Saunders Family

New blog template

2011-12-09T14:10:00.002-07:00

Just trying out a new blog template, let me know what you think?

Halloween Preview.....

2011-10-26T09:48:00.003-06:00

Wow, our blog has really been slackin' lately......the picture of the creepy Yeti is a preview of my Halloween costume this year. This will be the first year I actually have a legit costume, instead of just throwing something together at the last minute. The kids are all excited for Halloween this year, costumes on the menu are Batman, Grim Reaper, Mime, Army man, Princess Leia??

The past few months have been really busy with kids and starting school. Spencer is in Junior High (huge adjustment from Elementary school), Cole and Anna are in Elementary and Noah is busy taking Swim and Gymnastic classes. Baby John is huge, he is walking, running, eating everything put near him and screams a lot (definitely our loudest kid).

The weather in Calgary has been amazing for this time of year, we really feel like we got an extended Summer. There projecting our Winter to be one of the coldest and snowiest on record.....so were starting to get ready for that. We completely gutted our garage, so at least we can park both cars in it over the Winter. Little things like that actually make Winter more enjoyable! The thought of chiseling snow off my car every morning gave me nightmares. We have decided to take full advantage of Winter this year, so were planning on getting a season pass to Canada Olympic Park. I'm sure the kids will love skiing and getting outside during the Winter.

University of Phoenix Graduation 2011

2011-07-27T19:56:00.004-06:00

Here's some photos of our awesome trip to Phoenix, hanging with family and of course attending my graduation commencement ceremony. That's right.....15 years after graduating from High School I finally graduated from University. I suppose it's better late than never. It was a frosty 110 degrees all week, which was a nice change from the amazing weather we get in Calgary. We ate good food, got sunburned, golfed and mostly hung out at the pool. I even managed to puke my guts out in a parking lot from a severe migraine headache.....this trip was that awesome!

Trailer Makeover cont......

2011-06-15T10:14:00.004-06:00

Remember that old trailer I posted a few weeks ago? well it has undergone a major transformation! It was actually a lot of fun to work on this with my Son Spencer, he did a great job!

A Fresh Coat of Paint (Sandra's color choice)

The Base is installed, Spencer did all the dirty work and climbed under the trailer to attach all the nuts and bolts.

Side boards are up, we decided to add a pocket door at the back

Almost finished! Just needs to be stained

All done!

Good job Spence!

John is 1*

2011-06-06T09:54:00.008-06:00

a couple of days ago i was reminded of why i need to blog on the family blog more often. i was rummaging around in my basement looking for something when i came across the book Chuck had published of our blog. what an absolute treasure! all of those memories, thoughts and photos put into one book! i have rededicated myself to writing on the family blog.

i missed talking about John's first birthday! it went off without a hitch... i was planning to have a party with the family but then he ended up REALLY sick with his usual croopy tight cough. we ended up at the Dr's office on his birthday.. i picked up some Crave cupcakes on the way home. i wanted to at least sing to the birthday boy and let him eat cake. he wasn't interested in eating it though... and if you know johnny, that is definitely out of character. he was SICK.

this year has gone by fast in some ways but slow in others. he has been sick ALOT. he always has a tight dry cough or something else going on. this morning i went into his room to get him and noticed that his hand was REALLY swollen. i was surprised but yet it has been par for the course with this little man. after seeing his hand i remembered that he had gotten a mosquito bite yesterday on his finger and arm. SO swollen for 2 little mosquito bites... he is going to be going in for some asthma testing to see if there is something going on. he seems to have tendencies toward allergies and asthma i think. we'll see.

(picture taken by trev.)

he has been mov'n lately! crawling fast around the house. he HAS to with Noah chasing him, that's his only defence : ) he started climbing the stairs a couple of weeks ago... here we go ; ) he definitely makes himself heard. HE's my LOUDEST by far. i think he has to yell so that he will be heard over all the other noise we got go'n on in here! he's HEAVY weighing in at 26lbs. NO toilet is safe. if it's up he's getting into it : P he's a busy man and likes to be with his older siblings or watching them at least! they LOVE him and are big helpers when i need them to watch him for me. he's such a chubby, squeezable little boy and we wouldn't want him any other way : )

we LOVE you little man! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Trailer Makeover

2011-06-03T14:34:00.003-06:00

The other day my Dad gave me a rusty old trailer (thanks Dad!)......Sandra and I thought it would be fun to give this beauty a new life with a makeover. So here's some fancy photos of the before, I should have taken photos of it before I ripped down the rotting wood siding and flooring. Were gonna build a new cargo box for it and give it a fresh coat of paint, I'm sure it will come in handy for small jobs and dump runs.

On another note, little Johnny 5 is starting to walk around, here is a video of him in action.

March Madness Pool

2011-03-14T10:50:00.004-06:00

It's that time of year again, if your interested in joining our annual March Madness Pool, follow this link and fill out your bracket. $10 entry fee, winner take all. password for pool is "10 bucks". You will need to either sign in with your yahoo account or create a new yahoo account before joining the pool.

Good luck!

johnny's 9 months

2011-03-01T10:33:00.005-07:00

what he is up to...

*he has his two bottom teeth and his two top teeth are just about to pop through.

*he can sit and go from lying to sitting position easily.

*he goes on his hands and knees but not quite crawling yet.

*he army crawls a little.

*he LOVES his siblings but i think he might have a special place for Anna.

*this man can EAT!!! and it definitely correlates to how many times he poops in a day ; )

*he is always moving. he's not known to just sit on your lap and chill. he likes to grab things and move around. i have a feeling when he figures out crawling he's going to be a hand full!

*he has the straightest cutest grin!

*he's the chubbiest baby we've had. oh how i love his cheeks.

*he's a momma's boy!

*Noah can't get enough of him... i can't wait until john can hold his own. there's definitely going to be some wrestling between these two in the future!

* he sits and plays for long periods during the day.

*he takes 2 naps, one at 10:30 and the other around 3:00

*he likes it when i nuzzle him under the chin. i get the best laughs from him when i do that.

*he claps and picks up food with his hands.

i can't say he has been my easiest baby but he's been a good baby and we have loved having him around. each day we are able to see more and more of his little personality and its fun to watch him grow and change into the little man that he is becoming. i love to see his smile and here him laugh, it brightens my day. even though it has been harder with 5 i wouldn't have had it any other way!

we LOVE you Johnny Boy!!!

*revised*

HE'S CRAWLING!!! yesterday he discovered our home in a new way. pulling out drawers and picking up food off the ground. we officially have a crawler. watch out world "here's johnny"!

