Ormston Family Blog

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T22:00:00.009-07:00

This is my 200th post. All about our Christmas holidays.

We had a great Christmas. On the 23rd we went to a party at Kyle's parents house. We had yummy food, fun times and even a visit from Santa.

The girls singing while waiting for Santa

Peyton with Santa

Sierra with Santa

Callie with Santa

On Christmas morning Sierra woke up around 7:30am. She watched tv in our bedroom for an hour and then said "I've been waiting an hour, can I wake up Peyton now and can we go downstairs?". She was very patient.

Sierra very excited to have gotten a Hermione costume from Santa

We had a busy day going back and forth from our house, to my parents, to Kyle's parents, to my sister in laws and back to my parents.

Our annual Christmas/Dad's birthday picture

5 more days

2011-12-20T08:12:00.004-07:00

Time has flown by. I can't believe there are only 5 more days until Christmas.
The weather has been kind to us (if you ignore the wind).

Here are a few pictures of the girls decorating the Christmas tree.

This is a picture I put together of the girls wearing the same outfit at Christmas time, all different years.

Fire Hall trip and Gingerbread houses

2011-11-29T14:11:00.008-07:00

Last week for Sparks, Sierra and her group went to the new Fire Hall downtown.
Here are a few pictures from that night.

In the back of an ambulance

In the back of a fire truck

The girls with the firefighters

Last night, Janessa hosted family home evening. The kids decorated gingerbread houses and showed off some of their talents.

Callie played in the living room while her sisters and cousins were decorating.

Peyton with her masterpiece

Sierra's beautiful house

All the kids around the tree

Callie's First Birthday

2011-11-06T13:11:00.002-07:00

Our little baby is turning 1. We had a party for her yesterday. We had some family over to celebrate with us.

Callie's cake

Callie enjoying her cake. She loved it.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T11:12:00.006-06:00

So the girls were dressed as all sorts of things for Halloween this year. For the school carnival, Sierra dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter movies.

For Peyton's school party, she dressed as a clown.

Callie had a cute little outfit on for the day as well.

We carved a cute Hello Kitty pumpkin

For Trunk or treat at the church they all dressed as pirates.

Corn Maze FHE

2011-10-04T10:11:00.006-06:00

Last night we went out to the corn maze for Family Home Evening.

We had a great time with Shawn, Antonia and the girls.

Here are some pics of the night.

The girls sitting with some of the pumpkins.

Peyton and Rebecca holding hands through the corn maze.

We finally made it to the tower at the end of the maze.

Sierra and Peyton feeding the goats

Back to school

2011-09-16T08:43:00.004-06:00

September has gotten off to a quick start and both Sierra and Peyton have started school.

Sierra started grade 1 and Peyton started preschool. They were both very excited to go to school.

Sierra came home on the first day with a birthday invitation already. She made a new friend named Emi and all the girls in the class were invited to a back to school Beiber birthday bash. She said they had lots of fun playing Justin Beiber themes games.

Peyton did great her first day. Most of the kids there already knew her because Sierra was friends with a lot of them. So they took her under their wings and Peyton didn't even cry. In fact, she hasn't cried once. Sierra cried for the first 2 and a half weeks when we dropped her of for preschool.

It's great having both older kids in school. Sierra is all day and Peyton goes in the afternoon. It's nice because in the afternoon Callie naps, so I have time to study.

During the long weekend, Kyle went hiking with a couple of other guys. I'm not really sure where they went, out past the Dutch Creek area. They went for 2 nights and the girls and I got to spend time together.

My sister in law and I started a learn to run course at runner's soul. So far we've done 1 class, we ran 1 minute and walked 3, ran 1 , walk 3, etc. Our run is 5km. Apparently by the end of the 8 weeks we are supposed to be able to run 18minutes and walk 30 sec. It sounds very intimidating and I'd be surprised if I could even run for 10 minutes. Janessa and I have gone one 2 more runs during the week and I went on one by myself.

Sierra started a couple of new lessons this week. She started ballet on Tuesday and piano on Thursday. She said she had a lot of fun in ballet and she even knows a few of the other girls. At piano, the teacher was surprised at how long her attention span was. She said that they covered a lot more than she would have expected for Sierra's first day and for her age.

Whoop Up days and Cruisin' the Dub

2011-08-26T16:00:00.004-06:00

My mom kindly watched the girls yesterday while Kyle and I went to Whoop Up days.

We walked around, looked at the booths and took in a few shows.

We saw the motorcross stunt show, chinese acrobats show and part of the hypnotist show. We had some yummy treats too.

Afterwards we went to A&W for the crusin' the Dub car show. The kids played some games and got some prizes.

Then my dad, Kyle's dad, Kyle and I competed in a root beer chugging contest. Dad was in the first round with 4 other guys. The second round was just Chuck, Kyle and I. I actually won, lol. I got a $20 A&W gift card for winning.

Here's a cute pic of the girls with my dad's corvettes.

Root Beer chugging contest

Kyle, Callie and the root bear

Gymnastics and camping

2011-08-23T15:07:00.011-06:00

So all last week, Sierra was in a day long camp at Westwinds gymnastics. She loved it. They did tons of fun activities and games. They even walked to the pool a few times. It was hard to get a good picture of her while they were doing anything, so I had her pose for me at the very end.

On the weekend we went camping with Kyle's friend Tanner and some of Tanner's friends. We borrowed mom and dad's motorhome and went out to Castle Falls. It was a lot of fun, the girls really enjoyed it. (well Callie didn't really like the fact that she wasn't sleeping in her own crib).

The girls on the drive out there. Peyton fell asleep.

Our family at the falls

Kyle with the older two at the falls

The girls playing in the river

Kyle taking Peyton out on the quad

The girls posing by the campsite

August fun

2011-08-16T20:07:00.009-06:00

The first 2 weeks of August Sierra and Peyton had swimming lessons. They both did a great job and passed to the next level.

On Saturday we went up to Calgary for Rachel's birthday party. We had a great time at Shaker's. It was awesome, there were go carts, mini golf, a climbing wall, laser tag, arcade games and an indoor play structure.

Sierra climbing the wall (Kyle and I also did it, but the pictures don't look as cute, lol)

Peyton playing in the play structure

Jess and Sierra in the go karts

Peyton is not too happy about not getting to go on the go karts. (the hairnet is for wearing under the helmets for health reasons).

We also bought a bike trailer and took the girls out for a ride.

The last days of July

2011-08-02T21:50:00.008-06:00

I can't believe how fast July has come and gone.
It seems like Sierra was just getting out of school.

Here are a few of the things we've been up to during the last few days (weeks) of July.

We had a garage sale over at Kyle's parents house. The girls had a little pop stand and sold pop, juice boxes and granola bars. It was really cute. Although Peyton got tired of it pretty quick, Sierra stuck it out for almost 2 days.

Grandma and Grandpa Ormston took alternating grandkids (the 5 oldest) camping at Park Lake. Sierra went one night with Ryder and one night with Julia. We went there to visit and have some smore's one night. The kids had fun playing at the beach. If you can even really call it a beach. It's more or less a lot of big hard sand with a lot of rocks and sticks.

My cousin Rachel and Aunt and Uncle came down for the long weekend. We took the kids to the spray grounds on the west side. They had a lot of fun.

So Kyle has been working hard building our gate to the back yard, but he took a break to put up a slide for the girls. It's pretty awesome. It comes off our back deck and goes onto the lawn in the backyard.

Peyton is on the news

2011-07-19T14:54:00.002-06:00

So Sierra was in the newspaper for Bon Odori and Peyton happened to make it on the news. Watch this clip around 2 minutes 30 seconds to see her.

UPDATE: I guess the website that had the clip has now removed it, sorry if you didn't get a chance to see it.

Bon Odori Festival

2011-07-18T16:06:00.005-06:00

Saturday night was the Bon Odori festival at the Galt Gardens. Sierra, Peyton and I all danced. I even had Callie in a cute little kimono.

The girls did such a nice job and they were so cute.
Sierra even got on the front page of the newspaper yesterday.

By the way, if anyone wants a copy of the paper. I have about 30 that my grandma dropped off at my house.

Harry Potter 7 part 2!!!

2011-07-15T15:05:00.002-06:00

So I just got home from the movies with my sisters. We saw the new Harry Potter movie. It was amazing, although not nearly long enough. I could have watched another couple hours easy. I wore my new shirt that I made, pics to come soon.

the back of my shirt

Off to the mall

2011-07-13T22:32:00.002-06:00

I got an e-mail today from Please Mum. They said that they are closing a bunch of their stores across the country. I checked online and found out that our store in Lethbridge was going to be one of them. I figured they would have a lot of stuff on clearance. So my mom and I took the girls to the mall only to find that Please Mum had already closed their doors. I did not leave the mall empty handed though. I found 2 nice shirts for Kyle at Tip Top for 50% off. Then we went to Michaels and I bought some more shirts to decorate. I'm planning on making some for Christmas presents.

