Looking Back at 2009

A good friend of mine gave me this idea, and I am so grateful because sometimes you just don't realize how blessed you are until you think about it.

-2009 started out with Parks turning 1 on the 8th!  He learned to walk just two weeks before his b-day.
-Matt applied for Calgary Fire Fighting in January, and by the beginning of February he was flying out to Calgary to write an aptitude test, do a physical CPAT test and (if he passed both) get interviewed.
-My sister-in-law Robyn and I went to Scotiabank Place for the 'So you think you can Dance' Canada tour, it was a great night.
-Our nephew Tyler was called on a mission to Mozambique, Africa.  He left on February 18th to the Mission Training Center to start learning the new language he would have to speak...Portuguese.  We are so proud of him.  He is doing great.
-By the end of February, Matt found out he passed all his tests.
-He had to fly back out to Calgary that same month to do a mandatory lie detector test.
-By March, Matt was being offered the job as a Calgary Fire Fighter!  What a blessing!  Matt's paid training was scheduled to start May 18th!  (2 months to pack up our life and move across the country).
-March was full of of booking uniform fittings, medical tests, hearing tests and getting his drivers license upgraded and changed to Alberta...very busy.
-We relieved stress by having great Rock Band nights at the MacNab's house. Dressing up and the whole bit:)
-Mid April Matt had to fly out to Calgary for the 3rd time! He stayed for 2 weeks this time, at which point our apartment was all boxed up and ready to go.  Parks and I moved in with my parents.
-While Matt was away he completed his 12hr. fast medical test, next day was a treadmill test, next day was uniform fitting and the day after that was his 'bus' drivers test. crazy i know.  He gave himself a week extra just in case he failed the bus test and had to retake it.  By the end of the 2 weeks it was time for Matt to take the very important TKT exam, that if he failed everything would go down the drain.
-HE PASSES, phewf.
-April 30th we were ready to pack up the moving truck, only to find out that the company lost our booking and had no truck available.  It changed everything,  Matt's father wasn't able to fly out and drive back with Matt due to his work schedule...luckily we were blessed to have one of Matt's best friends, Brady, be able to take time of work and fly out.
-Matt and Brady drove from Ottawa to Calgary in 32 hours ( it was suppose to take 39 hours!).  I'm just grateful they were safe:)
-We were lucky enough to get a house to live in in Okotoks by ourselves.  Matt's parents old house that was up for sale. 
-1 week after arriving we were house hunting with a fantastic Realtor, Steven Jones.  Brady hooked us up with him.
-We found our dream home on the 1st day out!
-Almost one month later, June 12th, we got the keys to our 1ST HOUSE! (who knew how many meetings you have to go through to buy a house...Realtor meetings, mortgage approvals,bank transfers, lawyer meetings ect...it was crazy)
-On June 25th Matt and I celebrated 4 wonderful years being married.  We are so lucky!
-Matt had mid term exam at the end of June and PASSED, phewf.
-I started running this summer as exercise and found that i really love it.  I'm so proud to say I made it to the stop sign and back up at Tie Lake! It was about a 20 min run.  (which is AMAZING for me).  I was able to run with some of my sister-in-laws while up at the lake too, it was very inspiring!
-July 1st my mom flew out for 2 1/2 weeks!  It was so wonderful having her with us.
-Afterward, i went up to Tie Lake for a fun filled week with Matt's family...(while Matt was at work), it was the first year of the Hill Family Olympics.
-By August 2nd Matt graduated Fire Fighter Training and was ready for his 1st night shift at a station!
-3 weeks after my mom flew back home, Parks and I decided to make a trip, we stayed for 2 1/2 weeks, it was good to be home.
-We started potty training Parks at 19 months old and by 21 months he was fully trained!!!
-September was pretty quiet, Matt celebrated his 25th birthday and found out I was pregnant!  He had to work that night at the hall, but we were pretty pumped about our new little one due to arrive June 2nd, 2010!
-I turned 26 years old in October and couldn't be feeling better:)
-Parks went trick or treating for the first time as Thomas the Tank Engine (his hero), and was so cute.
-Hunting Season took over our life ( in other words:my husband) as of September 1st until November 30th.  I went out with Matt three times for the first time ever...it was alright:)
-Matt got 2 moose and 1 deer...our freezer is full!
-I went out for my 2nd Ottawa trip with Parks in November, wonderful as always.
-Our niece Madelyn turned 8 and was baptized, it was a very special day.
-We did lots of Family swimming at the local pool in Okotoks.
-Ammo swallowed a tennis ball...a few days later threw it up as proof.
-Matt and I had our 1st Christmas in Okotoks together.
-I gave my 1st church talk on my conversion.
-Our 11th niece was born 5 days early on December 29th, named Tessa.  She is beautiful.-Parks has grown so much this past year, he may look like his mommy, but he is a mini Matt for sure!  He loves jumping off high things and being thrown up in the air.  He is such a boy!  Thankfully he is still a mama's boy and asks for snuggles from mommy everyday.  Words just cant describe how much this little guy means to us.

