Summer Livin'

WOW! It has been a reallllly long time since I've posted anything on our blog! We've been spending so much time outside, that I really haven't put in a lot of computer time lately!

Marc and I have been busy with landscaping! We've built our deck, now we're creating a patio area at the back of our yard and then it's fence building time! That will probably be our biggest project of summer, but at least he is building it with our neighbor so that will be a big help! Once all of that is completed, then it will be time for sod.....and then we can say goodbye to the dirt yard! YAY!!!

Here are some pictures of the landscaping completed so far!

Update on Shayna

The lastest update that I have on Shayna is from Sunday, so I'm sure that things have changed since then, but she had still been having problems with her hemoglobin levels, so she was actually getting a blood transfusion that night. She is still in a lot of pain with multiple fractures. She has a fractured ankle and the foot on her other leg is fractured. She also has a broken arm......but that is really an understatement. Her arm has countless fractures from wrist to shoulder and she required surgery to "put it back together". She definitely has a lot of rehab ahead of her for sure. The good news is that she is improving and the baby is still doing great! It's totally amazing to me how a pregnant woman's body just naturally protects the baby, even in the most difficult circumstances.

I'll update the blog as I get more information.

Love,
Cathy

Long time no chat!

Well, it's certainly been a while since I've updated the blog! Life has been busy and we've been out enjoying the beautiful sunshine we've been having!

We're looking forward to getting our yard finished, but we have to wait for them to finish grading it, and then we have to get the grade certificate from the city before we can do any landscaping! So, it could be a summer with dirt for a yard! Oh well, we are feeling very fortunate to have a yard in this crazy market where on average, a home like ours is selling for about $450,000!!!! I'm some glad we got into the market before prices like that!!!!

On a more sombre note, my brother's step-daughter was in a serious car accident in Brampton, ON. She is in hospital with multiple broken bones and she is also 6 months pregnant. The baby is doing well, but mom is in a lot of pain. She actually blacked out while she was driving and drove into a light standard. Thankfully she had just dropped off her four year old son so he was not in the vehicle with her. Here is a link to a news story about the accident.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_10899.aspx

Happy Belated Eater!!!

Happy Easter to everyone!

I hope that you all had a great Easter and that you got to spend some time with family.

We had a houseful for Easter and it really was great to be able to play hosts in our new home for the first time. Marc and I both had our mothers here and Mireille and Madison were able to come as well. Unfortunately Jonathan wasn't able to make it because he was working, but we still had a nice time together.

Susan, Mireille and Madison's visit was short so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked to, but my mother stayed until the following Thursday and it was really great to have her here for a week. We don't get to see our families very often now that we're in Calgary, so we really do cherish the time that we get to spend with them - it helps to take some of our everyday stress away to be able to have them close by!

Below are some pictures that we snapped during the weekend!

Enjoy!

Love,

Cathy

More Random Pictures

As you can see, the water in the rivers and lakes around here is absolutely crystal clear. It really is beautiful!

Teenage Boys!!! :o)

Hey.....lots of you out there have raised teenage boys (mom and mom and many others!) There are lots of great moments, but they seem to be connected by lots of arguing and hitting etc. Is there anything we can do about this???? Does anyone have any advice for us??? I figured we could reach out to our friends and family for advice :o) We did have a pyschologist tell us last year that it's a teenagers job to challenge their parents and redefine their boundries.....but does it have to be so stressful??? Alright, alright, I know that it's not always going to be easy.....

Like I said, any advice would be appreciated!

(Yes...that really is free roaming cattle eating
from a campground firepit!)

Over all, things are going well. The kids are really settling into the new house and are starting to feel at home here. Jeremy and Adam are both really liking the gas fireplace (so are Marc and I for that matter!) and both kids had their first lesson in laundry this weekend - they both washed and dryed their clothes from the past week. I think that I'll continue with that trend! We have lots of buttons to push on our washer and dryer, so for now they think that it's pretty cool......we'll see how long that lasts for! :o)

I don't have any new pictures to add this week, but I've decided to start adding some Alberta nature pictures to our blog. This really is a beautiful province (we can see the snow capped Rockies from our upstairs family room) and I want to share it with you all.

You never know, maybe it will lure some of you out here for a visit! We love to play host to anyone who wants to visit!

Baby Mountain Goat in Banff National Park

Everythings Going Great!

Hi there everyone! Just thought I would post a bunch more pictures! It's safe to say that we're all moved in and pretty much settled! It's been a lot of work, but definitely worth it! We love our new home and it really is starting to feel like home! For a while it felt like we were visiting in someone else's home, but it's starting to sink in that it's actually ours! We finally feel like we have some breathing space. We were very happy to have a great apartment to live in when we arrived here in Calgary, but it was definitely time to move on to something with enough space for all of us.


Marc had a birthday this week (he still doesn't believe me that he turned 39) and we had a pretty quiet celebration. He was quite sick and I actually worked until about 9:30 the night of his birthday, but Adam and I did make him a nice lemon poppyseed loaf (Susan....you know how much he likes lemon!) and he had a nice birthday.

Here are our latest pictures!


Here is a picture of Adam's room















































Buster in the upstairs hallway
This is the view from the family room upstairs











This is a picture of our Ensuite bathroom























Two pictures of our bedroom


































Jeremy's Bedroom Main Bathroom Upstairs

Another Picture of the House

Happy Sunday!

Hi everyone! Thought I would send out a note and show you another picture of our home. This picture is of the kitchen and dining area.

Things here are going well. We have had the boys this past week, so they've had a chance to settle in and get used to the new surroundings. One of the best things is that there is enough room for them to get out of each other's way when they have to!

Both boys have been sick this week, and it looks like Adam has strep throat. He's on antibiotics and is starting to bounce back, so things are looking up! It's been a rough couple of days!

Hope everything is going great for you all!

Love,

Cathy

We're In!!!!

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since we've updated our blog, but we've been pretty preoccupied with the move.

The good news is that we're finally in our new home and LOVING it!!! We're still in the process of setting everything up, but we're getting there. I'll have lots of pictures as we get things set up, but for today I just have one picture for you (in a room that's pretty close to being set up) It's of our family room, which is upstairs on top of the garage. We had all of our new furniture delivered earlier this week and you can see some of it in this picture!

Our home phone is connected again now (with the same number) so we can be reached at home again!

Hope you all are having a great day!

Love,

Cathy