Brintonz Blog

Some of my favorites

2011-02-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to post some of my favorite pictures of the kids growing up.

This is gonna be fun!

I am starting here because we didn't start using a digital camera until Evy was born. I don't feel like scanning pictures today, although someday I will get them all scanned.

Happy baby girl!

Blake made this face A LOT!! Every time you asked him to make a funny face....this is what he did! I am so glad I got a picture of it. Actually, I have 3 or 4!

As I am typing this and reading the date on the picture I am realizing that it must be wrong. There is no way that Evy is 6 months old in this picture. Maybe she is? Still cute though.

The kids wanted to help me clean the bathtub...I think we all look great!

We took a trip to Washington to see my friend and her family. They took us to this fun farm where you could visit all sorts of animals, play on these tractors and they had a playground too. I was so fun! dont you think Blake looks hilarious behind that HUGE wheel?

No more Front Teeth! She was in Kindergarten when she lost these

I Love this picture....they really look like they love each other!! I know they do. And look - those teeth are starting to grow back in! I think this picture was taken when we were in Waterton for your first Webster Jam! That was a fun time!

Here is one of all 3 of them. I swear I have the cutest kids in the world!!

Here is our family picture from the first Webster Jam in Waterton 2004!

Ahhhh....swimming lessons. We have taken LOTS of these pictures over the years! Congrats guys!!

This picture was taken at the old 'Ton of Fun' place in Lethbridge. The kids used to love to go there and play on all the jungle gym equipment. What a cutie!!!!

This is at the lake in Kelowna. We love visiting Gramma and Grampa Brinton in Kelowna...especially because they only live 1 block from the beach!

Same day....different kid. Remember when Evy would suck her thumb like that? On a side note....please notice how CLEAN and NEW Lamby is!! I really should post an after picture...but I am too embarrassed.

Evy has always been an entertainer....she keeps us laughing all the time. She loves to perform and have her picture taken.

The last picture and the next one were taken in Waterton. We LOVE going to Waterton with Gramma and Grampa. We usually have a picnic, play in the water and at the park, try a little hike or walk, and it wouldn't be right if we went to Waterton and didn't stop for Ice Cream! What a cute bunch!

Maren's First Day of Grade 1....

And Blake's first day of Preschool!! Ahhhh! I can hardly stand this! I want to roll back the clock and hug and squish these little people. Time just marches on...I need to take more time to appreciate all the little moments that make up our memories!

If memory serves me right, after the kids went to school, mom and I left for the airport in Calgary so we could fly to China. I went with her to help her pack up their stuff to ship it all home. I think we were gone for 3 weeks! Wow! Has it really been that long since we went?

Oh, Curious George! Mrs. Court let each child in her class take Curious George home for a weekend. They were supposed to take VERY good care of him, do lots of fun things with him, and then write in a journal about everything they did! All the kids have loved doing that. Except Micah...Mrs. Court retired this year, so he won't have the chance to have her for a teacher.

There's that hilarious smile again! Can't you see the mischief behind those smiling eyes and silly grin?

THIS was our FIRST Wacky Wednesday. Every year at school they have a day called Wacky Wednesday and all the kids can come to school dressed Wacky. Blake and Evy wanted to get dressed up too, even though they weren't going to school. Crazy Kids!

After school they went outside to play in all the puddles from the crazy rain we were getting. They really Ham it up when they know the camera is watching!

This was a fun day....we stayed overnight at the Sheraton in Calgary(I think this was the first time we had really stayed in a hotel with them), played in thei waterpark and then the next morning we went to the zoo. I think that's the last time we've been to the zoo. Evy and Micah were just asking me yesterday if we could go to the zoo this year. I guess we have an activity planned for the spring/summer!

Evy as the shepherd in the Nativity. She was sooo darling...I am glad we got video of this too. Oh, and you can see my huge pregnant Micah tummy in the background - nice!

And here is Micah, finally! 2 Brothers meeting each other for the first time! I love it!

What a chubba wubba face! I still squish it and kiss it EVERY DAY. He hates it when I call him my baby boy...but my baby he will always be! That's the breaks when you're last!

What's more fun in the summer than the Sprinkler under the trampoline? This is back when the pad for our trampoline still looked good and was usable...it's long gone now!

