we had a family dinner with the Halloween theme. It included spider web soup, skeleton punch and stuffed pumpkin.

Last year we won the award in our ward for best family costume. This year we won it again. Jenny spends hours making costumes and this year was no different. We though we would go easy, since Jenny was almost 8 months pregnant, but it turned out to be almost as time consuming as last year. Fortunately this year was quite warm so we were able to walk around in just our costumes to collect our treats, really it is always a shame when you have to hide all that work behind layers or cold weather gear.

I don't know what we will come up with next year but I guess I will let you know.

New Person

So I was trying to think of something to blog about and Jenny reminded me that I never did post anything about our new addition. I was feeling like it was a bit late and that pictures of her, and her in person, have made it around to pretty well everyone. But just in case you missed it here are a couple of pictures taken by my fabulous photographer cousin Heidi. Love the hats. Adalia has been a great baby, she is calm and quiet and Alli and Hayden love her. She also seems like a cuddly baby which Jenny loves. She has a lot more hair than either of the two kids had but she does look like bits of Alli and Hayden when they were born. We are glad to have her in our family.

 

 

Valentines

This year was a bit more low key that last year. In fact I wasn’t really home for very long on Valentines day. I was out in the evening helping long time friends of ours move into their new house. However I though ahead this year and prepared something for Jenny. Nathanael had sent me a comical comparison between a potato and a rose that I though I would eventually use for Jenny. I wasn’t quite sure how to twist it so that it came across right. This year I figured I would venture to use it for Valentines.

First the letter with the quote, well kind of a quote but I had to re-word and sensor it.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Surprised at the potato? Well here is some symbolism that may make you think differently;

Potato Vs. Roses

Roses only last like a couple weeks, and that's if you leave them in water. They really only exist to be pretty, so that's like saying "my love for you is transitory and based solely on your appearance"

but a potato! Potato’s last forever, in fact, not only will they not rot, they actually grow even if you just leave them in the sack. That part alone makes it a good symbol but there's more!

There are so many ways to enjoy a potato! You can even make a battery with it! That's like saying "I have many ways in which I show my love for you". Potatoes may be ugly, but they're still awesome so that's like saying "it doesn't matter at all what you look like, I'll still love you".

I then carved a potato into a flower and put in a box with some chocolates. Here is the picture but the potato looks a bit weathered since this picture was taken a few days later. See I do have some creativity in me!