Chad and Amanda's Wedding

My brother got married!!! He really shocked me in April when he announced that he got engaged to Amanda. And now, the wedding has come and gone. We had a fabulous time. Three words: Best Band Ever. The Bride was smashing as well (that's 6 words). Seriously, the band had the place rocking until 1:30 am and we still wanted more. I also loved spending time with my cousins. Here are the photos of the wedding and the days prior.

More Fall Photos

Well, it's time to update the blog, now that I got some of my photo gift projects complete! The following photos take place from Thanksgiving to just before Chad and Amanda's wedding (5 Nov). I took the opportunity to go out to Bird's Hill Park and snap some photos of my boys and some with all the kids together. It was really fun. I have even more fun running them through Picnik and manipulating the colours and lighting. There are also a couple Halloween photos included. The kids went around our neighbourhood with a couple of their friends. Of course, they got tonnes of candy.

Race Day

Riley had a cross country race against all of the schools in our school division on Oct 6th. It was a beautiful day for running. He raced against all the grade three boys in the division which was approximately about 110-120 and placed 23rd. He ran really hard. And at the end, he thanked me for be there to watch him run. What a wonderful big boy. He brought a tear to my eye.

Fun Photos

Well, our fall has been sensational. The weather's been very warm and generally lots of sunny days. The temperature took its first tumble last week. Here are some photos of the Fiona before before heading off to Tiny Tots. She wanted me to put tonnes of elastics in her hair, which normally, she hated getting her hair done at all. I also went out to Birds Hill Park with the girls and their friend Amy for some play time on the play structure. We don't have any decent playgrounds in Oakbank so going to Bird's Hill was quite a treat.

I dragged along my camera because I thought I could get some fun photos of the girls. This is what I managed to snap.

Clay's Birthday

 Here is a picture of Clay and his crew on his 33rd birthday. We only had a little family celebration as the weekend was not conducive to a big party as there were too many other events going on. Maybe next year! We were just happy to have him home on his birthday, because he is gone away more often than not.

A New School Year

Well, the new school year started almost a month and a half ago. The kids are enjoying school and Grace is loving it. It was about time she got to go to school. It was almost as if she felt robbed from last year, because had we stayed in Ontario, she would have started last year.

Fiona has also started Tiny Tots. It is the highlight of her week. She loves it so much and has had no separation issues at all. She gets in the door and waves good bye to me. Fiona goes to Tiny Tots on Tuesday afternoons. Some Tuesdays, I have no one at home for the afternoon. It's hard to believe that we are hitting that stage of life, that our kids are all going to be in school soon enough.

Here are some photos from all of their first days of school.

More of August

Here are some photos following Brodie's birthday. Fiona figured she should learn to ride her bike on her own and she did it. She is a fantastic little rider. Brodie was super excited to get an RC helicopter for his birthday, so he used his money from Grandma and Grandpa Kotzer to fund this purchase. Other than that, the boys are really loving throwing the football and playing catch.

Brodie's Birthday

Wow! Time to get blogging. Brodie's birthday was like...a month and a half ago! Anyways, he requested a sleep over with some of his friends and a Roughrider birthday cake. So, that's what we did for him. As well, Grandma and Grandpa Stajniak joined us and Auntie Connie and Uncle Greg and girls. He had a great weekend and we had tonnes of fun. Anyways, here are the photos from that event that happened so long ago.

Camping at Betula Lake

Clay and I and the kids headed out to Betula Lake, which is part of the Whiteshell Provincial Park. We loved the Whiteshell as it reminded us of all the picturesque camping we did in Ontario. We went there with four other couples and had a great time. Clay and I brought the boat and taught everyone else's kids how to water ski. Fiona did great water skiing and got it on her first try. She skied around the lake a few times. We were all quite shocked and proud. She wasn't the youngest kid trying though. Our friends' son, Madden, tried it too and he is only 2 1/2! He didn't make it too far, although on his last try he did probably get 25 ft before falling sideways. Gotta give the little guy credit for having some guts.

Another big moment, Brodie learned how to get up out of the water holding the rope directly from the boat. He has since, in the past couple of weeks, mastered the deep water start, without having anyone to assist him to keep steady. Riley is getting really good getting out of the water on his own too. He actually skied with Clay which is a first for our family. I am waiting to get photos of that from a friend.

So, here are the photos from Betula.

