Castle Mountain Ski trip - January 20th, 2015

Before my parents had even committed to purchasing tickets to visit here, Andy had concocted a wonderful way to get the whole family skiing this year.  The "plan" was to have mom and I take care of the new baby and Rowan in the chalet while Dad and himself took the boys skiing. Then when the boys were tired we could also have them in the Chalet and Andy could check out the rest of the mountain. 
And work out it did, which was really alot fun for all of us, we couldn't have asked for nicer weather to take a day trip. A chinook went thru southern Alberta this past week which brought some beautiful balmy weather and plus temperatures. Since it was not windy anymore we decided to go to Castle Mountain Resort which is located in the Westcastle Valley of southwest Alberta, in the Rocky Mountains. It's about 50 kilometers west of Pincher Creek. The views along the highway driving up to it were gorgeous - a huge expanse of grassy rolling hills with the snow covered mountains looming ahead. 
Castle Ski Resort is renowned for it's long steep runs (I think the longest is 5 km) and held the Canadian winter games in 1975. It has an average of 9 metres of snowfall a year.  Needless to say, Andy and dad were thrilled to be there. We all were actually.  A big thanks to my parents for being such good sports and helping to create good memories!

First run of the day - I'm sure Andy and Opa needed the practice on the magic carpet just as much as Seth and Tristan;)

The map.  See the green area centre bottom? There were separate lift tickets available for just that green 'learner' area and that is where Seth and Tristan stayed.

Seth and Opa! Away they go!

Pleased as punch to be there and he did so well this year!  Both boys will surpass me in no time.

"I could do this forever!" says Tristan.  What a speedy little guy this was.

Dad and Andy did a bit of skiing with the two of them. First time for my Dad skiing down a "real" mountain.

It's such a neat feeling watching Andy skiing with his own sons.  Where did time go?

Rowan was their biggest cheerleader. He wanted to ski with them so terribly badly. Hopefully next year little lad.

The littlest bunny at the hills. 

Opa and Oma took us to MacDonalds on the way home.  We were a hungry bunch from the fresh air!

On the way home with the mountains behind us again.

Anyone else want to come skiing for a day with us? I'll provide the sandwiches and coffee... and a sweet baby to cuddle if you feel like resting in the lodge with me;)

A Sunday with Family!

This past week was a good week.  Mom and Dad (Opa and Oma) came to visit and meet Miss Abby.  Uncle Ben and Aunt Ruth-Ann also came for the weekend, which made for a busy but fun time. Dad, Ben and Andy took the boys to hockey practice Saturday afternoon.
Sunday was spent here with lots of coffee and baking, chatting, relaxing, and fellowship.  We also enjoyed taking Mom and Dad to church for worship and fellowship. It was nice they could meet some of our friends and see what a great community of people we are blessed to know. 
There's something special about spending Sundays together.

Uncle Ben is our hunter uncle.  Seth and Tristan made sure to wear all camo when he came!

Baptism and more

Abby is three weeks today!  That flew by!  She fits right in the family, and is so far a very easy baby, doing all the things newborns do.  Andy and I laughed the other day - we had forgotten how much time and work a person that little takes!  I'm enjoying (almost) every minute, time goes by too quickly, and babies don't last:) 

 She was baptized January 4th in the afternoon service.

The boys had a turn holding her when we got home.  This is how it's supposed to look ( more or less), smiling boys all happy to sit with their little sister. (below).

 This is how it actually did look...(below) a mass of boys fighting about who was going to hold her, fake smiles and grabbing arms.  Rowan is convinced Abby is just his size, whereas Seth is the oldest, so he obviously should hold her, and Tristan plods on with a fake smile plastered onto his face.  The above photo was taken after cleaning, admonishing and bribing with a candy.  It lasted all of 3 seconds;))

Can you tell we're having fun with her? 

Abigail Monique - December 23, 2014

"For you formed my inward parts: you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works: my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139:13,14 ESV

Introducing our fourth child, first daughter,
Abigail Monique Bijlsma 
Born December 23rd 2014, 4:33am
8lbs 2 oz, 50.5 cm.  

       And we are in love. 

God is good and we are thrilled, a little "famke" to bring some dolls and pink into our home.  Her middle name is after my mom and her birthday happens to fall on the same day as my Opa's (her great Opa) birthday!

Birth briefing:
I woke up Andy at two am, thinking something was happening.  We called the babysitter at 2:30 and went to the hospital shortly after, arriving at 3:10am. After some assessment they admitted me at 3:30am, and the "it's a girl" rang out at 4:33am!    I am so thankful everything went so smoothly and so quickly, with no complications of any sort. 
What a relief to be on the other side, with a healthy baby girl to love and cuddle. Which is what we are doing, lots of snuggles going on around here.  With three older brothers this little lady's got in made in the shade. :)  

Having a baby during the holiday season turned out to be very relaxing, no school to worry about, no schedule to keep to, all in all it was lovely.  The day Abby was born our friends the Hummels, took all three  boys for the day.  I went home from the hospital the same day she was born, (much to the Dr's chagrin - I on the other hand couldn't wait to sleep in my own bed, drink coffee with Andy and get away from that hospital food!) so we all slept under the same roof right away.  The next day was Christmas eve, Andy was not busy and we had all the kids here, which was nice. A couple friends came over to visit, which made for a fun afternoon, and we were spoiled with many gifts.  Anno and Carola came over as well with a warm lunch and a doll for Abby:)
Christmas day Andy took all three to church with him while I napped. Seth and Tristan went with our friends (Baremans) to their Christmas dinner, and got to sleep over till Saturday, which was alot of fun for them, and made the house a bit calmer - although Rowan was like a lost little puppy without his big brothers around to keep him entertained.  ;)  Andy and I had "Christmas dinner" on the couch sipping some wine and dining on cheese and crackers. It was so cosy, and special.  Very relaxing!  Imagine the choral classics playing in the background...lights twinkling over the fireplace...snoozing baby in my arms..:)
Although it's a bit sad we  can't show her off to all our family and friends in Ontario we feel very blessed by the communion of saints here in Taber.  We have many good friends who are willing to help and are spoiling us with meals, gifts and more.  We thank-you all, sincerely! 

And now some more pictures, I had a hard time picking my favourites:)  (And there may still be too many - sorry!!).

How it all {possibly} began.

At some point a person gets so sick of being pregnant that it's easy to believe that you will be the first person to be pregnant forever. I had that one week before I was due.  I felt like a whale, and decided that since I was going to be a whale forever, I may as well get used to it and get on with life. 
So we went in the truck thru our back field to the small pond used by the cattle for drinking water.
Driving thru the field was bumpy... the poor baby was rocking inside me like a bowling ball while I hung on for dear life.  Little did we know... about 20 hours later we'd hold the baby in our arms for the first time:)

First things first though. Skating pictures.