Tinkertown

In mid August Allan's sister Jennifer and her boyfriend Matt came to visit, along with their kids Haylee and Tristin. We went to Tinkertown and the cousins all had a blast! (Ok, so did the Moms and Dads!!)

A Trip to Morning Sound Farm

In July we went to Morning Sound Farm, which is a farm just outside of Winnipeg. You get to ride horses, pet animals, see a goat being milked, learn about chickens and eggs, and many more activities!! It was a lot of fun, here are the pictures. (You'll see Madison loves to pose and be in photos while Annika is at a stage where she wants nothing to do with the camera!)

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

These are the yummiest muffins ever!! Thanks for the recipe Kristin!!


1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats or old fashioned oats, uncooked
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 1 large
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F.
Grease 12 medium muffin cups, or line with paper baking cups.
Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and baking powder.
Whisk together milk, peanut butter, banana, egg, oil and vanilla; add to dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle evenly over batter.
Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm.

Soccer 07

Long Overdue

I haven't posted on the blog in a long time - we've been having a fantastic, busy summer!! I will post a bit of an update on all of us and then a whole bunch of pictures.

Sarah - I have been busy with the new job I started in June. It is challenging, but I am enjoying it. We are all enjoying the new hours I am working - it's great to be home every evening.

I have also continued running, though not quite as often as I should! I am doing a 5K run in September with some girlfriends to raise money for Breast Cancer.

My latest task has been getting the millions of photos I have on our computer printed off and in a photo album. Instead of starting at the oldest I am starting at the most recent and moving backwards. So far I'm finished up to August 1st ... I have a long way to go!!

Allan - Allan's been busy working at his new job too. He is a Landscape Architect at Scatliff + Miller + Murray. He really enjoys it. He is also working on his Thesis and does his first presentation at the end of this month.

Madison - Madison graduated Kindergarten in June and we're all so proud of her. She did fantastic and graduated with straight E's (think the A Plus of the Kindergarten world) She also graduated with perfect attendance. In September Madi will be entering Grade 1!!

Madison also finished her third year of Dance with a recital in June. Grandma and Grandpa were able to come to Winnipeg for the recital - which was very special.

Madi will be starting back at Dance in a few weeks, this year she is taking Hip Hop and Jazz.

In May we enrolled Madison in Gymnastics at a local community club and she really enjoyed it, we've decided to let her go to Gymnastics once a week as well.

Annika - Annika's growing by leaps and bounds!! She is such an active, energetic girl!! Anna will be starting dance (ballet and jazz) and gymnastics this fall and is sooo excited to be like Madison and take classes! Annika also loves to sing and knows the words to many, many songs. Some that are adorable and some that may be a bit embarrassing to Mommy (Avril Lavigne!)

We've had a great summer with lots of visitors - Grandma and Grandpa, Granny and Grandpa, Tara and Amber & next week Jenn, Matt, Haylee and Tristan.

If we haven't seen you - we wish we would have, and hope to see you soon!! We'll be in Regina & Saskatoon over the September long weekend so if you can get together at that time - let us know!

Haircut

I went and had my hair cut and coloured today. I like the style - this is it with just a blowdry. It can also be curly or straightened with a straightening iron.

What do you think??

Update

Hi,

I haven't posted on our blog in quite awhile so as you'll see, I've gone picture crazy!! The format didn't post very nice - but I don't have the time to play around with it. Sorry!

To view a picture larger, or to print the original size, just click on the photo and it will open in it's original format.

We've been very busy over the last month - but it's been a very good type of busy!!

Allan and I both started new jobs last month and we're both loving them.

Allan is working at Scatliff+Miller+Murrey, a local Landscape Architect firm. They do jobs such as the new riverfront, the airport, the skate park at the Forks, Waverley West - the list goes on. Allan is in his elemant and would probably work for free (though I'm glad he's not LOL!!)

I am still working for CanWest - but have moved to a different department within our company. My current role is Supervisor (one of three) for the Calgary Herald, Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix Customer Service Departments. It's challenging and fun - I love learning something new and thrive in a challenging work enviornment. Best of all, the hours are days and I'm home with the girls every evening.

We will be going to Regina the first week of July - the exact time spent out there is yet to be determined. We hope to be there for a full week and visit everyone we haven't seen in so long.
If you're going to be around - please let me know!!

