Girls Night

The other night a couple of friends and I got together for a Pioneer Woman Girls Night! We made some of her tasty recipes, and called it a celebration! The menu consisted of: Tomato Pesto Pizza, Olive Cheese Bread, Lettuce Wedges with Ranch dressing, and Chocolate Truffles... among other things. It was fun to try out new recipes and have an excuse to get out of the house for the evening! The rule was no kids... with the exception of snugly little babies, so Larren joined the event!
Somewhere along the way we started talking about baby wraps, and Jen and I decided we needed to try one on to see if we liked them! It's a good thing Larren came... she ended up being our live demo doll!

As you can see, it was quite entertaining! (I should have been focusing on Jen... she's the one who could hardly keep from laughing!!!)

Larren's in, safe and sound! But mind you... Jen is 7 months pregnant here, so there's already a baby in the spot where Larren's "supposed" to be!!

Larren doesn't seem to concerned! She enjoyed relaxing and taking in all the smiles coming her way!

Hold #2... again, Larren doesn't have a care in the world! (There's a HUGE TV on the wall that she watched the whole time!)



Snugly wuggly... although she's a tad disappointed she doesn't get to watch HGTV anymore!!


So... both Jen and I have decided to get a "Sleepy Wrap!" I'm pretty excited to try it out when the weather gets nice! I just need to practice my wraps... boy, Larren will have seen this so many times she'll be doing it by herself pretty soon! :)

Larren's First Big Ride

Around here our girls learn to "drive" young. It's just part of having Jonathan as a father!

"I'm supposed to do what, Daddy?!"


She had an "oops" moment... but recovered quickly and was zooming down the hallway in no time!

My Man

I've said it before, and I'll say it until I'm old and gray... apart from Christ's love, Jon is the best thing that has ever happened to me!!

I can't even begin to tell you how much this man amazes me! What I did to deserve his love... I'll never know! But I have no idea what I would do without him!

Nikon D90 / Fargo

I have already posted quite a few pics taken with my new camera... and I'm hoping you can tell which ones those are!! At any rate... I have really been enjoying it!
We picked up my new Nikon D90 on our way down to Fargo, and played around with it a bit over the weekend!
And what a great weekend it was! The hospitality was, once again, amazing and we got lots of visiting in! We're REALLY looking forward to having Aaron and Charm live a bit closer, but will miss our ND adventures with them! Those adventures have gone back to our pre-married days... my, what fun and crazy times we've had! Why would anybody drink when you can have so much fun sober? I'll never know!

My FIRST pic taken with my new camera!

Aaron loves old pop products, so there's lots of great memorabilia through out their place.




Aaron and Charm love, love, love the girls... and what a HUGE blessing it is to see them be a part of their lives!


We had fun helping Aaron and Charm pick out building supplies and some of their house "goodies"! They are building a new shop/apartment at their farm. It will be a temporary place to live until they build their forever house in a few years!

These were our final tin color choices.

Our littlest love enjoying her first visit to the States!



We didn't do all that much shopping (so I thought!) but goodness, on the way home were we ever crammed for space! We even had the hitch rack plus weatherproof bag on the back, and still we were looking for every inch possible! Larren is a little skeptical that we'll get everything in!

But we made did, with room to spare! Alia sat in the 3rd row and it worked out so, so nice for traveling!

Larren and I took up residence in the 2nd row and rode quite comfortably!

We're so glad we were able to spend time down in the "High Plains!" Thanks again for the lovely hospitality Aaron and Charm! Can't wait to hang out more on this side of the border!

Girly Girls

A few days ago we went to a nearby camp to hang out with the director and his family. Correction... Jon worked on a tractor, and the girls and I hung out! We hadn't connected with them for a number of months, so it was great to visit once again! They have 3 older girls and they are SO GREAT with our 2 littler ones! It was a treat to see them interacting with each other!

Jon volunteered at this camp for the whole summer two years back and it's crazy that Alia was Larren's age! The girls were so fascinated with her back then... and the fascination and cuddles continue on with the next sister!

They thought it would be fun to put streaks of color in Alia's hair... and of course, it didn't take much to convince her!

Pink first...


One streak in...

... one more to go, time to reload!

In goes the blue!


Eww la la! :) There were even sparkles added after this... she got all decked out!

Learning the ropes...


Taking a story break!


And what would a day with the girls be like without dress up?!?! Oh gracious, if only I would have gotten a picture of Alia wearing her wig!! It was HILARIOUS!



Alia had a fantastic time, and soaked up all the attention like a sponge! What a wonderful family they are... we have been so blessed to get to know them over the last few years!

Smiling Sleeping Beauty

Spin Toy

I had one of these toys as a kid and still remember how much fun it was! And let me tell you... I get such a kick out of watching Alia go round and round, just like her Mommy did, some 20 odd years earlier!

Sidewalk Chalk

Alia received sidewalk chalk in Calgary, but since the weather was so cold and rainy, we were never able to use it! We've had some pretty fantastic days in the last few weeks... so one afternoon we all headed outside and did a little art work!
Larren just watching from the sidelines... though she's content with that at this point, so it's all good!

Horse of a Different Color

I have very few words to describe this horse... ugly just doesn't do him justice! The problem - Alia LOVES it! Of course, I mean, why wouldn't she? He was free ("thanks" to a neighbor!). He requires VERY little maintenance. She can climb up on him at her leisure. And he's there for her whenever she feels inclined to go for a ride. But wow... I really wish Jon would have taken him straight to the dump instead of bringing him home! Now that Alia's attached... our backyard just got a little more redneck!