What a summer!!

Can you believe that its September already??  Seriously where did the summer go.  I know I've been a bit busy.  On July 27 Leo,  my Mom,  Donk, and I,  loaded up everything we could fit in our little red car and road tripped from Vancouver back to Alberta leaving Talon behind for a month.  We actually had a great trip which was surprising with a 10 month old.  My mom thinks Leo should be a trucker.  As long as she was back there feeding him snacks he was a happy guy buckled up there in his big throne.  I'm glad she has such high aspirations for my child;)  My mom left me and Leo in Fort Macleod and we had fun for a day at the Orr family reunion.  It was great to finally meet some of the cousins I've yet to run into since I"ve joined the family.  Since we had so much fun in the car my Mom and Dad picked us up the next day and we drove back to Calgary to "surprise" my sister for her 30th bday.  We had a whole day of fun planned to keep her away from the house where the party was, and I kind of thought we had her fooled until she asked me a question and I had to quickly think up a lie ( we were full of lie's that day it was hard to keep the story straight) ,  and I hesitated and I saw a look in her eye and I knew like only a sister would, that she was onto us.  Dang it.  We almost had her but she had fun all the same.  Back in the car we went and Leo and I and Donk moved in with my parents at the ranch.  I honestly could have stayed there another month or two.  The weather was amazing,  Leo loved being around Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins,  dogs,  horses,  cows,  tractors,  the beach.  Pretty fun place to spend a beautiful summer.  My mom and dad are awesome and helped me out lots.  I am not cut out for this single mother thing.  5 weeks is much too long to be without my husband.  He's finally home tomorrow and I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight I'm so excited.

I spent a bit of time at the farm in Fort Macleod too and its been great.  Nik was here lots with me with both her kids and we had fun hanging out before they left us behind and took off for Texas.  Of course they would move as soon as we decided to move back... but at least we'll be here to keep Carmen and Jim company while thery are gone for 6 months.  I started working on the house we'll be living in.  Its Talon's grandma's house which his grandpa built in 1952.  3 brm 1 bath + library, garage, living, kitchen upstairs.  Bath,  great room,  bdrm,  storage,  dark room downstairs!!  Whoo hoo.  I'm not going to know what to do with all the space!!!  I was optimistic with my plans and so far its actually exceeding my expectations.  I stripped off the lovely peeling wallpaper to find wood paneling underneath.  I decided to go with it and paint it off white,  going for a country sheik look.  Gorgeous hard wood is under all the carpet that Carmen and I tore up and my dad and I spent a day painting and 2 rooms are done.  It is looking awesome and I'll be posting before and after pics when I'm all done so you can all see the difference.  I'm super excited.  I actully LOVE renovating and am pretty obsessed right now with the the house spending hours every night on pinterest getting new ideas for decorating.  I'm gonna get crafty crafty so you should all get excited to see it!!  I hope it doesn't take me a year to finish everything...lol.

I spent my last week of summer with my sister in Calgary.  It is SO AWESOME  being close to her and the girls.  I always imagined that when we both had kids we would live close and hang out all the time and it was exactly that.  Just feels so right being back here I feel so blessed that we were able to move back from Vancouver so quickly and that Talon can work from home now.  I'm officially living at the farm now and let me tell you its really different than what I'm used to.  Leo and I spent our first day alone in like forever and we were bored.  It was cold and rainy and we had to stay inside all day.  Time to invest in some warm Alberta clothes so we can get outside.  I'll try and post some pics soon of the summer I'm just a bit too lazy tonight to go through them all.

Oh and I've been taking some online classes,  learning about photoshop and blogging.  Its fun but I've been royaling messing up the look of my blog so sorry.  I hope I can figure it out soon and have some fun with it and get things to work instead of looking weird.

Happy long weekend everyone:)

9 months

I'm loving this age.  Watching you learn and have things connect in your brain.  You are learning how your toys actually work and remembering things that I teach you.  You're flying around the house as fast as you can.  Full speed ahead.  Standing on your own,  today a couple times with no hands.  After a month of chewing and drool those 2 top teeth are finally in.  You are having a hard time napping these days I think because you are such a busy guy.  You and Donk are playing together.  He brings his toys over to you and you always play tug o war with him.  Even when my back is breaking by the end of the the day how can I say no when you crawl over to me and pull up to standing on my legs and put those little chubby hands up for me to pick you up.  You gave up your soother on your own and now your bottle is your best friend.  Its pretty cute when you chill out on the floor and have some milk now that you can hold your own bottle.  You have no fear as you dive head first of the bed,  couch,  out of my arms if I'd let you!  You had your first shiner and fat lip this week and today have a giant scrape across your cute little nose.  Good thing your a tough kid. 

8 months and the Beach!!