This is one of my All-time Favorite pictures of Micah. He is all dressed up for Maren's Baptism. Thanks Steve W - I LOVE your photos!

The Steed cabin in Waterton. This is another one of our favorite places. HUGE thanks to Brett's parents for letting us use it so often. We have sooo much fun there! Look how they're all growing so fast! agh!

We like to train our kids young! Here is Micah getting a lesson from daddy on reverence during the prayer. We are still working on it too! I can't stop giggling looking at this on....time to move on!

This looks a little more like everyday life around here. These kids are always up to something. When they get their imaginations revved up, it's fun to see the games they come up with. I do not know whose idea this was, or how it cam about....but I couldn't NOT take a picture. What a bunch of Monkeys!

I think we have an addiction to goggles. We have MULTIPLE pictures of the kids in goggles. We have MULTIPLE pairs of goggles. They want to wear them all the time...even to run through the sprinkler. hmmmmm......it makes for cute pictures though!

The above picture and the one below were both taken at the next Webster Reunion in 2006. This time we went to Bear Lake in Utah so that Mom and Dad would be able to come. They were serving their mission in Salt Lake at that time and the got permission to come up to the lake for a few days to party with us! It was a great time. I love our Family reunions.

I don't think we took an individual family picture at this reunion, but here's one of all the grandkids with Gramma and Grampa. What a good lookin bunch. We really missed the Senior Steeds and the Edmonton Websters at this one...it's terrible when life gets in the way of having fun!!

Look at this face!!! And those eyes!!! They are not blue anymore, they have changed to a kind of hazely, greeny, grayish sort of color. They kind of change depending on what he wears. I think Micah is about 6 months old in this picture. It was taken at Evy and Eden's birthday party.

7 months old here....and what's that he's eating? A tomato! He loved them! We peeled a fresh tomato from the garden and gave it to him. He devoured the WHOLE thing! We didn't dare give him another one - I was afraid of what I'd find in his next diaper if I did.

And this is where I'll stop for now. For some reason we skip from Micah being 7 months old to him being 2 or 3 years old. I need to round up some more pictures of him.

I am putting a call out to all of you family members. If you have any pictures of my kids could you email them to me. I am missing a lot of important events since Micah was born. I think we kind of forgot about our camera for a while.

Actually I am remembering now that our camera got crushed and it was a while before we could afford a new one. Send me whatever you've got...thanks everyone!

Momentum

2011-02-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to try and keep the momentum going and jump right into Micah joining our family.

Micah is my Valentine! Literally! He was due on Valentines day and he was actually born on his due date. Again I had the epidural and it was as heavenly as ever. Once again we struggled with names. Surprisingly, we only ever had trouble with the boys. The girls had their names picked out way in advance, but with the boys, we always waited to see what they looked like.

Micah was definitely a Micah! Here is the 'before' shot. I still had 2 months left to go, yikes!

Here we are 1 day old...isn't he precious?

This one always makes me laugh....what a classic Evy face!!

I told you he was my little valentine.

Here he is in his blessing outfit! Gramma webster made the vest and Gramma Brinton made the blanket.

Micah was as good natured as a baby as Maren and Evy. Always happy and smiley. Very calm and relaxed. He slept well, and a lot. The kids were big enough to all be good helpers The only sad thing was that I got thrush in the first few weeks of nursing him and it never really got better. Nursing was sooo painful that I had to quit at 3 months and switch to bottles. That was Hard! I loved nursing my babies and I had a feeling he might be my last and I didn't want it to end. The pain took over though and we made the switch. He did just fine.

Here's a few more pics of our MicahBoy! Sharlee and I went to visit Gramma and Grampa Webster on the mission in Salt Lake. I think this was in April. Anyway, we finally got a picture of him having a bath in gramma's sink!

What a happy guy! I love that grin!

Momma's little helper. We were fixing and sewing some dresses for Mom. I think Eden was finished her snack and was wanting to be let out. She's so cute...even when she's upset!

Look at that face....and the dimple!

4 months old now and he's sitting up! what a big boy!

Cool Dude!!!!

Micah has always been full of personality. He keeps me laughing all day with funny faces, and he says the funniest things. He is full of questions, and mischief! He is always getting into something and wanting to see how much he can get away with. I am learning a lot of patience now that I am a mother of 4.

