Well, a lot more has happened since I last wrote. Selman will be 4 months old tomorrow. He smiles and even giggles (it took him a while to smile but has been doing quite a bit for the last 6 weeks now). He loves his cuddles and he is starting to be able to lie down on a blanket, kick his legs and be content for about 30 – 45 minutes at a time. He is also discovering his hands and is looking at them quite a bit these days. I wouldn’t exactly say he was a content baby from day one. I feel that from the start he has wanted to be held constantly, but that is lessening a lot more now. His Brother and Sisters love to hold him and play with him and they are a big help for me. Right now he is lying on the floor and cooing away like there is no tomorrow. His little squeaky cooing talk is so adorable.
The BIG news of the last few months is that we have sold our home and we are fixing up the Brick home (Grandma Smith's home) on my parents property. We have talked about this dream of mine since the start of our marriage but it became a reality this last year when Mom and Dad found a good local contractor in November and we decided to make this dream come to life. Someone needs to live in that beautiful 100 year old home and we are lucky enough to be the ones. Chris can work part time from home with his old IT company and he will find a future teaching job in the area. I will keep my 2 day a week job at Rockyview hospital after maternity leave until I find a part time nursing job closer to the farm. Everything seems to be coming together for this Big Change and I know there is a reason for it. We are excited to raise our family on the family farm. We feel so blessed!
Chris started his student teaching in Vulcan on Monday March 19th. Mom took care of Mary that week. I watched all the kids for the first few days that next week (starting March 26) by myself as the kids were off of school then for spring break (we even went sledding that week – I have been feeling so good) and then we came to the farm for the weekend to watch General Conference. I was surprised how well I did by myself with the kids. The next week, Chris was on his spring break so we spent that week painting and getting the house ready to sell. It is hard work getting a house ready to sell.
Chris’ parents came out to our Copperfield home the first weekend in April and stayed for a couple of weeks while Chris was doing his last 2 weeks of student teaching in Vulcan. They were such a big help to me. Gary helped me paint the basement and he cooked some delicious meals (his famous meat loaf) and LouAnn was the official baby holder and snuggled that Selman from dawn until evening and in the night too. I enjoyed our 3:00 in the morning conversations when both Mary and Selman woke up crying. I am so grateful for all the help that my parents and Chris’ parents have given to us! Sunday April 15th was Selman’s baby blessing. He was blessed to be a leader in his family and I think that he will be. I can see by looking into his baby blue eyes that he is full of wisdom and goodness. After the blessing and the rest of church we went to Gainor’s house for pulled pork on a bun and salads and dessert. Thanks to Gainors for hosting the event. Their house is a lot bigger than our Copperfield home (and we were trying to keep our Copperfield home in selling condition). Gainors were there of course, Sister Snow came (she is the lady we have become friends with by driving her to and from church), and Aunt Brenda and Uncle Gord and Todd came too. It is so good to have family get togethers. Family is so important. Chris left that evening to start his last week for student teaching. He came back the Thursday evening for the Copperfield school family dance. Chris’ parents left early Friday the 20th of April and then the kids and I drove Chris down to Vulcan for his last day of student teaching and to show Caeleb and Elva around Champion school. I went to the Friday night Time our for Women that evening with Selman, Mom and Camellia (thanks for the ticket Camellia). It was very spiritually uplifting. Saturday, our family drove back up to Calgary and Chris and I worked hard for the next few days getting the house ready for carpet cleaning on Monday and real estate pictures on Tuesday. Our house was posted on the real estate website the morning of Thursday April 26. We had about 4 showings the first weekend and then I left on the Monday with the girls and baby Selman to stay at the farm so that Elva could start school in Champion on Tuesday May 1st. Caeleb didn’t start in Champion until May 15th as he had a week long living well field trip he wanted to go to in Copperfield and Chris was able to go with him all those days.
