Happy New Year!!!!

Well I didn't send out a family photo and Christmas card yet again this year! But are we really surprised? I'm not! 

2012 Was a great year all in all for us. Besides Aric going though H-E-double hockey sticks at work in the last school year, we are happy with where the year took us.

Sylas joined our family and has brought complete joy into our lives. He is such a treat and really is generally a very happy kid. He is growing like a weed, seriously! He is now 8.5 months old and weights about 23-24lbs to my best guess. He is a rock!!! Thankfully he is starting to move so I don't have to carry him around the house as much now. During out Christmas in Hillspring with my WHOLE family, he decided that not only was it time to sit up by himself finally, but that he wants to stand too. So he is pulling himself on all sorts of furniture. I'm going to make the prediction that he will walk before he is one. We just can't keep him still and sitting. Tonight he crawled up the entire flight of stairs from the main floor to the top floor, by himself. Aric just stood behind him and kept a had available in case he fell for stumbled.

Naomi is a gem... most of the time. I'm mean, come on people she is 2, and we all know what 2 year olds are like. So I decide to see only the good right now. She surprises us every day with what she is picking up from us or the TV. Potty training? Well no. She is actually very scared of her bodily functions. The few times that we force her to sit on the potty. she is wines and bawls until we can't take it anymore. It is quite entertaining! It is amazing how much she has grown up. Day to day I do not see the changes until I catch a glimpse of a photo if her from just after Sylas was born. WOW!!! She is turning into a little girl so quickly.

We made a pretty big move to the bustling metropolis of Strathmore AB. We are loving it! It's definitely  a different pace from Edmonton. We sure miss our friends up there in the frozen north country. Aric is absolutely loving his job here. He feels appreciated finally in the efforts and ideas he brings. I'm enjoying being closer to family. I miss you Chelsea, but it has been nice to be able to spend time with a couple of my brothers. It's nice to be pretty much around the corner from BJ and Kyle. And Naomi has enjoyed getting to know her cousins Audrey, McCoy and Eliza.

My parents came from their mission in November!!!! I'm really enjoying having the chance to spend time with them. They stayed with us for a little while before Christmas and we got to prep for the craziness that was Christmas with the Harker clan at the Great Canadian Barn Dance B&B in Hillspring. Over all it was great. With 12 kids ages 5.5 and under, it could have really bad. But over all the kids were very well behaved. We enjoyed a "sleigh ride" on Christmas Eve. Man was it cold. But quite of few us braved the cold and had a memorable experience. Then it was back to the B&B for a roasting marshmallows over the fire in the back. It was quite warm by the fire.

We have an exchange student that most people are aware of. She is such a delight. Chiho if from Tokyo Japan and enjoys our crazy family dynamic I think. She sure had fun with my whole fam damily at Christmas. I think she realized that I am not the only crazy Canadian.

Well that catches you up pretty much. Now for the real show. On with the pictures!


Naomi helping decorate the Christmas tree.

Now it's Chihos turn



At the Airport when we went and met up with my parents during they over from Calgary to Lethbridge. The grandkids who where there got to go for a ride in the elevator with Nana and Papa.

Tuckered out while waiting to go to Edmonton for my sisters daughters baby blessing.



I love this photo!! HE sure loves his daddy.



Just looking so handsome



Helping "clean up" after baking



Story time with Papa.




Mmmmm... helping mommy and Nana make pulla!



Nice smile Mr. B

How does she sleep like this?

I think I have a mommy wanna be

We went to see Santa Naomi just went right up and snuggle into his neck. It was so cute. Completely different from last year. And Sylas was surprisingly happy to be a strange mans lap too! This was the best photo we could get. Neither of them looked at the camera at the same time

Enjoying some yummy Cora's breakfast after Santa. SOOOOO GOOOOD!!

MR.B got many noise toys for Christmas... thanks everyone! He enjoys them though (not as much Naomi though I think).

Getting ready to go for a walk with mommy, daddy and Naomi.

I don't have snow pants for him, so I heated up a rice bag and placed it in between blanket layer under his legs. He was so cozy he nodded of to sleep. Naomi loved "holding" him.

At Christmas, the kids attended a "Nana Party" they wore animal mask (Naomi is the bunny if you didn't realize), they played pin the button on the ginger bread man, broke a pinata,  and had stories. It was really cute. Naomi still talks about it now and then. We mention any kind of party, and she jumps "Nana party?"

Ok this next set of photos will be the end. I just had to add the sequence here because it was so funny. She woke up her nap looking like this and I kept asking her where her fork was. Can you find it? She never found it on her own, but the photos show her looking pretty hard.

So that's it. I finally updated it. I plan to try to keep up to date a little better this year. Cross your fingers. We hope that this year will has been great so far for everyone and that the rest of year continues in the same way. We love you all.

Halloween Fun

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween. We sure did here. We decorated the garage up and made the kids come through there to get their candy. I think quite a few just passed by because they thought it was too scary. But we still had around 200 kids. The best we ever got in Edmonton was 15 I think. We had a curtain across the garage door with a split in it, and a sign saying "Enter if you Dare". Some just didn't dare I guess. Then they came in and we had black sheets all over the walls blacking it out, with spider webs all over, and bones strewn about. Gravestones on the floor over some mesh stuff Aric had. We made a Grim reaper type thing hanging on one corner. Of course there were black lights lighting everything up. We had a strobe light going and music.