As much as I may get frustrated sometimes...I love being a mom. I wish I was better at it and made less mistakes...but I guess that is the point of families. We are all learning together. It will be fun to take a few trips down memory lane and record more of the fun memories of the kids in the early years.

I think I'll start jumping back and forth between past and present from now on. Try to keep track of all the fun things that happen everyday around our house, and mix in a little from our past adventures.

This is getting ridiculous!!

2011-02-01T17:12:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it has been another year! I swear I am the worst blogger in the history of the world. My problem now is that I have 2 different blogs going. I think when our renovations are finished I am going to import all of these posts over there and only have 1 blog to take care of.

I did say renovations in the last paragraph, although, it's more like a total home makeover! Those of you who know our house won't recognize it when it's finished. Things are still progressing, but they never go as fast or as smoothly as we'd like.

Anyway, back to the kids. That is why I started this blog after all. I am regretting my decision to start at the beginning and work my way forward. It's a lot more daunting than you'd think. I think I'll skip right to Evy being born and I can always fill in the gaps later.

Here is Evy.....

Evy Diana Brinton was born on August 28, 2003. We waited quite a long time in between Blake and Evy. If you read my last post then you'll know why. We had just moved out to Magrath and in with my parents. Steve graduated from university and had gotten a job working at the Credit Union in Magrath. It was really fun to be in town and have him working there too. Maren started preschool that September and so it was a really exciting time for us.

I had an epidural this time around and I'll tell you - that's the ONLY way to have a baby! Things were so quiet and serene in the Delivery Room. I slept and rested, visited with my mom and other company that came up to visit. I think Steve even took a nap and read his book for a little while. Of course things got a little busier when it came time to push, but even that wasn't so hard because I was so rested and so much energy. After it was all over and they took me to my room, I knew I needed to rest but I felt like I wanted to get up and run a marathon! And that's saying something...I don't run...ever!

Here are some more pictures. This first one is her meeting her big Sister and Brother for the first time. We gave Maren and Blake their own new 'babies' so they could 'help out'. They loved those babies.

Grandma Webster - that is the blanket she made for Evy...it was soooo soft!

STRETCH!! A signature move.

Look at that face - I want to smoosh those cheeks!

Isn't she sweet? AWWW!! I miss my little cuddly cutie! She had such dark hair and lots of it! I am still surprised how much her hair has lightened. I can't believe that my little 'Evalina' is turning 8 this year. She is getting excited for her baptism.

Evy was a good natured baby. Maren was a good baby, but Evy was even more relaxed and content. She rarely ever fussed - even when she was hungry. She was super smiley and good natured. She used to nurse and then liked to be left alone, so I would lay her on the nursing pillow on the floor and she would just 'hang out'. She'd lay there for an hour or more sometimes. I would go downstairs to check the laundry, or have a shower, or check my email and would forget about her. I'd run up the stairs feeling like the winner of the 'worst mother in the world award', and there I'd find her - asleep!

She was my most active baby in the womb and so after she was born it would frustrate me to see her be so still for so long. Family and Friends couldn't believe how much she would move and stretch inside me....it looked so freaky! It didn't feel so great either. I do have to say that this layed back attitude didn't last forever. As soon as this girl could roll over and learned to crawl, she found her energy and she hasn't stopped yet!

Alright, I need more pictures! Let's start with cuddles from dad.

This is in here ONLY because it is her favorite picture. She laughs hysterically every time she sees it! Little Munchkin!

Daddy is always sooo silly!

Here she is with both her Grandma's on her blessing day!

We've got to have a bathtub picture!

OK, 1 more just because I love her sweet little face!

We will continue on with Micah, who joins us 3 years later and then we'll catch up to where we are now and fill in the gaps as we go. Love you Evy!!

Beautiful Baby #2

2010-01-25T11:09:00.009-07:00

Well...it's only a year later and I am finally getting around to my next posting. At this rate it'll be years before I catch up to where we are now. Why is procrastination such a problem? I am hoping this will get easier. You see, Maren and Blake were both born BEFORE the 'digital camera' age. This means that I have to find all their baby photos and scan them before I can pass them on to all of you. I guess I just tend to be a little wary of undertaking that process. Alright! Was that a sufficient amount of excuses and whining? It was for me.....so....