Drop us a line - it's been a while since we've heard from a lot of you.

Take care and enjoy the photos below.

Sarah

Madison's 3rd Dance Recital

Madison's 3rd Dance Recital was on Saturday, June 2nd. This year she took Ballet/Jazz/Tap. The recital was a Tap dance. This September Madison will be taking two classes, Hip Hop/Jazz and Grade 1 Ballet.

Baby Holding

The girls holding Baby Zach! (A friend of mine's son)

Annika's 3rd Birthday Party

Annika turned 3 years old on May 26th. We had a Birthday Party at home with her friends. Fun was had by all - despite the pouring rain!

Grand Forks

Over the May long weekend we went to Grand Forks, North Dakota to check out the new Canad Inns hotel.

Help my flowers!!

The base - all falling down
Falling all over themselves

I don't know if these are the same flowers but they're to the left (in the shade) and doing okay.



I have these gorgeous perennials outside. We've lived here for two going on three summers and they've always just grown beautifully with zero maintenance. This year they're falling down all over themselves (they get quite tall!) and look like crap. I don't know what to do.





Someone told me to thin them out so I did, but they're not any better other than being sparse (They still fall down on themselves) I wish I knew what kind of flowers they are. They're quite tall (1 - 1 1/2 feet) and have large purple spiky flowers. HELP!





Edited to add some pics!

It's a GIRL!!

Jennifer and Matt found out they're having a little girl in September. Her name will be Alyssa MacKenzie.

Congratulations Jenn and Matt!! (Now I can get rid of the boxes and boxes of girl clothes in my basement!!)

Only in Winnipeg

Sitting high in the tree outside of work is a ... turkey!!

I didn't believe them when they told me, but sure enough - there is a turkey outside. It's been sitting in the same tree since Saturday.

Someone called animal control but they told her to leave the turkey alone and not feed it, and that eventually it would get down and follow the river home??? I have my doubts. LOL!

What a week!

First Allan got a great new job, he starts Monday.

Now I have a new job!!

I am switching departments at work and will be a Supervisor in the Customer Service department for the Calgary Herald, Regina Leader Post and Saskatoon Star Phoenix!!
This means I will finally be working during the DAYTIME and not evening. WOOHOO!

I start at the end of the month.

Allan got a new job!!

Allan got a new job! He was offered a Landscape Architect position at Scatliff Miller Murray.
He starts Monday!!

Mother's Day / Birthday Wish List

Allan take note ...

iPod Nano (must be RED)
Any of the project RED shirts from GAP
Flowers for the yard
Tree for in the house
More dishes (the set we got for Christmas)
Gift Cards to - Old Navy
American Eagle
Rickies
Smart Set
Shoe Company
GAP

Summer

It is 23 degrees outside today ... ahh the joys of summer. (Well, not officially but since it's been such a long winter I'm going to take every day I can get.)

Today the girls played outside while I raked the yard. I am so over winter and ready for summer to begin.

The girls have been riding their bikes and playing outside every day. We often walk to the school and play at the playground.

Madison starts soccer next week and Allan starts baseball on Sunday.

Vancouver

I am home from Vancouver!!

I had a WONDERFUL time, it was better thanI even expected. We arrived Saturday and right away went to the hotel. The taxi ride was an experience, the roads were so packed with cars and people, the taxi was speeding, swerving in and out of lanes and honking at people. I swear, I was scared for my life in the taxi but not the plane LOL!

We got to the hotel and were quite impressed. It was very fancy, right in the heart of downtown Vancouver (Robson and Burrard). We got changed and went straight to the dinner Canwest was putting on. It was really yummy!!

After that and a few drinks we headed out to explore Vancouver. We walked about 4 blocks or so to an Irish Pub, had a few drinks and walked back to the hotel - we went to bed around 1:00 (3:00 for me!!) and still managed to be up at 8:00 am for the run!

