" It's Awesome...."

It's with much joy, and a huge sigh of relief, that I can report that my older brother Nathan is offically back in Canada from his seven month tour in Afghanistan. He landed back in Shilo in the early morning hours on Saturday and we will get to see him and Brice on Thursday afternoon. My dad phoned me this morning and told me that he and Brice were on Global National news last night. Here is the link to the video page........http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/video/index.html. Just select "Global National Stories" and click the clip called "Coming Home". They show Nathan and Brice reuniting with a kiss then right after there is a short interview with him.
To say the least I broke down to tears seeing them together and Thursday afternoon can not come soon enough! Can't wait!!

Colin/Kerry

So yesterday the big day FINALLY arrived, and Trev and I got to be a part of and witness our dear friends, Colin and Kerry, vow to stick it out to the end.

*NOTE* - Thank you SO much to those who prayed for good weather. It was raining when the groom and his party arrived but kept clearing and by the time us girls made our way out to the ceremony it had cleared a little and was just cloudy......then, like a smile from heaven, just as Kerry got the end of the aisle and was about to be given to her groom, as if on cue, the sun broke out in full glory and shone down warm on us for the rest of the day. Praise The Lord and Glory to Him!

I had so many great photos and couldn't pick just a few so apologies for the overload!

:: Most of the girls, pre-getting ready. The Bride is the beautiful blond in the middle ::

:: Kerry getting her hair done ::
:: The dress and hair piece.......she opened the bag and a few of us had a good cry ::
:: The lovely Elisha making me pretty ::
:: The Bride is ready! ::
:: Walking down the aisle with Lucas ::

:: The bride arrives! ::
:: Colin sees his bride. My mom took this from her seat ::
:: Saying their vows ::
:: My husband being groomsmanly ::
:: Making it officially official.....signing the license ::
:: Husband and Wife!!! ::

:: My little brother Ryan and his girlfriend Rachael.......she flew out from Alberta to surprise him ::

:: Us ::

:: Denay in her pretty dress ::
:: In the car, going to pictures ::
:: The Happy Couple ::
:: Us in the van ::

:: Kerry and I ::
:: The family ::
:: A little fuzzy, but LOVE this picture of me and my girl! ::
:: Trev and his Sunshine ::
:: The family.....again ::
:: Us and Them. Love this picture ::
:: Getting our photo taken by the wedding photographer, my mom's angle ::
:: The beautiful bride and (one of the) maid of honor ::
:: .......and again. I love this girl! ::
:: Do not attempt to adjust your screen.......yes, there are 10 of us! ::
:: The impressive head table(s) ::
:: Mummy and her "Yes, I AM smiling" baby ::
:: Chelsey and I......the two matron's of honor. It was such a privilege to be able to share this honor with Chelsey, as we have been friends for as many years as we have been friends with Kerry ::
:: The MC (and good friend) Christan and Denay. I think he's got to be her biggest fan ::
:: Playing the shoe game. Kerry asked Trev and I to come up with the questions and boy was it a RIOT! ::
:: Damon, Devon and Trev enjoying the night and making good use of the napkins. Arrrrr! ::
:: Cutting the cake ::
With 20 people in the wedding party, it goes without saying that we had a blast! Colin and Kerry were so laid back, relaxed and fun. I can't wait to see their photos! The reception was amazing - full of lots of laughing, memories and tears all around. Trev and I both felt so honored to have been able to stand with our friends on their big day and wouldn't have missed it for the world. The couple is honeymooning in Puerto Vallarta for a week and then have a week or so following their return to settle in before it's back to reality. Colin and Kerry, we love you both so very much and wish you all the happiness in the world. Can't wait till your back so we can start hanging out minus the wedding stress.......thanks for the awesome day!

:: Because He Controls The Skies ::

Because I know that a good number of those that read my blog are believers in The God who can hold back the clouds, I'm going to throw out a request for a little prayer coverage! A very special and dear friend is getting married on Saturday (I am one of the Matron's Of Honor and Trevor is a Groomsman) and the wedding is outside AND the weather forecast isn't ideal. So, if I may, could I ask that you, right now as you read, toss a quick and simple prayer up the the throne room for clear skies and maybe a tiny bit of sun for us girls in our strappy dresses and bare legs!
Thank you in advance and I will be sure to post pictures of the happy (and warm and sunny) day!