Beautiful baby boy #1 Blake Ronald Brinton. Blake is named for his Grandpa Brinton(Steve's Dad) whose first name is Ronald. This is significant because Blake was the first Brinton Boy Grandchild. Now, I know what all you Brintons are thinking right now...what about Kaden and JT??? Well, Steve's older sister had 2 boys before we had Blake but their last name is not Brinton....they are Burgarts. Steve thought it was fitting that the first boy to carry on the Brinton name be named for his grandfather. I agreed! Actually each of our children are named for one of their grandparents. Maren Anne after my mother, Blake Ronald after Steve's father, Evy Diana after Steve's mother and Micah James after my father and also Steve's middle name is James. We decided to just play around and have fun with the first names.

Alright, alright!! Back to Blake! I had a hard time finding a belly picture for this one! I kept trying to avoid it! These are the best I could do.

I don't know why I tried to avoid the pictures so much. I guess you just always feel so huge. I was probably the healthiest when pregnant with Blake though. Maren and I would take a lot of walks and I have a trusty Kathy Smith Pregnancy workout that I did faithfully every day of my pregnancy (except for weekends) right up until the last week or 2. I think I am actually in Labor in the second picture. Well, enough about me - let's get on to the cute stuff!

Blake was born on July 10, 2000. I wish I could remember the times...and I don't know where all my baby bracelets are...I know I kept it all. I'll find it and add that info in later. Again, Shonna was there for support and to videotape, but this time my mom was able to be there. YAY!! It was a good thing too because this labor was completely different. It was, well, much more difficult and exhausting...which looking back now was kind of a 'foreshadowing' of Blakes' personality. =) Here is the Cutie!! He's just a few hours old.

I didn't have an epidural with Blake either and, looking back now, I should have. I was too much of a chicken. I thought that I would be the 1% that ends up paralyzed. Anyway, it was a loooong labor, very painful and difficult, 100 times worse than with Maren. I couldn't seem to work with it or relax. I did not progress at all, and I got increasingly agitated until I finally gave up (more like freaked out!) and let them put in an IV to give me some morphine. I'm sure Steve and my mom were getting frustrated with me. At this point I had been in hard labor for 9 or 10 hours and I was still only dilated to a 3!!!!! You women reading this will understand me. Well, the morphine knocked me out between contractions and within an hour I was pushing.

I actually do remember now that Blake was born just after midnight, because he was almost born on his due date! It was about 12:30am. I was so excited to see him, but of course there was complications. He took a long time to breathe, he had been in some distress during the labor and my fluid had not been quite clear so the pediatrician had to check him out before we could get the all clear. I think that's where a lot of his lung issues stem from.

Look at this proud daddy! There's nothing like a first son!

Blake had a rough time during his first few months of life. We were also a very busy new little family and so that played a big part in things as well. The very first thing I noticed about him was that he had a tongue-tie. I was concerned but my doctor put me at ease and didn't seem too concerned about it as long as he learned to nurse fine. Well, long story short, we finally had his tongue-tie clipped when he was 9 months old. This was after months of struggles with nursing, eating, weight issues, sleeping issues(from being hungry all the time) and many, many doctor and nurse visits. He was a different child afterward and seemed to explode in his development. His temperament was better, he ate better, he slept better and that helped me be more sane.

It was a big adjustment for me going from one child to two. I felt very isolated where we lived on the Northside, and Steve had the car all day, every day, for school and work. He worked 2 jobs and was going to school full time... even through the summer so he could finish early. He was also the YM president in our ward. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized that I went through quite a serious Postpartum Depression after Blake was born. I am glad that we all came through just fine though... and I learned a lot about myself during those hard times.

I'll post a few more picture of my little character here and then I think I'll start another one...this one's getting a little lengthy. Blake was an interesting baby. He was the absolute cutest thing. When he was happy he could melt my heart or keep me in stitches laughing. But, he has a bit of a temper which we are still working on. Most of it was because he was not eating properly because of his tongue problem, so that meant he didn't sleep well and it tended to make him a bit cranky. He did not like to be cold, still doesn't, and he hated having a bath. I'm happy to report that he has improved in that area ;)

With all of that said, Blake is my Tenderheart. He is sweet, sensitive, thoughtful and sincere. He always has been. Just look at those eyes and his cute little smile!!! He loved to cuddle... I can always count on him for a good hug!