The run was amazing - there were over 50,000 people, you could see them lined down the street as far as the eye could see. I can't wait to see the pictures. We didn't start the run until 10:00am, they started in waves - so by the time we got going we were antsy. The run was good but HARD!! A lot of it was up hill and OMG - not the same as running in Winnipeg ROFL!! But the scenery was beautiful, we ran through Stanley Park and along the ocean. Everything was so green and smelled beautiful, the trees and flowers were blooming. There were bands and people cheering along the route - at every kilometer therewere people handing out water. There was a half way point where you could break for coffee (I know - odd choice but they were Dulce deLuche (I have no clue how to spell that) Lattes from Starbucks so we
just couldn't resist!!) and fruit. We did a 10 minute break there and kept going. I had hurt my ankle the day before the run so I was impressed that we finished in 1:30. I am completley HOOKED on the races now though. I am already planning my next. I want to get a tattoo to commemerate my first run too - I think anyways. ;)

After the run we still had to walk about 8 blocks to our hotel so when we got back we were WIPED. We had brunch (put on by Canwest) and then sat in the hot tub. After we went and did some sight seeing (shopping) and then went to a sushi place for dinner. (CHEAP and GOOD - my entire meal of vegetable tempora, three rolls, miso soup and a margarita was $14.00!!) and we then decided to check out a kareoke bar we were told was good with cheap drinks. Well - we tried but after about 12 blocks with no bar in sight - we stopped at an outdoor pub and had a drink. After we ordered we realized it was a gay bar ROFL!! Oh well!! After that we headed back in the direction of our hotel and went to another bar. It was ok but slow and we wanted a night of dancing. Thankfully it picked up and we danced the night away!! At 2:00 we went back to our hotel.

We were up at 8:00 on Sunday and went shopping all day - Coach, Lush, MAC, Ikea (Ikea was quite an experience, I'm never again taking a city bus in Vancouver!) --- sooo many stores. It was GREAT. Tons of small local shops too.

Then we went back to the hotel for another hot tub break because OMG we were sore. Next time I will go tour BEFORE the 10K run!!!! Sunday night we went down to the waterfront and did some sight seeing, we found a great little restaurant that had the BEST food and was cheap. So we had dinner and made our way back to the hotel around 10. We were in bed by 11 because we were so wiped from the weekend and we left early this morning. I had a GREAT time - I can't wait to go back. I'll share pics when I get them on the computer.

Happy Easter and an update!!

Happy Easter!! We spent the holiday weekend at home in Winnipeg this year.

My Mom and Frank came out on Thursday for a visit and we had a great weekend.

On Thursday I had to work until 9:30 so Frank, my Mom and I went to Applebees for 1/2 price appetizers afterwards.

On Friday we decided to try our investitagion skills at CSI Winnipeg at the Manitoba Museum.
It was fun, you go and view the murder scene and then try things like dusting for fingerprints, DNA analysis, hair fibers, etc. We all guessed the correct suspect and were entered to win a trip to Las Vegas, Miami or New York.

Friday evening we went to Mongo's Grill for dinner. Mongo's Grill is a Mongolian restaurant. They have the largest selection of fresh veggies, meats, seafood, pasta and sauces of any Mongolian Restaurant in North America. You select your foods, sauces and then watch them cook it for you. It was quite busy, so it was slow to get the food made - other than that it was very good.

On Saturday we drove all the way out to Steinbach to go to the Aquatic Centre. Unfortunatly they were full and we couldn't get in - we were very dissappointed to say the least. Can't say I'll be going back any time soon.

Saturday evening we had our big Easter dinner - yum yum!! After the girls went to bed my Mom, Frank and I went over to Club Regent Casino where I won $105.00! Yippee!!!

This morning was the big easter egg hunt - as usual the girls were spoiled by the Easter Bunny and had a great time.

Then Granny and Grandpa left for home and the girls are now watching Curious George on TV!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!!

-- Now for an update on everyone as it has been awhile since I've posted last ...

Allan is doing great. He is busy working on his last projects at school. After this studio (which ends in 2 weeks) he is FINISHED classes. That's it - complete, finished done. No going back in September either!! Of course this doesn't mean all is over - Allan still has to finish his thesis which he should be working on over the summer and fall and presenting in December.

I am doing well - work is going great and I leave for Vancouver on Saturday!! I'm going to Vancouver for the Sun Run, my friend Tara is coming with me so it should be a lot of fun. We come back Tuesday.

Madison is doing great in Kindergarten - she is reading and writing and is ahead of where she "should" be. She's definitely a smart kid, of course we all know that. ;)

Madison starts gymnastics on Wednesday and is still in Dance class. Her final recital is the first Saturday in June.

Annika is doing great - turning 3 soon! She is still working on potty training. She loves daycare and has lots of friends.

Look at the post below for some recent pictures!!!!