Christmas Parties!

This past Saturday we had two fun parties to attend. First we went to Shaker's (a family fun center) for Bryce's family work party. The kids had fun with the arcade games, bouncy castle and play place. I had to leave a bit early to set up for The Little Drummer Boy play that the Primary was putting on, but Santa came later and Sam and Elosie both got a present. Then the kids and Bryce joined me for a turkey feast at the Ward Christmas Party. We had a great day with two visits from Santa and a whole lot of treats.

Christmas Market

We were blessed to have our friend Sarah stay with us while she was falling in love with Calgary. She has now moved out and we miss her Eloise says "Sarah always says funny things, why doesn't Sarah sleep here anymore?". We didn't snag a picture of Sarah but here are a few she took at a Christmas Market we went to.

First Snow

Here is a post for the Salmon sisters who are Gilmore Girl junkies. My kids both were mesmerized by the first snow this year and maybe something magical will happen today.

Halloween Day

Preschool was at our house Halloween day it was fun to see all the cuties in their costumes. This is the doughnut on a string game we did for snack.
All ready to go out trick or treating. Both kids loved this Sam was a real charmer at the doors and learned to say 'thank you' after getting his treats and then waving a very long good bye to everyone. He even invited himself into all homes with dogs. Eloise kept her bucket empty by giving Bryce her candy after each house so she didn't have to carry her 'burden'.
After we dumped to loot the kids took turn swimming in the treats. It was a great night!

Birthday Parties

Eloise is now 3 and we celebratred like crazy all week long.

Grandma, Leanne, Ethan and Tony came for a day trip a few days before Eloise's birthday and brought gifts. They hide the gifts for a treasure hut which was tons of fun.

Here is the spooky which cake that Elosie requested. The 'chocolaty eyes' were a big hit and were the first to be eaten.
We had a family dinner/party for Eloise. This is us all ready for the big event. Sam was a scary dragon and I was mom with cool orange and black tights (which were a great find at the dollar store and did not turn my legs orange).
This is a pose we get often when trying to get a picture of Eloise. She had just woken up from a nap and was not a happy fairy. Good thing she perked up shortly after.
I can't believe that our little girl is 3 already she is such a beautiful, kind and social girl who makes our home a wonderful place. As a side note Eloise and Sam are both off their soothers. It was a hard road but we all made it through better with a soother free house!

Jack O' Lantern

Here is our pumpkin creation this year. Don't mind the lack of pants in the picture, pants are optional at the Palmer house after 6:00.

October Adventures

Here are some of the adventures we had this October:

Cozy cousins having some apples while snuggling in bed.

We enjoyed a morning at the Corn Maze with Cassie, Solomon and her niece and nephew. The kids had fun again this year. Eloise loved the park and found some boys to play pirates with and Sam couldn't get enough of the Duck Races.
We went to Edmonton for a weekend visit and as usual we had a blast with Grandma and cousins. Eloise loved her cousin time and we barely saw her the whole weekend.
Building a fort, watching a movie and having a snack is Eloise's idea of the perfect party. Here the kids are enjoying some cupcakes in their fort of the week.

Triathlon

So this year I took on the challenge of doing the Subaru Banff Triathlon. Nicole even convinced me to do the Olympic distance with her, and I convinced Jodie and Brett to join in the fun. So all spring I worked hard each morning until the big day came. I was super nervous and did not know what to expect. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again.

First was a 1.5km swimin Two Jack Lake. The water was freezing and I was a super chicken for the first 2/3 of the race and kept my head up doing backstroke.

Me in my styling wetsuit. One leg done!
The 38 km bike ride was so beautiful. We did the Lake Minnewanka loop twice and then a wonderful downhill ride to Banff.
I finally made it to the finish line after a 10km run.

Ballerina

Eloise started Ballet class this fall and I don't want to sound bias but she is so cute and very good at listening to her teacher. We take her every week with her pink leotard and bun and while she dances away Sam tries his hardest to get in on all the action.

Cousin Time

Our summer was filled with such quality cousin time. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family so close. Here is a sampling of our cousin adventures:

Another great dance party at grandma's including great dress-up dresses.

