First tooth

Evan lost his first tooth today. 

The adult tooth is already coming in behind. It took great effort over several days but he was finally able to get it out. 

Evan wrote a note to the tooth fairy when he didn't get anything under his pillow. This is what the note said.

MY Tooth

Evans tooth

This is my tooth

It came out Yestr day.

Writing a note worked because he got two loonies in the bag with his tooth.

Happy Birthday.

Maren had a birthday. She is turning 9!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

She requested Black Forest cake. She wanted it iced black at first but then changed her mind. She also wanted boo-ba-diddies so I came up with this as a decoration. She said it was perfect. Maren helped lay the letter M in cherries on top. 

She got a great big queen size mink blanket. She was super excited.

Maren is a very sweet girl. She is willing to help when asked and often will help without being asked! She is wonderful with little children. Maren has a tender soft heart and is very compassionate. She has lots of natural mothering skills.

Maren struggles to practice the piano daily but enjoys playing and mastering her pieces. She likes to read and loves drawing and colouring. She doodles frequently. Maren continues to style and accessorize her hair. She takes great pride in looking her best. Maren has a great smile. She is cheerful and happy.  She loves games and movies on mom's phone and Aaren's ipod.

Maren's favourite foods include spaghetti, pizza, homemade bread. Her favorite song is a Child's Prayer. She loves activity days. 

She loves to ride her bike, go skiing and jump on the trampoline. Maren has beautiful blond wavy hair (from Dad's side of the family!) It reminds me of Shelyse's when she was younger!

Maren sleeps on the top of the bunk bed and she is often one of the first in the family to turn in at night. Her favorite color is blue, pink, purple, orange. She is in Grade 3 at school. She has a lot of friends. Her good friends are Allie Schmale and Tessa Anderson.

Maren is 4 1/2' tall and weighs 57 Lbs.

Maren still loves to listen to me read stories to the little ones at night. She often wants to sleep on their bed too but we shoosh her off to her own bed.

We love Maren. Happy Birthday girly!

Wacky Wednesday

It all began with that shoe on the wall......

RES celebrated Wacky Wednesday and Maren did her hair done for the occasion.

Her hair looked like a palm tree. For crazy hair day, she wants to do it again but dye the hair in color. Ummm.maybe. 

Cassandra also had her hair wacky but we didn't get a picture. 

Evan put 5 teeny tiny ponytails in his hair. His teacher took a picture at school. You can barely see them.

Monday morning Parent Preschool

We love parent preschool at the Parent Link Center!

(Note: the little boy beside Tysyn, Wake Nelson, was in the Children's hospital at the same time Tysyn was. Both boys are growing and learning!)

Tysyn always has the cheesiest smiles!

Savanna's big Gak snake

Monday afternoon we spent a good amount of time at the lions park. It was a beautiful day. 17+ degrees! The kids played with some of the other kids from preschool. The moms arranged to play together after class.

No pictures but FUN times!

CWG Test Event-Hinterland Match

Brandon was registered for a match and preliminary event in Prince George before the Canada winter games.

Susan Eymann (his coach) picked him up at 2 PM on Thursday. They picked up Michael Erickson in Lethbridge then they all drove to Calgary. Shaylene Lunan and Belle Medicraft met them at the airport and then they flew out of Calgary to Prince George at 10:30 PM. They arrived in Prince George at 11:10pm, 12:10pm our time. Those 4 kids make up the Alberta air rifle team.  

Calgary Airport

Flight status

Hotel in Prince George. 

Friday they spent the day visiting the sites of Prince George -being tourists.

Brandon was pleased to see Cheyenne Passey so randomly at a café in Prince George. They got a picture together. They were high school Wildlife Class buddies when she was living with her family in Raymond. They moved to Prince George last year.

His first and only sighters.

Brandon has been enjoying thoroughly his new phone. I have enjoyed being able to connect with him. He phoned a few times and we texted back-and-forth keeping in touch. But the home button was giving him problems so he was pretty frustrated with it. 

Saturday was the first day of competition. His first match was at 9 AM. 10 our time.

Brandon did awesome we watched through the online mega link. Brandon set a new personal best.

His afternoon match he also did great came in first. He went into the finals in first place.