Special Visitors

I had been over one year since the kids have seen any of their friends from Kingston. Riley and Brodie's best buddy, Aiden Fullerton and his family, came to Winnipeg for trip and stayed with us for one night. The kids were all super excited and had such a great time together. It was like they hadn't spent a day apart. Here are photos of the kids with Aiden and Emma and their parents, Brenda and Gary.

More of the Lake

Here are a few more photos from the lake. We got some early morning fishing in the canoe, which was awesome. We did more waterskiing and my parents joined us on the last full day that we were there. The kids loved having both sets of Grandparents at the lake with them.

90 Years Young

What a year for birthdays! My Grandma turned 75, my Grandpa turned 80, and Clay's Grandma turned 90. Her birthday was the 4th of Aug, but we celebrated the occasion on July 26th, with our family, Uncle Elwood and his family and some of Grandma's closest relatives and friends. Although there were quite a few of us, it was actually a nice private affair. Unfortunately, Mark and Laura were unable to attend and we missed them tonnes. It would have been so cool for Grandma to see all 15 of her Great Grandchildren playing together. But, she had to do with only 12 and they got along so fabulously that it was a real treat....for all of us. Here are some photos of Grandma's birthday and a some from the days just before the event.

Gone Camping - Birds Hill 2011

We managed to cram a week-long camping trip into our busy schedule. We went to Bird's Hill and had a fantastic time. Clay had to work from Monday til Wednesday, but he had the rest of the week off.

I scheduled morning activities, like hikes and baseball with the kids and then we hit the beach every afternoon. The beach was so great because the temps were so hot.

We snuck home on Thursday and got all showered up. I wanted to put on my wedding dress and get a few photos with Clay and the kids to mark our 10th anniversary. We had a fabulous family day together.

Our campsite was magnificent: very sheltered and private with tonnes of space. The kids played soccer and bocce balls in it while having enough space for two hammocks. We loved this site and have decided that we will do this trip again next year in the same site, if possible. The kids are also becoming really good with camping routine and helping out with the chores.

Here are the photos from the week.

Grace's Birthday Party

Wow! We can't believe she is 5 and going to school this fall. Good thing, she is so ready for school and such a social butterfly.

We hosted 7 girls for Grace's birthday. It was a princess themed party, so everything was pretty much linked to being a princess. First, our princesses needed crowns,so we made some. Then we had a treasure hunt and the prizes were ring pops. Then, the girls got pampered by getting their toe nails painted. After the toe nails, we were ready for the crown birthday cake. We finished off the afternoon by opening Grace's gift and the girls danced around. Everyone had tonnes of fun and Grace got lots of great crafty gifts.

Canada Day at the Lake

We spent Canada Day weekend at the lake. It was super awesome. The water significantly warmed up from the time we got there until the time we left. Even wimpy little Evelyn went in the water and skied. Actually, everyone waterskied. Even Fiona...behind the boat. She didn't get far, but, she tried again later the same day. After she fell in the first time, I didn't think she would go in until next year!

We tried some fishing too. That wasn't so successful. Both the girls caught fish off the dock with the little princess rods, but lost the fish when they got to the dock. Riley was the only guy who successfully snagged one in. It was about a 3 lb jack and it fought Riley hard. But, Riley won and we had him for lunch one day.

We had a great weekend and got to see so much family. It's finally sinking in that we live closer to home now. We are loving it!

Odds and Ends

Here are a few photos from the end of June. It seemed to fly by so quickly and now we are in the full swing of summer holidays. I have captions on the pictures, but, I must add that Grace was forced into her bike situation because either her Mom or Dad crushed one of her training wheels when backing into the garage. Good thing we didn't crush the whole bike!

Sophie Jane's Baptism

On June 19th, we welcomed Sophie Jane into the Christian Community. She had a very lovely baptism. It was a very nice weekend, and one that would not have been able to enjoy (more than likely) had we still been in Ontario. Anyways, here are the pics from the baptism.

Just Goofing Around

Here are a few pics of the kids just goofing around. I bought some pink hairspray for the girls for fun, so that's what's in their hair.

Grace's First Year of Soccer

This was Grace's first year of soccer. She did really great and turned into a real go-get'r. She also averaged about 2 goals per game by the end of the season. Here are some of the pictures of her in action.

Corbin's First Birthday Party

We hit the farm on the second weekend of June to celebrate Corbin's birthday party. It was a really great time and we got to visit with a lot of cousin's. The kids had a blast with their cousins and second cousins at the party.

Like a regular one year, Corbin thought openning gifts was pretty much for the birds and did everything he could to escape that scene. Martin and Dawn kept bringing him back. I'm sure he's enjoying those gifts now. He also loved his birthday cake and ate it like a regular 1 year old: eat some, wear the rest. Here are the photos.

