I'm Here

...but I'm under the weather. I have lots to post and no energy to sort photos or even type. There's some exciting news in New Baby World to share though. My cousin Heather and her husband Trevor had their first baby girl on Thursday. She is named Lorelei Virginia. You can see J's photos here and if you are friends with Heather on Facebook, you can see a few photos there. Lorelei is adorable and weighed in at 8lbs 8oz of cute. Congratulations!!!

I Love Car Trips

The Rockies

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shewith his handywork. Psalm 19:1

I find long trips in the car to be so relaxing. Of course when I say long, I mean under 20 hours. The trip to my parents house from our home is around 18 hours and we either wake up really early in the morning and get there late at night, or take it easy and stay in Revelstoke or Banff overnight. This time, we decided to relax and stopped in Banff to go shopping and spend the night. We relive so many good memories when we are there. It was a place my parents would take my siblings and I for a vacation after Calgary Bible Conference in the spring. When we were all old enough to ski, we would spend time on some of the Ski mountains in the area. I am so thankful that we did these types of things because I love to reminisce about them. I can remember one rare summer Banff visit as a child where we toured some of the summer attractions. All I can remember is the basin and how incredibly stinky it was. Banff was also a place where The Mr. and I spent time walking hand in hand when we were dating. He came to Calgary conference two years in a row and after both, we went with my family for vacations in Banff. It was so much fun and the memories are some of my favorite. Banff then became part of our honeymoon after we were married in April 2002. We stayed at the Ptarmigan Inn, which I wouldn't recommend unless you like to carry your massive suitcases up small staircases. Maybe they have an elevator or two by now! We have also been to Banff with my family twice since then, once in 2004 and once last year. Anyways, enough with the reminiscing.

This time we stayed at the Bow View Lodge and this was the view from our windows. Pretty!

We were able to do a little bit of shop browsing and bought some goodies to give to my parents as well as others, from The Fudgery. Seriously good stuff! If you are ever in Banff, you must stop here. There are about 5 other similar shops but none compare. They make their chocolates and fudges fresh right in the shop and the choices seem limitless. After dinner we stopped by for dessert and I got what is called a Glacier. Layers of caramel, dark chocolate, white chocolate and cashews. Yum

Our '98 Ford Contour passed 180,000 miles on this trip. We also got 503 miles out of one 15 gallon tank of gas. I love this old car and hope it keeps on going.

World's tallest teepee. Stands over 20 stories high in Medicine Hat Alberta! I have driven past this many times as a child on our trips between Regina and Calgary.

How I kept myself occupied- knitting squares for a blanket.

Coming up the Russel Hill Road Hill. Scary. Ridges of loose gravel, plummeting ledges on either side and no guard rails. Steep enough that you have to put the petal to the metal. You can't see if anyone is going to shoot out over the top of it coming down the middle of the road either.

Ok, so maybe I am just a baby now that I don't live there anymore! It's probably not that bad.

Driving towards my parents house. See those trees in the distance to the left of the road? That's their farm.

The rock above was found in the middle of my dad's field while they were rock picking. He is a farmer, and in order to have nice crops, rock free soil is a good idea. Anyways, if you notice shells in the photo, you aren't mistaken. Those are shells completely imbedded in solid hard rock. I don't know how long it takes for mud to become rock, but it made me wonder just what dad's field once looked like. Was it under water? Was it the home of a river? Both seem so far fetched as it is the middle of the prairies and flat as a board. It made me think of this: Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. Genesis 7:20

The view from my parents back yard of the Qu'appelle Valley.

Well, this is day 1 and 2 of the twelve day trip we just returned from, so hopefully posting will be pretty busy around her as I get all the pictures and memories posted.

On a different topic, it's The Mr's BIRTHDAY today! Happy Birthday! He actually already celebrated it this morning after work at 12:30 am with neon frosted sugar cookies and a gift of Apples to Apples and a set of gargantuan BBQ utensils. I don't know if these gifts were more for me or for him, but he seemed to really like them. :) Now I won't have to let him borrow my flipper and tongs from the kitchen, he has his own!

Also, I can't leave out another baby announcement! Our friends Daniel and Melody had their third little girl over the weekend and named her Catti-brie. I hope that is the correct spelling, maybe I can update this once I know more!

Oh yeah, I can't forget "HAPPY CANADA DAY!" I am a Canadian Washingtonite or Washingtonian or whatever. The Fourth of July fireworks usually start around the 1st of July in the neighborhood here and end a couple of days after the 4th. Today there are more than normal going off down by the bay and I am guessing it is because there are a lot of visiting Canadians staying at the cabins down there. On my walk this morning I definitely saw more BC plates than WA! It is such a fun vacation atmosphere around here in the summer, I love it.

It's a Boy! *updated

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I just got off the phone with Tina. As of this morning around 5 am, she now has three boys! Little Caelan Asher is healthy and Tina says he likes to eat a lot. According to his grandma L, who I talked to earlier today- he is cuter than cute. He is 8lb 15oz and 22" long. Congratulations to the parents!

June 6th update: ioi posted about the baby here, and there are photos!

