Parks at 32 months old

Parks is such a lover of life! He is awesome. Matt and I have so much fun with him...some of his favorite things are dinosaurs and their eggs, anything from the movies CARS and BOB THE BUILDER. He loves looking for turtles, frogs, fish and worms. LOVES bathtime especially with Papa in his jacuzzi tub. Loves water in general (as long as it doesn't touch his face, but he's getting better). Loves hunting...I wonder who influenced him on that one. Loves seeing animals...yes dead or alive:) He talks ALL the time. asks questions and loves to know what the plans are for the day. lol. He can count to 10 no prob...almost makes it to 20...but makes up numbers as he goes:) Alphabet is no problem...we are working on recognizing what they look like now...on my fancy new flash cards:) and ofcorse he absolutely loves his baby sister. Parks thank you for being such a wonderful part of our day. Mommy and Daddy love you very much. xo

Grace is 16 weeks old!

She is such a joy in our lives.  Always giving everyone great big smiles.  We just got back from her first trip to Ottawa.  She was an angel on the airplane...slept pretty much the whole time.  She met her cousin Tessa who is 5 months older...they are so cute together, I just know they will be bestest friends when they are older.  Nana and Papa loved every second seeing Parks and Grace.  Sleep wise Grace still gets almost a whole night in...wakes for her quick feed around 5-6am.  Loves her soother still(we are trying to not give it to her so much during the day, but when she is sleepy it helps her pass out right away).  still love swaddling...although Grace is becoming a little Houdini, for awhile she was ALWAYS getting her arms out in the night, so we snug her nice and tight now...haha she loves it.  We try to keep rotating her around during the day...loves tummy time if she's being entertained, starting to grab toys that hang in front of her...starting to like the swing a bit more...not really though.  LOVES the bumbo, she's into sitting up and standing.  ALWAYS sucking on her fists...teething? Today was her first time in the jolly jumper...I think she will be just like Parks in another month and be a jumping machine...as for today she just looked around and gave Parks, Matt and I big smiles:)

Grace at 12 weeks old

Gracie weighed in at 14lb 2 1/2oz and is already 24 inches long!  She is now in the 97th% for her age!!  She doesn't seem big to me, but apparently she is:)  She had to get 3 shots last week for her vaccinations.  She did really well and had no symptoms afterwards.  Sleeping wise, she goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps for 9-10hours! Wakes for a quick feed and sleeps for another 2-3hrs!! yesssss.  swaddling is the key for sure.  As well we've been putting her to bed awake...she looks around and than puts herself to sleep.  That is something I wish I did with Parks.  Overall she is an awesome baby.  She hardly cries and usually only makes a fuss when she is hungry.  She lets Matt and I bring her on the boat constantly these past few days...and while in her car seat she takes all those bumps like a trooper:)  She has just recently started to notice her hands and loves to suck on her little fist. so cute.  She still has her big blue eyes, so we shall see if they stay for good. I hope so!  She loves to stand up and smiles all the time.  She is already a Daddy's girl...he gets the biggest smiles.  Breastfeeding is her favorite past time...every 2 usually 3 hours during the day, and just recently she has started to stare at me and if I look away she unlatches and starts to coo at me with a big smile.  Its become bit of a game.  She loves to say 'ah goo' its soooo cute to hear her tiny little voice.  We are so happy with our little girl.  Parks is just IN LOVE with her. We are excited to get out to Ottawa in a few more days and have Grace's Auntie Robyn, Uncle Jeffie and cousin Tessa meet her for the first time!!

Spiritual Thought

Just this past Sunday I heard a great talk given at church and thought I should share it on my blog.  It was about the Virtue of Kindness by Joseph B. Wirthlin.  It was one of those talks that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside and it inspired me to try and be a better person.  Which is one of the main reasons why I love going to church.  I haven't had much opportunity to feel warm and fuzzy recently because Parks and Grace usually distract me alot of the time.  But every now and again when I need it the most I guess, I get blessed with exactly what I needed to hear.  Anyways this is some of the talk...

