Four months already??

I thought I better get some four month pics up before Jacob sails along to 6 months (he's that kind of boy after all). He is such a happy little dude, and happiest of all when his sister or his Dad is paying attention to him. He busts out in some big laughter at Katie, the first time while we were at a hotel in Vancouver (November 8).

Well, it IS a baby stroller!

Starting the use of technology early on (and looking deliciously chubby)

Sibling affection. Well, maybe more so from Katie...

Gas Mask

Dean was going through some of his old military gear that is stored in our basement. He was showing his gas mask to Katie and she and Teddy both tried it on. She thought is was pretty funny! (this is an old post that I forgot to publish - oops!)

First snow of 2010

Only November and we already have snow. And a decent amount! Knowing that it will only last a brief time, we are making the most of it. Katie is currently playing the piano and singing a song about 'snow outside'.

                                                                                  The snow is dry, so we can't make a snowman

yet but it is perfect for snow angels.

The water is still running in the creek (it's not that cold!) but icicles are forming on the grass. Pretty cool, I think.

A Letter for Grandma

Sometimes kids are just....literal. Katie has come up with a couple funnies lately but this one I could get a picture of. Sunday was Grandma F.'s birthday and Katie had called with her good wishes. Later, she was very insistent that she had a letter for Grandma.



Literally.
 

Happy Halloween

A trip to Galey's Farm with Grandpa and Grandma to get pumpkins. Nothing better than a hay ride to get to the patch. Next up a ride on the train. Go, train, go! Fast, fast, fast! My little pumpkins :) Trick or Treat! Katie and Marley, ready to charm the neighbours!

Baptism

On October 17, we had Jacob and Katie baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. Father Mike presided over the ceremony at St. Rose of Lima in Sooke. Our dear friend, Christina (and her 'helper' Stella) did us the honour of being godparent. All the grandparents and our friends Mandi and Marley attended the Mass. We had everyone to lunch at our house after and the three girls enjoyed sharing a table together. At least for a little while! Marley, Katie and Stella

Thanksgiving

After being home for almost an entire week, we were bored and decided to head back to the mainland for Thanksgiving. OK, actually, we went over because Grandma Woelk, Carol and Lil were flying in for Thanksgiving and we always like an opportunity to see family. Also hadn't seen De'Ann, Kyla, Brendan, Pat or Darcy in quite some time. We have much to be thankful for: two healthy, beautiful children, a large, loving family, wonderful friends, good jobs, a lovely home, and each other. Who could ask for more? Colin and Kyla De'Ann and Jacob Darcy, Brendan, Kyla, Jacob and Katie (top to bottom)- Jacob was REALLY taken with Brendan! Lil and Katie reading the paper Carol and Jacob having a snuggle Apple of Daddy's Eye Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Vacation to Yellowstone