GRADUATION

2011-02-02T14:22:00.005-07:00

Wow, it's been months since I have updated our blog.......I guess not much has really been happenin'. Good news: Monday is officially my last day of University! For those that know me, know that school has been a long and bumpy ride for me. I took my first University class 14 years ago and have been plugging away at it ever since.....one class at a time! So now that it has come to the end, the feeling of satisfaction has been very emotional and overwhelming to say the least. It was nice to have supportive family cheering me on the whole time, especially Sandra. In July, Sandra and I plan on flying down to Phoenix to attend the graduation commencement ceremony. It should be a fun time and we hope we can meet up with lots of the California family while were there. Horray!

playing piano

2010-11-10T12:01:00.006-07:00

the other day i sat down with noah and explained the notes on the piano and how to play a song out of the kids piano book using those notes. i didn't think much of it and thought that maybe he just wanted to learn because the older kids have been learning to play.

well he must have been listening because we were all in the den watching this hilarious video when i heard one of the kids songs playing in the background. we looked up to see who was playing and to all of our amazement found noah sitting there, pointing at the notes and playing them on the piano.

theres SO many times as a mother you think your children aren't listening. it just takes a moment like this to know that they ARE. (at least some of the time ; )

Halloween

2010-11-03T18:59:00.008-06:00

The 3 older kids showin' off there halloween duds. After looking at these pictures......Spencer's face is actually pretty 'creepy' and I realize now that maybe we should have bought Cole a "gun", so he didn't have to carry around an invisible one.

Summer Update

2010-09-07T18:54:00.005-06:00

Kelowna, BC....Anna waiting for the boat ride to begin (so excited)

Anna getting bit by the Ogopogo in Kelowna, BC.

Kelowna with Rick & Sharon

Kelowna, BC

Kids in Kelowna

Kelowna

The Sweet life

Nice Flowers in Kelowna

Beluga's anyone?

Kids first day of school @ the new Royal Oak School

Anna enjoying the chocolate fountain @ Cole's after Baptism party

Most of the family @ Coles Baptism

Dad and Cole (looking fancy in our white leisure suits)

Cole and some cousins

Grandpa, Grandma and Cole

Cole's Baptism

Arbour Lake

Mommy and kids @ Arbour Lake

Spencer in Invermere @ Cabin

the wood reunion and cold water

2010-07-19T19:23:00.010-06:00

we went to the wood family reunion on the weekend. it was tonnes of fun! i think the kids played in the trees for most of the time building forts and getting dirty! it was nice to see everyone again and just be able to hang out and chat it up all day. i came home with a cold... i guess the dampness of sleeping in a tent didn't help. we were all exhausted by the end of the 2 nights but it was worth it!

you know when you come home from camping all you want to do is jump in a warm shower... we got home and our hot water tank was broken.

NO hot water

chuck tried to fix it but the dial was stuck on vacation mode??? time to call in the professionals. they couldn't come until today so we decided to spend saturday night out at tom and wendy's. thanks for the comfortable bed and warm showers!

chuck took a COLD shower this morning; he said it took his breath away... needless to say i waited until after it was fixed this afternoon ; )

( john's smile! LOVE those chubby cheeks! )

it's our 10 year anniversary on wednesday... where did the time go? what should we do? i know what i would like to do but it will have to wait until john is a little bigger and chuck can take a week off... maybe next year : )

summer fun

2010-07-12T17:11:00.009-06:00

Canada Day parade at the cabin

john's blessing

some of the family that was there. i wish i would have taken a pic outside the church with everyone.

tandem swinging at bowness

the ZOO
CALAWAY Park
grandma taking in a ride or two!
oh... the BLUE cotton candy.

the three amigo's

we have had an amazing summer so far. the canada day parade is always fun out at the cabin. it was a little rainy but fun to be out there with most of the saunders family.

john's blessing was on the 4th of July. chuck gave him a beautiful blessing. john started to cry part way through and i was afraid that chuck was going to have to cut it short. but he stopped and chuck was able to finish. it was a beautiful day with lots of family.

my mom, jill and her kids staid for a week. the kids had so much fun getting to know each other again and just having fun together. we packed a lot in in one week but they had a blast. i thought that they would be wiped out at the end of the day but i think it just wiped the moms out ; )

then we were off to the thomas family reunion in pincher creek. (sorry no pic's) it was fun to see everyone especially my grandparents. we were celebrating there 65 wedding anniversary! the kids had a blast with all of there cousins in the hotel pool. we let them swim for 4 1/2 hours but i think they could have kept going for at least a couple more.

4 weeks...

2010-06-22T10:46:00.010-06:00

i can hardly believe that a month has passed.

John has been a really good baby. he spoiled us the first few weeks with just eating and sleeping. now he's making his presence known and he likes to be held and snuggled more. not to mention all of the gas this kid has. it never fails, at 7:00-7:30 he starts to grunt and squirm and then it all gets released ; ) he started smiling last week. it's hard to get a clear picture of him while he's moving but i'll try to get one in better light next time.

i feel like we were calm and collected for the first couple of weeks and then the whirlwind hit.

who says after 3 kids it doesn't matter how many more you have it's all the same.

THEY lied ; )

with each child, there is a learning curve and i think it takes a few months to figure it all out.

how to bring a child to school when you have a hungry baby... how to clean and cook when your toddler wants to play and your baby wants to be held... how to make it to everyones appointments... how to be a good mom and wife on little sleep??? i'll figure it out eventually, but for now i'm learning to be,

a mother of 5.

"i'm like a mom"

2010-06-10T09:07:00.003-06:00

Anna LOVES holding her new baby brother. i think if i let her she would hold him for hours. she's a little mom in training!

double take...

2010-06-08T20:27:00.006-06:00

who's who?

just some fun pics to show you the difference or should i say similarities between Noah and John. the only major difference between the two so far is that Noah didn't open his eyes for the first month and john has them open often throughout the day. i'm sure the clothing gives it away but it's fun to guess anyway!

LOVE these little men!

answer: pic #1 Noah, #2 John, #3 Noah, #4 John

2010-05-30T14:59:00.004-06:00

JOHN DAVID SAUNDERS

birthdate: May 25, 2010

time: 12:50 am

weight: 8 pounds

length: 19.5 inches

My Broken Foot

2010-04-29T20:26:00.006-06:00

April 27, 2010

SO it turns out, I broke my foot.

I was reading a book on the top of my bunk bed. on the edge. I slipped and fell onto my fort that I had just made. I cried SO loudly that dad came into my room. He looked at me asked if I was O.K. and sent me back to bed. um... I crawled up my ladder and went to sleep.

I woke up in the morning to have breakfast but I couldn't walk so I hopped on one foot to my mom's bedroom. I couldn't go to school.

I went to the Doctor to check my foot. The Doctor said to me that I maybe needed a cast. So I went with my dad to the Children's Hospital.

I went for an X-ray. The Doctor knew that it was broken when he saw the x-ray. I went into the cast room to get a cast.

DARN...

He put this bandage on my foot and wrapped it around with wet, sticky fabric. I picked BLUE! It dried really fast and we went home.

I don't like having a broken foot and crutches. It makes life really hard because you can't put it in water and you have to crawl up the stairs. I hope I won't ever, never, ever get a cast EVER again.

THE END

written by Spencer

spencer's dino

2010-03-16T10:05:00.004-06:00

just another one of spencer's creations. he is constantly, and when i say constantly i mean every day after school, creating at the kitchen table. he always asks me to keep things that i am about to throw away (for a NEW project no doubt). oh if i could look inside his brain what would i find???

a creative mind, that's for sure!

tired little boy

2010-02-09T16:49:00.007-07:00

i turned some music on for noah while i went up stairs to get him some clothes. (it was time to go pick up the kids from school.) by the time i got back down (the second song) i found this sleeping babe. ahhhh... he must have been so tired. i felt so bad that i had to wake him from his little dream land.