This has been good for me! Sometimes it's easier to remember the bad things...and when I look at the pictures of my baby boy and relive the memories... all the good stuff comes back too! What a sweet spirit Blake has. He was sent to our home for a reason. I hope that he learns as much from me as I learn from him.

I'll continue Blakes' story in the next post. Evy doesn't come along until 3 years after Blake, so there is a lot to share before she shows up!

Beautiful Baby #1

2009-01-30T10:46:00.001-07:00

Alright, now is the time to tell the story of our first baby girl. We decided around our first anniversary that we were ready to start our family. I was still working, and I can't remember what Steve's job was at that time. He wasn't ready to start university at that point yet. He didn't want to start until he was sure of his major.

It didn't take long at all to get pregnant. It must have been the right time. I was excited about being pregnant but VERY nervous about the delivery. I think most first time moms feel that way. I was a little sad as well because my Mom was living in China at the time and Steve's parents had just moved to Kelowna. I was without a mother. Thank goodness for the internet! We emailed quite a bit during those few months. It was fun to call her out of the blue to give her the news that she would have a new little baby waiting for her when she got home. I had a really good pregnancy though. Actually, all of my pregnancies were great!.

Of couse, I read all the right books and I really liked my doctor and she was very helpful about answering all my questions. I did have what I would call evening sickness. I never usually felt sick in the mornings...it was usually the aftenoon and evening. I quit working 3 or 4 months early because I would start to black out and feel nauseas at work...I wan't getting much done there anyway. It was torture to have so much time to wonder about our new little person.

We wanted to find out early if we were having a boy or a girl but Maren was unco-operative. It was left to be a surprise, although, I knew deep down she was a girl. We had a boy and girl name picked out and they both starte with M so we called her baby M during the pregnancy. I am going to post a really personal picture of myself next. I want to warn anyone reading that you are going to see a really pregnant person. I am 81/2 months pregnant in the picture...don't worry I am decent! haha! I am only posting this picture because the kids love to see how I looked when they were in my 'tummy'. The following pictures are of Maren as a baby and toddler. I will quit at her 2nd birthday. Blake was born about a month and a half later and we will pick up the story in the next post with him. Enjoy!

Maren was such a wonderful baby. She was born on May 20, 1998 in Lethbridge. It was a really long labor(18 hours, I think) and miraculously, I didn't have an epidural. I had something to prove to myself. I am the worlds biggest baby and I wanted to show myself that I was strong. I still don't know how I did it. I guess just 1 breath at a time. Steve was so patient and helpful too. It is so hard to put into words the emotions you feel when the doctor hands you your first perfect little person. She was so beautiful! I smiled and cried and so wished my mother could be there. It was actually my first thought to call my mom. It was torture to wait until the commotion died down a bit. My sister Shonna was with me, and I am still grateful to her for her support and love. Shonna was actually present for the births of all my children. We videotaped (in good taste) a lot of the labor and the deliveries of each of our children. Now that the kids are older they love to watch them and see the moment they came into the world. It is fun to be able to share with them the first time we met each other. Just so you know, I am crying now as I relive those emotions again. I love being a mom!

I love these next pictures. The first is the the first day we brought Maren home from the hospital. We didn't go to our house though. We went to stay with Mark and Adele who were taking care of my parents house in Magrath. It was so nice to have Adele to take care of me, make me rest, show me the in's and out's of breast-feeding and fawn over my new little girl. It was something wonderful that I was able to share with her. She has taught me so much over the years about the kind of mother I am trying to be. Thank you to her again for all her help and support. I had to put the other picture in there because I never could resist that grin of Marens'. It makes me smile!!

I was brushing Maren's hair after her bath and gave her the brush to play with while I got her dressed. It shocked me so much to watch her try to brush her hair that I had to take a picture! I will fight anybody who tries to tell me that she really didn't know what she was doing. And the other picture is one of my favorites. Maren and her cousin Chase - in the picture - have always had a unique relationship. They are really close. Chase loved her and was so gentle from the first day we brought her home. I think they were close friends before they ever came to earth. They are still close cousins even though they have grown up so much. I love it!!

