The Rest of Alberta Trip

Boxing Day for my mom and I has always meant one thing - Shopping for SWEET deals! We know exactly which stores we want to hit up to best avoid the crowds but still get things dirt cheap. Quinny was still really sick when we woke up, and had a hard time opening her eyes. She needed extra cuddles with Daddy before she was ready to face the day.

She spent the morning playing games with Uncle Brandon and Auntie Shelby. The amount of time these two spend with her when we are together makes my heart so warm. They are so eager to play with her and she just love it, sick and all!

Mom, Shelby and I headed out to shop, and Brandon and Jon and Q went out to Coralee and Ed's house to play some outdoor hockey. Ed has spent a lot of time making this awesome outdoor rink at their house in the yard (have I mentioned that they have the most incredible house/property ever?) and was eager to have people use it! Grandpa was really wanting to play with Brandon and Jon, so Ed invited them all over! I thought it was so cool how he invited my family over, mixing of worlds a little bit! Very sweet. Quinny fell asleep on the way over, just exhausted, her poor little body!

All the boys outside, ready to play! (It was really cold out, but super sunny and clear and not too windy, so they all had a blast!)

Cor played inside with Quinny, and then had hot chocolate ready for the boys when they came inside!

She sent me a text saying "She is such a well behaved little girl, and so funny! She reminds me so much of you, with her fiery streak but full of sunshine. You are raising quite the little lady, who is clever beyond her years! We had a great morning together. Thank you". And once again, I cried (I cried A LOT while we were there, just overwhelmed with emotion!). She nailed Q right on the head, personality wise. I love when people that we love get to spend this kind of concentrated time with her and really see her little sparkly personality shine.

Love all these men having fun together.

I got a new jacket and new luggage (because we needed more luggage to come home...yikes). It was the new lightweight luggage, and the big piece weighs 3.5lbs (it feels like air! so light!) and had a price tag of $350. The little piece weighs 1.5lbs (literally air) and had a price tag of $250. I got BOTH for just under $100!!!! Steal of a deal. Sweet!!!! And I also got a new light jacket that will be my 'winter' jacket once we get back home to our warm (yet dreary and non sunny in these winter months) island. We stayed home for the rest of the afternoon and evening, because this little girl needed the rest. Auntie Shelby happily got LOTS of cuddles!

Opening more of her stocking stuffers... you know a kid is sick when on Christmas morning they simply lay down on the floor and say "no more presents, I need to rest". We saved the rest for when she had a good moment and could enjoy opening them. So boxing day we pulled them out and let her open, which was a good call, because she was more excited and eager to have them.

The boys went out for a few hours in the afternoon to go to two new brewery's that just opened. They got to sample beer - a common love for all of them

Two most handsome men I know :)

Q went to bed early, and we spent the evening playing games. Love my family!

Dec 27th - A new cutesy little tea steeper for my mini tea lover! Very cute. Mom got in lots of extra hugs on this day, knowing that it was our last full one together for a while

Grandma and Grandpa took Jon and I and Brandon and Shelby out for a fancy dinner to the Beefeater. SO DELICIOUS! The food there is beyond compare. So good. And the company was great too! It was fun to dress up a bit and go out somewhere fancy.

We were very thankful to Grandpa for treating us to such a special meal! We were all so relaxed and had a great few hours together, while Quinny was at home with my mom, soaking in some one on one time with her Grandma

That evening, the whole gang came over for a few hours to hang out with us on our last night. I know I say it a lot, but these people are the very best and I love them so dearly. I feel so grateful to have an extended family that has this sort of love for each other. Our bonds are strong and run deep. I miss them so much already! And yes, Q's tongue is sticking out. Grandma says "did everyone smile?" and Q yells "nope! Not me! I stuck my tongue out!" and giggles and ran away. Sigh. Always the prankster

Alexis was zonked from two full days of snowboarding, so Quinny went and laid on the floor with her and they cuddled together for a while and giggled together about something. Cuties.

She kept trying to hug Jace because he doesn't like hugs and she finds that hilarious. So here she tackled him and was yelling "You have to have my hugs! I will trap you!" Funny that she has no idea of size... Jace is much taller than her and could have pushed her off in a heartbeat... but the sweetie that he is just endured the hugs and sighed loudly haha

These two have been the cutest together since the first time they met. I think its fun for Rayne to have Quinny around so that she's not the littlest one. Rayne is such a mother hen, and Q just soaks it up. They are SOOOO cute. I love watching Quinny with these cousins who are so affectionate and understand her

All the cousins, except Jenna who was back home in Lethbridge. We missed her!

Alexis came and laid on me, and I rubbed her face like she likes until she fell asleep. And she was out hard! Tired snowboarding girl! Brooke came and sat with us to keep me company after Alexis fell asleep and I couldn't move haha. Love love love love these sweet cousins of mine. 

Quinny stayed up SO LATE - it was 10:30 in this picture! But she was happily playing and being really good, so we let her since it was our last night. Her and Lauren 'played' Blokus together for a long time 

After everyone left and Quinny finally went to bed, we stayed up and played a game and just chatted. Finally at 1am, Brandon said it was time to go to bed and I instantly started crying. I put my head down on the table and just sobbed (I told you I cried a lot on this trip). My bewildered brother looked at me like I was crazy and asked me why I was crying. I finally choked out that I didn't want to go to bed, because I didn't want to say goodbye tomorrow and go a whole other year without seeing each other. This triggered tears for both my brother and my mom! Yikes, sorry guys! But my heart just ached. This time with my baby brother is so precious to me, and I miss him so much during day to day life. I get so busy raising my baby and doing life, that I don't think often about how isolated we are from family... but when I get this kind of time with them, it really does hit me. It gets me going on the train of thought of "WHY do we not live in Alberta, where we would have so much support and so much love?!" We never go out because we can't afford a babysitter. We miss out on all the family events. Quinny misses out on growing up with aunties and uncles who are around all the time and involved in her life. We don't get pop by visits or random afternoons spent together or sunday night dinners. All these things that I had, I feel SO upset that Q misses out. It has been such a hard year for us, emotionally and mentally, and we are missing out on the support of family being close by. We have awesome friends, and a great community, but it doesn't compare to these two weeks being around people who love us more than life itself. But, we have chosen the life that we have, and we have a GOOD life, I KNOW that. I also knew that once we got back home, I would fall back into life and be fine. I do love our life. Just the prospect of saying goodbye was looming over me, and I missed my brother and my mom already, and we hadn't even left yet. But as Jon reminded me later on, feeling the way I do speaks volumes into the bond that I have with my brother. I adore him, and I know he always has my back. And sure, it would be so lovely to have family just down the road, and to have the help and support on a regular basis... but then we would miss out on the life we have, which is a pretty sweet one. So, as I went to bed still crying, I was also thanking the Lord for these families that we have and how blessed we are by them. We just need to make sure its not a YEAR before I see this sweet face again.