Can't believe what a little boy you are turning into.  You've been crawling all over the place for a couple weeks now.  Gone are the times where I can leave you alone in the middle of the room and come back and you are still there.  You take off every chance you get leaving a path of destruction behind.  We moved the guitars and stand into our room cause you can't leave them alone and keep pulling yourself up on them so the other day I let you crawl down the hall and you disappeared.   I heard you in our room and then heard the guitars all fall over.  I went to see what happened and there you were lying on the floor with 3 guitars and the stand on top of you with just your little face just poking out.  Not crying or anything.  You are such a mellow guy like your dad.  

Its pretty cute how you follow me around now everywhere with your best friend Donk.  Feel like I have two little dogs sometimes.  It melts my heart when you crawl over to my legs and try and pull up and want me to pick you up.  Can't say no to that.  Find I don't get much done these days.  You come over all the time now too and want to sit on our laps and be with us.  Love books so much now.  Could read them for hours.  Life is a lot more busy with you but I loving seeing you grow up, its so fun.  Can't wait to see what the next months bring.  Oh and you sure loove that soother.

We spent the afternoon at the beach today.  These are some of the shots.  Trying to get as many beach days in as we can before we're back in Alberta.

Nothing like spring in Vancouver.

There's nothing quite like spring in Vancouver. I remember my first spring here I couldn't get over the flowers. Every tree and every bush at some point flowers and everything is such a lush green. Lasts for a couple months too, changing from week to week. We can walk the same paths and enjoy the beauty and never seems like the same place. Since this will be our last spring here as we're moving back to AB I thought I'd better get out and take some photo's so I can remember.

I got a new 50mm lens in the states I played around with today. Got some nice close ups I think. I'll take some more landscape shots this week too. So pretty here despite ALL the rain. These were all taken just on our block while I was out walking Donk in the rain.

7 months....

Ahhhhh.... how is the time going so fast. How is my little man already 7 months old. Its bittersweet. I love how he is changing and learning. He can go from lying on the ground to sitting right up, rolling, almost crawling. He can pretty much get wherever he wants now just at a nice slow pace. He found his tongue last week and can't stop sticking it out, so cute. Trying to pull himself up on everything but isn't quite strong enough. Loves going for walks in the stroller and riding in the shopping cart. Grabbing and shoving everything in his mouth. Still waiting for those 2 top teeth to come in. Wakes up happy every morning and from every nap turning on his mobile and plays in the crib till I come and find him. Sometimes I wonder how long he's been awake. When he's tired he never really gets grumpy just gets crazier and crazier. Its pretty funny. Loves riding on our shoulders and playing in bed with us. He's such a joy in our lives and such a sweet boy. We are so blessed to have Leo in our family.

Toth Family Vacation

This weekend was my cousin Darci's wedding in Portland. Since it's only about 5 hours away we decided to drive down and have a little mini vacation. It was so fun to be their with the new young couple in La la love and share there big day. My Grandma and Aunt Jan were down from AB and cousin Janell so it was fun to see them too. The Portland temple was gorgeous.... made totally of Marble. So grand. It was a fun day.

It was also great to see how Leo would do on his first big road trip and I must say it was a success. He was a champ sleeping great, napping wherever we had him, car, stroller, playpen, crib. Good thing he takes after his Dad and is such a mellow guy. I pretty much planned the rest of the trip around shopping. There is no tax in Oregon and outlet shopping so needless to say I shopped till I dropped. Our car was PACKED on the way home. It was fun fun fun!! I haven't shopped in forever. People in the states have no idea how much cheeper things are down there.... especially compared to us in Vancouver.

We stayed at the Phoenix Inn. Awesome deal. Comfy king size bed, kitchen, pool, amazing breakfast. Seems like its a chain in Oregon and Washington. We were super impressed.

Took Leo swimming for the first time. He kind of liked it but his teeth were chattering, he was a bit cold, so I just took him back upstairs and let him swim in the warm bath.

Leo's new favorite way to travel:) Love my boys.

Warm beet and Toasted walnut salad.

Mmmmm... I love beets and nuts and salad. So this is one of my favorites and nice and filling too. Thought I'd share the recipe since I know my sister can't wait to try this!!

First roast the beets:

Try and buy beets around the same size. I bought golden and red beets. Wash and dry, then drizzle with olive oil and wrap each one and place in heated 375 oven. Cook anywhere from 20-60 minutes depending on the size. Just poke one with a fork and if its nice and tender its done. Let them cool till you can touch them and the peels should slide right off. Done! I usually cook 2 beets per person.

While the beets are cooking chop up some walnuts. Just pop them in the over after the beets are done for about 3-5 min and they'll be nice and roasted and READY.



Have some nice greens ready on the plate. I added some red pepper today cause I had some. Cut up the beets and add, toss on some nuts. Goat cheese or feta is also delicious but I was out and then drizzle with the dressing and enjoy.

Dressing:
3tbsp olive oil
2tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
Thats enough about 2 salads