Family Pictures 2010

We finally got our family pictures done on Thanksgiving weekend. My sister Kamry took them, she has been getting into photography this past year as a hobby, and doing a great job! She had the impossible task of getting a good picture of Avery, mostly getting her to look a the camera. But during this little photo session Avery cooperated and sort of hammed it up for the camera... what a relief! Anyways, Kamry did a great job and I'm grateful for her and the time she took to edit these! Thanks KAMRY!!!

Fun at the Farm!

On Thanksgiving Monday we went out to "Prairie Farms" which is out north of Edmonton by Bon Accord (http://www.prairiegardens.org/.) My friend from work told me about it, and it was definitely worth the drive! And the drive is only about a 1/2 hour out of Edmonton and it is a beautiful drive.

Anyways, it runs through October and what a fun thing for families to do. There is so many different things for everyone! We had a blast and decided we will do this every year.

They had this great folk band playing, they were so good! That was probably Avery's favourite thing, when they stopped in between songs she would clap and say "more!"Avery and her goofy smile :)
Painting pumpkins, another huge hit!

Picking out her pumpkin to paint, found one!

Holding a bunny in the petting zoo, so many cute bunnies!

Avery and this goat were best friends, he loved eating the leaves she fed him, and Avery did not want to go!

Pumpkins! There were pumpkins everywhere!Jordan and Avery outside the entrance

Oh the hay ride over to the little pumpkin / Halloween town they have set up.

Small simple pleasure

Hi All!

My Aunt Tonya gave me a sweet reminder that I need to update my blog because she likes to look at it! I thought that was nice, made me feel good :) So thanks Tonya! And my blog is always looming in the back of my head, but I must say it definitely has taken a back seat! I know everyone in this fast paced world is busy... but I gotta say, our little family has a full plate lately!

In July I was called as Primary president in our ward, what a shocker... and what a wonderful blessing. I love this calling, love the children and my presidency and all our wonderful primary workers! Its truly the best place to be! But yes, added to my already somewhat full plate. I'm working 3 days a week, which is manageable. And I do love my job, its nice to do something I love and am good at and work with such a great team :)

The other thing that has been added to our schedule is Jordan has decided to pursue his CMA. He is doing his course every Saturday from August - March (this complicated my work schedule slightly) and it is a lot of work. Which means he is studying every night pretty much. Anyways, I'll stop being a complainer... I can tell you one blessing that comes from being busy. You make the most of your time, I've never been such a productive busy bee! And when me and Avery have Mommy and Avery time we have a great time! Soooo nooooo offense blogging friends, but that is why my blog has been neglected. When I actually have spare time it is usually spent with Jordan or Avery or catching up on Primary work! But I still love you all and after October Primary will have slowed down (we have our presentation on the 24th and Halloween party on the 30th!)

So I thought I would share some things that bring me happiness, mostly some home things... some little finishing touches I have been doing lately. Jordan is in the midst of baseboards right now, and after they are complete I will definitely do a before and after post. Its quite incredible what we've done with this old house is a year!

My entry table and accessories, Hydrangea tree and lamp ("Lamp Berger", best thing for home fragrance) compliments of "Posh At Home!" You guys gotta stop by the store, it is truly wonderful! We have new things in all the time, sooo different from what you usually see in Edmonton :)

My birdies, when Jordan finished this ledge on the wallpaper wall I knew I wanted a little family of birdies... I finally found them at "Tin Box." Down the road from our store. I've decided I'll add to our birdie family as it grows - I've told Avery its a Daddy, Avery and Mommy bird! So now everyday she looks at the birds and says "Daddy, Avery and Mommy!

Front Entrance, finished it off with a mirror, and my fall blocks which says "Give thanks"

Oh and of course our family! Talia is walking! This was at our house Sunday, we hosted my Mom's birthday dinner, great time!

Me and my grandma - she is who I got my strawberry blond roots from - I may be embracing them more soon... shhhh, we'll see :s

Jordan and my Great Grandma Bernice - looking good for 86!

Nana and Talia - I love her sneaky face here!

And my favourite little sweet pleasure right now - AVERY! I could go on and on about the amazing wonderful little girl she is growing up to be! She is so funny, quite the comedian, she has an incredible memory (almost knows 3 different songs), and learning more and more everyday, she knows all her colors and can count from 1-11! I'll save more bragging for another post!

Mommy I'm a big girl now!

That is a song title from Hairspray - and lately I feel like that is what Avery is telling me! haha, I still call her my baby and sometimes treat her that way, but she definitely is no longer a baby!

Avery turned 2 on the weekends, I can barley believe it!

She is growing and learning so fast! She has become quite the good talker, basically says everything and pronounces it words quite well! She also knows almost 1-10, a few of the Alphabet, and all her colors! She loves to draw, play pretend, be outside, play in the water, pretending to sing, dance, parks, books, climbing, play "night night", fruit, french fries, milk, nursery and her buddies there, animals and making there sounds, helping dad with reno projects and yard work, helping mom clean and she has quite the sense of humor.

She does not like posing for pictures, being made to do anything until she chooses to do that thing (she is very stubborn and independent), still not a big cuddlier (but has realized hugs and kisses aren't so bad, and being woken up from a good nap (sometimes 1:00 church forces us to do that.)

