We are finally settling down.

Well we are in and starting to settle. No pictures yet as we are still arranging and re-arranging rooms. iT has been a crazy summer and not a whole lot of recreation has been had. But we have had some, and the pictures will show you what we have been up too.

Well we got everything packed and moved in a few trips. Turns out we have a lot of stuff!!!We had the van loaded to the top, the truck that Aric's mom brought, the other truck, a car and the 20' uhaul. Yet I still needed to go back to Edmonton to get another load in the van. Boy our last move was way easier with no kids!!!

But we got it all, and then some now. Our house is full already!!!!

We have done many trips to Calgary already getting this for this house. Here Naomi is holding Sylas' hand as we drive. She loves her brother a lot.

Our future little missionary. He is so handsome in his outfit that our friend Kara gave him.

My cousin Joanne stopped in one day with her family as they were heading to Calgary. Her youngest, Claire, is a week younger than Naomi. This hug seriously lasted about 5 minutes. They just wouldn't let go. It was so cute.

I'm such a big fan of Kijiji. I sold a lot of things to buy my double stroller we got, we have also bought a new table and chairs. Here Sylas is enjoying his new bumbo chair. He is such a big boy. It seems to me that he is developing faster than Naomi did. But I'm sure that time is just speeding up.

Gnomers has started to want to hold "it" a lot lately. She definitely needs supervision in this. But she just loves to show off her skills and her love for him.

A couple of Sundays ago I go the idea to straighten her hair. Wow did that ever make her look grown up. She is such a beautiful girl. She must take after her father in her looks.

 

So we have got a roller. He has decided that he wants to roller A LOT! I had to look up when the rolling and such happens. Front to back is fairly normal for this age. But back to front is usually around the 5-6 month mark when they start to sit up by themselves. This guy has to been doing this for 2 weeks now, and her isn't 4 months until this Sunday! What a big boy.

Playing with mommy's eyelash curler. She's got the right idea.

Now our little "vacation" this summer was heading to play at Joanne's house in Brooks. They have a boat and they took us out on the lake for the evening. Oh so much fun was had by all. The following is the proof of Aric's braveness, and Naomi's for that matter.

 Getting suited up in the life jackets. She didn't fuss in it like she usually does at the swimming pools.

 Our big boy all suited up and ready to go. Man, he hated that thing to begin with. There were many tears shed by this little man. It some time, but  actually got him to sleep finally. The rocking of the boat kept him quite happy after that.













We wedged the car seat between the chair and the the window. Here he had woken up from a nap to show us he was happy and comfy.

 Enjoying the breeze and getting ready to watch daddy go for a ride on the knee board.

 

 Wahoo! Look at him go. He quite well for never having done it before.

Naomi and I even took to the water on the tube. Here we are pictured in the center with Brenna and Cammi on either side of us. Every once in a while I heard a little "weeeeeeee" coming from the little body in front of me. Apparently her expression didn't change much, but she enjoyed it.

 The little girls enjoying the ride. Naomi is such a little ham!

Our big girl enjoyed her ride so much, she wanted to go again. This time she went with Tamaran behind her, adn then Brenna and Cammie again on the sides. She was so brave that she even let go many times to wave back to us when we would wave to her.

Our happy little man enjoying his pink play center.  I'm sorry that there are so many, but he has such a great smile.

 Naomi has a special little room for herself. It is under the stairs and it even came with a little Naomi sized couch. She has even taken a few naps in there if we are down there and nap time comes.

Well we are gearing up to add another to our family this year. No, we are not pregnant again. We will be hosting a Japanese exchange student for this academic year. We are getting excited for this new challenge. She will be joining us on the August 29th. So if anyone comes to visit us, you no doubt get to know Chiho. Well that is all for today. I hope this has found you all well and enjoying our little family as much as we do.

Part - 3

Well for those who may not know, but I think everyone does, we are moving to Strathmore, AB, as Aric will be teaching 5th and 6th grades at Werstmount Elementary. We are very excited for this change in our lives. We will be closer to most of our families. But sadly we will be moving further away from Chelsea. But really any move would have been further away, as we really are close right right now. We went down to Strathmore earlier this month and stayed with BJ and Kyle as we looked for housing. man was it tight finding something as most listing were already taken for August. But we came out on top I think. We are renting a 4 bedroom, half duplex, with a finished basement and single car garage. Lots of storage too. There is a fully fenced yard to Naomi and Sylas to play in (not huge) as there is a garden and greenhouse in the back, with a sundeck. Oh we are so happy with what we found. So come July 28th we will no longer call Edmonton home.

