Summer Vacation Part 2

Well, we thought that we wouldn't really be going anywhere this summer, but since Keira arrived a couple weeks early we decided to go down to Southern Alberta for a family reunion and to see the Hills, since they also decided last minute to come to Alberta. Keira was only 2 weeks old, but I thought it would still be worth it to get to see family, especially for the kids. And it was, Jayna and Kepler had so much fun with their cousins and were really excited to go on a vacation. My mom and I drove down with the kids, and then Gibb flew down to meet us a few days later.

It took us over 13 hours to drive down there! Luckily the kids did pretty good, it was a really long, tiring day. There are always wide loads on Hwy. 63, but this day there were some of the hugest I have ever seen, I don't think this picture does it justice.

All of Cassandra's kids were crazy over Keira, it was so cute!

Kepler wloved playing with the older boy cousins, he just thought he was one of the guys

My Grandpa is amazing! He's almost 88 and he such a fun Great Grandpa. He takes the kids out to the backyard and shows them his garden and picks raspberries with them. Then he had a water fight with all the kids on the deck. He came in and filled a bucket up with water and was taking it outside and laughing to himself, then he turned around and asked me "How wet can I get your kids?" Haha, I told him to soak them, so he did!

He also keeps this huge dirt pile in the middle of his backyard just for the great grandkids to play on.



And after all that he showed Jayna how to blow bubbles out of a straw, genius idea!

Jayna followed Great Grandpa Jensen around all afternoon, she had so much fun with him. I really hope she remembers him when she's older, such great memories!

We went out to Stafford Lake one evening for a picnic, Kepler was so happy to get a ride on the boat.

I also got to see some friends while we were there.
We met up with Amelia and her kids at the park

And we also met up with Lindsay and Krystyn one morning, as usual I always wish I took more pictures!

The cousins having a dance party. Jayna now asks to listen to Nathan's favourite song and Kepler knows some of the words and actions to Don't Call Me Baby Anymore thanks to Samantha, haha it's so cute!

Jayna telling my Aunt Nola all about starting Kindergarten on her birthday

Keira loved Great Grandma Jensen :)

On Saturday we had a Jensen Family reunion in Waterton.

Gibb took the kids on a hike. It was 4 km and they walked the whole way. They were pretty hot and tired when they were done.

Having lunch with Aunt Susan on the hike. Jayna and Kepler realized that Aunt Susan looked and talked just like Grandma Kathy, and so they kept "teasing" her and calling her Grandma, they thought they were pretty funny.

I stayed behind and had a picnic while they were hiking

Kepler was asking to see a waterfall all day, he was fascinated by it

After everyone was done hiking we had a big BBQ by the lake. It was so great to see everyone!

Kepler and my cousin Dane are only 7 months apart, any by the last day they had finally warmed up to each other and played all day long

Being silly playing air hockey

Stocking up on crab apples for the road

Thanks for having us Grandma and Grandpa!

We took a different way home and so the drive home was a lot shorter than the way down
Our vacation was short but sweet, and we really packed it all in in 5 days! We were all exhausted when we got home, but the kids slept in until 8:30 or 9 for about a week to recover, so I won't complain!

Sisters!

 It makes me so happy that these two have each other. There's nothing like a sister in life! I know they won't always get along, but I hope that they will still always be each others best friend. 

Baby Blessing

While we were in Southern Alberta we had Keira blessed at my grandparents house. It was so nice to have so much family there for it.

It was so sunny out, I don't know why we didn't take some pictures inside

Uncle Scott, Great Uncle Tony, Kennedy, Great Grandpa, Uncle Scott, Daddy holding Keira, Robbie, Grandpa Fitzner, Great Uncle Eric

Four Generations

We missed you Mona!

Erin even drove down from Airdrie with Holly and her huge cast, we really appreciated all the family who came. Scott surprised us by coming with Cameron and Evan too.

Dane, Konnor, Chase and Nathan, so handsome!

Gibb's parents happened to be in Montana and so they were able to drive up for it too and meet Keira for the first time! Thanks for coming it was good to see you guys!

It was a really special day and we felt so grateful for all the love we felt from our families coming to share it with us. Keira's lucky to have all of you in her life!

Keira and the Pink Pig

Keira at 2 weeks old! I can't wait to see how she grows this year (but hopefully not too fast). She is already getting big so fast, and is definitely our chubbiest baby. She's a great eater and can be fussy at times, but she is such a precious addition to the family.

Just dancing around

Jayna's been practicing all her dance moves. 

She loves to dance, and can't wait for it to start up again in September! 

I love this girl and her carefree spirit. She loves life and finds so much joy in the little things.

Firsts

I love how many random firsts a new baby has. The kids think it's fun to say "This is Keira's first time..." for everything we do. So here are some of her firsts from this week.

First day at the park

First picture with the pink bunny
(I did this with Kepler, and wish I had done it with Jayna too)

Today was her first doctor's appointment and she weighs 7 lbs. 8 oz. They get big so fast! (sniff, sniff)

Another Daddy's Girl

I think it's pretty cute seeing Dad's with their babies, especially when it's your own baby. :) Gibb was like most guys before we had kids who didn't really want anything to do with babies. So it's funny seeing how fast our kids have him wrapped around their little fingers. Gibb likes to try and make our pictures a little more exciting, here are some classic Gibb shots.

And of course the standard Dad poses

One of my favourite moments of the night tonight was hearing Gibb and Jayna fight over who got to hold Keira...Gibb won. I wish there were a few more people fighting to hold her at 3 am ;)

Newborn Photoshoot

 I really wanted some cute posed pictures of Keira as a brand new fresh newborn. These days of them being little go so fast, and I want to remember and cherish all of it. Luckily my mom is always game for any and all of my crazy schemes so we set up shop on my bed and did our best to get some pictures. Well this little project ended up being not so little, took a good part of the afternoon and even ended up with a blowout. The pictures are nowhere near professional but they mean so much to me and I love them!

 

Thumb sucking 101

Jayna and Kepler have been talking about all the things they're going to teach the baby, and always at the top of the list is how to suck her thumb.

Here is Kepler showing her how it's done.

And at 3 days old she already has the hang of it.

Kepler started sucking his thumb at 3 days old too. Since Jayna was already a thumb sucker I thought that I should try and stop it so that we wouldn't have to try and get 2 kids to stop eventually. That was a bad idea, we had a pretty miserable few weeks of me trying to force a soother on him. Then I just gave up and let him suck his thumb and he was so happy again.
So I think I've learned my lesson and I'm just going to let it happen. It's a hard habit to break, but it really does make for good babies!

Family Photoshoot

We got my mom to snap some simple pictures of our family of FIVE! 

Look at this beautiful family of ours, feeling so blessed.