We got an offer after about 10 showings – less than 2 weeks on the market. What a blessing as we thought it would take several months. It is a buyers market and the average is about 45 days to sell. After a few little hiccups and another stressful week, the final contract was signed with a closing date of June 1 at noon. That did not make for a lot of time to get things packed and ready but we did it. I spent most of the time at the farm with the kids while Chris packed. Nathan helped pack and clean (Thank you Nathan!) and he moved to his new home in Ranchlands on June 1. He has lived with us for the last 7 years and we will miss him (he is Mary’s best buddy) but change is good and it was time to move on. He is a great Uncle and we hope he stays close friends with his nieces and nephews.
For Mothers Day the boys sent Mom, Camellia and I to Banff for 2 nights at a resort place. We are so spoiled and had a lot of fun. We went to lake Louise and hiked half way around the lake, we ate at Boston pizza and had Chinese food, we walked around town and talked and talked. I love my girls getaways! Thanks boys. Meanwhile they took the kids swimming and to Chucky Cheese so the kids had a blast too.
We were so lucky to have Middletons let us stay in Micky’s old house and to just pay utilities (we are only about ½ km from the brick home that is still being fixed up and should be ready in September) and we moved most of our stuff on Monday May 21st. Our Mahogany ward friends were so helpful as we loaded the moving van that day. We are going to miss that ward. Our new ward helped us unload that day and we are excited for new adventures with the kind people of our new ward and our kind neighbors on our road.
On May 26th, we headed to Fort Mcleod to do the Wilderness run. This year, I jogged 10 kms (a very slow jog) and Mom and Chris walked it. I was trying to prepare for it but between having a new baby and moving preparation, I did not have a lot of time to prepare. But I did jog the whole thing and I plan on doing even better next year.
Caeleb and Elva have been adapting well to their new school. There is only about 100 students from Preschool to grade 9 but the big kids help the little kids and there seems to be a unity within the school that I love. I love small schools. Caeleb and Elva like their teachers and have been making new friends. They have had many adventures already from swimming every school day in June at the pool across the street from the school, a field trip for Caeleb to camp Chestermere to go kayaking, bottle rockets and sling shots (Chris was able to go), a Zoo trip for Elva with her Kindergarten (I went along with Mary and Selman and we got to see the new Panda exhibit), 2 track and field days for Caeleb (he does well with long distance running). The kids also did T - ball and coach pitch this year organized by volunteers from the community. There was a practice on about 6 Wednesdays during May and June and 2 tournaments - one in Champion and 1 in Milo. This is the first sport Caeleb and Elva have done - well, I guess they did Soccer for a couple of weeks a few years ago and Elva did ballet for half a year. They really enjoyed it and we had fun watching them. The last day of school for Elva was Thursday June 21 and for Caeleb was Wednesday June 27. We picked Caeleb up from school a little early that day, went to Lethbridge to order our Kitchen for the brick home and then travelled on to Mountain View to visit the Nelson family for a few days. Nathan came and joined us there as well. Our family went to Waterton for the day and was it ever a beautiful day. No wind and not too hot or cold. Perfect! It was interesting to see all the burned out places in Waterton but it really is as beautiful as ever. Friday was spent with Chris and Doug putting the brick on the Nelson fireplace. They were really focused, spent all day doing it, and did a great job. We celebrated Canada day on Saturday as July first was Sunday. Mountain View had a talent show, games and beef on a bun. Mom and Dad joined us for that. We came back Saturday afternoon so that Chris could go up to a games night with some buddies in Calgary.
This last week has been spent in swimming lessons for the kids with the Nelsons joining us for the week. Monday was Moms birthday and we had a parmesan chicken dinner and cake for dessert, Mom got a birthday calendar, and we sent off a floating lantern which the kids loved. Camellia and I got our hair cut in Vulcan on Wednesday and Thursday we camped in town and spent the afternoon learning to ride bikes, going to the store for a treat, to the library, swimming, playing with cousins and town friends, making smores and enjoying this lovely little town. After the last swimming lesson on Friday, we met Mom and Dad at little bow for a picnic and early afternoon swim. While the first part of this week has been cooler and rainy, the last couple of days have been hot and dry. Today is a low key day. Chris has been working hard all last week doing IT stuff for his old employer (it is a blessing that he has this part time job), so we are spending the day catching up on house chores and relaxing.
