I Think It's About Time

I haven't been feeling the whole blogging thing at all lately. It's too bad because this is my journal so when the blog is lacking, my records are lacking. I've just gotten so behind I just feel overwhelmed. Well, the kids are napping and I feel like I've gotten some good things accomplished today so I guess it is time to start getting caught up.

So I suppose I shall start off with the summer stuff...

This past summer wasn't exactly what I had anticipated it would be. It was a good summer and, thankfully, a successful summer but I didn't do as much as I had originally planned. I imagined myself going to Three Hills quite a bit and taking the kids to the Guzoo, visiting old friends, going to West Ed, and basically doing a lot of playing, mostly with people that I grew up with in my Red Deer days. What my summer turned into was a summer of driving back and forth between Red Deer and Raymond.

We ended up "moving" 4 times this summer and we owe my wonderful parents a lot of thanks for all of their help. We couldn't have done any of our moves without them. The first move was from Lethbridge to Red Deer. Moving to our summer sales destination is never too horrible. The company finds apartments and rents furniture for our use and it is all set up when we arrive. We just need to bring our dishes, clothes, and bedding. My parents were there to load us up, they even let us borrow their truck, AND my mom even drove up with us to help us unload and set up. The apartment building we moved into was definitely not up to the usual standard we have come to expect from APX. It was sketchy and in a sketchy area. The apartment itself was horrible! It was so musty, I couldn't breathe and I was having some serious asthma problems. The carpet was SO dirty that after only a few minutes of running around on the floor, Aubrey's feet were black. How could I let my kids play on that floor? We were only in it for about a week before we moved out of it (move 2) to a slightly better apartment across the hall. Move 3 was to move completely out of our condo in Lethbridge to my parent's house in Raymond. It was a lot more involved and my parent's did pretty much all of it as Chris was working his little tush off back in Red Deer.

All tired out after a long day of moving


But some people are still smiling (from move 3)!

I was able to go to my parent's cabin a few times which the kids and I LOVED! It is seriously my favorite place on earth. Jensen had his first taste of watermelon there and has been hooked ever since! There is some squash on his face too. He was a pretty big fan of that as well.

On one of our trips to the cabin we were there for Aubrey's 2nd birthday (June 5th). On the day of her birthday we took her to the park by the lake to play at the playground and throw rocks into the water. After we played for a while we went to Pizza Hut for a yummy supper. We had her actual party the next day so that Uncle Jess and Aunt Cheryl could join us. We had hamburgers and cupcakes and opened presents. Aubrey was spoiled rotten!

She's in a trance... I just thought it was kind of funny. She must have been mesmerized by the singing and the candles.

The delicious cupcakes. Growing up my mom did the same thing for me on my birthday; made cupcakes and arranged them in the shape of my age.

Mmmm. Delish.


All the loot! She had a good birthday.

Chris' Uncle Paul and family live only a 20 minute drive away from our apartment so we got to spend quite a bit of time with them. We went to their place for many Sunday dinners as well as got together for a few other outings. Early in June we spent a Saturday afternoon at Gull Lake. We packed a lunch and just played in the sand and water until we had to leave because of a storm that was heading our way. The lake is quite warm because it is so shallow.

Aubrey sharing a sandwich with "Applepollen." She got really close to him and Aunt Mary, Eric, Kayzia, and Ezra. She still speaks of them frequently.


Me and my cute boy in front of Gull Lake


The cutest little chunk on the planet! He really enjoyed eating the sand.


Aubrey loved to just swim and swim in the water. Her hands are touching the bottom and we were quite a ways out!


Checking out the water.

This summer my kids were able to experience their first Canada Day in Raymond. It had been about five years since I had been home for it and about 7 years since Chris and been home for it. Yes, he took off work to join us once again. It was fabulous to have him all to ourselves for a couple of days. He actually surprised me! I had already been down for a while and Chris usually does not take off work so it didn't even cross my mind that he would make an exception to come down for the holiday, but I got a phone call the evening of June 30th from Chris telling me to come meet him in Lethbridge for a date! I have a really sweet husband. I really do. And awesome in-laws! They watched my sleeping babes so that I could go. So, on July first we watched the parade, which the kids loved, then had brunch at Great Grandma and Grandpa Shurtz's with all the Shurtz aunts, uncles, and cousins and we just played! It was a lot of fun.

Aubrey waiting for the parade with cousins Bella, Nate, and Ginger.


Jensen watching the events intently.


Aubrey thoroughly enjoying one of her many treats from the parade.


Aubrey watching the parade with Grandpa Shurtz. She really loves him.


I'm not quite sure what is going on here, but this is Aubrey's uncle Darcy. She really loves him too. But truth be told, she loves his wife the most. Out of anyone. Literally.


The kids and I in our matching patriotic shirts. Aren't we cute?


Chris with the kids. They really were glad to have him there. Almost as glad as I was!

And just some random pictures that I wanted to share...

While we were packing up for our third move, Aubrey decided she wanted to sit on this little cooler. To her surprise, the top wasn't done up so she fell right in! It was too funny that I had to take a picture before I saved her. She thought it was pretty funny at first, but after the tenth picture, she was getting a little frustrated...

She also discovered the awesomeness of wearing her hat backwards and wouldn't wear it any other way after that!

Our first family picture! Sad, but true.

There is still so much more to come, but this will have to do for the time being. It is late, I have been working on this for far too long and the post itself is really long, and I am ready to hit the hay!