Christmas / Sledding / Baby

2010-01-04T22:05:00.005-07:00

When you ask Noah to smile.....this is what you get!

This is a picture of our newest addition, it's a boy and he will be born in May.

Spencer and I skiing in Fairmont over New Years

Anna turning 6 years old.....birthday breakfast.

Sledding Christmas Day

Spencer Sledding

Noah and Dad chillaxing

Cole testing out his new snowboard

Cole with Christmas goodies

Christmas morning.....bed head and all.

visitors for the weekend

2009-10-30T14:39:00.003-06:00

hanna, frank and jack are visiting our house for the weekend ; ) it should be a fun one!

Update.....just for the sake up updating.

2009-09-24T20:41:00.004-06:00

It's been a while since we have updated this blog......so here's your update. I'll do it Letterman style and give you a top 10 list of things that have happened over the past 2 months.

1. Spencer got Baptized by his Dad

2. Spencer started grade 3

3. Cole started grade 2

4. Anna started kindergarten (all three kids now at Scenic Acres School)

5. Sandra and kids spent half the Summer in Invermere at the Cabin

6. Chuck re-enrolled in University and started classes again (only 6 more to go)

7. Cole and Spencer start basketball this week

8. Sandra started her business (Lullaby Lucy) and is wicked talented with the sewing machine

9. Aaron and Stacey came to town and we ate at every good restaurant in Calgary

10. Went to Lethbridge for Uncle Trevor's wedding

Triathlon '09

2009-08-13T21:23:00.007-06:00

Last weekend I completed my 1st triathlon, it was an amazing experience and one of the funnest things I have ever done. A few months ago my Dad issued the challenge to all the guys in the family and most of us were able to compete in the Camp Pendleton Triathlon down in Southern California. Thanks Dad for organizing this and helping to get all our butts in shape! Since returning home, I cannot stop thinking about triathlons......I think I have become addicted to this sport. I seriously need to do another one really bad, I'm already searching all over the place for my next one. Here's some pictures from the event.

some CABIN fun!

2009-07-28T16:44:00.004-06:00

boys & noah
SWIMSUITS are for wimps...

Anna

Carson
showing each other their swimming skills.
"D" "D"

missing tooth (check out the video on nena's blog)
the gang on the slide

anna's mission

2009-07-13T12:52:00.003-06:00

anna came home from church yesterday with this...

here's a closer look at what she must have told the teacher...

it's a little sad and cute at the same time.

O Canada!

2009-07-05T21:29:00.007-06:00

We have spent the last week or so in Invermere at the Cabin over Canada Day.......it was really fun and relaxing. I drove back and forth as I still had to work, so all in all I went there and back 3 times over the past 10 days! The weather was perfect, some days well over 30 degrees (hot stuff!) Invermere had a great little Canada Day parade (the kids loved all the candy that was being thrown from the cars). We think we'll make it a Saunders family tradition to attend the Invermere Canada Day festivities every year. Today we went to church in Fairmont and Elder Christofferson of the quorum of the twelve apostles was there visiting on vacation, so that was a neat experience as well. It was cool to be in a sacrament meeting with only about 30-40 other people and an apostle. See below for some pictures from the week.

Anna Dance Recital Video

2009-06-25T11:43:00.000-06:00

Click here for Video

Our new lawn

2009-06-14T14:58:00.008-06:00

So we put down our sod this weekend, we gott'er done really fast with the help of Dad, Jeff and CJ. Here's some photos of the finished product, I think it turned out really good. We put in the deck foundation posts as well, likely won't install the deck until next year. My favorite picture is the one of the freaky lookin' jackrabbit that just happened to show up in my backyard right as I was snapping these photos.

Time for an update

2009-05-20T16:45:00.012-06:00

Just thought I would give a quick update on what's up. It seems like when you don't take pictures for a while, it's hard to post something new, I guess pictures are better than words. The family has been chuggin' along for the past couple months, nothing really that interesting going down. In August all the 'dudes' in the family are heading down to 'Camp Pendleton', just north of San Diego to compete in there annual Triathlon. So I've been doing some training (Run, Bike and Swim). It should be interesting come race day, considering none of us have ever competed in a triathlon, so it's hard to know what to expect. My main goal is to not drown in the ocean, as long as I make it through the swim portion....I should be ok. Here is an aerial photo of the course. If you really want to get inspired to run a triathlon....watch this video. (and try not to cry like a little baby while watching!)

Sandra has been busy with quilts, patterns and other 'girly' stuff, you can check out her blog.... HERE . She also has a store where she sells her handmade goodies..... HERE . The older boys are almost done school for the Summer, I think Sandra and the kids will likely spend a lot of time at the Cabin once there done. We are busy laying our sod at our house tonight, so I will post pictures of the finished product later. Any ho, I really just needed to update this blog, it has been way too long!

Vancouver trip

2009-04-13T11:28:00.008-06:00

On Thursday we packed up the car to go to the Cabin and at about Banff we decided to pass the cabin and just keep on driving all the way to Vancouver! Sandra had never been there and the last time I was there was probably 20 years ago. It was a really fun road trip, we had great weather the whole time. We spent our time at the Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park, Capilano tree bridges and sightseeing the beautiful city. It was so green, nice and warm and a much needed break for all of us!

Caught on camera (part 2)

2009-03-22T20:19:00.002-06:00

Caught on camera (part 1)

2009-03-22T18:48:00.006-06:00

Well, as many people know - Cole is very reserved, but when music comes on, he becomes a different kid. We caught him in a groove this weekend, he had no idea we were watching because he usually closes his eyes and goes into a trance. enjoy!

Calling all Ballers.......

2009-03-05T14:23:00.006-07:00

Ok, so it's that time of the year again, the best sporting event known to man occurs in the month of march, that being the NCAA March Madness College basketball tourney. Every year I organize a pool of committed b-ballers who are willing to part with there hard earned cash ($10 entry fee) and join the pool for a chance to win big and finally have a "taste of the good life." My goal this year is to have 100 entrants (probably won't happen, but it would be nice). So if your a small risk, big reward type of person than join the pool and have a chance at claiming the top prize, along with bragging rights until next year. Keep in mind, this is a pay to play tourney, so anybody that joins and has not paid by tip-off (March 19th) will be removed from the pool. Sorry, it's the only fair way for everyone.

Follow these simple instructions if you would like to play.

step 1 - follow this link
step 2 - enter password to join - 10 bucks
step 3 - create bracket (team)
step 4 - open up your wallet
step 5 - mail $10 to me (149 Royal Oak Bay NW. Calgary, AB T3G 0A3)
step 6 - wait until the field of 64 is set and then make your picks.
step 7 - make sure you don't pick BYU
step 8 - watch the entire tourney and cry everytime your teams lose.
step 9 - be amazed at my ability to choose the winning team
step 10 - the winner is announced and it's usually the office secretary or somebody's wife that doesn't know a thing about basketball.

Good luck to all entrants. PS, if you live in the USA, let me know as you can send your $10 to a different address.