Finished my shirt

2011-07-12T11:07:00.002-06:00

I finished my shirt today. I will reveal some pictures on Friday when we go to the movie.

Also of note: Callie ate her first Baby Mum Mum cookie. She was so cute holding it with both hands.

Ok, so she's holding it with one hand in this picture, but still cute

t-shirt painting and bon odori

2011-07-12T00:27:00.003-06:00

My sister Lisa introduced me to this website called stumbleupon.com
What you do is sign up for free and then select some of your interests. You then hit the stumble button and it randomly sends you to a website that you may be interested in. One of my interests was crafts and I was directed to a crafting website. It showed an awesome tutorial for painting t-shirts. The great part was that they used a Harry Potter picture as an example.
My sisters and I decided that we would make shirts to wear to the movies on Friday when we go to see the new Harry Potter movie.

Here is a sneak peak of what my shirt looks like so far.

DA stands for Dumbledore's Army (for those non Potter fans)

After supper, the girls and I went to practice for the Bon Odori festival that will be happening this Saturday.
We were dancing around, and I could tell Peyton was starting to get pretty tired. She came up to me and held my leg, I patted her head, and she slowly started sliding down my leg. It was the funniest thing. She pretty much fell asleep on my leg and was slowly sliding to the ground. I picked her up and let her lay down while we did a few more dances. Then I took the kids home early.

Sierra is not actually sleeping, we just thought it would make for a cute picture.

Show and Shine

2011-07-10T22:26:00.003-06:00

After church we went over to the Galt Gardens for the Street Wheelers show and shine. My dad put his hot rod in the show. We took a few pictures with the girls in the rod. Kyle took out the viper and took a couple friends for a ride in it.

Kyle and I went out to a movie with some friends. My mom and Jess came over to babysit. Jess, Sierra and Peyton had a waterfight in the backyard, but it started to get pretty cold and my mom said that Peyton in came inside freezing.

hanging out and a wedding

2011-07-09T22:16:00.002-06:00

So we didn't do a whole lot. Just hung out at home, did some cleaning and put together some stuff for a garage sale.

Later in the evening we went out to Magrath for Daniel and Indie's wedding. Daniel is my sister in laws brother in law. Kind of confusing, lol. Kyle's sister's husband's brother (I'm sure that clarifies it).

Funny story: So earlier in the day, I told Sierra that we would be going to a wedding and that we were going to pick out a present for them. She asked me who's wedding we were going to, and I said "Daniel and Indie". She then asks me who's Daniel. Well she know's who Daniel is because she used to see him all the time at her cousins house. So I had to clarify by telling her it was uncle Daniel. Then she knew who it was. It's funny because she just knows him as Uncle Daniel even though he's not her uncle. She even calls Cindy grandma Fyfe, even though it's her cousins grandma.

Friday Night Cruise

2011-07-08T21:32:00.002-06:00

Today the girls played with their cousins Macy and Kayla. Dad made some yummy chicken wings for dinner.
We met my family at Coco Pazzo's to watch the cruise. This weekend is Street Machine Weekend in Lethbridge. This is when all the fancy cars come out. Tonight was the cruise. We watched from the patio at the restaurant. It was really windy though, so not quite as enjoyable as previous years. No pictures today.

Water fight!

2011-07-07T23:18:00.003-06:00

My sisters came over today with a bunch of water balloons. The girls had fun playing with them. Sierra made some cute small ones for herself and Peyton and they pretended they were little babies.

Sierra with her "baby". Also sporting her new swim suit.

Kyle, Jess and Lisa jumping on the trampoline with a bunch of water balloons and the sprinkler going underneath.

Park, sprinkler and trampoline

2011-07-06T23:59:00.000-06:00

It was such a beautiful day outside that I couldn't resist taking the kids to the park. It started to get a little too warm though and I coaxed them away with the promise of playing in the sprinkler in the backyard.

We even set up the pool for them.

new hairdo

2011-07-05T21:34:00.002-06:00

Today I got my hair done. I got a few inches chopped off and got some more colors added in.
I was at the hair dressers for about 3 and a half hours. I had at least 50 foils put in, and it takes forever for the color to set because my hair is so dark. Sorry no picture.

While I was out, Sierra went to the spray park with her grandma and cousins. Kyle hung out with the 2 little girls.

Fun outside and FHE

2011-07-04T20:16:00.005-06:00

Today we took out the corvettes. We got our neighbor to come out and take a picture for us.

The girls had a little picnic outside

We had Family Home Evening. We watched some scripture stories about Moses and the ten commandments.
We also made some yummy chocolate chip cookies.

Kelser and Dawson's baby blessings

2011-07-03T18:08:00.002-06:00

So this morning we went to Forestry ward sacrament meeting. Stephen and Janessa had Kesler blessed. Then after sacrament we went back to Janessa's house and Brian and Brittany had Dawson blessed. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed chatting with everyone.

After lunch we went home and I put Callie down for a nap. I tried to get Peyton to nap in my bed, but Sierra and I ended up falling asleep instead. Kyle said that Peyton did end up falling asleep with him downstairs. So we all got a nice little nap this afternoon.
I don't have any pictures today.

Wedding and the park

2011-07-02T22:17:00.002-06:00

So today Kyle and I went to a wedding for his friend from work.
It was at the Fairmont Chapel, then the reception was at the Sandman Inn.
Alyssa had such a beautiful dress on, and it was such a nice wedding.

Between the ceremony and the reception, we had some to take the girls to the park.

Canada Day!

2011-07-01T23:46:00.007-06:00

Happy Canada Day to all our fellow Canadians.

Today we celebrated with family and friends.

I got the girls all in Canada themed shirts and did their hair in red ribbons and painted maple leaves on Sierra and Peyton's cheeks. Kyle and I even wore red shirts.

We met my family at Sobey's for the Canada Day celebrations. We had beef on a bun and then waited to partake of the 500foot long banana split.
Sierra waiting for them to finish making the banana split.

Our family enjoying the banana split. (I even let Callie have a little lick of ice cream)

Peyton kept eating even after the rest of us were done.

For supper we had planned on roasting wieners on the fire, but it was too windy. So we ended up BBQing them. We had my parents, my sister, Kyle's mom and our neighbors over for hot dogs and s'mores.
After eating, we played with some mini fireworks, smoke bombs and sparklers.

Peyton wasn't too sure what to think about the sparkler.

Summer has arrived! - Day 1

2011-06-30T23:59:00.000-06:00

So I am going to try and document some of our more exciting activities and projects this summer. I am hoping to post everyday (but that's a little too optimistic), I think you can all expect something at least once a week though.

Today was supposed to be Sierra's last day of school, but she skipped out. So today was her first day of summer vacation.
This afternoon she had a fun time at her cousin Kaden's 7th birthday party. They went swimming and then had cake and treats in the party room.

Potty trained!

2011-06-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

So for the last week or so I have been potty training Peyton. It has gone fantastic, better than I had hoped it would.
She woke up dry one morning so I put her on the toilet. She did her business so I thought I would try her in underwear just to see what happens. Am I ever glad I did. She has been in underwear every day all day long and pull ups at night. She's only had maybe 4 accidents in total so far. I am so proud of her, and so happy to only have 1 kid in diapers now.

Pictures and a post. finally. Fair warning though. It's going to be long

2011-05-25T14:05:00.021-06:00

As you can tell by the title of this post, it is going to be a long one. I haven't posted any pictures in a long time, I just uploaded the pictures from my camera and it was over 400. I'll share the best ones.

Callie's baby blessing.

Sierra - after finishing reading her first chapter book.

Kyle, Jess, Monica and in front of the limo on the way to the Lady Gaga concert

Peyton turns 2!

Sierra turns 6!

Sierra's birthday party - all the kids lined up to hit the pinata

Easter at Carissa's

The girls going for a bike ride - Sierra's new bike from her birthday

The girls all matching for church

Looking cool in Las Vegas

First picture outside Disneyland - note the gold Minnie ears, I love them

Meeting Winnie the Pooh and Tigger

Mickey Mouse!

A close up of Sierra and I on the Tower of Terror. The expression on Sierra's face does not accurately portray how much she loves this ride. She's been so excited about this ride ever since she went on it last year. (Last year she came off crying by the way)

Sierra's favorite fairies - Silver Mist and Tinkerbell

Back in Vegas again - matching outfits

Famous Las Vegas sign

And to finish it off - GLEE live tour 2011

Happy Birthday Sierra

2011-04-10T15:23:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Sierra's 6th Birthday!

