T - 20 days.....

Holy smokes!! It seemed like the day would never come and now there are only 20 days left. I am in the midst of packing and cleaning and trying to stay sane on top of being both mom and dad and keeping a house full of kids running at the same time. I love my calendar, by the way. It is my saving grace. I had a nightmare last night that it was moving day and I remembered it wrong and wasn't finished packing yet. Then the truck wasn't there, so people kept putting boxes out on the driveway... and then it started to rain, so I was running to my neighbors trying to borrow tarps.... and all the while people were throwing things into boxes and packing for me. It was gross. I am working hard every day to make sure that doesn't happen.

I had such an awesome surprise yesterday. Matt was planning on coming home this weekend because he had 4 days off and said he would be here Friday by supper time. Well, when he walked in the door at 2pm on Thursday I was more than a little overjoyed. Just knowing I wouldn't have to pull down the ceiling in our laundry room by myself was enough to put me over the moon! We have to have a new dryer vent installed before we move out (as part of our selling conditions) and so the ceiling had to come down to give the plumber access to put it in. I was more than a little shocked to find out that there was almost an inch of lint on the ceiling because the dryer vent wasn't hooked up properly. CRAZY!! I am glad it is getting fixed and even more glad that I don't have to worry about it anymore.

I dream every night of my new house. I tell my kids about it all the time. Every time I sit down at our crowded little table with all my kids squished together and screaming that someone was touching them, I dream of my new 19'x11' dining room....... I know it will not cure everything, but seriously having room for everybody to have their own chair and their own space will make a world of difference.

Here's hoping I can make it through the next 20 days so I can enjoy it!

First Haircut

I have been putting off cutting Gideon's hair for quite some time. I knew it needed to be done, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut his beautiful, soft, blond curly hair! I loved playing with it just as he was going to sleep and feeling that so so soft baby hair. I knew as soon as I cut it he would look so much older and I wasn't too keen on losing my baby so fast. His super cute locks of hair were becoming a magnet for little girl hair accessories, so I decided that as much as I love his little baby look, and because I waited so long for another boy, that it was time to make the first cut.

Here he is before....

.... and during...... (I am amazed it turned out as well as it did with all this moving around!)

... and his reaction.... (and mine too a little)

Gideon is still super cute though and will be just as cute as a toddler as he was as my baby!

Our New House!!

Originally I was not supposed to be in Lethbridge this weekend. Matt was planning on coming back up to Edmonton for Thanksgiving since he had some time off work. Those plans all changed last Monday when we got an offer on our house. The people who put the offer in wanted possession by November 16, which only gave us 5 weeks to find a place and move. So we decided that having me travel to Lethbridge to look for a house for us to move into was probably a good idea. We had looked at about 12 houses last month, but didn't really want to put in any offers until we had sold ours first. There was one house we saw that caught my interest, but I kind of forgot about it as the month passed. We looked at 4 or 5 more houses this weekend and we actually saw another house that I liked too. So we had a choice between two different houses that were both great choices. We ended up going back to both of them later in the day and it ended up being the feeling of coming home. We are so excited that the offer we put in was accepted with minimal negotiations and the plus side is that it is available immediately! We are hoping to have the conditions on our home in Edmonton removed by Wednesday and then we should have the conditions for our new home in Lethbridge removed by Friday. Our possession date is set for November 1st and we are hoping to have a few things tweaked and ready for us to move in 2 weeks later. It is amazing to me that so much can change in such a short period of time. Last week at this time I was not sure where my life was going, and now there is tangible evidence that I won't be living in limbo forever. I think it is very fitting that this all occurred on Thanksgiving weekend as well. I am so thankful for my family and the fact that we are all going to be able to be together again soon. Here is a little sneak peek - more pictures soon!


On a sadder note, I am missing my Grandpa Webster as he passed away this past week. I am so grateful that he is with Grandma again. I know he has missed her so much and I am so very blessed with the knowledge of life after death and forever families. I guess I am also a little thankful that Grandpa died when he did as his funeral is on Tuesday and I am able to attend. I know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and I feel very blessed and thankful for all the tender mercies in my life.

Gideon's First Birthday

It amazes me that a whole year has passed already. We have thoroughly enjoyed having Gideon in our family. He is a very happy baby and is loved by everybody so much!

On the day of his birthday I made sugar cookies and let the kids ice them for FHE. Matt was away and so we held off his "party" until he was home on the following weekend.

I so love the curls in his hair and I am trying to gear myself up to cut it so he doesn't look so much like his sisters!

Gideon's first birthday cake!

Not quite sure what to do with the candle...

...and wondering what happened to it!

Mmmmmm....... cake!

LOVED his new puppy!!

and his new phone!

Happy Birthday little buddy!!

First Days of School

Brendan's first day of Grade 8!

Grace and Anna's first day of Grade 3 and Grade 1. Rebecca didn't actually start on this day because of staggered entry for kindergarten, but it was close enough!


First actual day for Rebecca

Rebecca loves school already!

A Job Well Done

Matt had his final day at work and they had a party for him to say good-bye. The weren't sure what to get him for a going away gift, so they just had a money jar available for donations. He sure was excited that there was enough for a new hiking backpack and an ipod!

Grace's Birthday Party

Grace had her 8th birthday party the day before school started this year. She was busy at her daycamp on the day of her birthday and then got baptized on the Saturday after that. It was a busy couple of weeks for her, but I think she had lots of fun!

They all had a blast with some bubbles!

Then they made bunnies out of washcloths with pompoms and ribbons

Grace had her dad's leftover cake from his farewell party the night before.

Happy Birthday Grace!!