It's a Girl! *updated

Drooler has a little sister! She arrived within the first few minutes of yesterday if I understand things correctly, and within 30 minutes from their arrival at the hospital. Talk about cutting it close! I haven't met her yet, and I have barely said a word to, or heard a word from the little baby girl's parents so I will update this post once I have more information. The Mr. and I are heading over there tomorrow to meet her for the first time and I am so excited. (I removed at least 1/2 of the exclamation points in this post before posting it...) I have heard she is beautiful, really good and "such a doll." :) I guess the parents and Drooler are doing great too because they were at meeting today!

Update: Monday, June 2

As I type this, there is a little baby girl on my lap hiccuping away. It is so cool to finally meet her. Every time the chair squeaks or I hit a particularly loud key on the keyboard she flails around until I wrap her tightly and rub her temple. What is it about brand new babies that is just so amazing? God has given our friends such a beautiful gift in this little girl. She is on her third day of life outside the womb and already you can see her little personality starting to bloom.

Stats:
name: Baby Cake (that's a direct quote from Drooler)
birthday: Saturday, May 31, 2008
weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
length: 22 1/2"

Since I am at Drooler's house at the moment, I'll steal borrow some photos off their computer to show you... enjoy!

I love Drooler's sucked in cheek for this little kiss between siblings.

Twin Baby Boys!

Congratulations on the new arrivals!

Our friends have had twin boys! This birth made them a family of 5 guys and 1 gal- this momma has her hands full! :) To share the twins' info with you, I will just quote the email that I received from my sister in law Penny, which she received from Beth. The first baby was 7# and 20 inches long. The second was 6 ½# and 19 ½ inches long. They said that one boy has a point on his right ear and the other has the same point on his left ear, which would suggest that they are mirrored identical twins! How cool is that? It is so amazing that the Lord has given these two beautiful little identical boys to our friends. I wonder if they can tell the boys apart from each other? Do you think one has a string tied around his ankle?! :) J

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. Psalm 127:3,5

It's a Girl!

Brad and Ashley are happy parents of a beautiful little baby girl! She was 8 lbs 6oz and 21 inches long. She was born on Mother's Day, May 11th at 3:01 pm. Ashley said it was "the most awesome mother's day gift!"

She looks like her momma! Beautiful eyes...

It's a Boy!

Mary had a little boy on Tuesday, April 29 at 4 pm. Isn't he just adorable! Click here to see more photos!

She's Here!

Little Bri arrived safe and sound to happy parents Sallad and Grace! She was born at 6:26 pm weighing in at 8lbs 5 oz and 20" long. Congratulations to the new parents! I am excited! Can you tell? I can't wait to hold this precious little girl in my arms. I love her expressions in the photos and her fuzzy little newborn hair. She is so adorable.

It's a Girl!

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Our friends Harrison and Anna just sent me an email to announce the birth of their first child. She was born yesterday morning at 12:50am, weighs 8lbs 7oz and is 19.5" long. Congratulations Harrison and Anna!

It's a Girl!

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I just recieved a news of another little lamb's arrival. Katie had her baby and she was 8 lbs 15 oz! Congratulations Katie, Evan and Jakob!

Saturday, update: Click here to see some beautiful photos of Hope and her family as well as read the birth story.

It's a Boy!

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Sjo had her baby and it's a boy! That is all I know! More info to follow. :) Congratulations Phone Guy, Princess and Chip!

Update: He was born this morning at 4:13 am, weighing 7 lbs and 20 1/4 inches long.

Saturday, Update: Read Sjo's story here, and view lots of adorable photos! Sjo gave me permission to borrow these photos from her blog to post here, but you should really go check out the rest, because they are very sweet.

SHE'S HERE!

My sister Holly just had her baby girl approximately 35 minutes ago. Her labor started at 2 am and ended at 7:06 pm (SK time.) Not bad for a first timer! I am so excited for her and Josh, and at the same time, sad that I am not there to visit them in the hospital. I am so so so excited. I can't wait till I go for a visit at the end of this month! The baby girl weighs 9 lbs 2 oz and is nice and healthy. My mom is now a grandma and a happy one at that! She tells me the baby is "just a little butterball." She doesn't have a name yet, or a blog nickname, but I will let you know once they decide!

Update #2: They are home from the hospital (as of 9:30 pm Friday night) and are all doing well and are very happy. I forgot to mention earlier that Avah was measured at 21 and a quarter inches. She's going to be tall!


Update #1: Photos! Thanks Mom and Kim.

The happy family.

The new arrival.

The new Grandpa and the new dad taking turns.

Look how healthy I am! (And HUNGRY Mommy!) Aren't I cute when I stick out my tongue?

The kids take their turns too- Christa, Brad and Kim.

The happy new grandparents!

It's a BOY!

Just a quick note to spread the happy, exciting news. Phone Guy and Princess have a brand new BABY BOY!!! He was born yesterday in the early morning after 30 hours of labor and mom and dad are VERY happy. More news to follow! When I know the specifics, I will update this post.



UPDATE:

I just got off the phone with the new mommy and can now give an update! He weighed 7 lb 1 oz, is 19 1/2" long and has lots of dark hair. His due date was the 8th, but he came a day early to show his Mommy and Daddy how cute he is. All three of them sounded like they were doing great, and the new Grandpa and Grandma were stopping buy to drop off groceries for them as I hung up. Sounds like they will be well taken care of!