We had lots of fun at the YMCA. The kids played in the bouncy castle, played with the big parachute, ate cake, hit the pinata and Sierra opened her gifts.

Sierra got pretty spoiled with her awesome gifts.

Kyle and I got her a new bike, her other one is way too small. She was so happy to get it because it was the one thing that she really wanted.

On another note, my computer that dies, has mysteriously come alive again. My uncle the mac genius came over to transfer my pictures from the old one to a new one that I got, and my old just decided it would work again. I'm just happy that I have all of my pictures back.

Happy Birthday Hailey

2011-04-06T16:48:00.003-06:00

So it's already been 4 years since Hailey was born.

I can't believe it's been so long already.

Her memory is still so fresh in my mind that it's hard to believe that we've had two more beautiful little girls since.

I got some beautiful pink gerber daisies today and took them to the cemetery. I was pretty emotional, I don't go to the cemetery very often because actually seeing her grave is so much harder than just thinking of her and remembering her.

Happy Birthday Peyton!

2011-04-04T21:58:00.004-06:00

My cute little Peyton is 2 years old today!
I can't believe how big she is getting. She's so silly and lets her sister do all the talking though.
She won't say more than a few words clearly, but she is just so darn cute.
We didn't really do anything for her birthday. She opened a couple of presents and I took some pictures.
We got her some new running shoes. (velcro, because she has lace up ones, but always undoes them)
My mom made her a cute, colorful quilt.
Kyle's mom got her a cute black and white dress.

Happy Birthday sweetie!!

Back Home

2011-03-29T22:13:00.004-06:00

We're back from our quick little trip down to Phoenix. The weather was great. Not too hot, but much warmer than it was here.

We did some shopping and ate way too much. We went to this restaurant called Chompies. The guy from Man vs. Food ate there and tried to do the slider challenge. The challenge is 12 roast beef sliders on a platter with onion rings and fries. The 6 of us managed to eat the whole thing, but I don't know how anyone could eat the whole thing. (the man vs. food guy wasn't able to do it). Apparently if you want to try and do it by yourself, you need to sign a waiver saying that the restaurant isn't responsible if you eat too much and get sick. I guess there have only been 2 people who have actually completed it. Oh and you have only 30minutes to get it done.

The concert was different to say the least. I won't comment anymore on that. Callie was great on the plane, I was really impressed. Still no pictures. Sorry.

Lady Gaga

2011-03-24T17:46:00.003-06:00

So tomorrow, Kyle, Callie and I are off to Phoneix. We're going with my parents, sister and her friend. We are going to see Lady Gaga's concert. I'm not a huge fan, but I hear she is quite the performer, so it should be a good show. I've never been to Phoenix before, and I am really looking forward to the nice weather. The two big girls are going to stay with Grandma Ormston while we're gone. Sierra is used to sleepovers, but Peyton not so much. She's only ever slept away from us for one night when we were in the hospital with Callie.

We'll I should go pack, I've only got the girls stuff ready for grandma's house and none of our stuff packed yet.

Warm weather here we come!!

My computer is dead..sigh

2011-03-20T21:47:00.002-06:00

So my mac died, which is sad because all my pictures are on there and I haven't backed it up in a while. The entire computer is not dead, but the screen is. So I can't see anything that's going on. It still makes the noise as if it's turning on, but I just can't see it. My uncle(who is a mac whiz) says that I can still get the pictures, etc. off of it and put it onto a new computer. So I am debating what kind to get. I love macs, so it's between another macbook pro, a macbook or a macbook air.
So if you're wondering (which I'm sure you all are) why I haven't posted lately, that is the reason. Kyle's computer works, but I don't like the keyboard. I sucked it up to write this post though, lol. Sorry no pictures though, they are all on my computer.

Reminder to everyone out there.
*Back up your computer, don't put it off until later!

Family Day

2011-02-22T10:11:00.002-07:00

Kyle and I went to the Hurricanes hockey game yesterday afternoon. We took Sierra and some of her cousins and uncles. It was a nice way to spend Family day. The Hurricanes beat Red Deer 2-1 in overtime. Later that evening we went to mom and dad's house for Family Home Evening. Mom and dad taught a nice lesson, the kids showed some talents (singing, poems). Then we had a treat and played bingo. It was a lot of fun. Kyle had to miss FHE because he was working, but he had Sunday off work instead of the holiday Monday.

New slide!

2011-02-03T15:17:00.004-07:00

So I don't have a lot of exciting pictures to post. Most of my good stuff is on my iPhone.
Here is a picture of the girls playing with one of our best investments. A slide! Peyton loves it, and it's great because she doesn't get as bored stuck inside all day.

24

2011-01-28T22:48:00.002-07:00

So Kyle and I have been watching the series 24. My sister has all the seasons on DVD and we've been borrowing them. We just started watching season 7, there are 8 in all. We've been hooked on this show for the last few months now. Even though some of the plots are somewhat predictable, we still enjoy watching it. Does anyone else have a tv show that they find entertaining and addicting? We're almost finished the series and need something to watch afterwards, lol.

We've already seen every Friends episode and every Heroes episode. I've watched all the One Tree Hills and Gossip Girls up to date. I've also been watching a new show called Hellcats and one called No Ordinary Family.

Any recommendations?

Valentine's background

2011-01-27T17:55:00.002-07:00

So because Valentine's Day is the next holiday, I have changed my background to suit the occasion.
I don't have a lot to blog about right now. So I hope you all enjoy your weekends. I think I have some new pictures on my camera to upload. I should get around to it soon and see if there are any pictures worth posting up here. So possibly new pictures to come.

Peyton's big girl bed

2011-01-14T14:03:00.003-07:00

So I actually do have a picture today, I forgot.
During the Christmas holidays we moved Peyton into a big girl bed. It was the Princess toddler bed that Sierra used to use.
Anyways, she's been in it for a few weeks now and is doing great. We moved her into Sierra's room, so now they share. Callie will have the crib in the other bedroom.

So this picture is of Sierra keeping Peyton company in bed before I read them a story.

I have some other cute pictures too, but they're on my phone and for some reason my phone won't connect to my computer anymore, so I can't put them on the blog.

2 Month shots

2011-01-14T13:09:00.002-07:00

On Monday, I took Callie for her 2 month shots at the health unit.
I can believe she is already 2 months old. She of course cried, but not for too long.

Kyle and I have started our classes for university now. We've started at the University of Athabasca.
Our first course that we're taking is Management information systems. It's a computer course (sort of). We have to read from a text book as well as do some computer work. Hopefully things go well with it. We only have to take 10 classes until we get our degrees.

Sorry no pictures this time.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years and a little in between

2011-01-03T10:50:00.010-07:00

Let's start off with Christmas Eve. We went to a fun party at mom and dad's house that evening.
We had yummy food and treats and watched the kids do some performing. Sierra sang all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. She had just lost her second tooth that morning and we thought it was quite fitting for the occasion. In the picture it looks like she's only missing one, but her grown up tooth is starting to grow in already from the first tooth that she lost.

After performances, the kids played their gift exchange.

Then the adults played a gift exchange. Everyone sang some songs and we welcomed a surprise visitor. Santa!

Sierra and Santa

Peyton and Santa. She still doesn't like him.

Callie and Santa
The girls and their cousins with Santa.

Christmas morning we got up and the girls opened their Santa presents.
Sierra and Peyton both got Belle dresses.

After opening presents at home, we went to my parents house to open presents there and have yummy breakfast.
The kids got lots of nice toys and clothes. They were super spoiled, especially Callie who doesn't need new clothes because she has two big sisters worth of clothes. When we were all done, we went to an early dinner at Kyle's parents house. We opened presents there too and had a yummy turkey dinner. After dinner there, we went to my grandma's house for another dinner. I didn't over do it earlier, so I could still have a bit to eat at grandma's. After dinner we played a few rounds of Trivial Pursuit team and then headed home to crash.

For New Years Eve, which was also our 6th wedding anniversary, we went to Shawn and Antonia's to play games and have dinner. We had homemade pizza (YUM). We celebrated New years with the girls shortly after 9pm, so that we could get them all to bed. Sierra however wasn't convinced that it was midnight yet and began looking for a clock. Antonia had to quickly change the clocks in the kitchen before Sierra noticed. After we sort of got most of the girls to sleep, we played some games. We brought over Pictionary Man, so we played that. Kyle and Shawn beat Antonia and I by one point. Then we played Monopoly deal while the clock rolled over to midnight. What a great way to start the New Year, by playing Monopoly Deal. I won that round by the way, lol. We woke up Peyton and headed home, Sierra stayed for a sleepover.

The girls wore matching pyjamas on New Years Eve.

