Camping trip and BEAUTIFUL Southern Alberta!!!

Last Thursday, we packed all of our camping gears and headed down to southern Alberta. We left around 6pm and got to Taber before midnight. We pitched our tents at the farm for the night.

Pitching tents at the farm. Baby waiting patiently.

He went to bed as soon as the bed was made :).

On Friday morning, uncle David and his wife invited us for breakfast at Mac Donald's before continuing on to Beaver Mines. We had a nice visit. Uncle D was really happy to meet my brother. They got to speak a little bit of Tahitian. David served his mission in Tahiti some 40 years ago.

From Taber we went to Orton to visit Marc's grandma and aunties. It was their first time meeting our son, and of course my brother. Baby got a few presents from the family. Then we went to Cardston to visit Matt (Marc's older brother), Abigail and their gorgeous daughters. It was also their first time meeting baby and uncle Yann. We had a really nice visit with everyone. From Cardston, we went to Pincher Creek to buy one more sleeping bag, and continued on to Beaver Mines (Castle river bridge to be exact). It was pouring really hard in beaver Mines, so we went back to Pincher Creek and stayed in a motel for the night.

Great grandma with her grandson and great grandson.

 One of the presents baby got from his cousin.

So stinkin cute! I can't wait to see the sock monkey one aunty Abi is making him.

The next morning (Saturday), we packed up again, and were on our way to our camp site at Beaver Mines. It was beautiful out. The weather was just perfect for camping. Once our tents pitched, we went to Castle falls, and Beaver mines lakes. The view is just amazing. Marc and I love going there. It's one of our summer tradition. We decided to "shower" in the river, lol. It was absolutely cold but at least we were clean. Sunday, we had a relaxing day. We decided to go to Lynx Creek. We really liked Lynx Creek. We found some really tasty wild strawberries there. We walked around, and just enjoyed together's company. Sunday night, it started raining, so we were forced to go to bed earlier than expected. Baby is such a GREAT LITTLE CAMPER. He loved being out all day long. Slept for hours at the time and woke up only once. He is such a great traveller too. We were so proud and happy. We got him a really cheap stroller, so it would take less space in our tiny car. Best $10 we ever spent. We took him for walks, and showed him the river, and the lakes. We want him to enjoy being out OUT.

Our camp site.

 On the beach by the river.

 Daddy and his favorite son.

 So cute :)

 He loves his new stroller.

We used it as baby's own camping chair.

 Castle falls!

 The mountains!

 At Beaver Mines Lakes. Sleepy head :)

By Lynx Creek...

...

 ... .

 The tasty wild strawberries.

Monday morning, we packed all our camping gears back in the car, and headed down to Glenwood to visit Marc's grandpa. It was so nice to see him again. He was just in awe when he saw baby, and kept telling us that we had a beautiful baby. Well, all the family members that met him kept saying that. We loved our visit with grandpa. I love this man a lot. Thanks to him, I have learned to hear all the words in a conversation in English and learned to speak it better than I ever did at school. From Glenwood, we went back to Cardston. I stopped at the book store, and grabbed a couple things for baby. We enjoyed some good Chinese food, and went to Matt and Abi's house. We took the girls to the play ground and waited for Matt to come home from work. Then, back in the car again. This time we went to Waterton.

With his cousin.

 Great grandpa with his grandson and great grandson.

Grandpa is 95 years old.

 At the play ground :).

He liked it! 

 With his cousin Alyssa.

 With his cousins Alana, Alora and Alyssa.

Missing in the picture is Aaliyah.

Waterton!!! What a BEAUTIFUL place!!! We just fell in love with the place. My brother loved it too. He said that it was the most beautiful place he has ever been to here in Canada. The little village itself was a beauty. We just LOVED it!!! Matt took us out for supper in the village. BEAUTIFUL is all I can say. We went to Cameron falls, and the Lake Cameron. We got there at night, so we didn't really get to see other things. Marc and Yann are planning to go back for a "brothers" camping trip while baby and I will stay home.

