Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

…recognize the true importance of a single moment in time, the instant when you are fully and completely alive!

November 26, 2006

The Grand Canyon


There are no words to discribe how I felt standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon…

it was bigger and more amazing than I ever imagined…

I truly felt the wonder of God’s spectacular creation and all I wanted to do was sit and look at it…

I know the experts say that it took millions of years to form from natural forces, but I would love to just believe that God placed it here on Earth for us to be able to see how big he is…

how big his love for us is that He would place such amazing things for us to enjoy!

We spent 16 hours on a journey to and from the Grand Canyon. We were only there for a mere 2 hours out of the 16 hours, but it was worth every minute.

Random and Fun things in Vegas…

The hugest M&M store ever!!! 5 stories of M&M stuff (and every color of M&M in the rainbow)

The horse is in the entrance to F.A.O. Schwartz, a huge toy store in the Forum Shops in Ceaser’s Palace. The head moves and blows smoke out it’s nostrils. Pretty cool.

The ceiling in the forum shops is so beautiful!

Oh, yes! It was that warm! What a wonderful feeling!!!

Even Christmas in Vegas is on a large scale!

That is chocolate!!! All chocolate!!! Oh, what a wonderful place…

Where Am I…Egypt? New York? Paris? Wonderland?




It’s so funny walking down the street and suddenly you wonder where you are…”hmmm, I thought I was in Nevada…” It’s so neat and for those of us who haven’t been to those wonderful places, this is a close second. And you get to see it all in one night. My daughter was in complete awe that I got to see and go inside a castle that for the next hour after I showed her the pictures all we heard was, “Daddy, please can we go to the castle and see all the statues on a trip?”.

November 15, 2006

Look, Mommy, a new game!!!


I’m sitting in the living room and all of a sudden the lights are going on, off, on, off, on, off… my first instinct is to yell “Ella, stop it!”. So I turn around and the little culprit is standing on the stairs grinning from ear to ear. Not Ella!

Funny Face


November 3, 2006

The Princess and the Clown



They are both my princesses, but isn’t Aidan soooo cute with her little clown face? She had no costume 5 minutes before a costume party and then I remembered the shirt my mom had made her. So I ran and got paint and we made her into a clown. The shirt isn’t actually a clown costume, but it worked. Ella was very proud of her new cinderella dress. she’s been wearing it nonstop since I bought it last week.

October 7, 2006

Oh what a fashionista…


Here is a sample of Ella’s innate sense of style! Jammies, a hat, rubber boots and a sweater. Hey, at least it all matches. She insisted this was what she had to wear outside to play.

September 25, 2006

Independence Day???


On her first day of preschool Ella was braver than I was. She was excited and ready, I was not! I was excited for her, but all of a sudden my baby had gotten too big. It was quite silly, really…here we’ve been preparing her for this day and praying for her to have fun and for her to not be afraid; then God answers our prayers and I’m all miffed. She walked away from me without hardly a backwards glance and I felt slightly betrayed.

“You’re sure you don’t want mommy to stay for a bit…?”

“No. Bye Mom.”

Even though my heart broke a wee bit to see that she could strike off on her own without me holding her hand, I am so proud of her!

My Fat Ballerina!

September 22, 2006

Crazy Hair


Every day Ella wakes up from her nap all sweaty and she has a frizzy nest of hair that’s all wet and tangled. And Aidan’s hair is just so cute to mess up when it’s wet after a bath.

A bun in the oven…noooo not that kind!!

I’m so excited about my newest accomplishment that I just had to share it with the rest of the world. And I think quite possibly the only other person to share this excitement with me is my dear husband.

I learned how to bake buns yesterday!!!

It has been an ongoing argument with Jer and I…

“You should learn how to bake buns.”

“I don’t want to learn how!!!”

“Why not?”

“Because…I DON’T WANT TO!!!” (insert foot stomp)

I think it was an expectation that I should get married, have kids and…VIOLA, learn how to make buns. Good mennonite girl! I’m trying to break out of the mold. You know, a “new generation of women”.

But alas…that generation of women buys their buns from the store and yearns for their mom’s and grandmothers’ buns. So I sucked it up and made the choice to venture forth into the unexplored territory of bun-baking.

It was fun.
It was well worth it.
And I only ate 4. (One from each pan that came out of the oven…and that was also worth it!)

September 21, 2006

Just thought I’d let you know…


I needed a moment and a place to be thankful for all the people in my life who are a blessing to me. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with love for all of you and I just wanted to let you all know. So what better place than my first posting of my new blog?

I’m thankful for my wonderful husband who is my life and love and who does so many amazing things for us - works long hours aside from his full-time job while still making enough time for us (ie: getting up at 3:45 a.m. to work), being an amazing daddy to our 2 precious princesses (and they are, most of the time), being my knight in shining armor and taking me to see “Phantom of the Opera” (what woman wouldn’t be thankful for that?), and the list goes on.

I’m thankful for my girlies. My sweet, silly, loud, fun daughters whom i have the awesome privilege of raising. They make life crazy and wonderful.

I’m thankful for my amazing girlfriends out there - you are my sunshine!!!! I must say, I’ve recently had a number of very special girl-times with many of the wonderful women in my life (movie nights, breakfast/coffee time, cleaning parties) and I feel blessed. I want each and every one of you to know that you make life beautiful. You are all unique and I love you!

And to everyone else out there who I’m blessed to call friend, family and neighbour. You all have a special place in my life.

« Previous Page