That was our eventful hoilidays! Hope you enjoyed the post

Elf yourself

2010-12-23T22:32:00.001-07:00

Callie's Baby pictures

2010-12-23T11:22:00.007-07:00

So as I had mentioned before by sister in law Antonia took some baby pictures of Callie. They turned out amazing. Check out her blog and her website.

Here are some of the pictures that I loved the most.

Christmas Parties

2010-12-20T11:24:00.007-07:00

So we had the Wesbridge Christmas Party about a week and a half ago.

We had dinner at Henderson golf course and went bowling afterwards at Holiday Bowl.

Sierra, Rachel and a couple of other kids bowled together on one lane.

Kyle and I bowled with Uncle Scott, Kim and Jess.

Kyle let Peyton bowl a couple of frames for him. Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

We had our ward Christmas Party the next day. We brought Rachel with us to have some fun with Sierra. The dinner was delicious and the program afterwards was very good. I took a picture of the primary kids singing the nativity song, but it was horribly blurry, so I won't even bother posting it. I do have a cute picture of Rachel, Sierra and Peyton in matching dresses.

Kyle's brother Paul came home from his mission and his homecoming was last Sunday. I put the girls in matching dresses that Kyle's mom bought for them. I took about 10 pictures of them and not a single one of them was good. Someone was always blurry or picking their nose. I took this picture off Facebook that mom took.

Sierra had her Montessori Christmas concert last week. This picture is kind of dark, but you get the idea.

what we've been up to

2010-12-09T12:56:00.001-07:00

So Antonia did a photoshoot with Callie and I am super excited to see the results. I took a quick picture of Peyton on Antonia's cute backdrop.

We went with some of Kyle's family to the Hurricanes hockey game last week. The canes lost, but it was teddy bear night, so they at least got one goal and the bears went flying. All these stuffed animals were getting donated to different places around Lethbridge. They are going to shelters and victim services, etc. I wish I had gotten a picture of the bears flying onto the ice, it was a sight to see. Twister (the mascot) came up to our suite to say hi to the kids. We got a picture of him with Janessa holding Callie.

We had a little Ormston family Christmas recital in conjunction with Emily's piano recital. the kids sang songs and Emily played the piano. It was very cute.

Sierra lost a tooth at school the other day. She told me it got stuck in a grape, lol. Here she is showing it off.

Kyle took the girls sledding at the sugar bowl for a little bit yesterday. It was pretty windy though, so we didn't stay long.

Paul's coming home

2010-12-05T16:53:00.003-07:00

So no new pictures.
Sierra has been busy making a big poster for Kyle's brother Paul. He is coming home from his mission. He will be back on Wednesday and we're going to meet him at the airport. He went to Albuquerque, New Mexico and then was transferred to Florida. It's been over 2 years since we've seen him and he'll be giving his homecoming talk next Sunday. We're excited to go to Forestry ward to hear his talk and see everyone from our old ward.

Sierra had a Christmas party for Sparks on Wednesday earlier this week. They went to the Jasmine tea room. Sierra said that they had a tea party and exchanged presents. When I dropped her off, it was the first time I had been in the store and it was kind of a neat place. They had a lot of gift type things, it looked like a good place for Christmas shopping. While Sierra was at the party, Kyle and I took the little girls to Toys R Us. It's always a good opportunity to go when Sierra is busy with other things.

This week we're busy with Paul's homecoming and a couple of Christmas parties. I'm sure to have pictures in my next post.

Visiting Santa

2010-11-23T20:04:00.002-07:00

So the other day we went to the mall with some of Kyle's family to see Santa's grand entrance. It was quite busy. The line to see him was very long and we didn't feel like waiting in it. We ended up going to the food court and saw him pass by on his way to his chair. He even had some reindeer with him. The kids got a chance to pet the reindeer, but Sierra didn't want to.

Today we went to the mall for lunch with some of Kyle's family (a different combination of people, lol).
We took the kids to see Santa this time. The line was way way shorter. Peyton took one look at him and started crying. So I ended up standing with her and Kyle held Callie. Here is a picture.

Callie Mya

2010-11-12T13:20:00.003-07:00

So in case you haven't heard or read on facebook, we had our new baby.
Her name is Callie Mya Ormston. She was born at 10:27 on Monday morning. She was 6lbs. 6oz. and 20 inches long.

Here is a picture.

Sierra just loves her new little sister. Peyton on the other hand is still getting used to her.
Here is a super cute picture of Kyle and the girls.

Here is one of me and the girls.

We don't have one of all of us yet though, lol.

Pictures finally

2010-11-01T20:45:00.007-06:00

Sierra and her teacher Miss Ikeda after winning an award at the recognition ceremony at school in September.

Sierra at her enrollment ceremony for Sparks

Sierra and her class at the fire station

Our family at Halloween ( I'm not sure how to rotate the picture, sorry, but you get the idea.)

Hanging in there

2010-10-29T09:48:00.002-06:00

So I know I haven't posted in a while. I have a bunch of pictures to upload onto the computer and just haven't gotten around to it yet. Just to let people know, I have not had the baby yet. Although it would be nice to have her this week or next week before my parents go away on holidays. Kyle's parents are already away, so I hope that the baby doesn't decide to come the week where they are both away.

Some pictures you can look forward to in the near future include; Sierra's field trip to the fire station, Halloween goodies that I've made, Halloween pictures, etc. Maybe baby pictures? I can only hope.

Hope everyone has a good Halloween!

First day of Kindergarden

2010-09-07T12:18:00.004-06:00

Wow 2 posts in one day, this must be a record.

Sierra started Kindergarden last week and was very excited.

Here are some pictures.
Getting ready to leave in the morning

Lakeview

Montessori

Whoop Up days 2010

2010-09-07T12:03:00.005-06:00

So we took the girls and Kaden to watch the Whoop Up Days parade. It was kind of coolish earlier in the morning, but it warmed up pretty quick. Here is a pic of Kyle and the kids before the parade started.

The next day we took the girls to the fairgrounds. It was pretty hot out, so we went straight into the pavillions when we got there. I was pretty disappointed with the lack of booths and vendors this year. There was not a whole lot to see. We watched the hypnotist show, and then grabbed some food and played some games. Here are a few pics.

swimming lessons

2010-08-23T12:22:00.002-06:00

So I have been such a slacker on this blog this summer.
This week and last week Sierra has been going to swimming lessons. She is doing much better than last year. She actually is putting her face underwater for longer periods of time and she jumps into the pool by herself too.
She is feeling a lot more comfortable in the water even though she has to stand on her tip toes to keep her mouth above water.

On Friday, it was parent participation day. So Kyle hopped in the pool with her. She's been learning to do some floats by herself too. I can't really tell from where I sit, but she said that she can do a back float by herself for a couple seconds.

Anyways, that was my short little post.

Whoop Up days and Corn Fest are coming up this week, so I'm sure to take pictures.

Trip to the dentist

2010-07-22T20:47:00.002-06:00

So about a month ago, Sierra was complaining that her tooth hurt. We took her to the dentist and he just quickly looked in her mouth and said that it was her 6 year molars growing in. We gave her some kids tylenol for a few days and it seemed to stop bothering her. Personally I think she forgot about it because we were so busy on our holidays.

Anyways, fast forward to last weekend. She was complaining about it again and this time her cheek looked a little swollen. It was Friday and our dentist had gone home for the weekend. Luckily he is a friend of my dad's and we got in touch with him. He called in a prescription to the pharmacy for us. So Sierra has been taking antibiotics since then.

Today I had a doctor's appointment, so Kyle took Sierra to the dentist. Turns out she had an abscess tooth. It was one of the ones she had a filling in from about a year ago. So when I got home from the doctors, Sierra was minus one tooth. She's pretty excited to leave it for the tooth fairy tonight. It's a huge sucker too, root and all.

Baby #4 is .....a girl!

2010-07-19T13:57:00.002-06:00

So I guess I forgot to mention that before our trip to California, I had an ultrasound.
Baby #4 is going to be another girl !!!
We're very excited to be having another little girl. It makes it much easier considering we already have all the clothes. Kyle was also hesitant to put a boy in the pink excersaucer, lol. Plus our bumbo is purple.

I was quite convinced that it was going to be a boy this time, but I am glad that it's a girl because Peyton and this baby will be pretty close in age. I think we're going to put the 2 little kids in the same room and let Sierra keep her room to herself. It will probably be easier for everyone involved considering Sierra has night terrors and will wake up screaming and crying at any hour.

Our trip to California

2010-07-09T11:44:00.007-06:00

So we had a fun and busy trip to California.
Here are some highlights and pictures of what we did.

Knott's Berry Farm

Legoland

California Adventure
posing with Mr. potato head

Sierra and Minnie

Kyle and Peyton in front of It's a Small World

Princess Sierra? or Tianna

Space Mountain!

