Counting the Blessings

This move to Lethbridge from Lloydminster has been a HUGE blessing for our family. It has totally re-confirmed how aware my Heavenly Father is of our family's needs. I miss our friends in Lloyd lots and lots but that has been the only drawback to our move (but it was a big one!)

Here are some of the things we love about living in Lethbridge:

1. Matt LOVES his work. He works for an employee-owned engineering company that offers profit sharing and twice yearly raises. He works with experienced professionals and gets to handle challenging and enjoyable projects (he especially likes the design aspect). He works 40 hours a week. We see him for lunch every weekday. Essentially this is his dream job and he doesn't see himself leaving this company until retirement.

2. Karen, Matt and Eva live here! It's been so fun to live in the same city as Matty's sister and her family. They generously let us live in their house for almost a whole month until we could move into our house! And even now that we're in our house we see them at least every other day.

3. Nana lives here! And Jonas and I can go visit her every week.

4. In 5 years my parents will live within an hour fifteen minutes from our house. And they go to their land lots of weekends so we can meet them at the farm.

5. Matt's parents might retire to Magrath or this area and then Matt and I's kids would get lots and lots of grandparent time. How perfect would that be?!

6.Our location is amazing. Medical/Dental/Vision clinics and a pharmacy just a couple blocks walk away. Church is a 2 minute drive away. All the shopping on Mayor Magrath is also a couple minutes drive away. And we're just a bike ride away from Karen & Matt's house, Henderson Park, Nana's house and Matt's work.

7. Our home feels like home! Much more homier than our last house. And we were even able to lower our mortgage a bit. One of my favorite things is our large backyard. It has a playground, sand box, deck, gardening boxes, a fire pit, and delicious spot under a tree to set up a hammock for reading. Also ten mature trees on our property and if lay on the window seat or couch to read all I see out our window is the tops of trees. I love that! And with updates we could definitely see this as our forever house.

8. There's lots more to do in Lethbridge. It's so easy to plan fun little field trips with Jonas outside the house. He particularly loves to watch the train go around the library ceiling for an hour at a time!

9. The weather really is nice here. I admit I have some mixed feelings about it not being as cold as I'm used to. On the one hand it's nice that in the 12 degree weather yesterday I could run out to the Jeep in bare feet and with wet hair to get something I needed. On the other hand I feel like I should be able to take my son tobogganing by now.

Most of all it's really nice to finally be settled somewhere Matt and I could always see ourselves living.

Young Lovebirds

Matt's been uploading our old photos onto our new Mac and discovered these old gems of us during our engagement. I must be getting older because I look at these pictures and think "Awww, they look so cute."

Also, I can tell these are old because my arms, waist, and jawline aren't quite so cut anymore.

Eeee, maybe I need to post these by the treadmill and fridge for motivation.

Bathroom Tour

I'm so grateful that a) the previous owners had very similar tastes

and b) that they went through the trouble of completely renovating this bathroom top to bottom!

It comes complete with a laundry shoot (hidden in the vanity) and heated ceramic tiles!

Matt and I haven't actually missed our ensuite bathroom at all. It's quite nice having only one upstairs bathroom to clean. But we'll see if those feelings change in the future with a house full of teenagers.

These Kids...

are probably the closest thing each has to having a sibling. This is Jonas' cousin Eva who also lives in Lethbridge. They've lived in the same house for two weeks straight. They see each other at least 4 times a week. 

Eva bosses and scolds like a classic older sister. Jonas copies and teases Eva like a classic younger brother. They chase and scream and act silly together. 

They learn to share and comfort the other's grievances.

Sounds like really good sibling training for two only children!

Tree Wrecker

Yup, this guy.

I thought I had a brilliant strategy for our Christmas tree. 

Decorate the top half in the beautiful glass ornaments I snagged at 90% off last year and decorate the bottom half in kid-friendly ornaments from my childhood. 

Problem 1: Our tree looked like it had bipolar disorder.

Problem 2: Jonas was breaking my sentimentally valuable ornaments.

Problem 3: Jonas was climbing onto our couch to pull glass ornaments off the tree.

Problem 4: When glass ornaments break they shatter. 

The room has to be cleared for 10 minutes to collect all the fine pieces.

The Solution: 30 ft wired ribbon, 60 pinecones, and a rustic star courtesy of Martha Stewart

Do your worst Jonas.

Two Movembers ago...

Matt grew little beaut. I can't stop thinking about it today for some reason.

Probably because it was so handsome.

My Very Own Nook

Here's the first house picture. I spend a lot of time curled up like a cat in this corner. It gets the best sunlight in the house so it's always warm and bright. Perfect for napping, reading, thinking, and eating 5 mandarin oranges at a time with Jonas. 

I'm excited to redo the cushions and add some cozy pillows and a throw. Matt wants to build a bird house in front of the window so we can all birdwatch.

Top of Utah Half Marathon

At the end of August, Matt, his parents, and I road-tripped down to Logan to do a half-marathon. Matt filled the crucial role of support team. Mom and Dad Stoddard also filled the role of support team as they generously took time off from work to babysit Jonas. Whenever I know Jonas is being well-cared for I can really just enjoy myself without worrying or obsessively missing him- that is until I reach the three day mark! So I really enjoyed this trip! You would have a hard time finding two more open-hearted, kind, and non-judgemental people than Mom and Dad Harker and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with them. I was actually planning to go on this trip whether Matt could come or not! 

Matt and I got to do a temple session in Logan on our 6th wedding anniversary.

We ate amazing food (I had the best clam chowder ever) and stayed at an excellent bed-and-breakfast called the Providence Inn that night. 

Next morning we were up at 5 and I felt ill from nerves. I couldn't eat a single bite of oatmeal. I force-fed myself a banana as we walked to the buses.

It was so peaceful and eerily beautiful as the bus crept up the canyon to the start line. The only light came from the billions of stars overhead.

 Mom and I stuck together through the whole race, running in 5-7 minute intervals before taking a 1 minute walk break. The view was beautiful as the sunlight gradually filled the canyon. The first 6 miles were a gradual descent and we kept our pace gentle and steady (good thing, as it turns out I was pregnant at the time!) At mile 11 my legs had that awful leaden feel from lactic acid build up. Then when we reached mile 12.5 I caught a second wind and the last part of the race was enjoyable.

Halloween Spirit

Jonas was very aggrieved at being forced into his Mickey costume.

Aunt Karen gave Jonas a sucker to console him and that was his first hint:
 that a costume is the golden ticket to candy handouts.

After trick-or-treating Nana's door he totally got it.
Soon he was scurrying up to doors and scampering into houses as quick as any mouse. 

Actually the trick-or-treating got quite aggressive with Jonas and Eva pushing their faces against a screen door and screaming.
Jonas even dived head first into a box of chips at one house.

Jonas hadn't had candy hardly at all before but I was pretty liberal for this one night.
He puked the next morning.

He thought it was totally worth it.