My little family.

 Us and our Yanns :).

 Cameron Falls!

 Lake Cameron!

Tuesday morning, we left Cardston and went back to Taber to see uncle David. We all had lunch at DQ. We visited with uncle D and Sam a little then were on our way home. Once again, baby was just awesome travelling. We got back home around 8pm. It felt good to be away but was so nice to sleep in our own beds.
To avoid puking all over myself in the car, I just ate veggies and sour patch kids. Liked it!

In the car on our way home. I just LOVE him so much <3

The still small voice!

A couple months after Yann was born,  I went back on my weekly shots. After 3 weeks of injections, I felt and heard that still small voice telling me that I should stop my injections, that I didn't need to do them any more, that I had something that I needed to do. It felt really strange but somehow I went with it. I told Marc about it, and awkwardly he didn't make any objections. Marc is usually really strict when it comes to my health. Anyway! I kept wondering what I was supposed to do. Well, a few weeks after that, I knew what we needed to do, and we did it.

Today, I am 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant with our second child. Crazy, eh? Some may think that it is too early BUT that doesn't matter to us. My older brother and I are exactly 1 year and 1 month  apart (to the day). Last week, I went to the pharmacy with my brother and bought a pregnancy test. The result was positive but I went this week for a blood test to confirm it 100%. Our family Doctor called me yesterday and  told me the good news. He was excited and really happy for us. He has known us for years now, and knew about our situation.

We are both HAPPY about it and a little scared. Our little baby is going to be a big brother in February. Every day, as I go through morning sicknesses, I feel grateful that I get to experience another pregnancy. I am enjoying my son, and the moments we have together. I don't know if he senses that there's something in mommy's tummy but he has been extremely cuddly lately. Even more than usual. I love my son and know that he would be a good brother (well, I hope).

We are, of course, hoping to have a little girl :).

I have made the decision of being a stay at home mother before I found out that I was pregnant. No regrets there! Looking forward to see our little baby on the ultrasound. I shouldn't have to go to Edmonton this time around like I did when I was pregnant with Yann since I got pregnant when I was off the medecine. Anyway! We are just grateful for our blessings. Life is good!

The Quest, the end!

Nancy told me that she was going to look after my son while I go back to work. I was happy at the idea that I might have someone that I actually know look after my boy. However, I probably am NOT going to need a babysitter any more. I am going to be a stay at home mother for a few years, and probably go back to work after my children go to school. we'll see what the future has in store for us.

Parade, friends and family!

We met some friends to watch the parade today. It was baby's first parade. The noise didn't bother him at all. He kept jumping on my lap every time the horses would walk by us. This year, there was more friends to watch the parade with. Last time I had that much friends with me at the parade, I was on the float waving at people and throwing some candies, lol. I forgot my camera at home, so there will be no pictures.

As soon as the parade was over, we went to the store and hurried back home to wait for grandma, grandpa and aunty Nan. It was my first time meeting Marc's aunt (my mother in law's sister) who came down from Ontario (where Marc's mom is from) for a couple weeks. She, of course, held Yann, and brought him a couple presents and some for mommy too :). We had a nice time with her and hope to go visit her in Ontario soon. We all had supper at our house before they left. Once again, my mother in law brought the whole meal. No, she doesn't hate my cooking, it's just the way she is. And I really don't mind it, lol! I forgot to take pictures of the family but was able to get a photo of aunty Nan and grandma tonight.  I also called my older brother today to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To end an AWESOME day, I received a phone call from home. There's another baby arriving in our family in January. 4 years in the making for this little miracle.

Aunty Nan and grandma!

 Yann woke up for a couple minutes and fussed a little

because he wanted a snuggle from mommy

before going back to bed.

Fun in the yard!

It's so hot inside the house that we spent a lot of time out today. I decided to fill baby's "bathtub" with water, then covered it with a cloth and let the sun warm it up.

6 months old!