Sierra and Annabelle at Sea World

Killer whale show

Universal Studios

We had a great time but are happy to be back home

New background

2010-06-05T19:39:00.001-06:00

I just noticed that I still had a Christmas background for my blog.
Since it's the beginning of June, it is no longer suitable, lol.
So enjoy the new background. I should probably get around to changing it by Christmas again.

Las Vegas

2010-06-04T15:04:00.014-06:00

We've been back for awhile and I keep forgetting to post about our trip to Vegas, so here goes.

We left on Monday, May 10th around 10:30am. It was a bit of a late start getting everything ready to go. I kind of put off the packing, and left a lot of it until that morning. We stopped for lunch at Pizza hut in Shelby, Montana. Here is a picture of the girls in Pizza Hut.

We continued driving for the day. We had supper at McDonalds in Idaho Falls and then stopped for the night in Farr West, Utah.
We found a nice Comfort Inn just off the highway.

The next morning we had a continental breakfast at the hotel and then headed on the road again. We stopped in Salt Lake City to go to Temple Square. The weather unfortunately was very rainy, so we didn't do a whole lot of outside stuff. We just went to the visitors centre and the Conference Center. Here are a few pics of the things we saw at Temple Square.

It was nice to go back and see Temple Square. We haven't been there since Sierra was Peyton's age. Sierra thought it was pretty neat since she doesn't remember going before.

Then we got back on the road and stopped for lunch at an Olive Garden in Sandy, Utah.

Then on the road again. It was raining quite a bit and actually snowed a little in southern Utah. Once we hit Arizona it really started to warm up. We got in to Vegas around 8pm. We had planned for 2 nights on the road, but made such good time that we got there a day early. My mom suggested we stay at the Eastside Cannery and that they would meet us there. They left Lethbridge the same morning that we left Farr West. We had dinner at the hotel and headed to bed. My parents and my sister got to Vegas around 2am. They drove straight through.

The next morning we had breakfast and signed up for the Cannery player's club. We each got $5 in free play for the slot machines. We didn't win anything though, lol. Then we went for lunch to a Japanese restaurant. It was a teppanyaki where they cook on the grill right in front of you. While we were there, Sierra got really sick and Kyle had to run her outside to throw up. After lunch we headed to the Hilton Grand Vacation where we were going to stay for the rest of the trip. Sierra threw up twice on the ride there. Luckily we gave her plastic bags and she barfed into the bags.

I don't remember much of what happened over the next couple of days besides the fact that the 4 of us were all pretty sick and barfy. I think we stayed in the hotel room for about 2 days straight. Finally once we could all function again, we did a little shopping and stuff. Kyle and I went to see Jay Leno at the Mirage. He was pretty funny.

We took the kids to Circus Circus and Sierra had a blast playing all the games and winning prizes.
Here are some pics from Circus Circus.

My dad and Jess went to some race thing for the weekend so we hung out with my mom. We went to the Fashion show mall and did some shopping there. Sierra got these geox shoes that she has been wanting for awhile. She saw the commercial for them and thought that they squirted out water, but really they just "breathe".

One morning we went to the pool because it was so nice out.

Then dad and Jess got back from the race and we went to the strip. We had lunch at the Harley Davidson Cafe. They have really good mac and cheese there.

Then we went to the M&M World and Coca Cola store. Sierra loves the M&M store, I think it's her favorite place in Vegas.

Kyle, Jess and I, went to see the Cirque de Soleil show "Love". It was really good, except I missed some of it because I didn't have an afternoon nap and I fell asleep, lol. They played a lot of Beatles songs and did acrobatics and stuff.

The next day dad drove back home for work and we went to the MGM Grand to see the lion habitat. Then we did the CSI experience. We had to look at a crime scene and follow a bunch of steps to solve the crime. It was mostly computer stuff. Jess, Kyle, Sierra and I did that, while mom took Peyton around to look at some stores and stuff.

Then we went home the next day and stayed overnight in Farr West, Utah again.

big picture update

2010-04-30T22:28:00.018-06:00

So I haven't posted in quite awhile. I just put up new pictures on facebook, so I thought I would update my blog too. Even though there are probably only about 5 people that read it.

We took the girls public skating with Kaden, Ryder, Stephen and Chad. Sierra did pretty good considering she has only used bob skates before. I think she enjoyed herself. She was pretty proud that she could do it without a pylon.

Stephen and Janessa went to a wedding and we had Ryder over for a sleep over one night. Sierra and Ryder had fun playing outside. They played with bubbles, chalk, bikes and scooters. Their favorite was riding in Sierra's corvette though. They went up and down the cul de sac and had a blast.

We went to a fun Easter party that a family in our new ward invited us to. It was down at the river bottom. The kids through eggs down the hill and had an easter egg hunt.

The girls had a joint birthday party/BBQ. We had lots of friends and family over to celebrate. It was a lot of fun. I made Sierra an Ariel cake and Peyton an Elmo cake.

Kyle and I built an awesome cardboard castle for Sierra and her friends to decorate at her princess birthday party. It took quite awhile and a lot of tape and glue. They had a lot of fun coloring on it. They also hit a pinata, opened presents and played in the astrojump.

We took a little trip with the Fyfe's down to Kalispell. We stayed at Stephen's uncle's cabin. It was very nice. We had a lot of fun. We took the kids to play at a nearby park and took out a quad and some dirtbikes.

On the way back home we stopped at the house of mystery. It's said to be built on a vortex with strong magnetic powers, or something along those lines. It was pretty neat. The shot of Kyle and I comparing heights is cool.

We're heading off to Vegas soon.
So I'll have more pictures and another post when we get back.

Love this weather

2010-03-06T19:21:00.002-07:00

The weather here has been great. Today was about 12 degrees I think.
While Peyton was having an afternoon nap, Sierra and I played outside. We blew bubbles and drew with chalk.
Neither of us even needed jackets. I tried to snap a few pictures of Sierra catching bubbles, but it was very tricky to blow bubbles and take a picture quick enough, lol. The bubbles scattered quick because of the wind. So out of the pictures that I did get, I don't think any of them showed the bubbles, lol.

Olympics

2010-02-24T23:12:00.003-07:00

So we've been watching a lot of the olympics over at our place. (well mostly me actually).
I love watching speed skating and hockey.

Anyone have favorite sports that they watch during the olympics?

Here's a picture of when the olympic torch came through Lethbridge.
Sierra and Kyle with Sierra's favorite mascot Miga.

I don't know what to name this post

2010-02-03T23:45:00.002-07:00

I figured I should probably be going to bed right now, but instead I am reading blogs. I'm always a little sad when I have no new blog posts to read. I figure I should post again, just to make sure no one is sad that I'm not posting. lol.

Well, as I mentioned before, Peyton does this really cute scrunchy face. She still does it, but now also blows raspberries. She thinks it's the funniest thing and the two girls soak each other with their spit. She has also started to push things around and walk behind them. She started out by pushing Sierra's little princess car that she got for her first birthday. Now she has moved on to pushing my chairs around the kitchen. She gets really frustrated once she pushes it up against the stove and has no where left to go.

Sierra really enjoys going to school everyday and is doing great with her reading. A couple weeks ago, her school was raising money for the kids in Haiti. She gave money out of her own piggy bank. (well, technically it's not a pig, she actually has a pink ATM machine that she found at a garage sale). Anyways..I was so proud of her for wanting to help the kids, she said that she wanted them to have food because some of their parents died and couldn't buy them any food. It was so sweet.

Kyle has been busy running cables and wires through the house. He is mounting a tv over the piano and he's hiding the wires in the wall. He also ran cable out to the garage, I guess he plans on doing some tv watching out there on Sierra's Dora the Explorer tv.

I've been having fun planning for our trip to Disneyland this summer. I'm super excited even though it's not for a while still. We're going to Legoland, which I've never been to before, and Universal Studios, which I haven't been to since I was in Jr. High.
Sierra is really excited that this year she will be tall enough to go on some of the bigger rides. She is looking forward to the Tower of terror the most. She's happy she doesn't have to miss out on as many fun rides as she did when we went about a year and a half ago.

Anyone have any fun things they've done in Southern California that they would recommend? We're going to be there for almost 2 weeks, so we have lots of time to see and do things. (Kirsten: maybe you can give us the inside scoop)

Holidays are gone again

2010-01-15T14:53:00.004-07:00

So the holidays have come and gone and I'm just getting around to posting.

We had a great Christmas. The kids got spoiled. We really enjoyed spending time with family.

On Christmas Eve we went over to mom and dad Ormston's for a Christmas Eve party. We had yummy food and snacks and had a gift exchange. Antonia made some amazing spinach dip (which I would love the recipe for).

Here are the kids playing their present game.

We even got a visit from Santa.