~ Adventures In Baby-Land ~

We've been having LOTS of fun with Denay lately as everyday she grows a little more and we fall more in love with her. We have recently discovered the tub (thanks to Shawna), and Denay loves it. Bath times used to consist of our house being filled with the screams and cries of a very unhappy child. Now, she's in the tub for a good 20 minutes to half an hour, and the house is filled with giggles and coos and gaas........as well as lots of splashing and kicking.

:: Lil Monkey in the tub ::

Since the weather is also starting to turn to FREEZING, we have to bundle baby up a little more on our evening walks. And it was just our luck that I had recently gone through and washed all of the amazing gifts we have received for Denay and found this totally adorable hat........You can't really see but it's got a happy face, pink bow and string "feelers" on top. It's a true shame to cover up such great hair but practicality rules!

:: SO cute ::
Then just today, Denay was in her sling chair watching Baby Einstein (what a God send) but was starting to get bored and fussy. Trev came home from work and after chatting with him for a couple minutes I realized I hadn't heard her in a while, and this is what we found........
She fell right asleep! Go figure......didn't last long but it gave me time to write this post so I'll take it.
On a developmental note, she is really starting to learn her voice more and more will chat up whomever will listen. Sometimes she talks to her toys, or the couch, or her bumper pad in the crib. She's also only feeding every three hours (from the end of the last feed) instead of two hours from the beginning of the last feed which really frees me (and us) up and makes planning and activities much easier. We also discovered, as I said earlier, Baby Einstein and Denay just loves it. She's big on the Baby Bach and Baby Beethoven; nothing but music and bright pictures. It has really freed me up to get much more done in a day and is making the continued adjustment to motherhood that much smoother.
We've got a busy week with the big wedding on Saturday so I will update when I can!

:: Praise The Lord ::

Just swung by my mom's house this afternoon to drop off some pictures and she showed me this awesome video.........watch at the far left side of the screen at 00:25 seconds in, that handsome guy who's face you can half see is my brother!
We now know for sure that he will be back on the island next Thursday, the 2nd and we can hardly wait! Thank you again to everyone who has been praying. We truly believe that our prayers have brought him through his tour safely. Please continue to pray for our troops as they return and begin adjusting to normal life and also for the battlegroup now taking over the Afghan mission.
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip94507#clip94507
PRAISE THE LORD!

Did Gnarls Barkley Write That Song For Me??

I've debated here and there whether or not to post this out of fear I may lose all my blog readers for reasons of insanity.

I kept thinking that it would pass........yeah, not happening.

:: Am I the only person on earth that wakes up in a panic, wondering where the baby is, or thinking the baby is sleeping on their chest or is in bed with you somewhere? ::

Denay slept with us in our bed for the first week and a bit of her life and ever since, almost every night, I wake up thinking I'm nursing her, or cuddling her. The other night I woke Trevor up, shaking him, asking where Denay was, whether she was in the crib.

The really weird thing is I am NOT prone to sleep antics at all.......that's Trevor by far!

So please, someone tell me I'm normal........and that "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley wasn't written with me in mind..........

Most Photogenic Baby??

Every year, our local (poor excuse for a) mall, holds a Most Photogenic Baby Contest and just because we could, we entered Denay. Our first attempt at pictures was very unsuccessful but we tried again yesterday and got some great shots. Here are a few of my favourites........Yeah.....stinkin' cute!
This is the picture we chose to enter into the competition.......
The judging takes place on October 2, so be sure to keep checking and I will let you know if our little angel wins a prize!

:: Too Excited ::

I wanted to wait until more people had a chance to guess but I am WAY too excited! After many weeks of thought and prayer and number crunching we decided to purchase a travel trailer! It really fell into place because we went to the dealership with plans to buy a brand new one but found out when we got there that they had just got a 2008 model identical to the new one and had only been used three times and was pristine looking. The big seller - it was more than $2000 cheaper! Check out this link to see pictures of the interior..........http://www.gregsrv.com/2009_palmetto_T19_hideout_trailer.html:: Our new toy ::
It's no secret that camping is near and dear to my heart and it thrills me so that we can now enjoy precious memories with our daughter for years to come. We more than likely won't be using it until next year but I can't wait to start filling it up with all our camping needs and wants. It works perfect with Christmas coming up....the list begins.
May your evening and week be blessed and joyful!