Chuck

Spencer's Art

2009-02-16T16:43:00.003-07:00

Spencer is da' man when it comes to art......he loves art and has been taking lessons from Grandma for a while now. He really enjoys it and I think he has very good natural talent for a 7 year old. This is one of his favorite art pieces that he recently finished, so we decided to frame it and stick it up in his room.

Update

2009-02-14T16:10:00.003-07:00

I thought it was time to update the blog, here's a few pic's of Noah and us skiing at Fairmont last weekend. Last weekend we headed out to the cabin with all of Sandra's family. All the adults skied at Panorama the first day (it was fun, but the snow really sucked!). The second day we skied at Fairmont with the kids, for us it was the first time taking the older 2 kids skiing. Lets just say that were glad we only did a half day, it was hard teaching them, but after a couple frustrating hours Spencer was able to ski by himself fairly good. Cole needs a few more lessons before he'll get it. Overall, they both did really great and it was a fun day.

Not much else is happening around the Saunders home, other than us getting sick every other week! We've gone from colds to flu's to colds all winter. We feel like this has been the longest, coldest, sickest, just plain nastiest Winter on record. We are really looking forward to Spring/Summer!

Noah and his bat

2009-01-20T20:55:00.002-07:00

Noah loves his little bat, he carries it around the house hitting everything in sight- including his older brothers, which he thinks is pretty funny!

valentine's GIVE away!!

2009-01-14T10:13:00.006-07:00

it's january 14th a month before the infamous VALENTINE'S DAY!! the day that men think woman made up as an excuse to get something from there husbands... well ladies... why wait for chocolates when you can have FABRIC!!

check out the give away on my sister's blog.

FREE fabric and a charm!! just for posting a comment. feel free to post about it on your blog and get a few extra entries!! thanks everyone! good LUCK; )

Anna's Birthday Party

2009-01-11T19:05:00.007-07:00

Here some pix of Anna's Birthday the other day. Sandra made a princess barbie cake, which turned out pretty cool and the kids dressed themselves in toilet paper. Cole was the only boy at the party that wasn't "too cool" to get all wrapped up in TP.

Anna is five !

2008-12-29T13:52:00.004-07:00

Anna turned 5 today! It's hard to believe that our little girl is getting older, it seemed like yesterday she was just a little ball of curly red hair.....we still don't really know where that hair came from??. We love Anna, she is a very special member of our family. I guess there something about her being the only girl in the family that makes her special to her Dad. Here are some pictures of Anna that I found on my work computer today. I hope they make you smile!

Cole's Christmas Letter

2008-12-24T14:49:00.003-07:00

Check out my sister's blog, laniejane.typepad.com, I bet you'll see someone familiar!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas concert

2008-12-17T22:10:00.004-07:00

Spencer and Cole had there school Christmas concert last night, they both did really good singing and acting out there roles as an Elf and Toy Soldier. It's always fun to see them do things that take them out of there "comfort zone". Let's just say that Spencer and Cole won't be the first in line to sign up for Drama, dancing or singing lessons in the near future. I also included a nice shot of Cole after we plucked out his front tooth, I ended up having to use pliers to pull it out. Cole really wanted it out and he was so brave that he let me grab it with pliers and then give it a yank. Sandra also has Noah started early with his "renovating skills". We had to patch a small hole in the wall, so Sandra mudded and Noah sanded.

Calgary = Snow + Cold

2008-12-13T17:38:00.005-07:00

Wow, winter hit us hard this weekend. We got dumped on with lots of snow and cold. I think tonight it is going to hit the -40 degree mark! It took me over 2 hours today to shovel the driveway, I should really invest in a snowblower!

USC vs Notre Dame

2008-11-17T13:37:00.004-07:00

In 10 days I'm off to Cali for our guys trip. I'm really looking forward to it, the highlight of the trip should be the big football game - USC vs Notre Dame. Dave says if I wear a Notre Dame jersey he won't sit with me and I'll likely get shot or shived in the back by an angry Snoop Dogg. So to play it safe, we will support the red and gold. Aaron, the picture of the ultra fruity chest bump is for you.....just because I knew it would get you excited. See you all next week.

Chuck

Canadian Business Magazine Cover

2008-11-05T13:10:00.003-07:00

Take a look at that! That's me on the cover of Canadian Business Magazine, it should hit stores this week sometime.

Bearspaw Insurance Ads

2008-10-30T15:28:00.004-06:00

Just thought I would put up my newest work Ads that will appear in the upcoming phone book. I have a 2 page spread, with these two Ads. I met with CJ today and he did his magic, I think the new "home insurance" Ad turned out great. The "insurance on your mind?" Ad has been awesome in the book the last 2 years, so we decided to leave that one alone. While I was at CJ's studio, I was lucky enough to be used as a model for his latest job. Looks like I will be on the cover of Canadian Business magazine next week...sweet!

Chuck's Retina

2008-10-27T11:33:00.005-06:00

So for all who have asked about me eye, I thought I would give an update and for those who don't know or hadn't heard. I was six packed in the face a week ago playing on my volleyball team. I know....pretty lame and embarrassing, but that's what happens when you get old - my reflects obviously aren't what they used to be and I was drilled straight in the face (eye) with a wicked spike. So, after being blasted in the face, I actually lost vision in my right eye for some time. Instead of rushing to the emergency room and waiting there all night, I decided to sleep on it and see an optometrists in the morning. My vision restored, but not completely....I have a big black spot in my vision and there was fears that my retina had become detached or ripped. I was able to see an ophthalmologist the very next day, which is a minor miracle in our Canadian health care system. In closer examination, turns out my retina is not ripped but badly bruised, which is causing the black spot. I didn't know you could bruise the back of your eyeball! I guess that's what happens when a volleyball slams directly into your eye at 100mph. So my prognosis is that it will heal over time, about 6 weeks. I have noticed it getting better everyday, I can really see the black spot when the lights are dim or at night. For all you anatomy junkies, here is a diagram of the eye.

Blogger.....did you miss us?

2008-10-23T20:04:00.005-06:00

Ok, so were back using blogger after a hiatus on iWeb. Since that time, we have added a sixth member to the Saunders fam, so our old blog address of saundersfive has lost it's charm. Anyway, rather than starting a fresh blog and losing all our old entries, we have decided to keep the name. We will try and update this site more diligently as in years past to keep our long lost family members, ie. the California crew updated on the life of us northerners.

7 Weeks and Counting

2007-03-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

I've gained about 30 lb., I'm feeling pretty tired lately, and this little guy is getting pretty big. One thing I know about him already is that he gets hick-ups about 3-4 times a day. (Don't they say that your baby will have lots of hair if they get hick-ups a lot. Well we'll see because none of my other babies have had much hair.) The kids are getting really excited about the baby coming. Anna feels and kisses my belly at least twice a day, and Spence always asks if he can feel him.

Not much else has been going on around here lately. Chuck has been playing basketball and volleyball for the first time since we've been married. It's nice to see him active again and having fun. The kids are having fun at their swimming lessons, and me well I'm just trying to focus on the baby and trying to forget about the part when it has to come out.

Funny Story

2007-02-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

First of all, here's a big shout out to Dave and Wendy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope you both had great days.