Naomi being the water baby that she is.

Such a handsome little man, even with eczema.

Naomi fell asleep at lunch one day. She did however manage to move her food out of the way before going to sleep.

Enjoying the bouncy castle at our wards July 1st (on the 2nd) pancake breakfast. We thought we would use it before any kids arrived.

Before going to Strathmore house hunting, we spent a night with Ruthanne and Dave in Calgary. Dave pulled out some toy guns and Naomi had a hay day with the noises they made.

Then we spent a night with Graham and Jacqui and the kids. We hit op one of the nearby parks and had some fun. This is one of those park that uses recycled tires instead of sand. Well Naomi hates the feel of those in her sandals. She got onto the park and was trying to get her sandals off while whining "sugar, sugar"

Before we headed to Strathmore we all went to the Calgary Zoo. This was the kids first time. Naomi sure had fun. Sylas had a great nap.

Graham, Eliza, Audrey and Naomi taking in the elephant exhibit.

The devonian garden type place. I couldn't believe she posed so well.

Loving the monkeys.

Learning about fish.

As tall as you might think you are on daddy's shoulders, the giraffe is still taller.

Outside the penguin exhibit that we didn't go into because the line went faster than Sylas eats. So we saw the few that were outside.

Sorry for some reason this one won't stay in the center of the page.

Sleepy boy

 The pictures says it all.

Little stud.

First time in a play center. He's still a bit small, as his feet don't touch the bottom, but it was set higher at the time. But he isn't steady enough yet.

Ok, she loves to go into the fridge and grab things. She came out one day munching on a whole cucumber.

Enjoying a bath?

It's too bright, let me sleep!

She has adopted this battery charger as her "camera". She loves it. I like how kids see toys in the simplest things.

Well I think that is it until we have moved and settled in. I hope these pictures were as enjoyable to view as they were to take. We love you all.

Part - 2 the cousins.

Installment number 2!

A couple of weeks ago, Sharlene and the kids came out to Alberta for visit. They made a special visit up to Edmonton to play for the day. Here we feature the 2 newest members of the Harker clan.

 Milo and Sylas seem to be getting along just great for having just met.  :)

 Such good friends already.

 We all went and met up with Benson's school to play at the park. Here are the girls hanging out on the tire swing. They sure had fun at the park.

 Having fun with the cousins.

 Our happy little man. He is such a joy. He has started to giggle, and it is so cute. He really is a special little guy.

 Naomi loves water. In the last post I showed her "helping" with the dishes. I came up with the idea to just let her play in a bucket of water on a towel on the floor. She had a hoot!!! Until...

 She dumped it all over herself. So sad!!

 Such a happy little guy.

 He loves the water sooooo much. Here he is enjoying bath time. We knew he enjoyed the water, so we took swimming for the first time a few weeks ago. Wow... another water baby. He was happy for a good hour and half in the water.

 So Sharlene invited us to go down to Red Deer to her parents house for the day. Chelsea and I packed all the kids into one van and headed down. Jacqui packed her kids up from Calgary and joined us as well. We had a blast. Swimming, food, sun and fun. 

Here is McKay enjoying his cookie, with a chunk of chocolate stuck to his tooth. Cute.

 Enjoying the trampoline

 She really loves the trampoline

 All 11 (12, with Chelsea's belly) grandkids. It was a madhouse!!!

back row l-r: Huxley, Naomi, McCoy, Eliza, McKay, Chelsea (Taylor) and Kimber

Front row l-r: Sylas, Benson, Neko, Audrey and Milo

 Oldest group of grandkids

 Grandkids round 2

And the last round, those born after mom and dad left for their mission. Including baby Taylor in Chelsea's belly.

 A fun time was had by all. We had some pretty tired kids by the end of the day. This was just a taste of what we will have to deal with come Christmas when everyone is together. All i can say is that it will be different with spouses, grandparents and great grandparents around to help referee and control the madness.