There is that grin again! Maren was always a happy baby. I don't think I fully appreciated her happy disposition until we had our later children. She was very rarely sad or upset unless there was a real problem. She never seemed to make a fuss unless she needed something. She also seemed to sleep an awful lot. We actually have hours of video of her sleeping away. She used to snore softly and we thought it was so cute....it is torture to watch it now. She was a heavy sleeper too. You could take her in and out of the car seat, walk around stores and shop, enen change her clothes and she wouldn't wake up until she was ready - unless you laid her in her crib. She would sleep anywhere, for the first few weeks, except her crib. I think she was at least 3 months old before we could put her in there without waking her up.

I love these two pictures as well. It was really hard to go through our pictures and try to decide which ones to put on here. I tried to get an assortment of all ages. And I also chose ones that were meaningful to me. I love being with family and I love my children to play with their cousins. This is how I always think of Sarah and Court. Then I remember that they're all grown up now. Sharlee was back from China and it was fun to have her want to spend time with us and get to know Maren. I love the other one because it is our first family picture! We had a little picnic at Henderson with a couple friends and we got our first snapshot of us as a family.

Maren always loved - as most kids do probably - to be in small spaces. We have many pictures of her inside of boxes or sitting in a laundry basket or cupboards and things. She always had fun when Steve would put her in the garbage can after changing the bag. We actually still have that garbage can too! I think all of our kids have had their turn in it! Maren looks like she is being shy for the camera in the other picture, but don't let that face fool you. I think she must have been playing peek-a-boo. Maren has never been shy a day in her life. We used to have to stop and have conversations with complete strangers in the grocery store. She loved to say hi to everyone and tell them all about her life. She has never been to shy about getting up in front of people either. I guess the only time I have seen her timid is when she bears her testimony.

Aaaahhh! The swing-set! We spent many hours on that swing-set in our yard on the north-side. We didn't have any parks or playgrounds close to our house and we only had one car then, so we bought a swing-set and sand box for our yard. She would have played out there all day if she could have. She really loved it when grandpa would come over and swing with her. And, there she is all dressed and looking pretty for church. That is one of my most favorite dresses - I am pretty sure it came from Aunt Paula - as most of my favorite clothes did. I still want to smush that little face!

Aha! The bathroom photos. How could this have been complete without them? Maren would play in the bath for hours. She really loved it when we would shampoo her hair and make it stick up and out in all directions. Steve loved to make sculptures with her hair. In these pictures she is 2. This was right around her birthday. She actually got the big girl potty as a birthday present. She is growing up in these pictures and getting ready to be a big sister.

This was another birthday present. She would ride up and down the street on her little trike - or she'd ride around and around our big basement. It is so hard to believe that this picture was taken 81/2 years ago. Back then our biggest worry was whether or not she would have a potty training accident or color on the walls and now we are preparing her for Young Womens'. Time seems to have gone by too quickly and I suddenly feel like I didn't take enough time to enjoy it. I guess... there's always tomorrow!

Our first year...

2009-01-30T09:38:00.004-07:00

Well, I told you in the beginning that I was not great at keeping a journal, and now I guess I have proven it! Christmas seemed to throw a wrench into a lot of my plans this year. I hope I am back on track now and can get myself organized.

The next story to tell is the birth or our first baby girl, Maren. I guess I should back up just a little and fill in the space between the wedding and the baby. Steve and I were married for almost exactly a year when we decided it was time to expand our little family. Steve worked a few jobs on and off, all the while trying to decide what to do with his life and what kind of career he wanted. He tried all sorts of things. Here is a short list of the jobs I can remember. First was the night shift at the potato plant in Taber(not fun for a newlywed), Safeway, Cutco, Selling frozen gourmet fish, cleaning the research station, and taxi driving. I am sure I missed something. He is always on the lookout for an adventure. I was working full time as well. I started out working at Dr. Mezei's office. That is a story all on its own. Let's just say that my boss was not the greatest. It was a good learning experience for me. I loved everyone else that I worked with and I think that's why I stayed so long. Finally, I couldn't take the negativity and verbal abuse any longe,r so I found a new job at Visual Effects. There were 3 doctors in that office and the staff were wonderful. It was amazing the difference it made...I actually liked my job again.

We also moved quite a bit that first year. We started out in the basement at Clare Bogdan's for the first couple months. Then we moved in to the Bikman's house in Park Royal. They are snowbirds and we decided to house-sit for them while they took off to Phoenix for the winter. It was really fun to start out our life in a cute little house. From there we moved to the London Road apartments - third floor. We loved living there and the rent was great! The only downside was that our apartment was on the west side of the building and got quite hot. So, we moved down one floor and accross the hall. We were happy there for quite a while until we found out we were pregnant. It was only a one bedroom and no kids allowed so we started looking around for somewhere new.

