Soccer

Carter started soccer a few weeks ago, but yesterday was the first time I've managed to get pictures. It was actually the first soccer practice they had where it wasn't raining - crazy weather. Even days when it was sunny all day, it would still rain between 4:30 and 5:00, just in time for their practice.



In the middle of their drills, Carter and this other kid lay down on the grass and were cloud watching. Soccer with this age group is hilarious, their attention spans are...well, nil.


Despite all the cloud-watching and butterfly-chasing, he is turning into a good little soccer player.

Big Go Bed

Yesterday, I decided to put Hayley into her toddler bed. I had originally decided to wait a bit, but in spite of the looming task of putting her crib together, I just decided to go for it. It's one of those things that seem like a big challenge at the time, and then after you just do it, you're like, "Well, that wasn't hard at all!". She slept great all night, and for her nap today, too. She was so excited to sleep in her "big go bed", that's how she says big girl bed.


She seems so grown up all of a sudden. Carter's taught her how to jump on the bed already. Greeeeat.


My camera keeps acting really funny. Some of the pictures I take get half cut off, like this one above, and then others just don't even show up after I take them. Ticks me off.

They Like to Move It, Move It

Home Sweet Home Improvement

I have been reprimanded for not posting any pictures of our house (ahem, Kirsti). Sadly, I am still not going to post any, though. How am I supposed to put up "before and after pics" when it's not "after" yet? But I promise soon I will put up all the pictures of the renos we've been doing when I have finished results to show. So I'll just show all the pictures of what we've been so busy with:

All the painting...

Unpacking...

And ripping off some really ugly wallpaper...


Carter had so much fun with that.

Jared is in Mackenzie for work right now and gets home tomorrow. That means I've been doing some of the painting myself. At this point, I would be glad to never have to look at a paintbrush again, but sadly we still have some left to do.

I am so loving our deck, with our amazing panoramic views. It stills kinda takes my breath away every time I step outside. I hope we never lose our appreciation for it cuz I could see that happening. I am already so used to seeing deer and elk daily, it doesn't even phase me anymore.

And now that the weather is getting nicer, it's finally time for sunglasses!


Stay cool.

Jared's Baby

So, after looking in probably a billion motorsports stores, and saving all our pennies, we finally got our quads.

Jared's got here today...

He's thrilled, can't you tell?

Mine was ordered as of Saturday, but isn't here yet. We have to pick it up in Cranbrook next week, but here's a pic anyway so you can see what mine looks like.

This summer's gonna be a fun one.

Zee Russian Meeshionaires

A cool story about my twin bros, Joel and Dallin, both serving in Russia, but in two different missions (Joel in the Russia Rostov, and Dallin in the Russa Moscow missions):

While in Stavropol, Joel and his companion were teaching a young lady named Svetlana. She had taken all the discussions and agreed to be baptized. The date for her baptism was in a few weeks, but she found out she was moving the next week to start school. She decided to move the baptismal date up to that very day, so Joel and his companion could be the ones to baptize and confirm her. They held a very impromptu baptism that day.

About a month later, Dallin was with his companion at the Institute building in Moscow, where he is serving. They were waiting for some appointments. Some students were walking in, heading to classes, and one girl came in and seemed so excited to see Dallin. She said "hello" and he said "hi" back, but she was disappointed that he didn't seem more excited to see her. She asked if he remembered her. Dallin racked his brain, trying to think of where he had met her, couldn't come up with anything, and said, "No, I'm sorry!" She reached into her bag, and pulled out a picture of her baptism with Joel standing beside her. It was Svetlana, whom Joel had baptized in Stavropol, and thought she was seeing Joel instead of Dallin. They got it all sorted out, of course, but we thought this story was so crazy!

What are the chances of them meeting the same girl, in two different parts of the largest country in the world?

A Shout Out...

...To both my Moms on Mother's Day.