The Rest of May

It's been a bit since I've blogged. I'm posting some photos from the month of May since Riley's birthday. We went to Clay's parents' cottage at Lake of the Prairies, Mb. The weather kinda sucked, but the cottage and hosts were awesome. After the lake, Susan came home with us and hung out with us for a week. During her week, she did a lot of baking, which was awesome, and got to see the boys play hockey, Grace play soccer, Grace's dance recital and Riley, Brodie and Grace's music recital.

The month of May was also a month of discovery! It was exciting to discover what flowers are in the gardens, since this is our first spring in this house. The tulips were super beautiful and I posted some pictures of them. I also had a tonne of weeding to do because of the mess the flower beds were in when we arrived last July. But, everything is doing well now. I also planted an awesome garden and it is doing well.

It's hard to believe it's already been a year here. We are absolutely loving it!

Boys and Their Toys

Riley got an extra special gift for his birthday from Clay and I...actually, it's for both boys' birthdays. Of course, Clay had one so when the opportunity arose to buy a DIRT BIKE for our boys, Clay seized it!

The boys loved it. The were so excited. The first night, Clay ran alongside the boys to ensure that the didn't get hurt and to coach them along. Of course, everyone got the safety brief. We let our neighbours' kids have a crack at it too. It's quite popular in the neighbourhood, go figure. And, Clay also let the girls have a turn, but, he didn't let go of the bike at all. Here are some pictures from the first evening when we gave the boys the bike.



The boys have road the bike a few times now. Last night, Clay let them ride on their own without running alongside of them. The are getting good at it. We also acquired some extra safety gear.

Can't Believe We Have An 8 Year Old

Our big boy turned 8 on Sunday and we had a Birthday party for him on Saturday. Riley wanted to have a sleepover with some buddies. So, we let him choose three of his friends for the sleepover. He also invited some of his other buddies over on Saturday even to play some hockey and have some cake.

For the sleepover, we let the kids have a movie night with popcorn and pop. In true boy nature, they tried to stay up all night, so Clay and I stayed up until 1 am, which was when they finally fell asleep. And in true boys fashion, they were up before seven, running around and rocking the house. We served waffles, whipped cream and strawberries for breakfast and shortly after that, the parents came to pick up their kids.

Riley's First Communion

Riley's First Communion was a wonderful and busy weekend. We had tonnes of family come: Clay's parents, my parents, my grandparents, and Martin and family and Chad. So, the house was full, but we were prepared for more, just in case. Riley had a really great weekend. He was very excited about making this step in his Christian journey. He was also very appreciative about all of his gifts. He made Clay and I so proud when he thanked everyone so genuinely for each one of his gifts. What a big boy. Anyways, here are the photos from that weekend.

Wedding Weekend in Calgary

My cousin got married in Calgary on April 30th. We made the trip to Calgary from Winnipeg by car, with stopovers in Regina. We stayed in Calgary with our wonderful friends, Mike and Katie Strawson. The kids hadn't seen each other since last summer, but they were instantaneously acquainted with each other.

The weekend was really great, inspite of the long drive and the puking bandit in the backseat of the car. Poor Brodie threw up only 35 mins out of Regina and required a temperary road break to help him out, then, a good fixing when we got to a gas station at Moose Jaw. Other than that, the trip went smoothly.

We had a really good time at the wedding and I got to see a lot of my cousins that I haven't seen in a while. The kids danced like crazy and got to party really late. They also had some awesome wrestling time with Great Grandpa Englot when we went back to their room after the marriage. He's almost 80 and he had those kids flying through the air. It's pretty cool that they are going to have such fond, fun memories of them.

Here are the photos.

The Kotzer meet Sophie Jane

Connie and Greg's baby was born on April 15th. We had to wait until April 27th to meet her and got a chance to do so on our way to Calgary for my cousin's wedding. She is such a sweet little thing and when she sleeps, she sleeps hard. Pretty much, nothing wakes her up. Here are the pictures of our newest little niece.

Easter Weekend 2011

Clay and I and the family stayed at home for Easter this year. We had a really nice weekend, which also included sausage making with two of the neighbours. Clay has always wanted to try making breakfast sausages and actaully did it on Holy Saturday. They turned out great.

Easter Sunday, we went to church, ate Easter brunch and then had the greatly anticipated Easter Egg hunt.