After the party, we went back to my parents house and Sierra and Rachel sprinkled reindeer dust outside on the lawn. Rachel made it at school and brought it down so that they could attract the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning we opened presents at home with the girls.

Then we went to my parents house for breakfast and more presents. We had a yummy breakfast and the girls got super spoiled with all the nice clothes and toys. Then we headed over to Mom and Dad Ormston's for Christmas dinner. The kids all opened their presents from grandma and grandpa. Sierra, Macy, Kenzie and Julia all got seesaws. Sierra can't wait to play on it this summer. We had a yummy dinner and then headed to my grandma's for another dinner. lol. I was already full.

We ate and played this new game we got called pictionnary man. It was a lot of fun. We were all pretty tired after all the food and fun. We still had some birthday cake for my dad even though we were stuffed. We took our usual birthday/christmas picture in grandma's kitchen.

On New Years Eve (also our 5th wedding anniversary), we went out to dinner and then to Janessa and Stephen's for games. We had yummy snacks and played Pictionnary man again. (It really is a lot of fun). We played girls against boys, sadly they won. We let the kids stay up until midnight and they blew noise makers and popped streamers at midnight.

Then on New Years day we went to my grandma's for our big dinner. (It's a Japanese thing, because I know most people don't really celebrate New Years). There were a bunch of people, family and grandma's golf team. We ate lots and ended up playing pictionnary again. This time was the funniest because we played with my grandma and her friends. Let's just say that it was hilarious watching my grandma drawing, but also telling us what she was drawing. It kind of defeated the point of the game, lol.

Now all my decorations are down and it's back to our usual routine.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday!
Next up: Valentine's day

Update with pictures!

2009-12-17T15:35:00.010-07:00

So the last update I did was just a quick little one, so here is a more detailed account of what we have been up to since Halloween.

Peyton with her awesome scrunchy face.

The girls with Santa and Mrs Claus at one of the local craft shows.

The ward Christmas party. "Night in Bethlehem"

Decorating gingerbread houses at Grandma Ormston's.

Sierra decorating the Christmas tree. It's the perfect size for her.

Visiting Santa at the mall. Peyton is not impressed at all. This year Sierra asked Santa for a camera.

This is Sierra singing at her Christmas concert on Saturday. It's kind of a blurry picture, but you get the idea.

It's hard to believe that Christmas has snuck up so fast this year. If I don't post again before Christmas, it is because of all the holiday hustle and bustle.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Wow do the girls look alike or what!

2009-12-13T20:10:00.002-07:00

So a few days ago I had Peyton dressed up in one of Sierra's old outfits. I wanted to take a few pictures of her in front of the tree because I remembered I had a similar one of Sierra. Today I uploaded the pictures onto the computer and found the old picture of Sierra. It's scary how much they look alike. The main difference is the hair. Peyton has way more of it. If they had the same amount of hair, I don't know if I could even tell them apart.

Sick

2009-11-23T09:56:00.003-07:00

For the last month or so, we have been feeling the flu bug around our house. It seems that one or two of us will have it at a time and then pass it on. Well I think we've each had it a couple of times now because it just won't leave our house. I think the worst combination of sickies is when Peyton and I were both pretty sick this weekend. It's so hard to look after a baby when you can barely look after yourself. We both got hardly any sleep at night, and ended up taking naps on the living room floor during the day while Sierra and Kyle hung up our Christmas lights outside. (which look amazing by the way). She was super cranky and I had a horrible headache, not a good combination. I am happy to report that Peyton and I are both feeling a bit better. Sierra had a quick fever yesterday, but otherwise she seems to be the healthiest in our family. Kyle is in bed sick right now. I guess we gave it back to him, he's the one who started it all about a month ago anyways.

and the vicious cycle continues....

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T19:02:00.006-07:00

So this year for Halloween both the girls dressed up as fairies. They were both so cute. On Friday, Sierra went to a witches tea party at Julia's. Then right after the tea party, she went to school and they had a Halloween party there. After school we went out to our friends house in Sterling. We had yummy food and treats and had fun hanging out. We played a game called Bang, which took a while to learn, but was a lot of fun once we got the hang of it.

On Saturday we went trick or treating at the mall. There were a ton of kids there, it was super busy. After the mall we had time to go home and grab our candy and then head over to the church for the trunk or treat. Sierra had to empty her bag twice. She got a good loot. After the trunk or treat we went to my parents house and to some neighbors, then back home. We only got 2 kids that came trick or treating to our house. I wonder how many, if any, came while we were out.

Enjoy the pictures.

Some yummy treats that I made.

My little fairy girls

The Cousins trick or treating at the mall.
(Ryder, Sierra, Peyton, Kaden, Preston and Kenzie)

Sierra's new corvette

2009-10-17T19:50:00.003-06:00

A little while ago, my dad bought Sierra a little ride on corvette. She was so excited to try it out. She helped Kyle put it together and then posed for some pictures with Peyton in it. Then she took it for a drive in our cul de sac. She thought it was great, and she's really starting to get the hang of it.

Sierra's big trip to the dentist

2009-10-08T14:53:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday, Irene and I took Sierra to her dentist appointment. We had to be there an hour and a half early, which was a waste of time, we just sat there. Finally they took her in and I had to help them hold her down while they gave her the gas. She was fine while they gave her the laughing gas, but once they started giving her the stuff to make her fall asleep, she started moving around lots and trying to get away from us. The anesthesiologist said that it was normal for kids to wiggle around like that. I was kind of freaked out a bit.

She ended up getting 6 steel caps on her teeth, plus 14 other fillings. Was it ever a lot. They showed me the bill for $4,600. It was outrageous. I'm so grateful to have coverage through work and through the government. While Sierra was sleeping and getting her work done, mom and I went to Round Street Cafe for lunch. It was yummy, especially the banana cream pie!

When I brought Sierra home, she was pretty groggy and cranky. She slept for awhile and then watched a couple movies. She managed to eat some food which was good. By about 10pm she was back to herself wanting lots of food and wanting to play on the computer.

New House!

2009-10-03T00:50:00.002-06:00

We are finally in our new house. Last night was our first night sleeping here. It's pretty messy right now with stuff being unpacked, but as soon as it's a little tidier I will post pics. I really should have taken some before we brought anything in. O well, I hope I can unpack quick. My sisters and my mom have been over helping me clean, unpack and watch the kids. They have been so much help. My sister Lisa even stayed here and cleaned while Kyle and I went to the townhouse to clean it up for a showing today. Also thanks go out to mom O. and Kyle's friend Tanner who helped us move over a bunch of stuff from the old house.

Swimming and Gymnastics

2009-09-30T08:32:00.003-06:00

Last week Sierra started swimming lessons again and she also started gymnastics.
She goes swimming Wednesday mornings and gymnastics Thursday mornings. She told me she thinks gymnastics is a lot of fun and she's happy to have her cousins Kaden and Ryder in her class. During gymnastics, the parents can wait in a little room and watch through a window, I couldn't get very good pictures. But here's one that turned out the least blurry.

Down at the river bottom

2009-09-28T18:32:00.005-06:00

Last week we went down to the river bottom to a new park and let the kids play. It was pretty neat, it had a little climbing wall and other rocks to climb on. There was a slide too, but to get to the top of it, you had a climb a little rock mountain, lol. Definately not for kids with little legs. Sierra had a bit of a hard time getting up. They also had a rock area where the rocks are set up to look like a snake.

The Zoo

2009-09-25T17:59:00.007-06:00

Last Friday we went to the zoo. All the grandkids, the moms and Shawn. The kids had a pretty good time, here are some pictures of our day.

Sierra and the giraffes in the back

Sierra and Macy playing on the lion statue

Sierra and a peacock, in the flowers

Kaden, Ryder and Sierra playing on the elephant statue

Mommy and Peyton by the elephants

Tinkerbells

2009-09-24T15:24:00.003-06:00

So last week I decided that I wanted Peyton and Sierra to have matching Halloween costumes. My mom bought a cute fairy costume for Sierra from Costco, but there were no small ones for Peyton. I checked out Walmart and they had some cute stuff, but no Tink. I decided to make Peyton's costume. I'm proud to say that I made her costume and only spent $4.39 including tax.

Here's a pic of the costume.

Monster Mash

2009-09-21T11:27:00.002-06:00

So Antonia and the girls did some super cute halloween videos, and I showed them to Sierra. She just loved it and wanted to make one of our family too. So here it is.

Monster Movie

Preston's blessing

2009-09-11T10:54:00.002-06:00

On Sunday it was our nephew Preston's baby blessing. After church we all gathered at mom and dad's place for lunch and managed to get some good pictures of mom and dad with the grandkids. It was pretty hard to get 11 kids to sit and look all at the same time. Here's my best picture.