CWG mascot Nanguz and the air rifle team with manager and coach.

Sunday his finals were at 9 AM 10 our time. We were able to watch him through the online mega link because our church didn't start till one. It's rough watching from afar we wanted to be there to support him!

Brandon also did well in the finals but he nearly left the door open for someone to go through. He won and came in first place but only by .1!

His coach took some pictures and posted them via Facebook throughout the morning.

Brandon phoned me Sunday morning to tell me the side of his gear bag ripped wide open. I told him maybe they could find some duct tape to fix it. They did! 

His comment to me when he texted me this picture. Thank goodness for duct tape, my bag is fixed and ready to fly.

Vancouver airport via Find My iPhone app

Grandma Moxley and Aunt Krista made a surprise visit to Brandon as he arrived in Calgary. 

Susan and the boys then drove back to Lethbridge and Raymond arriving home late. Midnight. Thanks to Susan for taking such great care of Brandon!

We are so proud of Brandon and his accomplishments.

Congratulations Brandon!!!!!

Sound competition

I was peeling carrots at the kitchen sink with Savanna beside me. Devin was playing church hymns on his iPod with the sound carrying through his speaker. Devin likes his music loud! Tysyn wanted the carrot that I was peeling for supper. I offered him a piece and he didn't like it because he wanted the whole thing so he lay down on the floor and started to howl. Devin holding Rebekka while waiting for his turn to peel potatoes pipes up. "Hey hey, I got sound rights to this kitchen, you can't cry!!!"

Weekend

These two girls got paid for their first out of home babysitting job. They were pretty excited although very tired. They got home late. 

The weather changed. It feels like spring. 

Maren is trying to enjoy the warm temps and the last of the snow before it melts by getting out the skis. We had a pretty good size drift in the backyard. It made a little hill so she and along with Aaren and Evan spent a good amount of time outside going up and down. Maren REALLY WANTS TO GO SKIING for her upcoming birthday. 

Town council

Brandon went to town council today. Here is his presentation. He wrote it all himself. Jeff and I made a few minor revisions.

Hi my name is Brandon Hardy, I live here in Raymond and I am currently on the provincial air rifle shooting team going to the 2015 Canada winter games in February. The games are from Feb. 13th to March 1st. At the games I will be competing in the team and individual air rifle events. Each regular competition consists of two sixty shot relays and then one twenty shot finals. Only the top eight shooters of the combined relay scores make the finals. Target shooting is actually found to be the safest olympic sport. I came here today to inform you of this accomplishment because you probably wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

At the games instead of athletes swapping our team gear we are encouraged to bring pins to trade with athletes from the other provinces. I thought that it would be great to get some town of Raymond pins to take with me to represent my hometown. So I pose the question: Would I please be able to get some pins?

At the games I will be one of two shooters comprising the mens air rifle team from Alberta. I am currently the provincial champion in my category and last years overall provincial champion. In the finals of a shoot last year I won silver behind an Olympic shooter who beat me by 3 tenths of a point!

I have brought my gear and would like to show it to you if time permits and you are willing. The rifle is a walther lg300 and has a custom made stock to fit me, it also uses aperture sights which are very accurate in the hands of an experienced shooter. I have also brought along some targets to show you. The targets are handy to be able to take with you to show off but now at a competition we use an electronic scoring system called mega link. The Alberta handgun association actually has a link on their website that will show a live feed of an electronic version of the shooters target, as they take their shots. Are there any further questions?

Thank you for letting me come and present to you tonight. I'm excited for the opportunity to go to the Winter Games and I am pleased to go and represent my hometown, Raymond Alberta. Thank you. 

Brandon speaking to his worship, Mayor George Bohne. Councillors Kathy Needham, Barry Wolsey and Greg Robinson. Also in attendance Scott Barton and Pam Searcy. 

After we returned home, I texted his coach Susan Eymann (also from Raymond) this message: Brandon just finished his presentation at town council. He did fabulous! His presentation was awesome. He presented himself with confidence. He took his gun and gear and was able to show it to the mayor and council members. They were very supportive of his efforts and one of the council commented that it is great to see diversity of sport within our  predominant football and basketball community. 

He will be going to the games with a large amount of town pins. He is pretty excited!