Winter in the Spring

It's not uncommon to get snow in the prairies in the spring....it's actually expected, but not necessarily welcome. One Friday night while hot tubbing, it started to snow, the next morning it looked like November and the kids made the best of it. The pictures tell the story.

Morning Practice

Grace is such a diligent little piano player. Sometimes, it's the first thing she does in the morning, even before getting dressed.

On this particular morning, she played for her jam-faced sister and super flexible Barbie doll.

Going Buggy

On April 14th, Riley and Brodie took part in a school play called "Going Buggy." It was a super cute musical production about bugs fighting for their right to be treated fairly on the earth. Riley was a spider and Brodie was a bee. Brodie sang a few songs with his class in the play and Riley had an acting part that he had to audition for. They both did really well with their songs and lines. Clay and I were very proud parents. Here are the photos from the evening. There are also a few photos with Riley's classmates. Warning: Boys will be boys, so, some of them look quirky.

Spring Break Part 2 - Grand Forks ND

Half of our spring break was spent at the farm and the other half was spent in Grand Forks, North Dakota. We went there with Al and Melissa Taylor and Co., and also met up with some friends from Oakbank. We hit the waterpark with the kids twice, checked out Cabela's as per Al's direction, did some awesome shopping at great prices and celebrated Claire Taylor's 3rd birthday.

A word of advice, although there are no pop guns pictured in the slide show, you will know what one looks like if you find it. Avoid showing children what a pop gun looks like at all cost or they will want one and you will regret it!

Spring Break Part 1 - The Farm

Spring break ran over the last week of March. So, we headed out to the farm for a few days to celebrate my brother Chad's birthday and make sausage. It was a great weekend because everyone was at the farm. We also got to see the imfamous Uncle Stan and Auntie Jackie as well as Uncle Kevin, who all snowmobiled over to my parents to wish Chad a Happy Birthday. Yes, snowmobiled. There was not a stitch of dirt to be seen in that neck of the woods. They still had so much snow.

Sausage making was great this time because ventured into some new territory. We made pepperonis and beef jerky too as well as the regular sausage recipe.

The time at the farm was awesome. The kids spent so quality time with their little cousins and we got to see Auntie Connie one last time before Sophie Jane popped out a couple days ago. Here are the photos.

The Last of Winter

Here are the last of winter's photos. I know the skating pics are probabyly getting redundant, but I only included them because they were taken with Brodie wearing the "Little Digger" Helmet. This helmet was awarded to the little digger of the week and Brodie had it towards the end of February. Also, there are some photos from Grace's dance recital in Steinbach. She was in a bunny costume for the Peter Cotton Tail performance and a brightly colour jumpsuit for the Strawberry Shortcake Work Together performance. It was great to see her dance in the competition, although I don't think the boys felt the same way.

More Awesome February Guests

Well, winter is finally over, it seems and I am finally adding to our blog. It's hard to believe where it went even though it seemed to last so long. So, I have lots of blogging to do, but I'll start by posting on the wonderful visitors we had in February.

Of course, my sister, Mom and Grandma came for a visit, but followed by them, Clay's parents came to see us. They wanted to make sure they saw some of the boys hockey and Grace's dance. They also got a chance to scrimmage on our ice pad with Clay and the boys and the girls. What a great visit!

Shortly after Grandma and Grandpa Kotzer left, we had a visit from Teresa Gunther. She had a ride from Lanigan to Winnipeg and some other close friends as well, so we felt pretty special that she made some time for us.

We also had a special visit from Jenay, Clay's cousin and her baby Beckett. Unfortunately, Zach got left on the farm to watch over the cattle and missed out, but it was great have Jenay and Beckett. We had an awesome time with Jenay. Clay stayed up way to late, every night but it was worth it! Jenay and I also discover a super awesome gift and furniture shop and restaurant called Pineridge Hollow. What a gem of a place. It was almost to intense for our senses.

So Thank You to all of our February guests. Your visits were a wonderful way of melting the cold month of February away!

Special Visitors

Well, February is half over and it has started the same way it always does....Evelyn's Birthday; however, this year was a little different! We had some extra special guest come to help celebrate. Connie and Emily ventured away from Regina, in the frigid cold, to spend a few days at our house. We had such a great time together. We did some window shopping, skating, sledding, digging snow and bouncing....in the bouncer...in our house. Too fun.

Following their visit, Clay went away last week and Grandma Stajniak and Great Grandma Englot came for a visit. Like usual, those two can't sit still and they filled my freezer with perogies, bread and buns, and cabbage rolls. We almost needed to buy a new freezer.