The kids came in and we made a little corner that they went to wit a table and candles. There was an upside down pot made to look like someones was under the table with their head in the pot to jump out. There was sign on the table saying knock for candy. When they did that, Aric turned the smoke machine on and then entered from behind a curtain behind them. 

He had a lot of fun!!!

 I do wish I could've helped him, but I took the kidlets out trick-or-treating with Chiho. Sylas slept nicely in the bottom while Naomi enjoyed going from door to door in the stroller. I eventually stopped taking her out of the stroller and just took the bag to the door for her. She was so cute saying trick-or-treat. She had a blast!!! Her cheeks were so cold and red, but that didn't matter to her.

So following are photos of our Halloween over the last few days.

Naomi gutting her first pumpkin. She had lots of fun.

The final product. I set the pumpkin up for the photo, and as I grabbed the camera she turned it so she could see the face. So proud.

Take 2. It took a bit of convincing to get her smile once I turned the pumpkin back to the camera. That's why her smile isn't as enthusiastic as usual.

Chiho working on her first pumpkin ever. I think she was a little grossed out by the insides.

Final product, and so proud.

The pumpkin family. L-R:Chiho, Aric's double decker, Naomi (including the eyebrows she insisted it have), then mine.

Halloween dinner is not complete without a charred hand and eyeballs!!!

Our "Super-Pooper Buddy Man". HE was the star of our Halloween party.

Naomi playing with our new mask. There is a wig I bought too, but she wouldn't go near it!!! But she put this on freely. Weird kid.

My little chicken. Everyone loved her costume as we went door to door.

The adorable duo. I just love these guys. They are the cutest Superman and Chicken I have ever seen.

Hope you enjoyed everyone, and mom and dad... see you in 25 sleeps!!!

Holy cow time flies by!

I can't believe it is  almost Halloween, already. My last post was a couple months ago. I think stuff has happened. I'm not really sure as I can't remember. I guess the pictures I go through will jog my memory.

Well we are definitely in our home and we are comfortable in it. People in our ward always comment on how they are amazed that we have pictures and stuff up on the walls already. That's funny as it is one of the first things I do, to make sure that I feel at home.

Well we have an exchange student living with us, from Japan. Naomi sure enjoys having Chiho around. She is constantly following her around when she is home. If Chiho has friend over, Naomi is right there in the middle of things demanding them to "watch me!"

Chiho and Naomi

Chiho has had some good experiences so far. We went to the Zoo one Flex-Friday. (A Flex-Friday is an extra day off of school because the kids and teachers go an extra 17 minutes a day, and then they get an extra day off every month, we love it.) Anyway we went to the Zoo and then to Peter's Drive In for lunch. While at Peter's Prime Minister Stephen Harper showed up!!! Here is the proof

Chiho was so excited when we explained who he is. And for those who have no clue still... he is the equivalent of Barack Obama. We were all flying pretty high after meeting him.

 Chiho has also had some firsts at our house. Here she is learning how to remove the fat from beef before cutting it up and freezing it. She had quite a bit of fun.

Chiho likes glasses as much as I do. Se has many pairs that wears, but only 2 have prescriptions. She likes to put them on the kids and they are so stinkin' cute in them. My little book worms

For those who may not know, Aric loves his super hero t-shirts. Knowing this, Aric's sister Casey has sent us some little onsies for Sylas. Our little super buddy is so cute in them

  Green Lantern

The Flash              

 

Naomi is 2, and I can't believe it. She talking so much, and starting to become pretty bossy, which I'm trying to nip in the butt. She is also such a polite little girl, most of the time. She is cute most of the time, but we have definitely had our share of meltdowns and tantrums. Here are some photos of the stinkbutt. She has such a pretty snile, when I'm able to catch a natural one on camera.

Car rides are fun to Calgary

Hangin in mommy's bed

Just looking beautiful ( auful is how she says it)

Modeling her princess dress she got from Auntie Ruthanne

We love mirrors

She loves getting into and playing with my make up.

I"m not sure when she did this, but I found it and made her help clean it up. Look closely at the wall.

We didn't make a huge fuss over her birthday this year, as she is 2 and doesn't know what is going on anyway. The day before her birthday is Uncle Kyles birthday, so we had BJ and Kyle over for dinner and cupcakes.

Politely smiling for a picture.

 

She finally understood the blowing out to the candle concept this year.

The video following is for you mom.

Birthday morning, she had to make sure every scrap of paper was off the present being unwrapped. She had fun unwrapping everything.

She ended up with a kitchen set, a stroller, a nursery for her dollies, some books, playdough, coloring books... I think that was it. I can't remember now.

Photo shoot in the basement

Now Sylas is growing like a weed too. He turned 6 months old on Friday. My how time flies! The kid is over 20 lbs and wear 9 month closes, and has been for a while. He has been chosen to be his daddy's classes baby. Meaning... his school participates in a program called Roots of Empathy program. It is to teach the children about differences and such in children and to help teach them that empathy. Sylas is a month older that they like to have a baby start, but he is the teachers baby so they made an exception. So about once a month we go in and the kids observe and watch the kid grow. They make predictions for what they think he will be able to do next time. we have been once so far, and it goes until next may.

Our little musician

Mr. Attitude

So that's it in a nutshell. We are alive and we are are enjoying life. Stay tuned for a Halloween update.