We ended up in the basement apartment of our friends, Wayne and Jasmine Burton. It was really fun. There was the cutest little room - just perfect for a nursery. I wish I had a photo of it. Mom was in living in China when I was pregnant with Maren but she came home for a quick visit and it was so much fun to have her help getting the nursery ready and buying all the stuff we needed. There are just some times when you need your mom. That is where we lived when we brought Maren home from the hospital. It was pretty small, but I like to think of it as being cozy.

I have searched to try and find some photos of the places we lived and the things we were doing that first year. I have come to the conclusion that we didn't take any. I could only find one photo of Steve and I that was taken at his grandmothers 80th birthday party. Now, I wish I had a picture of me in my scrubs at work. I wish we had taken photos of the places we lived. This is why I have started this blog... to remind me and help me document the things that are important.

The Beginning

2008-11-06T08:25:00.010-07:00

I was thinking of what I wanted my next post to be and I decided that if I want this to be a history for my family, then I need to start at the beginning. The beginning of our Family, that is. Steve and I have known each other for a long time. So long, in fact, that we don't remember exactly how we met. We do know we met through our mutual friend, Michele, but the day, time and what we were doing escapes both of us. It just seems as though we have always been friends.

We are pretty sure we met when I was in grade 9. It was either at a volleyball game(that he was playing in) at my school, or it was at one of the many parties at the Thomson house. It doesn't really matter. We were instantly friends. Steve has always been so much fun, and easy to be with. After that we spent a lot of time together. It wasn't long before I realized that he felt a little differently about me that I did about him. He actually asked me to be his grad date when he graduated from LCI. It was fun to go with him, even though I was only 16!

He was around and working for a year before his mission because he was only 18 when he graduated. We were still very close friends, but things were a little strained because I wouldn't date him, but I did date other people. This always frustrated Steve, and I tell him now that I was inspired and I didn't know it. By the time he left on his mission to Portugal, he was quite miffed at me for not dating him. Needless to say, we didn't write much - or at all! I actually wrote him many letters but never sent them because I thought he was mad and I didn't want to distract him from his missionary work.

When he came home from his mission, I was just finishing my diploma for Optometric/Ophthalmic Assisting in Calgary and had moved back home to find a job. I knew I would see him at the dance, and I really wanted to rekindle our friendship. I had always counted him as one of my best friends. It is still hard for me to describe to him how I felt. I was so excited to see him again and we started to hang out a bit together. This time, it wasn't long before I knew that it was me who felt a little differently about him. He wanted to make amends because he didn't like having bad feelings for me, but I wanted more! We started dating just a week or so after my birthday in March(I am positive Steve knows the exact day!). By April we were engaged(again - he remembers the date), and by August we were married! Wow!

I am glad that we didn't date until after his mission. If we had dated before his mission I know that things would have never been the same for us after he came home and we would have gone in different directions. So, here are some pictures of us on our wedding day, August 9, 1996 - I do know that day ;). I can't believe how young we look!

We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful day! We had so much help and support from friends and both our families. I can't believe that it has been 12 years since we were sealed. The time seems both longer and shorter sometimes. I am so grateful for Steve and for our children. We have been blessed with 4 amazing kids and we try each day to do our best to teach them and prepare them for this life. It has been fun to relive such wonderful memories!

Welcome!

2008-11-04T10:09:00.005-07:00

Welcome! We have decided to enter the world of Blogging! This will be an exciting adventure for our family. My hope for our Blog is that it will become a scrapbook of sorts. I have never been a scrapbooker and will probably never be. I seem to struggle with keeping a consistent journal....so I am hoping this will be the answer. Steve tells me that it should be the perfect solution considering the amount of time that I like to spend tinkering on the computer anyway. At least this way I might be constructive and create something that will be a history for our family.

I have to admit that I am a little nervous about this. I would not consider myself a terribly creative person, so this feels just a little bit out of my comfort zone. I have put off starting this because I didn't really feel like our life was interesting enough to have anything to say. Then one day I woke up and realized that this only needs to be interesting to us! I really hope you enjoy some of what we post here as well. Thanks so much for taking a peek!