Yann is 6 months old today. What a crazy awesome 6 months we had with him! He does so much things now like seating up, holding his own bottle or spoon to feed himself, making lots of different sounds, loves the water now, sleeps longer and so on... We love him and still get amazed at the new simple things he does.

He had his 6 months appointment yesterday with our family doctor. My brother and I took him there, then Marc came and joined us. I LOVE that Marc always comes to whatever appointments baby has with the doctor or the nurses. He has never missed one since baby was born. Our Doctor was so happy to see our little man. He was extremely happy about how Yann is growing, and said that he is a very healthy baby. While he was sick baby lost some weight but he is still doing good. He weighs 16Lbs and 12oz and measures 27 inches. We are so happy!!!

In 6 months even Marc and I have changed, a lot. Some changes or good some not so much, lol.

I can't wait to see what's to come in the next few months. I am grateful to be a mother, and to have my son.

We spend a lot of time out. It is too hot out!

 Humm, can I borrow your camera, mommy?

 I just love his eyes. They remind me of black pearls.

 Playing with mommy's camera :)

 Who doesn't love squeaky toys :)!

Brownies!

Last night, Marc taught my brother how to make brownies from scratch. My brother is a pretty good cook, and can bake you cakes from scratch without using any recipes but he has never done brownies before. As soon as the brownies were out of the oven, he grabbed a knife and got himself a piece. He liked it!
The photos are bad but here he is learning how to make brownies :))).

First camping of the year!

Marc came home early on Friday. We packed the last things we needed in the truck then off we went camping. We were going to go to Arm Lake but they were full when we called to make reservations, so we went to a friend's land and just camp there. We got a little lost but then once we got there, we pitched our tents then started our fire.

It was so quiet there except for the occasional loud cow that was mooing all night. Baby got so excited going into the tent. He likes to be outside sitting on the grass or standing on it, so I knew he wouldn't mind seeing lots of trees around him and greeneries. He actually slept really good, and woke up only once. I should just buy him a tent to replace his crib, lol. Out of all of us, he is the one that had the best sleep. We saw frogs, fire flies, and deer. It was a lot of fun! We sat around the fire, and once again reminisced about the good times, and my brother told me stories about a few events I have missed while living here.

It got cold at night (not as cold as in the mountains) but we were prepared. I dressed baby in warm clothes, and brought a couple of heavy blankets for him. I even brought his snow suit just in case the temperature drops down (which we didn't need to use).

Baby woke up at 6am, so daddy decided to go out and start our fire to cook breakfast. I got baby's cereal ready, and we waited for uncle to get up. This camping trip is a practice one before we hit the mountains in July. I am so glad that baby wasn't fussy, and was able to just enjoy the tent, and all he saw. I think that the fact that he naps pretty much anywhere in the house had made him used to sleep wherever he is . We both enjoyed cuddling with our little boy. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! It was nice to enjoy a good time with the people I love.

We got to do some motorbiking too. We brought our little mini trail bike. We are probably going camping next week end again :).

My sweet little boy!

After he woke up...

... back to bed until 6am.

Tired daddy.

Mommy, can I eat the grass?

That is so fun :)

Visiting Paradise Hill!

We went to Paradise Hill last night to show my brother where we used to live. I don't miss the little village but I do like to see all the little hills on our way there. We got to visit some old friends too, and introduced our baby to them.

Before we head to P-Hill, we went to clean the Church, so it is out of the way and we can go camping this week end. When we finished cleaning the building, we decided to play basket ball, well just shoot some hoops. At first, I thought I was going to win but then my brother beat me.

Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre.

I took my brother to the Barr Colony "museum" yesterday. I think his favorite exhibition was the "Fuchs Wildlife exhibit". He actually let me take pictures of him in front of the animals :). I have to say my favorite part was the "Imhoff Gallery and paintings. Not so much his religious paintings but the portraits and landscapes.

The Fuchs Wildlife exhibit!

I had to take a picture of the sea shells.

Staring at the fake aquarium.

 Imhoff Gallery.

 A little history plaque!