Atalie's Pony Birthday Party

The party shall go on... inspite of spending the "big day" on the road and rescheduling it from Saturday to Sunday;) Atalie had a few friends over to celebrate her 4th Birthday yesterday afternoon. She chose a "Pony" theme and seemed to soak up every little bit! When I asked her what her favourite part of the day was, she said "THE PARTY!!!" (haha - obviously)... so I instead asked her what her favourite part of the party was and she replied, "uh.... the singing (of "Happy Birthday")!" There you have it. Here are some pics of the day: Playing playdough with her friend Slone. "Tape" the tail on the donkey ...games have seemingly become more child friendly these days - I distinctly remember using a tac! "Pull the string" on the pinata ...again, what ever happened to a good ol' fashioned hitting match with a stick or a bat?? The pinatas these days are made out of cardboard on the inside and are pretty much impossible to break if you're a kid. Blowing out her candles... ..mmmm cake!!!! :) Opening presents!! And of course... playing with presents (the fishing game was from Kev and I - she has been game-crazy since Christmas when we let her "help" us play a few). Playing with the decorations sometimes seems as fun as the presents themselves;) Playing with the new ponies!! What could make a better day?!

A bittersweet occasion

My Grandpa Lepp (my Mom's Dad) passed away unexpectedly on March 18th, at the age of 89. The funeral was held in Abbotsford, BC. one week later, so we quickly made plans to drive out there. We prayed for a good drive - meaning it would be peaceful, mostly uneventful and not hectic. It was exactly that! The kids only watched 2-3 movies in their 9.5 hours of sitting in the van and quietly watched the mountains pass by the rest of the time. We also had a great time with my extended familiy once we got there... just too bad it was so short and on such an occcasion. My Grandpa (Jacob Lepp) had been suffering with dimensia and in a home for 4 years so it was bittersweet to say goodbye yet celebrate his new life (mind) in heaven with his Father and first wife, who passed away from cancer about 23 years ago. We will all miss him and continue to pray for my Grandma (his second wife) who still lives in Abbotsford, close to her own family. I realize burial pictures aren't the happiest, but I couldn't help but thinking what a beautiful day it was that morning and what a blessing it was to have a gentle rain to wash away the sorrow of all those who mourned, in preparation to celebrate life together afterwards! So... here's a few anyways: Below is a photo of our combined family - Grandpa's half on the left and Grandma's half on the right. The photo below is of the Lepp family (minus Atalie and Aiden, who were happily playing elsewhere during the funeral). Below, Kev and I (7mo along). Tyler and Jana. Aiden playing with Mike, Michelle and Janelle (cousins). Atalie snuggling with her Great Grandma. Atalie's 4th Birthday was on Friday, March 26th... which was unfortunately spent driving for a full day. So we brought one of her birthday gifts along with us for her to open (a Rescue Pet puppy which she has named "Pornsey"...ya... anyways!) and a couple decorations for her to wear so she felt special on her very un-birthday Birthday;) She even had to wear it into the restroom on a stop we made along the way... lol! The birthday festivities must have tired her out;)

A little morning hike.

So today was the 2nd and final day of our visit with Jeff and the kids :( however we had a great little hike out to our nearby, somewhat frozen, waterfalls. It was a bit of a disapointment, as we thought perhaps by now the water would be flowing somewhat, until we noticed something cool in the snow alongside the river... can you guess what it is in this pic below? (sorry, these were again taken with our crappy point & shoot which we thought was broken but has somehow revived itself - hauling my good camera seems a bit daunting on quick trips like this but I really should anyways as I always regret when I don't!) Top tracks look big enough to be grizzly tracks (not extremely fresh though) and the smaller tracks possibly belong to a deer, which appeared to have been feasted on in other areas by the river; bottom tracks look like cougar tracks, as they were larger than a dogs but didn't have claw marks so likely didn't belong to a wolf. Cougars are quite common in our area but we were a bit surprised to see the griz tracks b/c this is SO close to town (10 minute drive from Canal Flats and 5-10 minute hike in). Wintery Falls... still just as beautiful! Hangin out, only daring enough to enjoy the view from up here once we spotted something else... In the centre of the photo, slightly towards the bottom half, you'll see a black hole behind the falls (well, where water would normally be flowing). It's cleared out perfectly, as to look somewhat like a den. Just above the falls was a deer carcas. Just below the falls, closer to the tracks we saw, there were more remains of the deer. We're wondering if a large pussycat has taken residence in this little black hole... ??? We didn't stick around to find out! A quick pose with the cousins:) Heading back up to the vehicle now... I'm thankful to have Atalie beside me so I don't appear to be the only slow one this time;)

A crisp morning swim =)

We debated heading out to Whiteswan hot springs (natural springs with 3 man-formed pools shaped into the rocks just above the river - one of our favourite spots!) with Jeff and his kids today... (Kevin's brother brought Brooke and Tyler to visit for the weekend!!) ...however, we decided that the added luxury of change rooms and concrete might play an important factor on this temporarily snowy morning... we don't want a little one slipping on the sharp rocks of a mountainside while sopping wet and trying to change from a swimsuit to clothing. So, since Fairmont is just as beautiful we took the kids there instead. We basically had the whole pool to ourselves for at least an hour, as the morning is the least popular time to swim - and I'm not sure why, as it's the most refreshing and relaxing time of day to swim outdoors! I'm helping Aiden bob contentedly up and down, with Tyler peering in for the pic;) The cousins had a GREAT time together in the pool. Kevin is attacked by a mob of munchkins! Atalie wanted to wear a life jacket so we encouraged her to try the doggy-paddle while she had on her extra boost of confidence;) She's never wanted to float by herself, never mind swim around by herself (even with a life jacket I think she felt quite tipsie)! She clung to us for quite awhile and immediately freaked out once she saw she was doing it without my help (haha!) but low and behold, she eventually decided she was ready to try on her own! After that we couldn't stop her from paddling around the pool... even in the shallow spots where she could well reach the bottom, she HAD to swim! Funny how these "baby" steps make a parent proud:) The big grin on her face said it all, never mind her yelling "DADDY, LOOK AT ME!! WATCH ME SWIM! I'M SWIMMING!!" Hahaha...

Mattress Jumping

Kevin thought it would be hilarious to sweep the kids' feet out from underneath them as they jump on the bed mattress... the kids laughed so hard the first time that he just kept doing it. When he first told me about this new game I was mortified, thinking back to when I first jumped on the trampoline with him and he tried it to me - I was furious to say the least!! However, now that I've seen it with my own eyes I gotta admit it's pretty hilarious! =)

A day well spent!

We had a beautiful blue sky today, gracing us with more warmth than we've had these past few months, so we decided to take advantage! After a morning of building projects around the house we went to Invermere to do a couple errands and let the kids play at the park... something they've dearly missed doing all winter!! We've let them play in the backyard on the snowy occasion, however it never seemed to last long before fingers and noses would get too cold and the fun would end (much too quickly considering all the bundling we had to do to get them there!). It's so nice to enjoy the seemingly spring-like weather we've been having!