Back row: Sierra (4), Peyton (5mo.), Preston (3mo.), Kenzie (2), Kayla (5mo.), Macy (2), Julia (almost 4)
Front row: Ryder (4), Emily (7), holding Rebecca (1), Kaden (5)

Plus Grandma and Grandpa. but I'm sure I don't have to label them.

Peyton's eating baby cereal

2009-09-08T13:43:00.003-06:00

So Peyton just started having some baby rice cereal. She loves it. She's gets pretty messy afterwards though. Here are some cute pics of her first day eating the rice cereal. Notice I'm holding her hands down. I didn't do that at first and she grabbed the spoon and made quite the mess. She also tried to grab the bowl, lol.

Back to school (for Sierra)

2009-09-07T21:16:00.002-06:00

Sierra went back to school last week and is very excited to be back. She misses a lot of her friends from last year though. She had a lot of friends who were in kindergarden and have now moved to grade 1. At her school they have kindergarden and two preschool classes mixed together, so she's in her second year of preschool. She still has some of her old friends, and I'm sure she'll make some new ones too.

Here's a picture of her getting ready on her first day back, it's her back to school dance. I also had a video of her singing a song about school that she made up, but i have no clue how to upload videos on here.

Rebecca's birthday Party

2009-09-04T21:46:00.006-06:00

So last week, Antonia did a fantastic job planning Rebecca's first birthday party. The kids had a great time. There were carnival games and activities and yummy treats. Carissa made an awesome cake. Here are a couple pics of the kids playing in the backyard.

Here's one of Kyle and the girls with their clown noses.

Cousin Fun

2009-08-29T19:21:00.003-06:00

So last week Sierra and the boys were playing at grandma Ormston's house. We had a fire and the kids roasted marshmallows. They had fun playing outside together even with all the nasty mosquitos.

Kaden, Sierra and Ryder. (Can you believe Sierra is 4 months older than Ryder)

Whoop Up days

2009-08-28T12:53:00.005-06:00

So last week was Whoop Up days. We went on Saturday and took in some of the events. Sierra and Rachel dad fun going on the rides together. We watched a magician show and 2 hypnotist shows. The hypnotist shows were so funny. Here are some pics.

Jess, Sierra and Rachel on the Super Slides.

Kyle doing a back flip on the trampoline.

Sierra and Rachel on one of the kiddy rides.

pics from my mom's bday

2009-08-21T15:47:00.005-06:00

Here's a picture of my mom with her birthday presents. We got her a necklace from Fosters and an edible arrangement. It was yummy.

August 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18

2009-08-18T22:43:00.002-06:00

On the 14th was parent participation day at Sierra's swimming lessons. So I went in the pool with her while my mom watched Peyton on the side. We started off in the deep end and the kids wore life jackets. Well I just about needed one too because I'm so short that I could barely reach the ground. I had to go on the very end of my tip toes just to keep my face above the water. It also didn't help that Sierra was freaking out and clinging to me.

We spent most of the weekend cleaning the house and getting ready for people to see it. Yesterday our realtor showed it to a bunch of other realtors at his office. There were about 15 business cards on our kitchen table from all of them. While the realtors were all looking at the house, I took the girls over to my mom's house to hang out there for a bit. Then we went to Sierra's swimming lessons. My mom, grandma and sister Jess all came to watch. Afterwards we went to Dollarama, the mall, to the office, the library, etc. For dinner we went to the Keg for my mom's birthday. My sisters and I got her a pretty heart necklace and an edible arrangements bouquet.

Today Sierra and I were both sick. So Sierra didn't go to swimming lessons and we just lounged around at home. By late afternoon we were feeling better and ventured out to Walmart and Costco. Then to dinner at La Mezza Luna with my family.

August 11, 12 and 13

2009-08-13T18:17:00.008-06:00

So Sierra has been going to swimming lessons all week and she's been doing a really good job. Yesterday they put life jackets on and went in the deep pool and she floated all by herself without freaking out like she did when we went to the Ramada.

My mom and my sisters got home from Hawaii on Tuesday and brought back cute matching dresses for the girls.

Yesterday we went to Costco for lunch with my mom. We also went to work, to the quilt store and to Blockbuster. Sierra wanted to go to Beaners and get a hair cut. So we went there and she got her hair trimmed and got bangs. She was so cute and I love her new bangs. She also got a cute pink braid in her hair.

I probably mentioned that we got a new van. Here's a pic of Sierra wearing her headphones and watching the movie Happy Feet in the back seat.

For the last couple days I've been packing up boxes and my sister helped me take a van load over to the new house. Our house is going on the market tomorrow and we have to tidy up so that the realtor can come to take pictures. So if I don't blog for a while it'd because I'm going crazy with cleaning and packing and moving.

August 10th

2009-08-10T22:11:00.003-06:00

This morning was Sierra's first day of swimming lessons. She did a great job and said she had a lot of fun. She's excited to go again tomorrow. Here are some pics.

This afternoon we had to go to the dentist for a consultation for her to get her fillings done. They just explained to us some of the information and sent us home with a medical form that we have to get filled out from Sierra's doctor.

August 7, 8 & 9

2009-08-10T12:03:00.002-06:00

So on Friday, some people came by to look at our house. They just happened to be driving by and called to see it. We let them see it right away. They said they were looking for a place for their son who is going to the college this fall. I hope they are interested. On Friday night Kyle and I dropped off the girls with my dad and we went with some friends to see the new GI Joe movie. It was better than I thought it would be. There was lots of action in it.

On Saturday, we woke up early to go to some garage sales. We didn't find anything good though. Sierra usually hates being dragged around to garage sales, but she loved it this time because she could watch a movie on the DVD player in our new van. While we were driving around, we saw some deer walking along the road. Sierra thought it was pretty neat. I managed to get a picture of them.

After going to garage sale, we met with our realtor to sign the contract to list our townhouse. It goes on the market on Friday and he said he will start showing on Monday. That way we still have the weekend to clean up and move some junk out. Our new house still isn't ready, so we're going to have to just pile boxes up without unpacking anything yet. We were supposed to be in last weekend, so I'm not feeling to optimistic about getting in anytime soon. I'm hoping we get in by the end of the month at least.

Yesterday morning we went to church and I subbed in Kyle's class while Mr. Bowie was away. After church we went for lunch with my dad and Mike, Lisa and Ellyson. After lunch Sierra went with my dad to do some running around and stuff. They went to visit my grandma at the hospital and then they had supper with my other grandma. She didn't come home until 9:30pm. She was so tired she went right to bed.

August 5th and 6th

2009-08-07T16:36:00.005-06:00

On Wednesday we took the kids to the Ramada for the parent tot swim. Sierra was a little scared because of the incident at the Sterling pool. She did fine though. She didn't want to play in the pool very much, but she loves waterslides. Here are some pics at the pool.

We took Peyton in the pool too, but we didn't get any pictures of her because we both had one of the girls each and no one to use the camera. Here's a picture of the girls after they dried off and got changed.

Kyle got pretty adventurous on the waterslides and took down 4 kids with him. He took Emily, Sierra, Ryder and Julia. He grabbed a double tube and they all piled on. He said they had a great time going down the slide, but when they got to the bottom, they came shooting out really fast. So fast that they crashed into the wall on the other side and tipped over. The girls all had lifejackets on and Ryder didn't even care, he thought it was great.

Yesterday we went over and Sierra played with Ryder and Kezie while Stephen and Janessa registered Kaden for kindergarden. They had fun playing together. It will be nice when they move down here and the kids can play all the time.

August 4th - Happy Birthday Ryder

2009-08-04T20:50:00.002-06:00

So today we went out for lunch with my dad to Edo's. It was yummy. Sierra and I shared a chicken yakisoba bento box. After lunch we went to see the movie up with Sierra's cousins for Ryder's birthday. The kids had a fun time. It was a pretty cute movie. I don't think that the 3D is really all that special though.

After the movie I had to run to work quickly and do the banking. Then we headed back to mom and dad's house for cake. Ryder got a cool spiderman ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Then he opened his presents. Sierra chose a spiderman kite for him.
Here's a picture of Ryder opening his kite. It's not that great of a picture though, because none of the kids are even looking.

August 3rd

2009-08-03T22:51:00.002-06:00

Today the girls and I went for lunch at Dairy Queen with Stephen and Janessa, Ryder, Kenzie and Preston and Cindy and Gerald (Stephen's parents). They ordered a birthday cake for Ryder for his birthday tomorrow. He chose spiderman.

After lunch Stephen and Janessa went to look at more houses. We stayed and watched Kenzie. Sierra and Kenzie had fun playing together. They played some dress up, which was really cute.

July 28, 29, 30 , 31 and August 1 & 2

2009-08-03T11:09:00.009-06:00

So it's been a while since I've updated.

