Hernie Fernie. Again.

Yesterday, Jared and I went skiing/snowboarding in Fernie (a friend watched Carter and Hayley for us). I planned on actually remembering to take some pictures this time. Did I actually remember? Sort of. I took one in the parking lot. Only one, and then promptly forgot all about it.

Maybe next time, I will get some scenery shots, cuz those would be way more interesting. The hill is HUGE and the views are pretty amazing.

And some pics of the kids, just because.

Hayley "helping" me bake. (Yes, her hair is always that crazy)


Carter's birthday is coming up soon and he's really excited for his "Superhero" birthday party.

Random Hayley Quotes

"Pita Butter Jam-wich" - that's how Hayley says Peanut Butter (& Jam) Sandwich. It makes me giggle every time.

Jared: "Hey guys, look at the lights on the ski hill"
Hayley: "Daddy, I have my own princess ski hill"

Hayley: "Mom, what you doing?"

Me: "I'm making some soup for lunch"

Hayley: "Yay! Chocolate Soup for lunch!"

Hayley: "Mom, stop tickling me cuz I'm so beautiful!!!"

Hayley: "Mom, I believe I wanted some milk in a sippy cup".

A really long post

This weekend, our friends from Lethbridge came to visit us. We always love having them and this weekend was no exception. There was tons of fun stuff to do and we kept really busy.

We went swimming:



The kids played dress-up:


We went sledding at the ECD (Early Childhood Development) tobogganing party:


Hayley is our crazy little daredevil and wanted to go down the hill over and over. She would SCREAM the whole way down, and we all know how loud she can get. It actually made people stop in their tracks to see which kid was screaming so loud. She absolutely loves sledding. I took the video camera down with me to videotape her face as she goes down. This movie really isn't a good representation, but it's still cute.



And then she'd want to be carried back up the hill, like this :

The Sled Dog Derby was in town and we went to watch some of the races. It was actually really neat, I have never seen a dog sled race before. Or a dog sled for that matter.

Those dogs were crazy. They were so anxious to get going at the starting line, jumping so high, yelping, etc. I ran out of memory after a few seconds, but this little movie gives you an idea of how crazy they were:



Of course we played Rock Band,

And made the kids take pictures of us acting ridiculous:

They even got in on the Rock Band action:

Overall a great weekend. And how did we accomplish all those things in just 48 short hours, you ask??? We're magic.

Little Miss Chatterbox

*Once again, this may only be interesting to any of you readers who are biologically obligated to think my kids are cute.*

She really likes Dora, the Wiggles, and singing.





For the record, Barney is out. Puh-lease. That is, like, SO 2008.

New Years Pictures - By Popular Demand

Ok, I finally caved and I'm posting the pictures from our New Years party. First, there were gag gifts:

(We look like Bubbles, from "Trailer Park Boys")

Wii fit:

Nadine got a new camera for Christmas and it has this "fisheye" function where you take a normal picture, and then it completely deforms it. We had so much fun thinking of diferent faces to make, and laughing over what they turned out like. Maybe a little too much fun, us girls were laughing way harder than the guys. It's funny, see:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I love Hayley's finger:

We make an attractive couple, hey?

Hair

I came home from the store one day and Jared had done the kids hair all crazy. I had to take a picture of their matching fohawks.


...and then it somehow turned into a UFC title match photo shoot:

Also last week, I was combing Hayley's hair after her bath and realized how long it's gotten in the past little while. It's hard to notice normally because it curls up a bit when it dries. I love it - time to make more hair bows!

Happy New Year!

2009 - wow. How did that happen? This past year has been a great one for our family. Recent events had reminded me to be thankful for what I have.

This past little while has been a sad time for our valley. Before Christmas, there were some lay-offs at the mines. Of course we empathize with the people who have been laid off - young families who just moved here to work in the mines and now have to leave town because there is no other jobs/industry here. The economy is not doing well everywhere and I think everyone worries about their own situations during these times.

I'm sure most of you have heard about the 11 men from here who were caught in a series of avalanches while snowmobiling. 8 of them passed away. Most of them were young men who grew up here, worked in the mines, and had wives and small children. We didn't know any of them personally, but in such a small community it's impossible to not know of them. My heart just goes out to their friends and family. I cannot even imagine what they are going through. It's amazing at times like this how everyone pulls together to help out - 5 of the funerals are being held at our church building and volunteers from every denomination are pouring in. Like I said before, I am reminded how precious life is and about the important things that really matter. It's one of those times that I don't have the right words to express what I feel, so I'll leave that to someone who is more eloquent than me.

On a happier note, here are some of our random happenings:

For New Years Eve, we went to some friends house for a little party. We spent the evening testing out Nadine's new camera, and playing Wii Fit while wearing massive granny panties (gag gift) over our clothes. As a result, we all have some very unfortunate pictures of ourselves that I'm hoping won't be posted on Facebook.

We went to Kalispell earlier this week; stayed in a hotel, did some shopping, and went to some movies. We took the kids to see Tale of Desperaux at the theatre. Normally, I would say it was "such a cute movie!" but I don't like to lie. On the other hand, we stayed in a decent hotel for $35 a night and I got so many sweet deals (such as some skis, bindings, and boots for $19). God bless America.
*My patriotic husband may likely kill me for writing that last line :) *

Tomorrow, a few gals and I are headed to Calgary to go shopping, and leaving the hubbies and kids behind. I am really looking forward to it and I'm hoping the snow conditions don't hold us back.

Hope you all have a great 2009!