Spring Birthdays and Easter Fun!

Well Spring is here and we enjoyed celebrating five birthdays in our family in the last three weeks.

 

 

 

 

Colby Cameron turned one March 17, and he thoroughly loved his cake!

He is is such an easy going, loveable little guy!!

He looks so much like his dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now that he is one, he has has decided to take driving lessons from his dad!

 

 

 

 

Mckinley turned four and celebrated with family, food and fun...Oh boy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She has her new glasses now...they sure make her look grown up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now she is practising to become a dentist...with Brookie as her assistant!!

Grandma celebrated her birthday March 28 ...and loves her gift of 3 babies this year, Colby, Ivy and Elena! Grandpa loves them, too!

 

 

 

Lindsay and Cam had the double birthdays of April 6th and 7th. They were always so happy to share their cake growing up...Not!!! However, there was plenty to share this year!

 

 

 

 

 

Deanna made a "fruit cake" for Lindsay's birthday...so healthy and delicious...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and in turn, Lindsay gave Cameron a big sweeper broom plastered with mini chocolate bars!!

Oh, what fun that will be he gets it home.

 

 

 

 

Jon and Tiff came up to visit for Easter weekend...it's always so fun to see them. Tiff made homemade buns for Easter Dinner and Nutella cinnamon buns for Mark while we watched Conference! They were delicious!

We enjoyed Easter weekend together watching General Conference and later having an Easter egg hunt.

Ava, Brookie and Mckinley were the fastest 'easter egg finders' ever!!

 

We all pitched in and put together a great Easter dinner of ham, baked potatoes, veggies and delicious salads.

It was fun eating our dinner on Easter egg plates!

Brynnlee and Joshie had fun eating candies together, and catching up on what's been happening in their lives.

 

 

And bath tub pictures are always fun until years later when Josh and Ivy will say... "Grandma, what were you thinking?"

But they are always so beautiful in the bath tub!!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, sharing the love and joy of our Saviour!

We are so grateful for our family, they are our greatest joy!!

 

 

 

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Grandkids

Ava having a fun swim with grandpa at Banff Gate swimming pool.

We were able to spend several days with Jon and Tiff at Banff Gate Resort in March.

Tiff enjoying the hot tub with Elena, she is sure growing up.

 

 

 

Joshie made a new friend with this squirrel, but he was determined it was a gopher!

Ava and grandma spent some time making a beautiful tree for the birds and her giraffe so it could eat some of the leaves.later

Later in the week at grandma's, Mckinley had a fun time making long paper chains, they were so cool! And Brookie made a beautiful ceramic frog, she's a great painter!

In Airdrie at his house, Joshie got his new bike for 'Spring Riding'...wow it is such a great color. He looks so anxious to start riding.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Great Grandma Stringham moved 3 doors down to a new room at Wedman House. She is so happy to be in a new room that allows for a lot more sun light to get into the room. She worked so hard packing all her stuff up, for being 85, she still gets around pretty good.

Cody and Ivy are sure having some fun cousin times together, they are only 3 months apart, it will be fun to see the play together through the years and with little Elena, who is just 5 months younger than Ivy.

Dad is having some fun bread adventures these days. Sometimes, with his bread maker, he makes several loaves a day and gives them away. He is becoming a very popular baker!!

What a great retirement, making bread and working in the Temple!!

 

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Valentine Fun and a California Holiday

We celebrated Valentine's Day in high style this year with a grandkids party! We had pizza and seven layer dip with chips, salad and Skor trifle. It doesn't get better than that, especially enjoying it with your grandkids!

 

 

All eight grandkids were at the party and got 'cool' shirts from Grandma! This was a great shot with everybody except Elena, she was napping!

 

 

'Best Buddies' these two cousins, Brooke and Ava, had fun playing games and just hanging out together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshie loved the play dough. "See grandma...all my baby chicks and puppies!"

He is now three and is spending much more time working on projects and stuff, but he still really loves his trucks!!

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone enjoyed the food, especially Brynnlee. She now wears glasses and they sure help her see better...she loves them!! However, she keeps breaking them, this is her third pair!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon and Tiff were married eleven years ago on Valentine's Day. They always come up to Edmonton from Airdrie on their anniversary weekend. We love to spend time with the kids and give them an 'anniversary date'.

Doug and I went to California at the end of January when the Temple was shut down for cleaning and repairs. We stayed at this great condo in Oceanside, just about an hour north of San Diego. We went and did a session at the San Diego Temple and it is the most beautiful temple we have ever been in.

 

 

We enjoyed a week in Oceanside. We had a beautiful view of the ocean. It was a wonderful, relaxing break for us. This beach was very popular for surfers, it was so fun watching them right from our balcony.

We made a trip to Disneyland one day and had such a fun time. At this time of year there were no lines or crowds...but we really wished our grandkids could have been there with us!

The sunsets were marvellous and the weather was perfect! It was very difficult to leave, but we love our life at home with our family and our opportunity to serve in the Temple...our life in Canada is wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Banff Gate Cabin Christmas 2014

Banff Gate Cabins was the place we celebrated Christmas this year with our family, near Canmore, Alberta.

 

 

We enjoyed several days together having some fun, memorable times.

 

 

 

The kids had fun doing activities with Olaf watching them and wishing he could join them!

 

 

 

 

Uncle Jon was a good sport in trying to play games with all the cousins.

 

 

 

 

 

We made a gingerbread house, and it seems more candy went inside the helpers than on the house...

 

 

Mckinley and Joshie had fun playing in the snow and on the slides.

 

 

 

 

Ava loved the swings and being outdoors and playing with her cousins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mckinley was hanging onto her horse so tight...she thought it might buck her off!

 

 

 

Brookie just wanted Grandma to push her higher and higher on the swings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ava and Brookie had so much fun sledding down the hill together!!

They would scream in delight, and sometimes in fear!

 

 

Mckinley and Deana were trying out the new face game, Colby was afraid it would be his turn next!

Colby is getting so big, it's hard to believe he'll be a year in March!

 

 

Ava had fun listening to her dad on Grandpa's 'tin can telephone'....it really worked!

 

 

And a new little reindeer joined us for a visit, how fun!!

 

 

 

 

 

Grandpa showing off his new hat to Elena...she loves her Grandpa!

 

 

 

 

Mark's gift to Ivy...he's hoping she wears it everywhere!

 

 

 

Yum, Ava, Brooke and Josh decorating Christmas cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

Ivy is loving the fun swimming time with mom and dad!

 

 

 

 

Uncle Mark have a great time in the pool with his 'girls'!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandpa is having fun with his new pet puppy. The kids loved watching him do tricks!

 

 

 

 

 

Our three little new additions to the family this year, Colby, Ivy and Elena. We love them, they add such joy to our family!!

Skiing...it's in the family! Brooke and Ava were on the hill trying to learn how to follow their dad's down the slopes...but first must come the lessons!

What fun, brave girls!!

 

Jon, Cam and Doug had some fun hitting the slopes together for the first time since Cam has been back from Phoenix.

Oh, just being in the mountains together is fun!

I love this picture of dad! He looks so relaxed, enjoying his book.

We had so much fun with our family this Christmas. Just relaxing, playing and hanging out together!

What a blessing our family is to us. The memories we made this Christmas will stay with us for a long time!

 

 

 

 

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