Camping in Drumheller with the Curliss's. We had a great time dinosaur exploring, drinking hot chocolate every morning and sharing a bed with Jodie. Thanks to Travis for taking care of the Salmon ladies aka taking down the tents and other man tasks.

Bryce and I went to Portland so he could attend a conference and I could lounge around by the pool. Grandma Palmer came to stay and watch the kids. Terry and Nicole stayed overnight before we left and this is all the kiddies trying to watch Dora on Grandma's lap while enjoying buns.
We had a blast at Calaway Park while Terry and Nicole were here and Eloise was a ride junkie. Grandma was kind enough to stay home with the younger boys so Eloise and I could really live it up. We even went to the Magic show which was loved by all and Eloise played Magic show for weeks after.
Doug and Ben came to town to go to a Star Trek convention and brought the girls along. We had a delicious' tea party' with cookies and milk. Yum.

Cowboys and Girls

This year for the Stampede Leanne brought her kids to Calgary to enjoy the celebration. It was a perfect not too hot day. We took the train to the grounds which was almost as exciting as the fair rides. Bryce gets a half day off from work for Stampeding so he met up with us at the train station. The kids were all thrilled by all the action and even more thrilled with the delicious treats. Tony consumed his weight in Slurpee and everyone enjoyed the mini donuts and hot dogs. Yum.

We Love Canada

We were lucky enough to spend Canada Day in two different cities this year. We spent the first half in Calgary with the Curliss's and we all went to Medicine Hat for the legendary fireworks.

Cousins getting ready for the big events.

Eloise tried to be brave but it was a very big slide. Fortunately the lady at the top was sweet and helped her down.

The petting zoo was fun. Sam chased this pig around the entire time we were there.

Grandma set up a great party for us with everything we needed to watch the fireworks.

A good ending to a lovely day.

Best Dad Ever

I hope this is better late than never. I am on the catch up this month so here we go...

Bryce we loved celebrating you on Father's Day this year. You are a wonderful dad and husband and friend, I feel so blessed.

Broken Again!

So don't judge us but Eloise broke her arm again this spring. It happened at my mom's house while the family was all gathered for Brett's homecoming dinner. As a side note the last time she broke her arm was also at my mom's house while everyone was gathered in the summer....what a coincidense! Anyway she was playing outside and come in for some chips, but while going down the patio stairs she lost her balance and fell down the three stairs. We were already planning to leave that evening and since the hospital in Medicine Hat didn't properly cast her last time we knew to take her home and to the children's hospital in Calgary. After a long night Bryce brought her home at 3:00 am with no cast. The doctor surveyed her arm and had her elbow x-rayed. After the stretching the x-ray caused she seemed to be doing better and so she was sent home saying she had pulled her elbow.

By Wednesday I was still quite concerned. Eloise was asking for 'medicine' every 6 hours and waking up crying many times during the night. She was grumpy during the days and could not cope with anything (much like she acted last time she had an unknown broken arm). So I took her in to the children's hospital again. After a few hours Bryce came to relieve me due to a primary meeting I had scheduled. They re x-rayed her arm and found a break in her forearm(which was not x-rayed on the first visit). By 4:00 pm she was home with a lovely pink cast and stories of the the delicious Popsicle and muffin she had.

After 3 weeks of a beautiful pink cast Eloise became more and more uncomfortable with the it. One morning she was trying particularly hard to itch under it and she pushed it right off. So back to the children's hospital we go. Luckily she was scheduled to have it off within the next week and the doctor was sure her arm had healed enough. Unluckily she had an allergic reaction to the cast glue and her whole arm was a big rash. Thankfully it did clear up after a few day and now we are back to normal. Hopefully this will be our last break for a long while!

The Week After

We stayed the week after Brett coming home with Leanne and Travis who were lovely hosts in their beautiful new home. Here are a few snippets of a fun filled week.

The boys throwing everything they could find off the patio.

PJ party! Sam and Tony are best buds and worst enemies but they share a deep love of snacks!

Gazillion bubbles at Grandma's!

We bought all the kiddies matching outfits for church and tried to take a cute picture. As you can see the best shot we got did not include all happy faces.

This is how we found Sam after Sunday dinner. What could be more fun snow, dirt, a shovel and a face covered in Doritos.