Smarty Pants!

Shortly after Parks turned 4...he goes over to the chalk board and starts drawing our family.  He never draws pictures...just likes to scribble usually, but than he starts totally out of the blue, drawing! Now I know I'm his Mom and think everything he does is great, but these drawings are awesome!  He even did Ammo:) lol p.s don't you just love how our arms are coming out of the sides of our head! love it!

This little DIVA cracks me up! Just after Parks' birthday Grace showed a huge interest in using the potty. She is 19 1/2 months old. She always wants to be sitting on her potty...always strips her clothes off!  So I decided to put her to the test, I got all excited and bought her cute little underwear and stocked up on gummy bears for her reward...unfortunately poops ruined it! She usually goes twice a day...and has NO interest in telling me before she goes.  SO she wears a pull up now but thankfully still tells me when she has to pee on the potty...its like she thinks the pull up is underwear:)  Sometimes I want to ignore her when she says 'potty, potty, potty' cuz she says it like every hour...but really I'm super lucky and spoiled because somehow she trained herself to pee on the potty.  What a smart little cookie:) She even dumps her pee into the 'big potty' all by herself.  If she masters pooping in the potty by the time she turns 2, I will be one very happy Mama!

Parks turns 4!!

We were so excited for Parks' birthday! (especially ME) Parks was so excited for his party and had no idea that we rented a 'truck' shaped bounce house:)  We had the party in the church gym...and had tons of room for all the little friends he invited...we had 10 kids (12 with Parks and Grace) plus parents were invited to stay:)  It was so much fun!  I made way too much food...as usual..:)  The kids took turns wacking the Thomas pinyada...none of them even made a dent in it, so Matt finished Thomas off:)  Parks got tons of wonderful presents and was feeling pretty special with everyone that came! 

The pinyada line!

Parks' turn with a little extra force!

Everyone was excited for present opening time!

Parks had been asking for this cake for awhile...it was super cool looking but tasted awful! Luckily I made a back up Pecan Icecream Brittle Dessert too:-)

These boys were pretty impressed and continued to pet/poke at Lightning

Parks blew out his Lightning Cake all by himself, and invited his friends to help him out with cake #2:) They are so cute!

Here is what the Truck Bounce House looked like...I totally didn't think to take a picture of it..oops

We were so grateful to find this rental place in south Calgary...highly recommend them! Here is there website www.fun4usrentals.ca 

Looking Back at 2011!!

I love looking back at the past year...it helps me remember and count all our blessings:)
-Started the year off with Parks turning 3!
-1 month after Parks turned 3 he got his two front teeth knocked out:(
-My Mom flew out for a visit at the end of February for a week and a bit.
-In March our nephew Tyler returned home from Mozambique, Africa after serving a Mission for 2 years
-Grace learned to crawl at 9 1/2 months old
-Early April we lived at Grant and Sue's for a week to babysit Seth and Lance while they were in Hawaii
-In May, Matt and I celebrated being together for 12 years!!
-Mid May we bought our 1st wakeboard boat!  1999 Malibu Response LX...and sold it in 1 week/3 days!
-Also, built a new deck in our backyard:-)
-End of May we flew out to Ottawa for 2 weeks...and celebrated Grace's 1st birthday! 
-Grace took her 1st steps a few days after turning 1!!!
-Beginning of Summer is when Parks' bug obsession started;)
-June we drove out to Cardston and showed the kids the Temple for the 1st time.
-Mid June we bought our 2nd wakeboard boat!  2001 Malibu Wakesetter VLX and sold it mid August!
-End of June Matt and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary
-We spent most of our Summer at Tie Lake and enjoyed every second of it:)
-In July Parks started swimming in a floaty boat in the lake...
-By the end of July he was jumping off the dock in his floaty boat:)
-In August he was swimming in the lake by himself with only a life jacket on!!!
-Grace started to walk full time and stopped nursing in July
-August we had the annual Hill Family Reunion at Tie Lake
-By August I was able to run up to 6k!
-End of August we bought our very 1st Truck!  2006 Sierra Duramax GMC
-We started our love for hiking at the end of August
-Hunting Season started Sept 1 until Nov 30th..1 bull moose and a record book buck for Matt!
-September my Mom flew out for a visit and stayed with us for a week:)
-End of September we went to Aunt Alex and Jerome's Wedding...where I learned the art of baking cupcakes...
-Matt turned 27 years old:)
-Also at the end of September Parks learned to ride a 2 wheel bike with no training wheels!!!
-In October Matt completed his training and is now specialized in HAZMAT...I guess he's called a HAZMAT Fire Fighter now:)
-Cooked my very first Turkey for Thanksgiving
-I celebrated turning 28 years old on October 20th!
-One day later Ammo celebrated turning 4 years old:)
-Halloween was fun! Parks the Fire Fighter and Grace was Tinker Bell
-Beginning of November Matt had a week of holidays to hunt, so the kids and I flew to Ottawa for 2 weeks...which later turned into only 10 days...
-On November 15th our beloved sister-in-law, Jacquie passed away.
-The Kids and I flew home and than drove to Alpine, Utah for her Funeral and stayed for a week.
-Early December Matt flew to California for 5 days to spend time with his brother Paul and 6 kids at DisneyLand and Sea World etc...a paid for trip that Paul and his kids got from Fire Fighter friends.
-To back things up a bit... at the end of October we found out why Grace had been sick with diarrhea on and off since beginning of September...beaver fever! 1 day after finishing her 7 days of antibiotics she got a double ear infection and strep throat...on more antibiotics.  Almost 2 weeks later she caught an awful chest cold from cousins while we were in Utah and was severely sick for 2 1/2 weeks afterwards.  She got better for about a week...than while Matt was away in California, beginning of December, Parks got (what we were told at the time was Pinworms) so we treated Grace too to be safe.  At that same time she had a minor yeast infection that was keeping her up at night.  Runny noses continued...Parks bum was getting worse with itching and severe redness that kept him up at night...Meanwhile my parents flew out here for Christmas!!! Stayed for 1 week.  During that visit Grace caught yet another very scary virus that had her coughing non stop day and night for 2 whole days...she than over that week slowly got healthy again!!! We brought Parks back to Urgent Care just after Christmas and found out it was not Pinworms but instead psoriasis eczema.  After just 2 days of using cortisone cream his bum is practically all better!!!
-New Year's Eve Night Matt had to work and I stayed home...in bed by 10pm:) and brought in the New Year with HEALTHY SLEEPING KIDS!!!