WOW! that is alot, what a crazy and VERY blessed 2009.  I hope others reading this will be inspired to do the same...it is a great way to remember the good times and bad and see how much you've grown.  We are so excited for 2010 and all the new adventures awaiting us.  Happy New Year!

Christmas Fun!

We had a great Christmas! Started it off with going to a live outdoor Nativity put on by our church for free for the public.  It was a great experience for Parks to see the story in real life. 

Christmas Eve night Parks and I went with some of Matt's family to a chinese buffet restaurant, its their family tradition, and was very yummy. Afterwards, went to Matt's parents house and played games...when i got home and put Parks to bed, it was time for Santa to make his visit (so mommy could go to bed:). Matt had a pretty quiet night at work, so he wasn't too tired when he got home in the morning. It was the best feeling ever watching Parks open his presents, we were so excited for him.

We had our traditional eggs benedict for Christmas breakfast followed with the yummiest turkey dinner complete with a fresh (never frozen fresh) 30lb turkey, that we are still having leftovers with:) Rob and Tammy are visiting now with their kids for a few days. We've been having fun in the snow and Parks couldn't be happier to have his 4 year old cousin Zach around to play with, they get along great!

Baby Tessa is HERE!!

Born December 29th weighing 7 lbs 4oz
Tessa Potvin decided to join the world 5 days early. From what I hear everyone is doing great! It is sooooo hard to be so far away right now, but we'll get our snuggles in February:) We love you guys!

December is HERE!

This is my most favorite month!  On December 1st we put up our Christmas tree, first time in our new house AND in 2 years!  It brings such a peaceful spirit to our home, i love it.  Parks was able to help decorate the tree by hanging some ornaments.  It was so cute just watching him.  I am so grateful for such a loving husband and son.  They are the best part of my day.  This Christmas Matt has to work both Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day night, but we have him home all day on those days, which to me is the better part of the deal:)  This Christmas Matt and I are trying so hard to not make it all about how many gifts we get, but more about simple family traditions and the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Luckily our church puts on a live outdoor Nativity Pageant in Calgary that really gets you in the Spirit of Christmas.  Our Christmas this year will be fairly quiet as it is not the "Hill" family year.  The Hill family is so big and spread out that we alternate Christmas' with the inlaws every other year.  We couldn't make it home to Ottawa because of Matt's work schedule, but we are flying out in February for our Christmas together (my parents are actually going to keep their Christmas tree up until than:) PLUS we will get to meet our newest neice that is due to be born Jan 2nd.  I am sooo excited to see my brother and Robyn as new parents!

