Calgary in April

Calgary in April. Spring? Not so much the days I went even though it had been warm only days prior. Karly says it always gets cold just for me!

I think it is a standing joke that every time I go to Calgary I have 2 HUGE suitcases full. This time I had 2 suitcases full of baby items of all kinds! Crazy but things can be ordered in the US for so much less money so I was the transporter. Josh picked me up at the airport and we arrived home just after midnight, Friday.

Karly was far too excited to go to bed cause "the stash" needed to be opened and admired and ... put together! Once I took the stash out of my bags, they were both nearly empty. Now Sophie is not only a curious cat but she is a lover of luggage. And she just happened to find a nice little cozy place to hang out while all this new baby stuff was being admired. Stuff that she isn't 100% sure of just yet. Stuff that there seems to be getting more and more of it every week!So at 1am instructions in Karly's hand, bouncy seat parts in Josh's, the new baby apparatus was assembled.



Josh had to admire the new baby monitor I got them and then put it on a charge so he could test it ASAP. After all, it is electronics and he is a guy! By the next morning, he had the camera and the monitor staking out the babys room. They showed me the nursery and it is adorable and very unique. A typical Karly and Josh project. With all that, we hit the sack ... late!

Saturday we had fun out running around in the chilly, snow showery weather. We went to the Lazy Loaf and Kettle for lunch. Yummm, one of my favorite sandwich shops anywhere! And a couple of their good cookies were a must! Across the street to browse a boutique and we were off to the baby stores for this and that, fabric store to pick flannel for baby items, the Mall and a couple miscellaneous stops. We went to the movie to see "Earth" which was incredible.

Sunday we had a lazy start, got some breakfast, a few errands and it was time to take me to the airport for the afternoon flight home. A short but sweet visit. I loved having a chance to visit and feel more a part of the pre-baby experience. These are times when it stinks living so far away from the kids!

Easter week 2009

Easter Sunday we had the Reilly's over for early dinner since I had to work for a while. When I got home we had an egg hunt, silly times and played Apples to Apples.

During the egg hunt. Aidan was the egg hider but the rest of the gang scurried about hunting.

Brogan got the egg with the surprise to tell everyone about the Spring Break Sleepover and Funday.

Everybody got a duck quacker whistle and they started a band. Not too animated at first but once they got going they really rocked some cool quacker music!

Later in the week we had the sleepover. We went to see Aliens vs Monsters. Later we ate In n Out with Cranpa. The next day we just hung out and they had fun doing a little this n that.

The boys were being silly with the dress up stuff and told me they were "The Boys Pearl Club"

Finn wasnt going to let the boys be the only pretty ones!

The last visit to Saratoga Springs

Little did I know my trip to visit Will, Tara and the gang in April would be my last visit to the house in Saratoga Springs!

You can't go to Jason's Deli for lunch without an ice cream cone!

Ila telling her mommy what she wants. She is a very busy, talkative little sister that knows exactly what she wants!

Jonas invited me to play BatCave and guys and then proceeded to tell me "thats not how you do it Grammie" A boy with definite ideas about everything!

Who else but Grammie can let Cora, Jonas and Ila hang out on the counter eating a snack after baths?

And who else but Grammie brings fun things like duck and bird whistles to drive parents crazy?!

Cora is an awesome big sister and she amazed me with her incredible reading skills!

Who but Daddy can give the best horsey rides?

Rub a dub dub, three kids in a ... box! Good old fashioned entertainment.

There was rain and each day got colder and until it snowed this first week in April. Not very Spring like weather but fun anyway.

Lots of awesome memories in the house in Saratoga Springs in the short time they lived there. Can't wait to see what's in store in Oregon!

Small purse vs Larger Purse

This is why I like a smaller purse ... the more space you have, the more you fill it!

March ... marched on

Here's a little news from the last day of February thru March ...


Philip and I flew to Las Vegas for Holdens blessing. Holden all spiffy in his suit and little man shoes! I think he looks like Humpty Dumpty in this picture ... a very cute Humpty! He looks like he is wondering why he is in this stuffy outfit!

Big brother Toby is just hanging out waiting for the event to begin.













Great Grandpa Odom held Holden for such a long time we finally had to ask him to let someone else have a turn. :)










The whole happy Tiner family!





After the blessing, which was at Ross's house on Saturday, we all changed clothes and went on an outing to Bonnie Springs Ranch.




The BFF's on the merry go round. Who looks like they are having more fun? Cranpa or Toby?






Toby looking through the fence to see what's on the other side ... I dont think you ever get too old to want to know that!











Grandpa Odom looking pretty darn good!


Everyone watching intensely waiting for the hanging.






Some donkey riding ...










Checking out the petting zoo and animals ...



Waiting for the train ... which long story short, only Darin and Toby rode.


















A fun time at the base of the gorgeous Red Rock Canyon.










I found Toby playing in Cranpa's suitcase. I think Cranpa would love to have packed him up when it was time to go!






Back home ...

Whitney came for a few days and we had some activity with the Reilly family ...


Thursday, we went to Aidan's first wrestling meet. Aidan did pretty darn good, I think he won 2 of the 3 matches that day. He is such a good wrestler that Grammie could only capture him as a blur! (good excuse for a bad picture!)

















Friday night we finally opened up the Wii fit and Whit insisted on taking pictures of my uncoordinated hula hooping! Its been years since my hips had to move like that! But it alllllll came back to me! Whit did it too but Janice was a weenie and only watched!













Saturday night we had the Reilly's for dinner and fun. The twinks decided to have candle light dinner.




Brogie was the bomb at Hula Hoop! He's got rhythm! And Connor was determined.













Hilary made us giggle!





And Whit had to show us all up with her smooth moving hips and athletic ability!









We all had a lot of laughs while trying our skills at ski jumping, slalom racing, running, etc, etc. We all decided that Wii fit kicks your butt! It really gets your heart pumping.








A few days before the official beginning of Spring, my hyacinths and daffodils were in bloom. I love walking to the front door and seeing and smelling the lovely fragrance of the hyacinths. I love my flowers blooming so much I sometimes just have to go gaze at them!

Humorous visual ...

I have this vision of a guy wearing my new shorts, shirt and sweater, eating sunflower seeds, CheezIts and Cars cookies, doing Sudoku puzzles, quacking the duck whistles and watching The Bee Movie with my sunglasses on! A funny scenario that pretty much covers using what they stole.

I am happily cooking a turkey breast in the brand new Crockpot they so kindly left behind!

Addendum: A day of Ups and Downs ...

I spoke too soon about the downs ...

Philip took the minivan in for repair and it needed a part that had been repaired once on a recall. And that part went bad, but Dodge wont honor a repair a recall repair again. Stupid.

Later, I came home to this odor in the house I couldnt figure out. About 20 minutes later I walked in the kitchen to a big pool of water. After cleaning it up, I opened the doors on the cabinets under the sink to discover one huge wet mess and the odor: wet wood. When Philip came home he discovered the garbage disposal was the culprit. Part of the metal had just rotted off and the hose from the dishwasher was dangling and showering everything under there. Philip went to Home Depot all by himself so it is a Cadillac disposer.

So $410 for the car, $200 for a new disposer and minus about $65 stolen items from the car ... it was a peachy, kiss money goodbye day!

We did start out good with the baby sonogram and we ended at the gym ... so it wasnt alllll bad! :)