The Church is not a place where perfect people gather to say perfect things, or have perfect thoughts, or have perfect feelings.  The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other as we press on in our journey to return to Heavenly Father.
Each one of us will travel a different road during life.  Each progresses at a different rate.  Temptations that trouble your brother may not challenge you at all.  Strengths that you possess may seem impossible to another. 
Never look down on those that are less perfect than you...We are all children of God.  And we are here with the same purpose: to learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
When we are filled with kindness, we are not judgemental.  The Saviour taught, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."  He also taught that "with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
"But", you ask, "what if people are rude?"
Love them.
"If they are obnoxious?"
Love them.
"But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?"
Love them.
"Wayward?"
The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them.
Why? In the scriptures Jude taught, "And of some have compassion, making a difference"
Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?

Hill Family Reunion 2010

It was a great week with all the happenin hills at Tie Lake.  Its a pretty big deal when we can get everyone out at the SAME time.  We ALL have such a blast especially all the kids with their cousins.  Grant and Sue have 23 grandchildren now!  Its a busy place to be but so worth all the great bonding time:)
Caitlin organized activities, meal plans, and just 'organizing' in general, so we could get the most out of the week together...without TOTAL chaos.  Thank you so much Caitlin for taking the initiative!
Matt and I organized the 'Water Olympics' again this year, we had an awesome glow stick dance party one night, we did an AMAZING triathlon created specially for our family by Caitlin and Kristi.  (My first time running since having Grace...7 1/2 weeks after surgery pretty sweet).  Lots of boating and playing in the water ofcorse,  we had an awesome talent show that a few of the sister-in-laws ROCKED! haha  I felt like I was in high school again planning out our dance routine...it was so fun girls.  I hope I made Tina Turner proud;)  And throughout all those activities the brothers ripped off the old porch beside the main cabin and built a muchly needed new one.  As well as take the new dock back out of the water to make a days work of adjustments on the floaters.  (In other words make the dock float higher above the water). 
Grace and Parks were awesome the whole time...sleeping great.  Matt and I got sick half way through the week with an annoying cough that only comes when you want to sleep, sore throat plus I lost my voice and sounded like an old man for a few days.  all good fun:)
Parks has been continuing to wakeboard and never says no when he is asked to go.  He has been having so much fun with his cousins...its a love/hate relationship with them all.  (i always find it so heartwarming how little kids can hate each other one second, forget about it, and love each other a few seconds later.  I guess that's the way we adults are suppose to be, or rather, try to be).
Grace and I have yet to even go in the boat...which is very strange for me.  I guess once I am able to wakeboard it'll be different.  I cant wait to get out on the water.  Here are some pics from our big family photo shoot:

We miss you Jessica!

Caitlin thank you for making that week so fun!

Matt's new ride

He bought it off of his brother Mark and at first I was really worried about my husband riding a bike, but I know he is responsible and not an idiot.  One of his 'FireFighter' co-workers said 'just drive like everyone is out to kill you' so in other words drive extra cautious which is what he does.  It's a great bike though, nice and comfy:)

Calgary Stampede

Well I can officially say I have been to the Calgary Stampede, we (Matt's mom, Parks, Grace and I, Kristi and her two kids, Mark, Caitlin and Anderson) went yesterday for the 'SuperDOGS' show.  It was really cute, Parks loved seeing all the dogs ofcorse.  It was super HOT outside (thankfully it was indoors) but we managed to get the kids on some rides too afterwards.  This was Parks first time on rides, we did the carousel, train ride, and a mini roller coaster caterpillar one.  Thanks Gran for the tickets!  Afterwards we hit up the mini princess pool (that is all Sue could find at Walmart) at Matt's parents place and had the kids play while we enjoyed the sun:)  Later that night Kristi, Caitlin and I went out to do some shopping and had a fast dinner.  Thanks again girls, it was a blast!

Sue didn't want Grace to go deaf with the loud music...lol

On the carousel with the kiddos

Parks and Morgan cooling off

so cute, I cant wait to show them this when they are older:)