Now for the funny story. We went to Boston Pizza for lunch today and ordered a plate of loaded nachos. All the nachos were gone and there were a few jalapeno's left. So I get this idea, "Hmmm, I wonder if my kids would eat one of those." It took some convincing, then my brave little Spencer takes one, chews and swallows it down. Then of course proceeds to take a big drink of water while saying his mouth is hot.
Cole wasn't so sure. He didn't know if he wanted to try it, so I bribed him with some chocolate ice cream and gummy worms. It took a little more convincing and then it was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. I know I won't be able to describe how hilarious he looked while eating it, it's kind of one of those "had to be there" kind of moments, but I'll try.
So my sweet little Cole, that doesn't really like to eat anything green or different, grabs that jalapeno so fast, shoves it in his mouth and starts to chew as fast as he can with his eyes tightly shut. You can tell that he really doesn't like it, and he's over chewing it, he could have already swallowed it. Anyone one that knows Cole know he's not the fastest swallower. Anyway, he quickly try's to chew some more and finally ends up spitting it out. I laughed so hard my belly started to hurt. After we all had a good laugh, Cole said that next time he's going to swallow it. He definitely deserved that sundae. What a brave guy, he did it even though he really didn't want to. Thanks for the laugh po.
Anna ended up eating one as well, I don't know if they will ever eat one again, I was just proud of them for trying.

Bed Time

2007-01-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get Cole to open his eyes, he kept telling me the light was to bright, so he looks like this in almost every picture.

Pretending to get some ZZZ's

Anna and Daddy

Daddy and Cole

This is one of our families favorite things to do before bed time. They all climb up into our bed (thanks for the king Tom and Wendy, it helps to have more room). I just wanted to document it because one day, probably sooner than I would like to think, this won't happen anymore.( Although when I was a teenager my brother and I use to jump up in my parents bed on the odd occasion.) I hope my kids still want to jump in bed with us when they are teenagers. They grow so fast, Spence will be 19, in 14 more years!!! That's less then 3x's the amount of time we have already had him. 14 years will go by so fast. I wish I could keep them under our blankets forever, and I hope that they always know that they are welcome. Love you, my little munchkins.

The Babies Crib

2007-01-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

We set up the babies crib, what do ya think??

A New Year

2007-01-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's a little late but you know the saying "better late then never". I thought I would just post some pictures of our visit down to Lethbridge.

It really felt relaxing this trip, we were really able to enjoy each others company and of course the food. One thing I realized more than ever this time is how much my family enjoys food. Nothing is better then sitting around eating ribs in-between a great game of cards, and we actually got Chuck to try a few things that he wouldn't normally have eaten (he's getting brave).

We have had a great year. I love having this blog because I can look back on the past year and see all of the things that we have done. I hope that next year will bring the same great feelings as the past year. We are excited and nervous for the future. It's going to be fun having a baby around the house again. The kids are going to be great older siblings, the baby will be greatly loved.(We'll have to keep an eye on Anna I think)

The kids start swimming lessons on monday, which they always enjoy. Anna will have her first crack at them, she's my no fear chick. She's going to do great. The boys are loving school and we are now working on Cole actually speaking to his teacher. He's painfully shy and I hope that we can get him out of his shell a bit. Spence is loving school, and is doing great with the one on one time that he gets with the speech pathologist. Anna is growing up to fast. I enjoy the time we get together when the boys are at school.

One of Chucks goals for the year is to finish half of the schooling that he has left. I'm not sure how he's hung in there but he's doing it and I definitely can't take any credit for him sticking in there. It's been really hard on us, and I'm not sure how he's going to finish but I know that he will. It's not in him to give up. Chuck is excited to go to Alaska with my dad and brothers and brother in-law for their fishing trip. We've been talking about going to Alaska for awhile so I'm glad he gets to make that trip, I know that will definitely be one of the highlights of his year.

Me, well I hope that I can make it to the hospital before the baby comes, maybe even in time for an epidural. I also hope the baby is healthy. I'll feel so much relief after the baby is in my arms. April will come sooner then I think, after that, I guess we'll see.

It should be a great year and we'll be able to end the year in Kauai. We can't wait, the boys are going to love it. I hope that all of you have a Great Year! Happy New Year!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-01-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

We decided to make cookies today with my new cookie scoop that I got from "Mrs. Claus". I told the kids that I thought they were the best I have ever made and Spencer said "the scoop must be magic". It must be all those cookies that Mrs. Claus makes for Santa that makes the scoop so magical. (ha,ha)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
chocolate chips

1. Beat margarine till creamy.
2. Add sugar, egg and vanilla, mix well
3. Add dry. (I usually add a little less then 1 1/2 cups of flour)
4. Bake at 350 for 7-9 min or until golden brown on the bottom.

Happy Birthday Anna!

2006-12-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Anna celebrated her 3rd yesterday, it was a good day. It started with a birthday breakfast and then we drove down to Lethbridge for the weekend to spend time with Sandra's parents. The kids got to open some more christmas gifts and we had a little party for Anna. Here are some pix from yesterday.

May the Force be with you....

2006-12-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well we had one of the best Christmas's we've had as a family. The kids were all a bit older and understood what was going on. Spence woke us up and said "Santa's been here, santa's been here!" It was so cute. So we all woke up at about 9:00 to go see what santa had brought. The kids were so excited when they saw what santa had brought, how fun would it be to be a kid again? The anticipation of waiting for everyone to get ready to go check out what you got. What an exciting memory. The kids had so much fun opening there presents. We would open one and then if they wanted to open it up, we would. It was fun just to take our time and enjoy every gift.

After opening presents we got ready, I made pie crust for the first time, and we went out to grandma and grandpa Saunders house to have a Christmas brunch. Lisa and I made our first attempt at making meat pies, and there was lots of tasty food to be had. For the rest of the day the kids played around, the adults played games, and we just hung out enjoying each others company. It was a Good Day! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Here are some pix from Christmas morning, we told the boys to look scary and this is what they came up with.

Movie with the PM

2006-12-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's not everyday that you get to meet and talk with the Prime Minister of Canada while standing in a movie theatre. Well, that's exactly what happened to us today. Dave, Jess, CJ, Me and all the kids went to a matinee today and while I was buying my tickets I looked over and there standing about 50 feet away was somebody who resembled Stephen Harper. I thought, no way it can't be him. So after I bought my tickets I walked closer and yes it was him - The most powerful person in Canada standing right in front of me. So I introduced myself and the boys, I talked with him for about 3-4 minutes. Really neat experience for me, I mean it will likely be the only time I ever meet someone that important in terms of world leaders. I told the boys who they were shaking hands with, but obviously they didn't understand. I guess one day they will know and realize who they met. So it then turned out that Stephen Harper was even attending the same movie. So after the movie Dave, Jess, CJ and the other kids all got to meet and shake hands with him. What are the odds! Same place, same time, same movie, anyway it was a cool experience.

On a different note, the kids are really looking forward to Christmas, I feel like we took care of gift shopping early this year, so there hasn't been a last second christmas rush like most years. The Christmas eve party at mom & dad's should be a lot of fun tomorrow. Merry Christmas.

Chuck

New Light

2006-12-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our new laundry room light. Why does blogger post the pictures sideways now???? Ever since blogger switched to this new beta blogger, we can't get our pictures to post upright.

