My Precious Babushka

I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up. She is turning into a little girl rather than the toddler that she seemed to be just a few months ago. She is also talking more and more now and is turning into quite the character.

Trip Home

Once we were in the car, Carathy got out her camera and decided to document the trip home. These are some of her pictures.

Polka Dot all tucked in and cozy for the ride.

The tail end of a rainbow that we saw. We were driving through some light rain and when I looked out my window I saw the end of the rainbow in the ditch right beside the car. That was the closest I have ever seen it but by the time Steven could stop the car so Carathy could get a picture this is all that was left. It was still beautiful!

As we were driving we heard the familiar click of the camera and then, "Oh man, I forgot to smile."

Then another click and she was satisfied. Oh, the small accomplishments in life.

Just one of the ways she kept herself occupied.....Rock.

Paper.

Scissors.

I didn't ask her who won, though.

A Great Grandma

One day, my Grandma Schellenberg, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Cindy came for the afternoon. It was good to catch up a bit and hear what was going on in their lives. Before they left, we got Grandma to pose with all of the great grandchildren that were there.

Caleb, Arinn, Grandma, Jordan, Carathy, and Katelyn

A Roast and A Ride

One evening we got to go to Uncle Don and Aunt Elma's for a wiener roast. We had a great time there and the kids loved playing on all of their fun playground equipment. One of the things that Carathy enjoyed was the ferris wheel. I believe that my Grandpa Plett made it - and you can correct me if I am wrong - but I remember going on there when I was a kid. It was a lot of fun to see Carathy enjoy it, too. The "big kids" even managed to take their turns.

The big boys took their turn

It looked a bit too scary for Caleb so he stayed on the merry-go-round.

Grandma and Arinn staying safe on the ground.

And then it was the girls turn. I rode for a while but then Carathy took my spot. When she got on, she sure got a ride......she is just a bit lighter than me!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Steven had a week off so we left on Friday night (around 11:30 pm) and drove through the night to make it to Calgary as early as we could. We were meeting the rest of my family on Sunday at Heritage Park so we wanted to have lots of time for the kids to recover from the drive before they had another big day. We spent a whole day at Heritage Park and could have easily have spent another day there. The kids loved it all (and Caleb especially enjoyed his highly anticipated train ride).

Caleb taking Grandpa, Grandma, and Carathy for a ride.

I thought that this was an appropriate picture.....

Carathy and Grandpa sitting in a couple of the old fashioned desks in one of the school houses. They decided that if they were to go to school together now and sat side by side, they would be the ones always getting in trouble.

A view of the downtown area.

Grandpa and Carathy goofing around.

I was quite impressed with their skills. Carathy was actually strong enough to hold herself up like this long enough for me to dig out the camera and snap a picture. And dad was strong enough to hold her!

Our little princess.

Our little dancing gnome.

Kim and Jon.

Grandma and Caleb on the train. Caleb was giving the thumbs-up to Grandpa who was sitting at the station watching Kelly's strollers for her so she could ride the train.

Dad and Arinn get some snuggle time in.

A look at the train that we rode on.

Caleb was standing and watching these horses for a long time. Finally he got up enough courage to ask if he could take this picture.

Hmmmm, maybe a tired little boy?

Kim and I. What a great day!

Visiting in Vermilion

Mom, the kids and I took a couple of days to go visit my sister, Kelly and her kids (and James for an hour). We had a great time seeing their renovated house and the kids got along really well. It was a special trip for me because I got to meet my new nephew, Jordan for the first time. He is absolutely adorable and I wouldn't have traded that time with them for anything.

Caleb very excited about his french fry lunch.

Katelyn and Grandma.

What a sweetie pie.

Little Jordan

Carathy and Jordan

Caleb wanted to hold Jordan so bad. He actually spent a lot of time just sitting and holding him.

One afternoon Caleb and Carathy wrote their names with the foam cutouts. If you look really close, you can see that they had to be quite creative to get all the letters they needed.

My sister, Kelly.

Happy face.

In the afternoon, Kelly arranged for one of the girls that used to work with James to come and give the kids a tour of one of the ambulances they use. The kids really liked it.

Scary driver.

The Calgary Tower

On the Sunday that we were in Gem, we decided to take the kids to see the Calgary Tower. They had never been there before so we thought they would like it. Right away when we got off the elevator, the kids discovered the glass floor. They loved standing on it and looking down at the ground. Arinn had a few problems wanting to walk on there, though and I can't say it was terribly easy to stand there and look down. What if I was the one to finally break the glass?!?

The view looking down.

Looking way down......

The kids - with an Arinn that was not happy about having to be on the glass floor.

My little cowboy in the gift shop.

The kids with Grandpa and Grandma.

The kids and I with Grandpa.