Merry Christmas with the Potvin's!

About 3 weeks before Christmas my parents surprised us by booking flights to come out to Okotoks for Christmas with us!!  What a blessing:)  We haven't been together for Christmas since 2008... They arrived on Friday morning before Christmas Eve and stayed for a week.  For the past 2 years that Matt and I have lived out here we've made it a tradition on Christmas Eve night to go watch the Live Outdoor Nativity Pageant that our Church puts on every year for the public in the City of Calgary at no charge.  It is done beautifully well and really brings the Spirit of Christmas into your hearts.  So we packed up our thermoses of hot chocolate, brought Mom and Dad and had a great start to Christmas!  When we got home it was around 8pm.  It has always been a tradition in my family to open one present before bed on Christmas Eve night....which is always new pajamas! so we all got one present to open:) Parks put out Santa's cookies and milk and fell asleep instantly.  That's when the wrapping of endless presents began...we didn't put any gifts under the tree prior because our kids wouldn't be able to handle it, so the four of us stayed up for 2 hours wrapping and organizing...the kids were spoiled rotten to say the least!
Christmas morning was awesome...Parks woke up around 7:30 thank goodness and was soooo happy to see that Santa came! Infact he told us, "Mommy I woke up late and saw all my presents under the tree".  I love how exciting it is for him!  We did Santa and stockings than made a yummy traditional eggs benedict breakfast.  Matt had to quickly drive out to his parents place to feed their dog while they are away in Utah, as soon as he got home the present opening began...the kids were so overwelmed and wanted to play with each toy as soon as they opened it:) so we finished just before 11 and decided to miss the hour of Church that day.  Our Turkey was delicious with all the fixings.  We went toboganing and snowmobiling for a bit...Soon after Christmas Grace got really sick. Scary sick.  She coughed all day non stop and up all night for 2 days/2 nights, fever and blocked nose, wheezing in her chest...she even threw up a few times from coughing so much.  It was tiring and very sad, but she was mostly her happy self with all her new toys and her Nana and Papa's constant care ofcorse.  Slowly each day she would get a little tiny bit better and is now 100% for the past 2 days finally sleeping through the night.  Despite being tired my Mom inspired me to organize and renovate!! with her help ofcorse:)  My parents love to be busy doing something...so our house got everything fixed and freshened up!  From building new shelves in Parks' closet for the kids clothes to go, repainting and decorating our bathroom, and totally redecorating our bedroom and painting a wall in there too! I LOVE my house again...(I'll post pics soon) My parents are so incredible...my Mom seriously never stops (I have to make her sit down for breaks) especially when she is doing something she loves like decorating...which I think she should retire and do as a side job because she is sooo good!
Thanks for making us feel so special Mom and Dad, and making this Christmas the best one yet in Alberta!

First time decorating a gingerbread house with Nana and Papa:)

soooo proud of his creation;)

even Gracie helped out!

We needed a bit more snow, but still had fun toboganning with Papa and Nana

At the Nativity Pageant...the animals made it all worth it for Grace:)

Parks checking out baby Jesus

Christmas Eve night...and we still added a few more gifts after this picture!

My Christmas baking before sending it out...I made oreo cheesecake cupcakes, lemon tarts, sugar cookies and ofcorse my fav Shortbreads...

The Moment of Truth! Parks finally getting his present from Santa!

He ask and asked and asked for Flynn the Fire Engine (we had to order it from the States and have it shipped to Utah than brought back by Gran ALL just in time for Christmas! phewf!

Grace loving her present from Santa!!

and here he is sooo happy with his 2 Finn's from Mommy and Daddy

My beautiful 19 month old...right before she got really sick again(going on for the past 4 months). But she is better now and eating a ton after losing a bit of weight.

Parks got Grace this adorable little sink, crib and feeding station for Gracie's babies...plus Nana and Papa bought her a baby doll that wears diapers and pees after her bottle..FUN!

She is the girliest girl!

This was a very special gift to Parks (and Grace) from my brother and his wife...Uncle Jeff knows how much Parks loved playing with his Polar Express Train when we last visited, so they bought us one! We watch the Polar Express every Christmas and to have the actually little train set to put by our tree every year is very special to us. We've had a ton of fun with it and Parks doesn't want it put away, but if I want it to last than we have to;) Thank you so much again for such a thoughtful gift!!

I'm so grateful my parents could be with us and see how exciting Christmas is for our kids right now. You guys are the best parents and grandparents in the whole world. Thanks for everything you did and continue to do.

Having kids is just the absolute biggest blessing I could ever of dreamed of, they make everything more exciting. They challenge me everyday and help me to be selfless...everything I am and am about is because of these two sweet little munchkins!