Christmas Dress

2006-12-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up I always remember getting a Christmas dress and an Easter dress, so I wanted to carry on the tradition with Anna. I wanted a traditional one and finally was able to find this one at Costco. I think I need to get a bow to tame down that crazy hair

She looks so beautiful in it. Thanks Papa, she loves it!

Trimming the Tree 2006

2006-12-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well we have all finally got over the horrible cold/flu we've all had for the past 2 weeks. It hasn't been to much fun. Thank you to those that helped us, it was greatly appreciated.
We were able to put up our tree last night. We cut the string on it and realized the tree was going to be our biggest one yet. It takes up a good part of the family room, and is nice and full. The kids had so much fun putting the decorations on. After a while I had to help them out because they were all at the front of the tree.
It doesn't quite feel like christmas until your tree is up.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Bird Flu???

2006-11-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

Our family has been really sick for about a week now with the nastiest flu/cold ever! I had to take the boys and myself to Dr. Bell today because it just wasn't going away. We keep joking around the house that we got the bird flu from Mom when she came back from China last week. Mom came back sick and then we all got sick, coincidence? - I think not! Just joking Mom, we know we didn't get it from you. So, the boys have missed an entire week of school and we don't know when they will get better - hopefully soon. Here is a picture of us making some snowmen last week - when the weather wasn't bone chillin'. I think it was like 10 above that day - notice I'm in shorts. Until next time.

C

The Past Few Days

2006-11-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well my sister was up for the weekend and we got a lot of sewing done. We had fun just hanging out and I loved holding Daxton. It was nice to have someone to help and to talk to. I'm sad that these are the only pictures we took. Oh well, we had a great time and at least I have a couple.

Spencer and Cole have been sick the past few days, I think Spence got the worst of it though. They've had really bad fevers and dry hackie coughs. Spence woke up in the middle of the night dry heaving, I think he was choking on all of the congestion in his throat. He popped blood vessels around his eyes, mouth and neck. He's been so sick. Here's some pictures of my little trooper. Noooooooooo fun. Poor boy.

three down, one to go...

2006-11-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the boys quilts I made. It took me way longer then I thought but now that I look at it I think I know why. I had to cut each piece individualy, if anyone knows how to do it a faster way please let me know, I'm kind of dreading the second one.

16 weeks and counting...

2006-11-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Getting bigger, feeling good, and counting down.

Halloween

2006-11-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix of this years halloween. For halloween night we ended up having an early dinner, went trick or treating and the boys made sure we went to the monster mouth house, and then we came back home for some hot chocolate and caramel apples. It was a relaxing fun night.

Trick or Treatin'

Carving pumpkins with Dad

Check out our loot

Spencer's class picture

Spencer as a scary dragon

Anna was a princess and pooh this year.

Cole was a teenage mutant ninja turtle and spider-man.

Sandra put on a fun party at our place for the cousins.

my babies...

2006-10-24T09:08:00.000-06:00

just thought it would be fun to compare baby pictures.

i wonder what the next one will look like?

The One Carrot Dinner...

2006-10-16T10:40:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we did some backyard clean-up and dug out the rest of the potatoes and carrots from the garden. Some of the carrots were surprisingly big. Sooooo big, that we had a chicken dinner yesterday and I only had to wash and cut one carrot. YUM!

Being Silly!

2006-10-16T10:03:00.000-06:00

Just a funny picture from the other day. Spence and Anna were playing the underwear super-hero game again. I think the game is to see how many underwear you can get on and who can look the silliest.

Quilting Machine!

2006-10-13T10:44:00.000-06:00

It's funny what you can do when you know that help is coming. My sister might be coming up the beginning of november to help me finish some of my projects lingering around. Even just the thought of someone coming to help me has given me motivation to finish my projects, so I guess even if she isn't able to make it, telling me she would come and help has helped. Thanks Jill, for getting me motivated again.

Here's some of the latest.

I have more to go but at least it's a start. I finally finished the quilt I made with my mom and I was able to sew a quilt top for Anna and a baby quilt top with the left over fabric. Now I just have to sew the boys Hawaiian quilts together. I hope that I can stay motivated. Wish me luck, yahoo!

Back from Kauai

2006-10-01T13:49:00.001-06:00

We just got back from our awesome trip to Kauai, we left last night @ 7:00 and got in today at noon (we had stops in Honolulu and SLC), I have been awake for over 24 hours and for whatever reason I am not sleeping but writing a blog instead. My schedule is all messed up with the time change and no sleep, I must be running on adrenaline overload from such a fun week. It is really good to be home and see the kids, we got them plenty of gifts - they were obviously more excited about the gifts than seeing us again. (I think they had a great time with there grandparents - thanks). I thought I would post a couple more pix of our last few days.

Kayaking on Hanalei River - we paddled up the river for a while and then went downstream and into the ocean (Hanalei Bay).

This is the same falls that I posted earlier in the week, this is how it normally looks - instead of dirty brown water.

We drove deep inland and found these crazy trees - I can see where they got camouflage from - the trees looked fake, almost like they were made of plastic.

Luau & Waterfall

2006-09-29T00:58:00.000-06:00

We went to a Luau at the Hyatt tonight, it was really cool and the all-you-can eat buffet was even better. We had a relaxing beach day most of the day and we both got way too much sun. Tomorrow, we are going to go kayaking up the Hanalei river and then to a seafood buffet at the Marriott in Lihue.

This waterfall is up by Lihue and usually it is a double spouted waterfall with crystal clear water. It had rained a tonne up in the mountains the night before, so there was a lot of dirt in the water. Some locals said they had never seen it like this, with so much water coming down.

Wiamea Canyon & The Napali Coast

2006-09-27T18:43:00.000-06:00

Here are some pix of day 3, we drove up to Wiamea and hiked through the wiamea canyon and got a glimpse of the Napali coast.

See the waterfall in the background (waipoo falls), we hiked about 6 miles to it.

The Napali coast, about as close as you can get without taking a boat or helicopter tour.

This is the start of the waterfall that we hiked to, we ended up on top of the waterfall and it was so steep that you couldn't even see it.

Really cool tree, directly behind this tree was a cliff straight down hundreds of feet.

this is us after our long hike, it rained on us really hard, we had to take cover under some huge trees.

Kauai continued....

2006-09-26T00:48:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would post some more pix of our trip, here are some from day #2.

This turtle was really cool, it was huge and was just sitting on our beach by our hotel. The turtle then went back into the water and we snorkled around with it for awhile.

Look at me, I'm such a dork.

We went to this farmers market today, we were laughing so hard because there was hundreds of people there and we all had to line up behind this line until this guy running the market blew his whistle. Once he blew the whistle, everyone just took off booking down the street to the market. I've never been to a farmers market like this, it was like everyone was trying to get the best mango or pineapple or something.