On the 28th, the girls and I went shopping at the mall with my mom and my sisters. I wanted to check out the new Children's Place store that just opened not too long ago. I got a cute pair of matching shorts for the girls. They are bright lime green and were on sale! I think they were $4.99 plus 50% off. I was very happy with my purchase. Here's a picture of Sierra riding in one of the coin operated machines at the mall. It was a dollar, what a rip off.

On the 29th, Kyle was trying to sleep, so I took the girls out for a walk. We walked over to Lakeview so Sierra could play at the playground, but it was packed with older kids playing dodgeball on the playground. We decided that it wasn't such a good idea, and decided to walk to a different park instead. I took a few pictures while we were on our walk.

Here's Sierra playing hopscotch before leaving Lakeview.

So we decided to walk to the Henderson park, which was on the other side of the lake. We had a long ways to go, but Sierra did great. Here she is walking along the path next to Mayor Magrath drive.

And here she is in front of Japanese Gardens.

Finally we made it to the park.

I printed off a map just to show Sierra how far we had walked. The pink line follows our path.

On the 30th I can't remember for the life of me what we did. I think we must have stayed home and cleaned or something. Although you wouldn't be able to notice now.

On the 31st, we went with my mom and sisters to Osho's for lunch. It was yummy and we hadn't been there for quite a while. Sierra did pretty well at eating with chopsticks.

Later in the afternoon Sierra wanted to invite my sisters over for a playdate. So they came over and the three of them played with clay and made some sculptures. They are air drying right now and they'll probably paint them when they get back from Hawaii.

On Saturday, Sierra was excited because her cousins were coming down from Devon. We were excited to meet our new nephew Preston. Kyle and I watched Kenzie and Ryder while Stephen and Janessa went to look at houses. We're so excited that they are moving down here and the kids can play all the time.

Yesterday we went to church and I was asked to sub for the Sunbeam class. I've only ever taught the Valiant 10/11/12 class before, so it was a nice change. It's a good thing Kaden and Ryder were visiting, or else it would have been just me and Sierra.

Days 25, 26 and 27

2009-07-28T08:27:00.002-06:00

We didn't do anything exciting this weekend. So there's not much to blog about. Kyle worked on Saturday from 9 until 3ish and then was on call until 11pm. The girls and I went for lunch with my parents to Coco Pazzo's. In the afternoon we went out to Coaldale to help my dad load one of his corvettes onto a trailer, but it wouldn't start.

On Sunday I took the girls to church while Kyle slept so that he could start working night shifts. So Sunday night at 10:30pm he headed into work for his first night shift. He didn't get home until about 9:30 the next morning. So yesterday while Kyle got some sleep, I took the girls visiting teaching with me. Then we went to the park and only stayed for about 10 minutes because it was so hot. Then we visited my mom for a bit, then went back home for lunch. I made a spinach pizza for lunch and then tried to keep the girls quiet while Kyle was still sleeping. So we watched tv and Sierra colored some pictures. Kyle got up around 4ish and then we went to look at the new house to see what they did that day. There wasn't much different. They poured the concrete pad for the front steps, I think that was all. Afterwards we made a trip to Wally World (Walmart) for some groceries and other misc. stuff. Then we met my family at Earls for Supper. I got a yummy steak and Kyle got yummy ribs. After supper Kyle had a tiny nap and then headed back to work again.

Here's a pic of Kyle and the girls a couple days ago.

Day 24 - The Dentist

2009-07-25T09:41:00.005-06:00

Sierra had a dentist appointment yesterday morning out in Coaldale. So we went out there and she got her teeth cleaned, flossed and got fluoride. Then Pete (her dentist) came in to look at her teeth and told me that she had 10 cavities. TEN! I couldn't believe it. I've never heard of anyone with that many before. He said he would have to refer us to another dentist and that she would get put to sleep to get them filled. I feel like such a horrible mom letting her teeth get so bad.

We went by the new house again and the garage stairs are finished and the windows in the garage are in too. 2 out of 3 basement windows are also in. The started framing up the front stairs and put dirt down in the front and sides to get ready to pour the driveway and walkways.

Day 23

2009-07-24T10:10:00.002-06:00

Kyle was working today, so the girl and I hung out at home in the morning and then headed out for the afternoon. We went to the office and then to do the banking. After the bank we took back some library books and then went by the new house. They were busy working, so we didn't stop to take a look. Then we went to my parents house, my grandma was home by herself because everyone else went to Calgary for some shopping. Then Sierra wanted to take a picture over to my other grandma, so we went there for a bit. Then we headed home and Kyle came home from work a bit early. We went to check out the house again, and saw that they had done quite a bit. They started the stairs in the garage and put a lot more dirt around to raise the ground. They also brought in our new piano. So the piano is our first piece of furniture to be in the house now.

My new visiting teachers came by after supper. They were nice. It's too bad that it will be the only time they'll get to come by since we're moving next month and I got taken off the visiting teaching list. I'm getting excited to move and it's nice to see the progress that's coming along on the house.

Day 22

2009-07-22T21:01:00.002-06:00

Today Kyle was working, so the girls and I went over to my mom's house. Sierra stayed with my grandma and mom, Peyton and I went to Fabric Addict, Scrapbooker's Paradise and Costco. We had a Costco Pizza for lunch and then after lunch I started sewing a nursing bib as a baby gift. I finished part of it and then we went over to the quilt store. When we got back I finished the nursing bib and then made one for myself as well. I think they turned out pretty cute. Here's the one that I made for myself.

Days 20 and 21

2009-07-21T20:23:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Kyle had the day off and so we hung out at home for most of the day. We've been trying to clean up the house and slowly pack stuff up for our move to the new house. Mom and dad dropped by before they left for their 6 week long vacation out east. For Family Home Evening, Kyle taught Sierra about the scriptures and she made some cute caterpillars as a craft. (Nothing to do with scriptures, but I happened to finish off a carton of eggs and thought it was a good idea.) Here are her caterpillars, one grown up and 2 babies.

This morning we went over to Sierra's friend Maddy's house for a playdate. Sierra and Maddy played while Tisha and I chatted. They had a fun time. It's so nice that Sierra will play well with kids who are a different age than her. She plays great with Maddy who is about 2 years younger. After our playdate we went to Dollarama to buy some craft supplies for the afternoon. We had perogies for lunch and then Sierra painted a flower pot. She is going to use it for her bean she planted at school. This bean is currently in a small styrofoam cup and it is outgrowing it quickly. She got tired of painting about half way through, so I ended up finishing it for her.

Days 16, 17, 18 and 19

2009-07-19T15:44:00.008-06:00

On Thursday we didn't do too much. We went over to my mom's house and hung out there.

On Friday we went to see the new Harry Potter movie with my sisters. We went to the 11:30am show and it was nice because it wasn't too busy. The movie was really good. I can't wait for the next one to come out next year, lol.

On Saturday we went out to Sterling for the candy parade. We met up with Norma and her kids and grandkids and went to the parade. The kids got a ton of candy and unlike some candy parades, the candy was good. There were cows, mini kit kat bars and these really cute flower lollipops.

After the parade we had lunch at the park and then went to the new pool. It was so hot outside that I had to walk around in the wadding area to cool down. Sierra had a bit of an accident and went out too far into the water and got scared. She managed to grab ahold of the wall and Norma's daughter went out to get her. She was pretty upset after that and so we went home.

Later that night, we headed over to the Buddhist Temple to get dressed and ready for Bon Odori. We got dressed and headed over to Galt Gardens. We danced about 14 dances. It was so hot dancing in the kimono. About half way through the dances there was an intermission and there was some singing and taiko drumming. Most of the people doing taiko were from the old group that Lisa and I used to be in before Sierra was born. They've gotten a lot better. We were at the galt gardens until about 9 ish and then went out for supper. We were out late and the girls were both really tired when we got home.

This morning in Primary was Sierra's first time giving a talk. She did so well and spoke nice and loud and clearly. I was so proud of her. Her talk was about how Family Home Evening strengthens my family.
Here are the girls before church this morning.

Day 15 - Tie Dye

2009-07-17T22:32:00.004-06:00

On Wednesday we went over to Antonia's house to do tie dying. It was a lot of fun and everyone's stuff turned out great. Everything was so different a unique. It was so nice outside, it was actually getting a little too hot.

Here' a few pics I managed to take.

Please excuse Sierra's lack of clothes, but I didn't want her to get dye all over her new dress.

Day 14

2009-07-15T17:21:00.003-06:00

Kyle had the day off and we all went over to my parents house and hung out. We picked up egg mcmuffins for breakfast and ended up having McDonalds for lunch too. (our poor stomachs, lol) The day went by pretty fast and it was so gloomy outside that we didn't want to leave the house. We ended up going to New Dynasty for supper. It was a pretty uneventful day.