Our first family vacation!! We had several ideas of where we wanted to go but with the arrival of Jacob, we had to plan around him a bit. We decided that it would be nice to spend at least some time in Saskatchewan so the family could meet him (and see how Katie has grown). That also led to our decision to spend some time in the Edmonton area visiting David (Dean's best friend) and his family and Carli (Stef's dear friend) and her family. Dean then decided that Yellowstone Nat'l Park would make a good 'family' part of the holiday. So, off to Yellowstone we went. It took a couple days to get there (Jacob travelled better than expected) and we even did some sight-seeing and shopping along the way. We arrived in Missoula, Montana on Saturday (left Victoria Friday night and couldn't check into Yellowstone until Monday). On Sunday, we drove to the Montana State Prison Museum for a tour. There is also a car museum and various other museums at the same location. Up to this point, the kids had traveled well, with only one major crying session from Jacob. How do kids know that you have just passed a rest stop? He was sound asleep, so we thought, figuring the next rest stop couldn't be that far. He started crying a few miles passed it, and then we see the sign "Next rest stop, 89 miles". That was FUN! The drive into West Yellowstone (an actual town on the western border of the park) was really scenic. It was nice to have a bit more of a relaxing day as well. We arrived at our campground early afternoon and checked into our cabin. KOA has cute little one room cabins (also two room ones, good for when the kids are more independant). We felt that 4 walls to contain the crying, heat and electricity would make our trip more comfortable. During our visit to the park, we saw the major attractions over 4 days: Fountain Paint Pots, Old Faithful, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Grand Canyon, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls, and Grand Tetons National Park. Driving through the park is really something, with steam rising from the ground at various points along the highway. The Fountain Paint Pots were very cool, with thick mud bubbling away. I was also quite amazed at how loud the steam vents are - they actually have a roaring sound! Morning 'rush hour'. Fountain Paint Pots. Currently, Old Faithful erupts at approximately 90 minutes intervals. The geyser shoots about 150 feet into the air. Quite spectacular! It is a bit weird though because there is practically stadium seating around the geyser and people start sitting about 1/2 hour before the next expected eruption. Sort of takes away the 'natural beauty' of the event. We also toured Old Faithful Inn. What a spectacular building! ** At the Inn, we stopped for ice cream. The whole time we were there, I had Jacob in the baby carrier on my chest and Dean had Katie in the backpack. As I as walking out with my oversized cone, a gentleman waiting for his family looks at me and says "there's ice cream on your baby's head". Oops! Old Faithful. Jacob celebrated being 2 months old by sleeping! What a guy. We decided to have a fire that night and teach Katie about roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. About the time Dean got the fire going nicely, the wind and rain kicked up and we had to abandon our task. Not 30 minutes later, the wind died down, the rain stopped and our neighbours all came out to build their fires for the evening. By then, the kids were ready for bed (ssshhh, so were we!) so we didn't get it done. Oh well, she will learn about marshmallows another time. On our third day we had the BEST experience! A pack of gray wolves had taken down an elk cow in a huge meadow. We were able to sit at the side of the road and watch them for about an hour as they came and went, fed, and rested. It was really amazing to see wolves in the wild and definitely a highlight of our trip. Katie feigned interest for a bit and then proceeded to pick me a bouquet of 'flowers' (read: grass) while she danced around barefoot in the grass. Her mother's daughter? Wolf watching. Norris Geyser Basin. Our next main stop was the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. I think this was my favourite 'feature' of the Park. Great geology, scenic river, stunning colours. It has it all! Dean, the superhero Dad that he is, carried BOTH kids up the second viewpoint hike we did. He was pretty worn out after that! Grand Canyon. Our fourth day, we visited Mammoth Hot Springs which is stunning! Nature is really amazing at creating unique visual features. The water at Mammoth isn't as hot as the geyser areas, and has seeped along the ground, creating terraces where minerals have built up. I just love the pictures Dean took there. Mammoth Hot Springs. We noticed some folks standing in the grass to the side of the trail and went over. Two does were lying in the grass. The light was perfect and I think (maybe I'm biased) that Dean's pictures look almost like paintings (Bateman, anyone?) Tower Falls. In a meadow near town (West Yellowstone, where we stayed) there were elk every day. This evening, they were closer in and many people had stopped (even pulled out their chairs) to watch them browse. A lone bull was wandering among the cows, looking for love (unsuccessful, poor guy) but providing some nice profiles. It was peaceful to sit in the grass and watch them. Katie thought the bull's bugling was kind of funny and attempted to imitate him. Friday, we decided to drive to Grand Tetons National Park, just south of Yellowstone. The range is quite short, with a few major peaks dominating the landscape (Mount Moran and Grand Teton). I really enjoyed the fall colours as we drove back into Yellowstone (the last picture was taken by Katie). We arrived back at West Yellowstone in time to visit the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. They have several grizzly bears at the center, which they release into a viewing compound in pairs throughout the day. The bears have come from various locations (mostly Canada!) after becoming problems in their community or being orphaned. There are also several gray wolves at the center. An information room runs a video on the history of wolves in Yellowstone. There are currently 80 wolves in the park. There were more in the years after the re-introduction in the 90's but one group had a rather vicious alpha female who targeted other packs and killing off one pack. Another pack moved out of the park. The highlight of the day for Katie was our visit to the gift shop. The clerk was busy stocking shelves and her lovely old black lab wandered out from behind the counter. Katie was hugging him and petting him. She was in heaven! Saturday, we bolted out the park and headed for Swift Current. The border crossing is only open until 6pm (5pm on their website, grrr), so we were really booking it! The country is quite pretty but the straight, straight roads kind of wore on Dean. He was quite tired of driving at that point! We eventually arrived at Stef's Uncle John and Aunt Val's house. John busted out the kid toys and entertained Katie for the evening. She loved it! We stayed for lunch the next day and managed a visit with Stef's Uncle Albert and Aunt Florence as well. Dean and I really appreciated that people made an effort to come see us when we had no set time of arriving in any town. We had hoped to see Brad and Crystal (Albert and Florence's son and daughter-in-law) as well but knew they were right around the due date of their first child. We found out on the following Tuesday that Crystal had been in labour all weekend and delivered their beautiful girl Aubrey on Tuesday night. Yeah! Sunday afternoon we headed up to Saskatoon for the rest of the week. Ahhhh, time to relax! We stayed at Carol and Lil's house (Stef's aunts) and managed to see Stef's grandma, Dean's grandma and grandpa, Shannon and Peter (Dean's cousin and her husband) and their bright eyed little girl Anna, Ron and Diane (Dean's uncle and aunt), Terry and Yvonne (Dean's uncle and aunt), Nicole (Stef's friend), Mr. and Mrs. Lambert, and Stef's cousin Richard. Sorry we missed other family and friends but we packed in what we could. Katie really, really enjoyed visiting her great grandparents and was turning on the charm most places she went. At the end of the week, we headed to Edmonton to stay with David and Andrea and their kids Peter and Corrine. It was great for Dean to catch up with Dave, as he hadn't spent time with them in a couple years (since Katie was an infant). Always lots of laughter in their house and we had a great time. After a few days with them, we headed to Carvel (just outside Edmonton) to stay with Carli and Will and their son Bobby. After a nice play on the swing, Katie told Bobby she loved him (he's a few months younger), so there could be some connection in the future, ha ha ha. Dean took to calling Bobby his son-in-law. The kids were awfully cute together and I think Katie was happy to have her own friend to play with after so much adult time. Stef was happy to have hours and hours of face-to-face time with Carli. I don't think we have spent that much time together since we lived together our first year in Edmonton. Another great visit, made even better by the great surroundings of Carli and Will's country living. We finally managed to have a marshmallow roast for Katie. Of course, the kids weren't interested in roasting or eating cooked marshmallows. They were happy to just eat them out of the bag and run around like maniacs. Sugar high, anyone? Now nearing the end of our third week away, we did a long haul to mom and dad's in Abbotsford, with Jacob crying, crying, crying all the way. I guess he was tired of travelling and Carli had influenced him into wanting to stay in Carvel. She's like that . Spent a day with mom and dad and they got to marvel over how much Jacob had grown. It was with great relief that we finally pulled into our driveway on Oct. 2. It was a really good trip and the kids were fantastic. Along the way, Katie learned to say 'r', as in 'hungry' rather than 'hungee' and 'grandma and grandpa' rather than 'gamma and gampa'. Jacob outgrew his clothes, practiced his smiles and learned how to suck on his hands. So much can change in just a few weeks. Looking forward to doing it again (but not TOO soon!).