Kauai

2006-09-24T22:37:00.000-06:00

Sandra and I are convinced that we just found heaven, this place is absolutely incredible. I thought I would post some of our pix from our first day on the Island, sorry the pix don't even come close to doing this place justice, you have to experience it for yourself. We woke up today around 5:00 am, the flight messed up our sleeping schedules, anyway we had an early start to the day and decided to drive all over the island to see what the place had to offer. We couldn't believe our eyes as we drove around, each place was so cool. We loved the Princeville and Hanalei areas, the vegetation was unreal. We drove as far as you could drive north until we hit the Napali coast, at the end of this road was the coolest snorkel beach. We snorkeled there for a while and saw tonnes of fish. This Marriott resort is so nice, I'll take a bunch of pictures of our room later.

Airport

Scenic Lookout

Spouting Horn

Riding a wave

Marriott's beach - awsome beach for kids, there was probably over 30 surfers at our beach today.

Outside our back door

Scenic lookout

Crazy tree

Salt and Pepper Ribs

2006-09-14T14:31:00.000-06:00

Sorry there's no picture with this recipe but you get the point.

3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
2 Tbsp Pepper
3 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 1/2 Tbsp Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Seasoning Salt
1 Tbsp Creole (optional)
A few shakes of cayenne, put more if you like them hotter.

1. Mix together and rub on ribs. (don't rub to much on ribs or they will end up to salty)
2. Barbecue

This recipe will have some left over so use a separate bowl to rub the ribs so you don't contaminate the whole bowl.

Weeny Roast @ Baker Park

2006-09-09T21:28:00.000-06:00

Just thought I'd post some of the pix from our picnic in the park. The park was deserted and the kids had fun running around, it was a good time.

business in the front, party in the back

2006-09-06T11:14:00.000-06:00

Well, you always here about the stories where the kid gets ahold of the scissors and cuts their hair but you never think it's going to happen to you. Because for some reason you think that your children are smarter than that. Well, I found out that their not.

I was cutting around Spencers ears and conveniently left the scissors by the sink where Anna could reach them. I went to turn on Tree-house for Spence and when I returned I found this.

This is after I trimmed it up so it didn't look so much like a mullet.

Labour Louise Day

2006-09-04T22:20:00.000-06:00

We had a fun Labour Day, we packed up the kids and went to Lake Louise and Banff with Dave, Lisa and kids. It was a great time, we arrived at Lake Louise and quickly noticed that most of Alberta had done the same, it was crazy busy, we were lucky just to find a parking spot. We walked around the lake on the long path, the kids had fun running and throwing rocks into the water. The kids were all good sports, we walked over 4km today, we saw some little chipmunks and even a little wiesel looking animal running around the forest. After Lake Louise we were really hungry, so we drove to Banff and ate a Tony Roma's, the food was subpar, but it was still fun. Here are some pix of the day.

... and then there were SIX.

2006-09-03T04:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it is about 5:00 in the morning and I can't sleep. It's not for the usual reasons though. I feel nauseous, hungry and I had to pee. Yes those of you who saw our name change probably figured it out. Chuck and I are expecting our fourth child, it just happens to be on Chucks Birthday which we are so excited about. Those of you who don't know when Chuck's birthday is, it's April 21. We were trying to hold off telling for a little bit, but it just didn't work out. I didn't realize this but, you tend to stretch out a lot quicker when your having your forth, at least I have.

Those of you who know me know that my past pregnancies have been pretty easy, although I will say after the third pregnancy in a row it does wear on you. I don't want you to think I've had it all good, just good compared to most I here. Well, you'll be happy to here I am enjoying all of those things that women say happen to them; cravings, nauseousness and I've already had the pleasure of experiencing a little bit of the nesting faze, everything I think? except the throwing up part which frankly I am so glad I haven't experienced and feel so sorry for those women who do. (sorry Alysha)

I feel so blessed to have a new baby coming into our lives and we our so excited about it. My kids are so excited as well, which to this point I haven't experienced, because our kids have been so close. Cole says, if it's a boy he wants him to sleep in his bed and Anna of course would love to have a girl around. Spencer being the older brother that he is, says that he wants it to be a girl so that Anna can have someone to play with, the way Cole and him play. So it looks like either way, girl or boy, we are set.

We are so blessed to have our family in our lives and hope that this baby will be a fun new addition to it. We love you all and we are so grateful for your support.

Sandra

anna's NEW thing

2006-09-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

So Anna has become our little hairdresser. She started putting as many clips in her hair as she could fit and then she moved on to her dad. (I hope chuck doesn't mind me blogging this) She is such a girl, I love it. Never in a million years did I think I would have such a girly girl. I'm sure my mom didn't think so either, she would always try to dress me in frilly dresses and I wanted nothing to do with them. So it's fun to see my girl be so interested in anything "PINK".

THE CABIN

2006-08-26T22:48:00.000-06:00

the family
the boys
the girls
the sites
the goggles
the sand
and at the end of the day, you know it's been a good one when, theres nothing you want to do more then close your eyes and dream.

kids say the Darndest things.

2006-08-17T17:35:00.000-06:00

So, I was vacuuming the floor in my room while the boys were playing on the computer, and it came time for me to vacuum under their chair. I pulled the chair out and grabbed all of the items that had been randomly thrown under there from the week before; a ball, a rapper and chucks old pair of glasses. When Cole saw the glasses he said, "Are those for daddy when he gets old?" I had to laugh. It was funny, that at such a young age he had related old people and glasses.

I needed a laugh today. Thanks COLE!

PLAY TIME!!!

2006-08-13T17:50:00.000-06:00

My niece has been with us for the last couple of days and the kids have been having a blast playing with her. Of course the girls are always in their princess dresses and the boys playing puppies. It's nice to have an older girl around playing a bit of the motherly roll. It's been so much fun to have her around! Here's some pictures for my sister, so she can see the fun we've been having.

Happy 5th Spencer!

2006-08-11T18:54:00.000-06:00

We have had a great couple days of birthdays for Cole and Spencer. They have actually been the same age for the past 2 days, what is that called "Irish Twins???". The birthday celebrations will continue tomorrow when we have there birthday party, should be a lot of fun. I still can't believe Spencer is 5, they are all growing up way too fast. Spencer has been a part of our life almost as long as we've been married, he's a great son and example to Cole and Anna. We all love you Spencer.

This is the Spencer's reaction this morning as he came downstairs and saw his birthday present.

Spencer with his new go-cart - too bad it rained all day and he couldn't use it.

Guess Who?

2006-08-09T14:34:00.000-06:00

You can probably guess who this is. The hair shaved at the side of his head will surely give it away.

Everything about Cole's birth was a big miracle in the making. We are so glad he stuck around to be an important piece of our family. He's such a sweet boy and a wonderful brother. Anyone who knows Cole knows that he is just happy to be here. He's really lade back, a big snuggle bug and he's definitely the one to make us all laugh. It wouldn't be the same without him.

We love you Cole, and hope you have a great birthday.

It's been way too long.......

2006-08-08T15:05:00.000-06:00

First off, we have to apologize for not posting anything new in almost a month - we are seriously slackin' on our blogger duties. To be honest, not much has happened - just typical life, family stuff of little excitement. Sandra spent the long weekend in Utah visiting her sister and family, our little niece was baptized and nephew was blessed, so Sandra had a nice weekend away with no kids. I spent the long weekend finishing up a class, and trying to manage the kids. I have a renewed appreciation for what mothers do on a day-to-day basis. Just taking care of the kids for this long weekend almost killed me! Likely, if I didn't have my class to finish up at the same time, it would have been much easier, even so - kids are hard!!! So - to all you mothers out there, I salute you.