I really like Mother's Day because of the feelings that come along with this day:

Grateful for my own mother, who I appreciate more and more all the time. Especially when I am reminded of some of the horrible things I did as a teen. Or when one of my kids throws a tantrum and reminds me of myself.

Grateful for my mother-in law, for raising a kind-of stubborn boy that turned into a really great dad, with kind-of stubborn kids of his own.

Grateful to both of these women who care so much about their kids and grandkids.

Thinking about (as most moms do) their own jobs as moms. How much they love their kids and would do anything for them. How glad they are that they got these perfect little children instead of that bratty kid down the street (oh c'mon, you know you were thinking it, too! ).

Lucky to have friends who are mothers as well. I love being able to share stuff with friends and know that they have faced the same problems and joys that I have.

I am so lucky to have such great examples of motherhood. They have really helped to shape who I am as a mother to my own children. Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

A Carter-English Dictionary

A few of my favorite "Carter-isms":

He Says = He Means

Telling "stowies" = Stories
Wearing a "best" = Vest
"Let's Tricky" = Electricity
"Fry Guys" = French Fries
"Lub Each-ubber" = Love eachother
"Batta Y'all" = Basketball
"Lasterday" = Yesterday
"Hairy Bottom" = Harry Potter

Despite normally being able to pronounce these fine, this is what usually comes out when he's talking fast and excitedly. I love the electricity one.

Mawwiage (to be said like the guy from 'Princess Bride')

We're back from Edmonton. The wedding was great and we're so excited for Gary and Allie. We had a busy weekend with family on both sides, and we're glad we were able to go up for all the activities going on. We went through the temple with Allie, attended my Mom's "Showbiz Kids" performance, attended Gary and Allie's wedding and reception, stopped by my friend Jeanne's baby shower, and visited with relatives that we haven't seen in awhile. Like cousins. Lots of 'em.

We took a different route on the way back. Probably not the smartest idea, as you'll soon find out. But, we are so sick of traveling the Okotoks-Crownest Pass stretch (highway 22) these days, that we decided to travel over to Kananaskis and then south. The views through that area are amazing, and we got out to take a few pictures at this lookout that was so high up. I later realized that my camera wasn't saving any of the last 10 or so pictures I took, so I don't have any of Kananaskis OR the family activities in Edmonton. That was disappointing.

Here's where it gets interesting. About and hour and a half into this new route we hit some pretty bad roads. This road is usually closed in the winter and we had to stop at some really deep, snow covering the road. Jared got out to walk up and see how long it lasted and came back looking dejected. He figured our poor little Civic probably wouldn't make it through this deep snow and we'd have to turn around and drive all the way back, making our trip about 3 hours longer than it's supposed to be. We decided just to build up some speed, drive through the snow, and pray we'd make it to the other side without getting stuck. Off we go, building up speed and hitting the snow. Our little car was swerving everywhere, falling in grooves, almost getting stuck, tires spinning, etc on this crazy deep snow. Jared and I are just white-knuckled and tense in the front seat, hoping we'll make it through. Carter and Hayley are in the backseat, thinking this is the funnest thing we've ever done. They're laughing and squealing in delight - "Woo-hoo!" - as our car is fishtailing everywhere. We surprisingly made it through, and immediately started laughing at Carter and Hayley, and how hilarious they thought it was. Here we are, stressing out about the gravity of what we may be getting ourselves into, and they are having a blast. Oh, to be a kid again - not a care in the world.

We made it home okay, and I need a good week to recover from all our trips this past while. Did I mention that I am sick of traveling?

I just wanted to write a funny little thing that Carter said while we were in Edmonton. He was sitting in the kitchen, helping my Mom and Grandma Swanee make dessert. Swanee said to him, "Here Carter, just grab that... ya know, that thing over there... and spread the icing with it..." (she couldn't seem to find the word she was looking for). Carter, exasperated, says, "'C'mon, Grandma, just say 'knife'. You know it's a knife, just say it!"