Barnwell

After Montana Gibb and the kids drove up and met me in Barnwell. We had a family reunion and Kennedy and Nikki's wedding. 

At the park in Taber for a picnic

 Cousin Bath!

One day just our family went to Waterton for the day. We hiked Bears Hump and then just let the kids play at the lake and park and got ice cream. It was fun to have a day with just us!

Aunt LoAnne doing face painting at the reunion

 Parade!

Someone is always up for playing games

This was really cool. Unlce Carlos did rope making and made a family rope with a string for each family. And then he made our family a rope to take home. 

I love my Jensen family! The reunions are always so fun, and everyone is so welcoming and friendly. Gibb has commented more than once about how awesome, kind, loving and fun the Jensen's are. I couldn't agree more and I'm so grateful for them and for all the work that everyone puts into the reunions to make them happen.

Montana

This year we had a major change in our summer plans. I had an ectopic pregnancy and couldn't go out of town for a while. So Gibb ended up taking the kids to Montana by himself. We had gone to Edmonton to say bye to Brett and Jenny before they moved to Cleveland and then I had to stay there until my blood work was back to normal. It was really emotional for me and hard being there on my own, but I'm glad the kids still had fun in Montana. 

 Picnic at the Cardston Temple on the way

 Baths in a bin because there's no tub

 Jayna couldn't resist getting in too

One of Gibb's favourite things about going to Montana is the stars! He loves how many stars you can see and how clear it is. It's so pretty and peaceful.

Stuck

When I went in to Kepler's room this morning I found him like this.

As soon as I walked in he said "I need help wid dis one Mommy. Stuck!"

Haha, he hadn't even been crying at all, in fact you can kind of see in the picture that he was smiling! He's such a sweet boy (half of the time...)!

Daddy Daughter Date

Gibb took Jayna to see Toy Story 3. She was so excited to go on a "special date" with her daddy. When they came home she was yelling and jumping and laughing and really hyper.
This is all I could really understand:
"popcorn and licorice...Barbie...special date...so hilarious...Buzz dancing...Daddy...scary part, but not too scary...movies...Kepler didn't get to come...popcorn...it was so hilarious"
I'm pretty sure the translation is that she had fun!

Kepler was really sad that he got left behind, he's getting to be too old and smart to be left out anymore. So part 2 might have to be the mommy/son version. I would be honoured to be Kepler's first date!

July 1

We had such a fun day today, it was exactly what a holiday should be, in my opinion. A laid back day with tons of friends, family and food around, perfect!

First thing this morning we headed downtown for the parade.

Jayna and Kepler with Cassidy, one of my Activity Day girls, we love Cassidy!

My favourite part of the parade, was right as it was starting and Jayna got so excited. She started jumping up and down and waving her flag and yelling "Yay Canada!! Hooray!" over and over! I love how patriotic she is, but the funny thing is, she's American. We still haven't gotten her Canadian citizenship yet.

We met up with a bunch of our friends.

Jayna and Kepler's 3rd cousins Hayley and Emma

Kepler and Morgan

Jayna was really excited that she got this pinwheel

Kepler making a hilarious face

Okay I know that parade pictures are lame, but there was a buffalo in a car! Even Gibb thought I should take a picture of it. Fort Mac put on a pretty good Canada Day parade!

After the parade we all met up at a park for a picnic. There were about 7 or 8 families there, so the kids were having so much fun playing together. I love how friendly everyone is here, we've already met such great friends. I wish I had taken more pictures of everyone at the picnic.



We went home and had family nap time and then spent the rest of the day out in the yard.

Our kids love our flag (as they should). They love pointing out Canada flags whenever we're driving around town.

We ended off the night with banana milkshakes and much needed bath time.

I know the matching shirts are cheesy, but does it make it any better if I admit it's cheesy and still do it?

Our family 2 years ago on Canada Day. I feel a little sentimental about July 1 now, because it reminds so much of right after Kepler was born. He was 1 week old here.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!