Her favourite TV characters / shows are Dora and Curious George. I could go on and on about this girl! I just love the little person she is becoming!

I've been looking at lots of pictures of her over the past 2 years and missing those ages, but still loving the ones shes in. Here are some pictures of her over the past 2 years!

Newborn - cannot believe she was once this little!

6 months! She chunked out real good!
18 months, Avery is a bit of a Tom Girl - basically a girl version of Jordan!

2 years old! Like I said before, she is the hardest kid to get a good picture of! Right when the camera comes out, she basically runs or turns away! So this was a couple weeks ago at the zoo - best one I could find recently!

I love her and feel so blessed to be here Mommy! Happy B-day Avery!

Wallpaper wall... COMPLETE!

Quick Before - note right wall, this lovely wallpaper went through the living room and dining room.




Thanks to my hard working / handy husband out wall is done!!! Our house is starting to feel like ours! We still have baseboards and a closet door at the front entrance to do THIS YEAR... and then a break for the rest of the year! Still plenty more to do over the years!





Anyways, I was so impressed with Jordan's handy work. I finally found the wallpaper I wanted and got a deal from our supplier. And Jordan found these real 8" wide pine boards off kijiji. This girl was renovating her house and ripping them off her wall, obviously didn't know what they were worth. So we got all the pine boards for $60 ALL TOGETHER!





It was a lot of work for Jordan to get them on the wall. Wall needed to be prepped, boards were cut, boards were nailed on wall, the sanded to cover up big knots and nail holes, and then Jordan routered all the finishing peices from scratch from those pines boards! I was so impressed, he bought a couple peices for the front entrance.





Then was the painting, more wood filling and sanding and more painting. Oh yes, wallpaper was done before all this. Phew!!! I was just support staff...and this project was exhausting. But we both are so happy its done and could just stare at the walls all day long! Anyways, IT'S DONE!!! Enjoy the pics!

Front Entrance

Front Entrance - without light on (new light too!)

Big wall between living room and dining room!

Beloved plate wall - I've been collecting these plates from everywhere over the last few months. The smaller green one, my wonderful friend Tara knew I was working on this project and saw it at Crate and Barrel in Calgary and brought it home to me :) Thanks Tar!

I will put up a bunch of Before and Afters once baseboards and closet door are done!

Giggles in the Sun :)

First - a couple back yard projects. This area was weeding over and just needed help. So Jordan cleaned it up, cut out the shape and put the border down, put the landscaping paper down, I planted a couple perennials, and then Jordan layed the cedar mulch. Yesterday we placed the rocks and lanterns, pretty nice hey!

Jordan found this patio set on Kijiji.We got it for $40. It was very worn and like a brick red color stain, but the stain was pretty much all worn off. So I wanted to do a different color - I want our back yard to be fun but have some resemblance to the mountains. So I picked this greyey / blue color and stained it. The set came with chair pads, but they were in a ugly hunter green. So I got some outdoor fabric from Fabricland (really cute outdoor fabric right now.) And with some help of my mom made cushions for over top! Cute hey! So with stain and fabric the entire set came to about $100. Were just looking for a umbrella right now, probably tan color.

Oh and that is the pretty fence Jordan put up (we had none on that side it was just open.) And he also painted the back fence (it was a brick color.)

Well FINALLY in Edmonton we've had some nice summer! And it couldn't have come at a better time! Jordan and I have about 10 days off together. We went camping this past weekend in Lake Louise which was great (I'll put pics up soon.)

But mostly we've just been enjoying our yard! We didn't get to do this last summer with moving and our frustrations with getting possession of this house. One of the reasons we wanted this house so much was because of the big back yard and huge potential! It was a little neglected over the past few years because it was a older couple that owned the house. But Jordan (and me sometimes) has been working our butts off! And its looking so great! Our yard is finally all fenced in (no more worrying about Avery running on the busy street) and its coming together!

There is still lots to do, but we put the pool up last week and that is pretty much all Avery wants to do!

Avery enjoying some lunch outside after playing in the yard all morning!


Avery playing with Uncle Mike, that day Jordan and Mike finished that back corner behind them. It was all dirt and weeding over, so they ripped it out and we planted some perennials and put some cedar mulch down.
I invited some friends over and little buddies for Avery to hang out with. It was a beautiful morning and so much fun! These 2 are adorable and about the same age (10 months.)
Bennett took a little spill - he was not impressed, but also didn't get that upset.
Bennett - what can I say about this boy! He is just so cute! Just a little story about Bennett and Avery. So I don't know if you see it, but to me and Bennett's Mom Kay, Avery and Bennett look alike! And we've had other people tell us that, haha! They are not related at all, but we do have a little connection. Kay's sister Megan is my sister-in-law because she married Jordan's brother Cole! So there is no blood relation between me and Kay, so its just a weird thing that Bennett and Avery resemble each other! But I love this kid, he has the best personality and of course I think hes adorable - I feel like my son will look like him! haha!

Bennett (Easthope), Avery, Dylan (Smith), and Zachary (Wolff) Avery's little boyfriend! They were all so cute!