The lasts of the Canada Pics

Well here is another very long post but this is the last of the Canada pictures.

Some of which are my favorites of the summer.

I have the best mom ever, not too many grandma's would dig out the 

ice skates in July to head to the Lethbridge civic center for an evening of ice skating.

I think it is in Nayvee's blood to love it, she pretends that she is skating all the time, dancing around

the house. I gave her a crash course with only a few wipe outs on her bottom. 

Banks had a great time buzzing around in the stroller.

I hadn't been to Waterton in quite a while so it was fun to see all the impovements to the

town site. We loaded the van up and my mom, Lisa  and I took all the kids for the day. We 

met the Petersons for some watermelon on the beach.

The kids had a blast playing in the splash park, riding the bikes, and of course having

some ice cream from The Big Scoop. Waterton is one of my favorite places

and a must see if you are visiting Alberta.

These are some of my favorite pics.

We had so much fun digging out all the cowboy hats, shirts and boots

to head out for a horse ride.

The horse's name was David and he was so patient

with the 50 rounds he made of the pen.

These were a few random pics left over.

I love the one of the boat and the old farm truck. some people might say we need to get

our priorities straight but i think they are right in line.

I guess you could say, "you know you're a red neck when" :)

We also were able to go to Hallie's Baptism the night before we left

which Nayvee told every stranger about that we met on our trip home

to San Francisco.

Banks is one of the sweetest little boys ever.

his blonde hair and blue eyes melt my heart daily.

He loves animals especially dogs (from a distance) and kittens.

He is super brave and climbs on everything.

He has to sit on the cupboard so he can see, even throw it stresses his 

Grandma Joan out. Not to mention he loves to though everything off as a game.

His little personality just keeps growing more everyday.

He loves to patty cake, and make gun noises while shooting his pretend finger guns.

His kisses are amazing and he freely gives them out if you ask nicely.

Nayvee Bean. She is my best friend. She is the most beautiful

little thing and she keeps getting cuter, YIKES!

I cried watching the back to school commercials this year knowing that this

is our last year to have her at home. 

She is such a smartie pants, and loves to learn.

She has really gotten into the whole friends thing, and talks about

them all constantly. She is a girlie girl and has started wearing her dangly earrings and

checking her hair and outfit before we go places.

Some of her favorite things are Stillwell park, donuts, movies, cocoa, pink, the beach, and

the Golden Gate Bridge which she thinks belongs to her alone.

(which most of the kids here do which can cause the occasional argument:)

The Family Holiday

So I am extremely far behind in blogging but i am determined to catch up! 

So yes these pics are from July and

 yes this is a huge post all about our time spent in Kalispell Montana.

This was our 19th annual week at the lake. If you have ever been so lucky to 

come on holiday with the ZoBells it never lacks for excitement. Things haven't changed

to much over the years except that we started with our family of 8 which has grown

to 32 along with some added stragglers.

This is everyone who was able to make on Holiday this year.

This was the first year that Janelle and Scott couldn't make it but a new baby

always complicates things a little.

Summer #2

There is something about summer that is so fun and relaxing.

It was awesome to get to go and watch Nayvee in swimming lessons

and enjoy a few moments in the sun...and the rain.

It helped that the new pool feels kind of like you're on vacation.

My mom is so good to the kids and wouldn't dream of making them get 

in a cold pool. So she strings a garden hose into the house to a laundry sink,

and fills the pool with warm water...and the kids love it!

Random shots from the summer 

haircuts, track meet, Ridge Park, cleaning the eavestrough.

My mom got the most darling mini table for the kids

from Costco and they of course had to 

have pancakes on it everyday.

We had so much fun camping! John thinks it's funny,

but my family is all about trailers and so am I! Who doesn't love to be able 

to give your kids a bath before they go to bed or warm up a bottle

in the microwave, all while enjoying the great outdoors!

Call me high maintenance, I don't care!

July 1st in Raymond Alberta Canada is the one of my 3 favorite times

of the year, along with Christmas and our family holiday at the lake.

It is so fun to walk around and see old friends 

and experience the bustle of the town.

It brings everyone's families together, which makes the whole town

a very happy place.

Summer #1

Scott and Janelle's little Lilly is so cute. She's lucky enough to have 4 sets of grandparents and a crazy amount of aunts, uncles and cousins. Needless to say not everyone could stand in her blessing circle.

We were just talking to Grandma and Sophie on the phone a few days ago while they were making gingerbread boys. Nayvee very honestly asked, "can you save one for me Grandma until I get there?"

This is my oldest nephew Justin who is now serving in Tampa Florida Mission . It was super exciting to watch him prepare to go, and now we wait every monday for the coveted emails. He is such a great example for all the kids. We love you Justy!

This was seriously the most amazing day ever. I had to take a picture of the clock because we were not only go to be on time for church but 10 minutes early. It rained almost everyday in June except for this one, which was an answer to a prayer for the outside family dinner afterwards.

We're Back

We are back in San Fran and though it was kind of nice to unplug for awhile

I am slowly going to update my blog on the adventures from the summer.

This page is from before we left. You may have heard of the storybook Flat Stanley. My niece Laynee sent her flat self to us so that we could document her visit to the City and send her back. Nayvee loved it!

This is the beginning of our trip to Canada. The kids loved being able to run around to their hearts content. Nayvee kept the trail hot to her cousin Sophie's house. She thought she was so grown up when would announce that she just needed to run over to Aunt Lisa's to make sure that things hadn't changed in the last 10 minutes. We are glad that they were so patient with her frequent visits.

This is my one of my favorite pictures from the whole summer. Sam and Nayvee or should I say "Wavy". That's Sam's name for her, played together awesome. Banks wanted Abby to love him and I think she did from a distance.

Birthday's are an important event when Grandma Joan is around and Nayvee is always so bummed when she misses one of the cousins birthday parties. Grandma Joan made it up to her by telling her she could have a late birthday party on the farm. She was in heaven. Every Sunday in primary she would announce that they had missed her birthday (since we weren't visiting in May) so on the last sunday we were in Welling, they had her come up so they could sing. She is the funniest kid.

I'm off to Canada!

So here is some of the fun stuff we have been doing over the past few weeks.

I thought Banks threw my little camera in the garbage but i thankfully found it last night.

I got to go and have a mini high school reunion with some of my best pals down in Orange county. We missed the ones who couldn't make it on account of Babies (you know who you are!)

I'm pretty sure that Nayvee wishes that she was in Mandy's family.

Nayvee has been taking Ballet Classes over the last 8 weeks at our church

It was definitely the high light of her life!

Did I mention I had a huge Cavity/Hole in my tooth!

This last weekend we headed to UOP housing for some crawfish.

My kids loved it! so thankful they aren't picky eaters.

Have a great summer everyone here in San Francisco,

and good luck to all those who are leaving us.