Well... We need an update

So much has happened that we haven't written about and it's time for an update.

We now have two boys. That's right, two.

Noah and Ezekiel

I can't believe that we are now a family of four.

Life has been an adjustment so far but is so great. The boys are wonderful and God has been so good at providing us with time to spend with them. We are so blessed to work where we do because we get to spend so much time with our children.

Noah is 2 now and talking like crazy and Zeke is almost two months old. It's crazy how fast time flies.

It's christmas time here in Canada and it's about time too, because they celebrate Thanksgiving in October. So after that we are already in full christmas swing but halloween hasn't even happened yet. Now everyone is catching up to Christmas and it's great because there are christmas lights up, snow on the ground, and christmas cookies being baked like crazy around here. It's been such a wonderful last couple of months and we just wanted to share just a bit of that with you.

But I better go because i just heard Noah waking up from his nap and sliding down the steps like he always does. Which means that he will want to wrestle or play with his dinos. Which is going to make for one fun evening.

Eric

Sometimes I am amazed at how smart Noah is. Last Sunday at church while in the nursery with Ms. Val after Daddy was done speaking in service and praying Noah said ," Amen, Daddy done." and then proceeded to try to leave the nursery. Val told me this today and I could not stop laughing. There is a speaker in the nursery that is on so you can sort of hear the sermon, well to our surprise I guess Noah might find it comforting to hear Daddy preaching. What a funny kid. I am still having a hard time getting over that he is really 2 and that we are only 6 weeks away from baby boy #2. wow.

SNOW and more snow!

at the lighting ceremony downtown Lethbridge, it was -1 but we bundled and had so much fun
Noah's favorite thing was the horse drawn carriage, he just sang along with everyone and loved it. Here we are all bundled up keeping warm. Here atleast his face is showing, at other times it was all tucked up that his eyes were only visible.
The first day it snowed he found it so amazing. He just wanted to climb all over the white stuff.
This was so funny he just kept eating the snow. He also was face diving into the snow in the yard then screaming when his face was cold. He would then lick it off and I would stand him up and he would do it again, then laugh.
Seeing the snow for the first time. He was amazed.

That time again.

It's that time again when school has started and the weather has started to change. It's getting a bit chilly here and looks like it will continue to get even colder as the months go on. But there's something about this season known as fall that I just love. I love the colors that we see on the trees, I love the feel of walking into a warm house, and I love the smell of the candle that's in our living room that smells like cinnamon and apples and cider. It's amazing. As much as I say I don't look forward to the cold and the changing of the season, I truly do look forward to it. And before we know it, it's going to be Christmas. But not yet though.

Eric

a new school year begins

Life is back in full swing again, but we are jumping in feet first and enjoying every minute so far. We should have planned out New York trip a little bit better because it felt like a whirlwind when we got home. We arrived late on a Thursday night then the next day ran around preparing stuff for youth to begin that night and then after youth Eric left for the weekend to go to "Man Camp" to speak. So needless to say it was busy. Fun but busy. Now we are just pushing on and moving forward with the rest of the things on our to-do list.

this is what today looked like....

woke up to Noah talking in his room, wanting to come join us.

got ready in a mad rush while feeding Noah oatmeal and blueberries and throwing on his cloths while walking out the door.

stopped by Barb's to get van key and turned out to get her too.

Dick came by Barb's so we were a bit late but good to see him.

drove in pouring rain out to the Phifner farm to pick up 2 vans and a trailer.

drove to Canadian Tire with two vans. dropped off one van.

drove back house to drop off trailer in garage.

picked up the 3rd van from our house.

went back to Canadian tire and tried to explain to the nice guy what all the different vans needed done for camp season.

went to lunch at El Comal with Barb, Eric, and Noah.

talked about camp stuff and began again to get so excited.

drove back to Canadian tire and picked up 2 vans that were ready.

drove them to our house.

then took Barb home to her house.

came home so Noah could crawl around for a bit.

did 3 loads of laundry.

Eric fixed bathroom door.

went to store for diapers and wipes.

picked up 3rd van and locks for trailers.

ichatted with Mom and the girls.

cereal for dinner kind of night.

Noah napped a tiny bit while Eric and I cleaned up the office.

fed Noah dinner.

went on amazing walk with family, stopped by the pet store.

bathtime with Noah.

now Eric is putting the little man to bed.

Such a great day. Full of camp prep and quality time. It only rained til about noon so I was so excited about that and cleared up enough for a good long walk tonight. Thank you Lord for the wonderful weather. Now we just need to pluck away at our camp to-do list and get things ready for Lou and Maddy to get here. I can't wait.

I feel like I am running on fumes these last few weeks. I have been so tired and can't seem to get back in the swing of things. I also think that Noah and I keep trading colds. It is not fun.

What I love today....

1. I love swimming, I think Chlorine runs through my blood. I love being able to share this with Noah. He seems to love being in the water also, not only in his tub but also in the pool.

2. I love the warm weather we have been having. It just makes me happy to wake up and see the sun shining. Here in Alberta the winters are so long, so it has been nice that spring seems to be coming a bit earlier. We have been trying to take advantage of the warm weather by trying to be outside as much as possible. Turns out Noah loves to swing, so much fun.

3. I love my husband. Eric is such a joy to me, he makes everyday so much fun. He is such an amazing father. Here he is playing with Noah. Noah loves when his Daddy plays the guitar, he gets quiet and just listens but now more often he starts to sing along.

4. I love camp. In the last few weeks we have been able to get up there twice. Once to cook for a rental group and the second to attend a city wide pastoral retreat. The first picture is Noah getting a bath in the sink. The 2nd is of us walking around at the camp.

5. I love date nights. Eric and I had not been on a date just the two of us since Noah was born. So the other night Erin agreed to watch Noah while we went out for dessert. It was such a perfect evening, and when we got home Noah was asleep on one couch with Ashley and Kameron was on the other with Erin.

just a few things of what I love and a quick update of pictures....

Valentine's Day!

we had such a fun Valentine's day yesterday, busy as always but alot of fun. Church was busy as usual and we had chocolate Sunday after service for which I had made oreo balls. Got to love them. Then after stacking chairs and visiting we headed off to Mongolie grill to meet some of the Beusekoms for lunch. If you don't already know that is one of my favorite places to eat. I love it, such a treat, and not even my idea. Then we headed home for Noah's nap in which I also napped in and out of olympic coverage and The Cinderella Story. Then I woke to dinner which Eric had made completely on his own. It was amazing, he had made grilled chicken wraps. They were wonderful and so sweet that he had made them for me. After dinner more olympics where we saw a Canadian win the 1st ever gold on Canadian soil..snow. Which was so exciting. Then we headed to Starbucks to find it closed so we searched for another open coffee shop to meet Erin and the 4 of us ended up at home. Hung out for a bit then spent a good hour and a half trying to get Noah to go to bed. He had napped to long during the day and refused to sleep last night. But he finally went at about Midnight but it was okay because he then slept for a good 6 hours. It was a wonderful day full of surprises and fun.

This is what is going on lately...

Well, a lot has been going lately. We are busy with things that are coming up with the church, like planning for our mexico trip, planning fundraisers for the kids so that they will be able to go and Noah is sick with croup. Which isn't fun. He sounds like a seal when he coughs and he sounds like someone has stepped on his vocal chord when he tries to breathe. He is so sick but he is getting better slowly. So that's what's going lately. Not too much but not to little. Also it's snowing outside and it's bitterly cold today. Other than that, we're still trucking along. Have a wonderful weekend.

Eric