Happy First Birthday Danica!!!

My baby is a year old already - how on earth did that happen? It feels like only yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital and now she is running around the house getting into everything.

She has grown into a funny, funny little girl who has personality to spare. I think she is going to be one of those kids at school who makes her teachers crazy with her busyness and spunk!

We had a party for her with family on Saturday afternoon. The weather was great for the end of September and we were able to spend most of the evening outdoors. We had a great time and Danica was spoiled immensely.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. I don't have many of the gift opening because she was more interested in the paper that she pulled from the gift bags than anything else!!

The day Danica was born.
Coming home from the hospital.
Waking up first thing in the morning one year later. Love the rooster hair.
Family picture after opening up presents from Mom, Dad and Emily.
Making music.
Ready for our party decked out in new clothes from Auntie Janelle, Uncle Dale and cousin Bennett.
Party!
Enjoying our "smoosh" cake.
More good news in our world - we're getting a new brother-in-law. Megan and Mike got engaged on Friday night. Congrats guys and welcome to the family Mike!

Iowa and Albertville

We decided that an end of maternity leave/end of summer get away was much needed for our family. This past week we headed down to Iowa to visit with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew. Following that, we headed back home through Albertville, Minnesota to do some shopping.

We had a nice time visiting with family and spending time seeing old friends that we don't often have the time to see. Emily and Bennett had a great time playing and spending time together. They get along really well. We also had a great time shopping - we got some great deals and came home with a van full of purchases!!

Yesterday we also we able to attend Greg's cousin's wedding. It was a great time and I had a blast dancing (thanks Christy!). The bride was beautiful, the weather was nice and the food at the Gates on Roblin was fantastic!!

Here are some pictures from the past week.

Playing on the car ride to Iowa.

Making music together.

Taking a ride in Uncle Dale's truck.
Having some fun at Pumpkinland.

Reading with Bennett.

Please Pray

Recently an individual from my church was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. This person is very active in our church and leads our worship service quite often. He is still quite young and he and his family have a long struggle ahead of them. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

I have added a new link to the blog site that his family is using to keep everyone updated on his condition and the treatment that he will be going through. It's called Gravel Road Journey.

New Job

For the most part, I do my best to stay within the parameters that I feel that God has set out for my life. Sometimes it can be challenging and he often leads me out of my comfort zone - which has recently happened. For some time now, I have been feeling God calling me to move on from my previous employer. What was not so clear, was the direction that he wanted me to take. Was it to stay at home with my girls, was it to work part-time, was it to start consulting work, find a new full-time position?

After many months of praying, the answer made its way to my door with little or no effort from me. I had thrown a few resumes about on Workopolis and didn't expect much to come from them. Sure enough, a company called looking to interview me not for the job that I had applied for at their office but for a different position entirely. I wasn't sure that I even wanted the position that they called me for but thought that some practice at interviewing would be prudent, so off I went.

Because I didn't think that I really wanted this particular position, I was probably the most honest and upfront about my desires and wishes that I have ever been with a prospective employer. I felt quite at ease with the senior vp of finance that was interviewing me and had a good feeling about the position once the interview was over. However, I had been a bit - shall we say demanding - and didn't expect a job offer.

The next day, a phone call came at dinner time and an offer of employment was on the table - all my requests were met and then some. So now I had a decision to make - was this really where I was supposed to go. A few days of prayer and the answer was clear - this was the change I was to make.

I am excited to see how God will use me in this new venue. It is exciting to start a new job, with new challenges but it is also a little scary as this is a big move up the corporate ladder for me and there is a lot to learn and know. That being said, I feel confident that this is where I am supposed to be right now.

I always find it amazing how God leads our lives - he uses all of us in different ways. Some he calls to stay home and raise children, some he calls to work outside the home in various capacities and some he calls to do a combination of both. I find that I can be easily discouraged at times by those who feel the need to justify what they are doing by putting down my choices. The times when I have heard comments like "you need to decide what is more important, your career or your family" can be quite hurtful. I need to remember that as long as I am following God's plan for my life, others people's opinions really don't matter. In fact, when you are following God's calling, you really don't care if someone else disagrees with it.

So to sum it all up, I am both excited and nervous to start this new chapter in my life and to see how God uses me to further His kingdom.

August Fun

It's been a while since my last post and we have still been keeping busy!

We spent a day at Fun Mountain with our neighbour and his two daughters. Emily had so much fun going down the water slides. She went no problem by herself on the kiddy ones and also had fun going down the big ones with Greg. The only problem with the day was that when it was time to leave, Emily pitched a huge fit that had almost the entire water park staring at us!

We've both been finishing up our respective summer sports seasons as well. Greg and I are playing in our championship weekend for softball this weekend and I am doing double time playing in my championship weekend for ultimate Frisbee as well this weekend. I will be very sad when both of those are done - I have enjoyed the exercise and socializing that comes with both of those activities! I will have to start looking for something to do over the winter months to keep active.

We have been busy staining our deck as well. It needed it terribly badly and it didn't look like a big job when we started but the people who built it put so many spindles on the sides that it has taken forever to stain it. We are almost done with it now and it looks a lot better! A few more areas to give a first coat to and then a quick second coat on the spots that need it and then we will be done. Our next deck is definitely going to be maintenance free!

I worked another weekend for CASB as well. Actually it was more like a night - it was supposed to be two days but everyone just plowed through the papers and we all finished on Friday evening! It was nice to have a free weekend after that!

Greg's sister also came for a visit this month. She was in for a friend's wedding. We didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time with her or our nephew, but the time that we did get with them was nice. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see our brother-in-law Dale at all. He came into town a few days after Janelle did and they were busy with the wedding and visiting with friends and he managed to skip town without us seeing him! Hopefully we will be able to pin him down in September when we head to Iowa to visit!

Danica has learned how to stand and keep her balance on her own without having to hold onto anything. I think that she will figure out how to move her legs and start walking soon - yikes!

Emily had her first appointment with the dentist as well. She sat and watched intently as they cleaned my teeth first and they showed her all of the tools that they used. She wasn't scared at all. Then it came time for her to sit in the chair so that the dentist could just take a look at her teeth to make sure there were no major problems. She happily climbed into the chair, enjoyed the ride as it went up, took one look at the dentist and said (and I quote) "I don't think so" and started crying. Our dentist was pretty good natured about it, he very quickly moved aside and asked if the hygienist could look in her mouth instead. Apparently, she quite liked the girl because she stopped crying and just opened up and said "ahhhhhh" for her! Too funny. All is well with her teeth - in six months she will have her first cleaning - that should be interesting!

Other than that, we are enjoying the last bit of summer that we have. It has gone by so quickly and we have done so many fun things this year that it has just flown by!.

Here are a few more random pictures from the last while.

Water Pad

Yet another night shift last night and yet another outing to keep the house quiet for Greg. This morning we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa H's for some breakfast and coffee and then headed over to one of the new water pads that the city built this year. We spent the morning playing in the water and on the playground and then finished with a picnic lunch.

Another Night Shift, Another Outing

As Greg worked another night shift last night, I had to again find something to keep the girls occupied and happy out of the house so he could sleep. Today we headed out to the Zoo first thing in the morning, went to McDonald's for lunch (a great treat for Emily) and then off to Tinkertown until about 2 pm this afternoon. Both girls are exhausted and hopefully down for a good sleep for the afternoon.

Grandma was tired so Emily let her have a ride in her stroller!
Feeding the ducks and the geese.
This is Emily's favourite ride.
Danica was a tad tired by the end of our time at Tinkertown today.