A new kind of Crazy

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch nursing Raya and the living room window was open. I could here this guy talking really loudly for a few minutes before he was in my line of vision. He stopped in front of my yard and I was waiting for his kids to catch up to him, but they didn't. He kept talking and I couldn't see anyone or anything around. I eventually stood up and saw...I am not kidding you...TWO farrets on my lawn that were on leashes. Buddy was walking his farrots (or how ever you spell that). I have often thought my mom (along with other dog owners) was a little crazy for talking to her dogs so much and treating them as though they were children, but this, this takes the cake by a long shot!!! This guy had two little tiny weasel things on a string and was talking like I would talk to Hallie and Raya. Then, here is the kicker, he picks them up and shoves them in this little tiny cooler thing (with a mesh door so they can see and breath) to carry them across the street. I called for Chris to take a picture but by the time he got the camara out it was too late. Hallie saw them and thinks they'd be great pets...ha ha. Just the thought of it makes Chris shake....me too truthfully.

A Wonderful Weekend...with no pictures to prove it :(

We had a wonderful weekend and forgot to take the camara everywhere we went. On Sunday morning we had our own church at Fish Creek Park. It was amazing. To stand in the middle of the city and see such amazing beauty is too much for words. Hallie had a blast. She threw rocks and sticks in to the river and anytime we past a tree and lost track of the river for a minute, she thought it was a new river that we were seeing again. On the way back towards the van we played Dora...she was Dora, her stick was the map and I was the Bird. I had to take the Map to the tallest mountain (on top of my head) and she would come and get it after going through the Corn Field (tall dead grass field). It was fun...for Hallie anyway. And the smiles and laughs were great. Raya slept half of the time we were there and then woke up and enjoyed the sun with us.

Sunday night was Guys Night and they played hoops and then came here and ordered pizza. It was pretty good...considering I'm not a guy.

On Friday night we had alot of company over for dinner and to watch the hockey game. That game I must say was better than Sunday nights!! Hopefully the Flames win tonight!

Today is Mom and Tots and the office for me...busy busy. And work, and clean and cook and bath the kids and ..... OH YA, at the end of it all I get a massage tonight at 7:45!!!! That is called a light at the end of the tunnel.

I thought this day would never come...

or at least it would be a big battle when it did. Hallie no longer has a bottle in her bed. This was long overdue, however, it kept her from pulling her hair out (literally) and it was just water so I let it continue for longer than I would have liked. I have tried a few times to put her down without it but it was always too big of an issue. On Monday during her nap she pushed the nipple part into the bottle and told me "My bottle's broken, I broke it..." I agreed and told her that she couldn't use it anymore because it was broken. And that was it. I threw it in the garbage and she hasn't asked for it since.

Raya has had a really big week too. She loves to wave and it's so cute. I think she has one of the biggest smiles ever. It's so contagious. She crawls everywhere, pulls herself up on to anything, empties the cupboards and walks along furniture. Man, she is growing way to fast.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone!!

One of our good friends (Dan) posted this on his site this morning and I loved it so I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Easter reminds us that even though injustice may run rampant at present, even though it appears that darkness is pervasive and final, we know God is working, that His love is greater and that resurrection is real. As morning came on the third day a sun-cast freshness burst on the scene to reveal a subversive hope that thrusts us into a new story, one that rests on the work of Christ, a grassroots grace that upends every injustice. Through the brilliant light of the resurrection we can walk in newness of life. In a time when the Caesars of our day still claim to rule and injustice seems commonplace, the revolutionary hope of new life springs up in our hearts as we embrace the promise of Christ and experience the call of an extreme God to believe.
Brian Orme <http://www.relevantmagazine.com/newsletter/link.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brianorme.com&EncryptedMemberID=OTkyNw%3D%3D&CampaignID=155&CampaignStatisticsID=101&Demo=0&Email=taubensee@shaw.ca> quoted at Relevant Magazine www.relevantmagazine.com

To be honest, today began as a Happy/Sad day for me as I remember my Grandpa. This was his favorite holiday and I couldn't help but reminisce this morning on all the wonderful Easters that we spent with him. We would traditionally go to my Grandparents house after church and have Easter dinner. All of us kids could hardly eat as we knew that outside, hidden all through the yard, was a paper bag with our name on it filled with goodies. It was always a race to see who would find their bag first. I think I was most often the last. I would find everyone else's but mine...or maybe it seemed that way to everyone. I had a few moments of tears today and they started with sadness and quickly turned to joy as I realized that today, my Grandpa is in heaven and for the first time he is celebrating his favorite holiday with Jesus Christ. I can only imagine!!!

Happy Easter to all of you from our house to yours!

She Loves Her Dad...

Chris has a pass card with his picture on it that he needs for work in order to gain access to the building and various things....

Chris forgot this card at home a few weeks ago (after returning from Dallas) and Hallie found it. I saw her with it didn't really think much of it as she was just wearing it. Well, since then it has been missing. When we would ask her about it she would say it was "hiding". I didn't really push her too hard as I didn't know if she was just saying that or if she really knew where it was.

Well, today when Chris was at home depot, I sat down with her and said "We really need to find Daddy's name card, could you help me find it?" There was a really long pause and she looked down and said, "No, because then he will go away to Dallas"

How sweet is that...she hid it (actually threw it in the garbage in the office, which thankfully hadn't been emptied yet as it's just paper) because she didn't want him to go on another business trip.

Chris is often wondering if Hallie loves him as much as she loves me and there is his long awaited answer!!

Our Little Flower Girl

The wedding was great and Hallie did awesome. We don't have any of the professional photos back yet but Becky took some snap shots before the wedding and this is a picture of Hallie and Auntie Barb waiting for the wedding to start. What a lady!



This is Hallie kissing me...she was such a sweetheart that day. She felt like a princess.





Better have a drink before the big job of walking down the isle. She did pretty well at this. My mom was sitting in the back row by the isle and she instantly spotted her and went over saying "look...my Abuela's here!" (abuela-spanish for grandma). It was really cute. Then she kind of wandered down stopping every 3 isles or so to see if she new anyone else.




WOW....That was alot of work. This is Hal at the end of the night with Auntie Bev. She fell asleep in her arms after a very long and tiring few days.

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

We spent alot of time outside this past weekend. This is a picture of Hallie at the zoo. We went first thing Saturday morning. It was great...the sun was shining, the girls were happy, and the animals were all out and moving around. Hal's favorite was the gorillas. We bought an annual pass again which pays for itself if you go 3 times. We traditionally go there for a picnic on Fathers Day and Mothers Day after church.



We took Hallie on her first bike ride on Sunday. She did really well. I can't remember learning how to ride a bike....thankfully! It's painful to watch. She made alot of progress within the hour. I was amazed at the amount of patience she has (which she certainly didn't get from me). I would have given up within the first 5 minutes....and I tried...but she wanted to keep going. She has almost figured out the peddling and then we will work on steering. She had so much fun learning something new. Chris and I took turns helping her and Raya was happy to just watch from her stroller.



On Sunday afternoon, we spent some time in the backyard. We are looking forward to enjoying our backyard this summer after last years renovations. It's flat back there now and has new grass etc. Still a bit of work to be done but it's useable. This is Raya enjoying her first swing ride (other than the indoor baby swing). She is so smiley most of the time. She has two teeth now and I think more are going to follow right away. She can pull herself up to the standing position and walk along furniture now. I keep telling her to stop growing but she isn't listening to me. I'm not ready for her not to be a baby anymore.


This coming weekend Barb, Chris's sister, is getting married. Hallie is the flower girl and is REALLY excited about it....stay tuned for pics from that next week!!!