I bought myself a motorcycle last week off ebay for a whopping $9 bucks, it shows up this week from Vancouver. Here's a picture:

Sweet eh? Don't let the picture fool you - this baby stands about 2 feet tall, weighs about 40 pounds and has a top speed of around 45 km. Ya, it's a pocket bike, I'm sure we'll all have some fun at the cabin on this. I'm thinking if we all get one, we can have pocket bike races at mom and dad's house. what do you think????

"What are we going to eat for dinner?"

2006-07-19T13:58:00.000-06:00

They started sending me everyday food magazine to replace the Martha Stewart kids magazine I was getting, because I guess they don't publish that magazine anymore. First I was skeptical but then I looked through the book and they have some really easy great meal idea's. I thought putting up a recipe here and there on my blog might get other people excited about cooking. Because we all get sick of our staple foods. This is for all the Salmon lovers out there. (Jess, heres one for you to try)

Grilled Salon Steaks with Mustard Sauce and Asparagus

(we used pieces of salmon instead of the steaks, but you can use what ever you want)

What you'll need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp white-wine vinegar
course salt

1. Heat grill to high
2. Make the mustard sauce by combining mustard, sugar and vinegar
3. Divide sauce into two bowls, one for basting fish and one for drizzling on the fish after cooked.
4. Salt and pepper salmon and then bast with mustard sauce.
5. Place on an oiled grill, 3-5 minutes per side basting with sauce as you grill.
6. When done (you know if salmon is done if you put a fork in it and it pulls apart easily.) place on plates and drizzle with sauce

Side Dishes

asparagus, trimmed

1. coat with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
2. place on the grill until brown and tender.

4 slices grilled bread (optional)

It was some of the best salmon Chuck and I have ever had. LET"S EAT!!!!

From Boy to Missionary

2006-07-18T15:31:00.000-06:00

I had a flash into the future today. Wendy came over with a suit for Spence today and when he put it on it was like I flashed into the future 15 years when Spence goes on his mission. You can almost tell what he's going to look like.

Thanks for the suit Tom and Wendy. It's awesome!!!! And thanks for your help today Wendy. It helped me out alot.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Anna, Annie, Ann, Bella, Bells...

2006-07-15T08:39:00.000-06:00

I took some fun pictures of Anna yesterday. I put make-up on her (thanks nena for the idea) and we took some "princess pictures" of her, that's at least what I told her and how I got her to sit there for me. Anyway some of them turned out really good. I need to do that more often (photo sessions with the kids). You always end up with a couple great shots. Enjoy!!

Cole's a Character

2006-07-14T14:24:00.000-06:00

Cole is always making us laugh. His latest and greatest is no exception. When Chuck gets home from work Cole runs up stairs and hides under his bed until Chuck comes and finds him. Well yesturday, Chuck got home later then usual, and we were down stairs making and eating dinner for a while, when we thought, where's Cole? So we went to his usual hide out and we found this.

He was fast asleep under his bed. Chuck and I had a good laugh. Poor little po. We left him there for so long that he had fallen asleep. What a goof ball.

Sorry

2006-07-11T08:31:00.000-06:00

Sorry, to all of those that look at our blog. I haven't felt like blogging lately. I don't have anything really interesting to say but I thought I would post some pictures so that our blog will change because yes, even I am getting tired of seeing the same thing. So here's to all of you who think the same way.

Pictures at Calaway.

Hav'n fun on the boat ride with their dad.

Do these two look like twins in this picture to anyone else?

Every time Anna would go around she would say hi to Chuck, Spenc or I. It was hilarious!!!

The boys always love the rides!!

Isn't this a cute pic of Ann, I love it when you can capture their personality.

Sylvan Lake

2006-06-30T20:14:00.000-06:00

We had a fun time today at Sylvan Lake, the kids played in the water and floated around on there blow-up crocodile. It's a great lake because it's only about a foot deep for a long way out, so there isn't much worry about the kids getting too deep. If you look in the background of some of the pictures you can see how far people are out and how low the water is. It has nice sand as well, I guess it's the closest thing to a beach we have here in Alberta. It was a Fun Day!!

Sweet Surround Sound.....

2006-06-28T10:48:00.000-06:00

So Sandra is now officially the garage sale champion of the world, she is always finding cool stuff at garage sales, but none greater than this weekends gem. Sandra went garage sale shopping out in bearspaw and found this one house where he was moving and basically dumping everything he owned for $30/item. So I've been wanting a home theater system for a long, long time but obviously didn't want to coin out over $500 to get one. So this guy at his garage sale sold Sandra a new-in-box Sony Home theater system for $30 !!!! She also bought off him a new-in-box golf club rack that stores a couple sets of golf clubs and balls for only $5. When I got home and saw what Sandra bought I couldn't believe it, this guy must not have cared at all, he was selling brand new freezer's for $30, dining room sets, dressers, etc... all for $30/piece. So I couldn't be happier, I basically just got a free Home theater - thanks Sandra!

My First Garden

2006-06-27T09:44:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of Spencer's pumpkin. I'm crossing my fingers that it produces one because he's patiently waiting.

Growing up we always had a garden, when I say garden it seems like an understatement because we had a garden in our yard and then in the back field we had a very large one. I didn't mind gardening growing up. What I've found with this and many other things is that, you don't appreciate what you have learned, until your older and want to do it yourself.

So here is my first attempt. We've had a few mishaps, the spinich died from the hail, Anna pulled all the leafs off one of my strawberry plants, and she also managed to pull up one of my zucchini plants. Other than that it's going pretty good. I can't wait to eat some potatoes. Dad, you'll have to come up for a BBQ with some fresh garden potatoes.

Love you, Dad, Thanks

THE FARM

2006-06-22T14:31:00.000-06:00

We went out to the Leavitt's Farm with LaCasta and her kids yesterday. The kids had a blast and loved seeing all the animals. Cole was so brave with the horses. He would feed them all on his own. We had a blast and the rain held up until we were done, which was nice.

Modeling Career

2006-06-21T11:12:00.000-06:00

Well, what can I say - I've finally made it to the big time and graced the cover of Time (yes - that is me climbing up the funky chinese letters). I always knew one day that my "zoolanderish" good looks and climbing abilities would pay off. thanks CJ!

Some More

2006-06-19T16:35:00.000-06:00

Spencer's Concert

2006-06-16T11:48:00.000-06:00

Spencer had his end of the year concert yesturday. He was so cute. He came out of the room looking really shy and he kept waving at Chuck, Cole and I. He would make this shy really cute smile and then wave. I think he really loved the attention.

He improved lots from the last concert, he did all the actions and was having a great time. It was really good for him to break out of his shell a little bit. It was really fun to watch.

Finally

2006-06-12T20:07:00.000-06:00

Anna's room FINALLY looks like a room. There's still a few more things that need to be finished, but at least they don't involve painting. So many things have gone wrong with this room, it's been really frustrating, but I'm so happy with the result.

I couldn't have done it without my brother Corey, he put up the chair rail, sanded and sprayed the bed. Thanks so much Corey, your the best. It looks awesome.