We also had one other visitor to our house: Bou, the Buffalo. He belongs to Riley's teacher and she is letting Bou, pronounced Boo, spend some time with each of her students. So there are pictures in the slide show of Bou while he was at our house. The pictures with apples in the corner were printed out and put in the teacher's special memory book. I made them up on Picnik for Riley.

The Last Half of January

Hey everyone. I just thought I would post some of the pictures from the second half of January. We've been getting so great ice time in with the kids, inspite of the cold weather. Otherwise, all is going well here. Can't believe January is gone already.

7:45 PM and Still Skating

Hey Everyone, The kids are just coming off the ice now. I took this video a few minutes ago to give you all an idea how everyone is doing on their skates. They all have improved immensely, but, Fiona came off the ice a few minutes to early to get caught on video. She is doing great too. Here it is, enjoy! Evelyn

Fiona Turns Three

On Sunday, we celebrated Fiona's 3rd Birthday. She has come a long way in a year. She can actually talk now, when she wants to, and babbles to me all day long. Her favourite thing to say, especially when she's getting disciplined is, "Mommy, I want to talk to you" or "Mommy, I have to tell you something" and then she plants a big kiss on me. What a squirt.

She had a great birthday and we all surrendered to her decisions, except Church in the morning, which was non-negotiable. So, Fiona chose to go sledding during the afternoon. Then, she wanted to do karaoke. Pizza is what she ordered for supper and of course, she had cake for dessert. Her cake was a roller skate, which she picked out herself when we went to the Bulk Barn. Grace got rollerblades for Christmas and Fiona was constantly skating around my Mom's house and our basement with them. It's her new thing, so as soon as she saw the rollerskate cake, that's what she wanted. Little did she know that she was getting rollerblades for her Birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Stajniak. She got lots of great gifts for her birthday: a new outfit, which she wore immediately, more clothes for the Barbie she got for Christmas, necklace beads, and her very own suitcase. All in all, I think she really loved her Birthday and the gifts, even though she didn't have a big party with all of her friends.

Here are some pictures from her day. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the camera to the snow hill.

Christmas 2010

Christmas has come and gone for another year. WE had a great time spending Christmas with our family, and it was a lot easier to travel this year, that's for sure. We spent Christmas Eve and Day, on the farm with my parents and family. It was great to have everyone together. Connie, Greg and Emily joined us on the 25th. It was so special to spend Christmas with everyone and it was Corbin's First Christmas. A non-highlight of Christmas was the "awesome" stomach flu that us Kotzers delivered to everyone. Someone different was sick everyday. But, we hung in there and managed to have a great time and open lots of great gifts.

On Dec 28th, we headed to Lanigan to spend time with Clay's Mom and Dad. Once again more gifts and great surprizes. Lots of Rider gear too. We are so kitted out for the 2011 season. Mom and Dad Kotzer just arrived from Halifax that day so we treated to and extra special gift: lobster supper. It was spectacular. We took the kids skating here at the outdoor rink and Lanigan arena. We spent New Years Eve in Lanigan. It was a low key affair. A few people were under the weather and we attended the funeral of our dear friend, Dallas Gunther, who was one of Grandma and Grandpa's closest friends.

Jan 1st, we started making our way back to Winnipeg with a stopover in Langenberg. We stayed at Jenay, Zach and Beckett's house and had a wonderful time. Uncle Elwood and Auntie Terry, Uncl Jim and Auntie Elsie, and the Mitschkes all came for a visit. The kids had a great time with their second cousins and by the end of the night, Charlee and Eddie were trying to convince their Mom and Dad to go to our place for a visit.

Finally, on Jan 2nd, we stopped in at Grandma Kotzer's for a visit. We had a great time with her and the kids jumped all over our poor elderly Grandma when it was picture time. It was alright though. She's still pretty tough and loved all the affection the gave her.

That concludes our Christmas and New Years, 2010/11. It always feels like it goes by so fast. Here our photos to remember the time.

The Kotzer Skating Rink

Well, it took about two weeks of hard work and persistance, but Clay made our rink happen. He also learned a lot of things for next year and probably killed a strip of grass, but, that's OK, our rink is a huge success. We are truly loving our backyard ice pad. We have had numerous friends and neighbours come over for a skate and a hockey game. The boys are improving their skating and hockey skills. AS for the girls, Grace is getting the hang of gliding and Fiona is doing well balancing while taking baby steps. Our biggest concern was the water bill it took to fill the rink, but it was actually less than our summer water bill, which leads me to wonder: where the heck did we use all that water in the summer?