Sarah is one year old!

It's hard to believe but Sarah is a year old!  Time certainly does fly!  Our little baby is now a smiling, walking, happy little girl.  You couldn't meet a more easy-going and fun-loving kid.  She's tough, because she's lived with two active big brothers, but she's sweet and cuddly, too.  Happy Birthday Sarah!

Lucky Sarah had three birthday parties.  You can see pictures (as well as some others from September), at

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223154&id=581855950&l=3057c9be97 .  For now, here are some pictures taken every month so you can see just how much she's grown.  (The first picture is one week, the rest are taken monthly.)

The Thundercats!

Daniel's on a soccer team!  He started last weekend and has had three practices so far.  He loves it!  He's doing really well, too, considering he's one of the few players who didn't play last year.  He seems to love everything about the practices and thinks his uniform is "awesome" because it's reversible!  Games start in two weeks - for now, they're doing skills and drills clinics.  It's going to be a fun season - hopefully we don't get too many rainy days.  :)

A week of firsts!

FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!

Daniel has been so excited about starting Kindergarten.  He's so used to the school, since it's the same school I teach at and he's been going there for two years for Strong Start.  But he's also just such an outgoing and easy-going kid that starting Kindergarten is no big deal for him.  I wasn't worried about him for a minute.  He went for 1.5 hours on Friday and 2 hours today and he's ready for the whole day.  According to his teacher, Mrs. Grewal, he's a very meticulous worker and likes to follow the rules (and enforce them to others).  Another "Kindergarten Cop" just like his dad???

FIRST BIG KID SWIMMING LESSONS!

Adam was a little nervous starting his first set of swimming lessons without Mom or Dad.  But he was brave and went off all by himself yesterday with his teacher, B.  He teacher seems really good and got him laughing when he was near tears.  Adam even put his face in the water to blow bubbles.  I was so proud of him because I knew it was really hard for him.  But, as you can see from his goofy picture, he does love the water - he just needs to feel more comfortable getting splashed and getting his face wet.

FIRST STEPS!

Can you believe how grown up Sarah looks???  She started walking Labour Day weekend and hasn't stopped.  We went to Strong Start on Friday and she walked half way across the gym all by herself!  She can even stop and turn herself around without falling over.  She looks so cute with her fists in the air - and you cannot wipe that grin off her face the entire time she's walking.  She is so proud of herself!  (And, I have to say, she looks pretty cute with those pigtails!)

And the firsts aren't over yet!  It won't be long until we're celebrating Sarah's first birthday!

Celebrating Great-Grandpa's 85th Birthday!

September 3-5, 2010

We took a quick trip up to the Okanagan over the Labour Day weekend to celebrate Great-Grandpa C's birthday.  On the way there, we decided to stop at Dinotown in Bridal Falls one last time.  Sad to say, Dinotown, formerly Flinstone's, is closed forever.  We only had the chance to go last year and this year and the kids had so much fun.  It was the perfect little amusement park for toddlers and preschoolers.

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's quite late on Friday night (the kids were all fast asleep).  On Saturday, we headed out to Great-Grandma and Grandpa R's house to play on the beach and swim in the lake.  The lake was COLD!  Sarah and Daniel had a fun time swimming in the water with Daddy, but Adam was much more content to stay on the beach and dig with Great-Grandpa.

GG prepared a yummy barbecue lunch for us, the boys roasted some marshmallows over the barbecue, they helped pick some vegetables from GG's garden and discovered all the cool old toys in the basement that Daddy (and Grandpa before him) played with when they were kids!

On Sunday, we drove out to Kelowna to Uncle Gary and Auntie Rhonda's house to celebrate Great-Grandpa C's birthday with the other side of the family.  It was so nice to see everyone because we hadn't visited that side of the family in over a year.  The rain held off (although it was iffy for a while) and we had a delicious barbecue and lots of good visiting with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  Great-Grandpa was very surprised with the TV he received from everyone.

Grandparents with (most of) their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The whole clan.

Sarah with Auntie Lauren and cousins Erin and Jenna.

She's starting to walk!

Uncle Kelvin, Grandma Sharleen, Auntie Linda and Uncle Gary.

Mmmmm...birthday cake!

It was a short and sweet visit but it was so nice to see everyone.  We'll be up again soon for Thanksgiving!

PNE

September 2, 2010

Our annual trip to the PNE!

First, we met KC Bear.  Daniel has outgrown mascots, I guess, because he didn't want a picture, but Adam did.

Visiting all the animals in the Agrodome.  Sarah and Grampa were taking a look at the piglets.

Petting baby chicks.

Sarah wasn't too sure of the baby chicks.

The boys got to learn all about farming and all the things that need to happen before food gets to the store.  Here they are planting seeds to grow vegetables.

Gramma and Sarah watched from the sidelines.

Picking apples from the orchard.

The farmer has to ride his tractor!

Next we went to see the street party.  Daniel decided that mascots weren't that bad when he saw that there were pirates.

Adam, of course, had to visit with the princess!

No trip to the PNE is complete without a picture with the chicken and pig!  It's a family tradition!

Top guns, Adam and Daniel, giving the thumbs up.

Family picture (minus one) at the truck rally.

Adam thought the cars and trucks were a little loud.

And Daniel thought they were a little stinky!

Then we went to see the Doodlebops!  The boys enjoyed the show but Sarah absolutely loved it.  She danced the whole time.  We have some cute video but I can never seem to get it on the blog.

We met up with the rest of the family for dinner and then our family tradition, the Superdog show!  No trip to the PNE is complete without the Superdogs.  Here are Mommy and Adam waiting for the show to start.

Sarah with Uncle Neil and Aunty Gloria.

Daniel with Aunty Laura and Uncle Jason...and, of course, popcorn and mini doughnuts!

What a fun and busy day!  All three kids were fast asleep about two minutes into our drive home.  We wore them out!  Next, a quick weekend visit to the Okanagan...