Raymond Parade

 We went out to Raymond for the Canada Day Parade this year.  Anna took over the camera and she and Grace had fun together.  I had about 50 pictures of the backside of the parade floats -- they didn't quite make the cut!

We made a arrangements to sit with one of my sister's and her family, only to find out that five of my six siblings were there at the parade and none of us knew it!  Next year we will have to communicate a little more effectively!

All About My Dad

The girls filled out a questionnaire at primary about their dad and I thought their responses were pretty cute.

My Daddy's name is - Matthew
My Dad is     37        years old.
His hair is  brown   and his eyes are  blue
My Dad's favorite food is  a lot of things
Daddy's favorite color is  orange
My Dad likes to wear  work clothes
My Dad's job is  he works at a funeral home
He loves to eat  a variety of things
He's smart because he knows  everything
My Dad works hard at  Generations
Daddy always tells me  to go to bed
I'm happy when Daddy  brings my fishing
I love my Daddy because  he brings me fishing
By: Grace


My Daddy's name is - Matthew

My Dad is    36         years old.
His hair is  black and his eyes are brown
My Dad's favorite food is  french toast
Daddy's favorite color is orange
My Dad likes to wear a suit
My Dad's job is working at funerals
He loves to eat  french toast
He's smart because he knows pretty much everything
My Dad works hard at his job
Daddy always tells me to be good
I'm happy when Daddy  helps me
I love my Daddy because he is the best dad ever
By:  Anna


My Daddy's name is - Matthew

My Dad is 44  years old
His hair is brown and his eyes are  blue
My Dad's favorite food is  fish
Daddy's favorite color is  orange
My Dad likes to wear ties
My Dad's job is  down town work
He loves to eat  fish
He's smart because he knows  everything
My Dad works hard at  down town work
Daddy always tells me  a story
I'm happy when Daddy is nice to me
I love my Daddy because he is awesome
By:  Rebecca


My Daddy's name is Daddy

My Dad is 4 years old.
His hair is black and his eyes are blue
My Dad's favorite food is  broccoli
Daddy's favorite color is brown
My Dad likes to wear  a white shirt
My Dad's job is  cleaning the front room
He loves to eat chicken
He's smart because he knows  how to cut
My Dad works hard at  Brendan
Daddy always tells me  to pray
I'm happy when Daddy  helps me
I love my Daddy because he loves me
By:  Sarah
 

I had to laugh because not one of them got his eye color right -- they are hazel!  Also, Matt hates to eat fish, and broccoli would not be his first pick either.
Matt came to primary and helped out with my singing time today.  We played "Put the Tie on the Dad".  The kids got to come up and pick a tie and then put it on Matt and we sang the song that I had taped on the tie.  We sang 16 songs and Matt walked out with all 16 ties around his neck!  He was such a good sport about it and sat and sang all the songs with us too! 
I feel so lucky to have such a great husband and father to my children!

End of Preschool

 Sarah had such a great year in preschool this year.  These are few pictures of her year-end picnic.  The whole family got to come and they had face painting and games for everyone.  We enjoyed all the yummy food too!

This is Sarah and her classmates singing all their mom's a song on Mother's Day.  They were pretty cute!!

Sarah had a fun graduation ceremony too.  The kids looked so cute!!

Buns!

 Grace and Anna love going to Activity Day's, and today we had it at our house.  Their leaders asked if I would teach the girls how to make buns.  There are only four girls -- two of which are mine -- and so they just came to our house.  Their mom's got to come too and while the buns were cooking the mom's got to talk about a talent that they learned when they were young that helps them now as a mom.  It was a fun activity and the girls really enjoyed it.

Of course Becky was so excited to join in too!  She can hardly wait until she can be a part of things too.

Storage Room Makeover

               When we first moved into our house, the storage room in the basement looked like this:

After a weekend of long hard work, it now is looking a little different! 

Brendan helped out painting the shelves.

We had a friend come over and put in new lighting and I was able to clean things up a bit with some new drywall and shelving that spanned the whole 18 foot wall! 

With additional shelving on the shorter wall as well. 

I have since laid down the remnant pieces of carpet that the previous owners left behind and have made a space for a table for sewing and doing crafts.  It has made such a difference to be able to put things where I can see them and to know where things are.  I have unpacked every single box from moving and gotten rid of a lot of stuff that we just didn't use or need anymore.  I love being organized!!

Locks of Love

 Anna has been growing her hair out for quite a while, and it was starting to get in the way and harder and harder to keep clean and brushed.  She decided (with a lot of mom's persuasion) that it was time to get it cut.  Her hair was long enough that she was able to donate 9 inches to locks of love to be made into a wig for those going through cancer treatments!  We are super proud of her for making this decision and her hair is so much easier to take care of now!

May Long Weekend Camping Trip

 We went camping up in Waterton for 2 nights on the May long weekend this year with some friends from our ward and some of their family and other friends as well.  Brendan comandeered the camera the first afternoon and then the battery died.  At least he got some nice pictures of the scenery!

And you can see a tiny corner of our tent too!  The kids all had a blast, and even though it wasn't the best weather, they still jumped into the freezing river!  BRRRR!!