November

On November 6th Parks and I flew home to Ottawa for 2 weeks! It was such a nice trip, my mom's birthday was 3 days after we arrived, it was so nice to be home for that AND my sister-in-laws baby shower was also during our visit:)  Parks and I went swimming alot with Nana.  Sadly Parks got pretty sick during our first week...throwing up and the whole bit, but he was on the mend towards our second week thankfully.  I was treated to 2 sushi lunches that were absolutely soooo delicious! I love all you can eat sushi bars:)  We went to the science museum with Parks (and by we i mean with his Nana and Papa, obviously:))  He loved seeing the huge trains...he even thought one of them was 'Toby'.  We visited with  good friends, shopped, ate fantastic meals and visited the fish store and pet stores.  It was alot of fun.  Parks got sick again a few days before we had to leave.  It was a very long plane ride home.

He was sooo happy to see his Nana, truly a priceless moment.

With his pal Uncle Jeffy (Its a love/hate relationship:)

These two are inseperable, bestest buds.

Playing with his bestest friend Ava

While i was away Matt had his 6 month firefighter exam, and did very well on it.  No more studying for a few more months now thankfully.  Hunting was successful for all the boys, Matt shot a very large moose again...its the year of the moose for our family.  His dad, brother and friend all shot bucks and had a great end of season together.  

Matt with his first 'bull' moose

Matt's dad with his 1st buck of the season

Matt's brother with his 1st buck of the season

The Successful Boys!

Smile!

He is the best thing in our life, getting to look at him everyday and just smiling.

October

It seams like October has come and gone just like that!  My goal is to try harder at taking more pictures when we go out and about, so this post wont be that interesting for some, its more for my records. October and November is major hunting season for our family.  Moving to Alberta has made it so easy since Matt's parents have a ton of hunting land where they live.  (which just happens to be 10 minutes away from where we live).  I've decided to give hunting a chance, mostly to be able to spend more time with my hubby.  What's that moto? if you cant beat him, join him...anyways i've gone 3 times.  Its nice to be  one with nature, you have to be sooo quiet and not move much, which is a nice change from my daily running after and yelling at Parks:)  Its not 'rut' time yet, so the deer and elk aren't really moving around a whole lot.  It can get pretty boring.  We  did have 39 HUGE elk about 100 some yards away from us one time, that was absolutely incredible.  They are beautiful animals.  Matt has since shot a moose and doe with his bow.  His dad has gotten an elk, so we are deffinately set for meat for the year.  Extra goes to people in need that we know, so none will go to waste.  Besides that, living here in Okotoks has been fine.  Matt has been home on most of his off days for the past month instead of working construction because we are pretty sure he has a slipped disc in his back or something, he is in a lot of pain with that.  He gets an MRI next week to see if he needs surgury or not.  Parks is almost 22 months old in a few more days.  He is so smart.  We started the whole potty training thing when he was 19 months old, and now he is a pro.  He now wants to do it myself and not tell us!  Its pretty funny cuz he ends up peeing everywhere, but usually he'll run up to us and sign and say 'potty, potty, potty'.  If he has to go at night, he'll yell for one of us and than go back to sleep afterwards.  Its awesome.  He talks so clear now too.  He's become such a little person.  In 2 more days Parks and I are flying to Ottawa for 2 weeks!  We are both so excited.  Matt will be staying home with Ammo and be very busy at his new hall, that just changed as of today.  He has been at a very quiet station for the past 3 months in the North end of Calgary and is now going to #1 station in Downtown Calgary that apparently is the second most busy station in Calgary.  He is so happy about that.  Plus his brother Paul is coming down from Utah (also a firefighter) to hunt on days off.  It works out perfectly.

Halloween turned out to be a great night for Parks, he actually allowed us to put on his Thomas costume that he has been terrified of for the past month.  Matt's parents came over to help give out candy.  Matt and I took Parks to about 6 houses, and he did so well with saying 'trick or treat' although sometimes he'd just say 'candy please'.  Everyone thought he was so cute:o)  Than there are some idiots who like to wear terrifying masks and/or jump out of boxes with scary masks on even though they can clearly see how young Parks is...that's why we had to end early as too many things started scaring him.  All and all it was a great 1st Halloween for him.  ( Our camera was broken, so the halloween costume pic was taken on a later day).