No Church this Sunday

Due to the long weekend - and the very Canadian habit of going away for May long weekend - there will be no one around for church this Sunday. Enjoy your long weekend and we will see you back for service on Sunday, May 27 at 10:00 a.m.

New Life... and other signs of Spring!

This is the view that greets us every morning from our bathroom window. It's such a great start to the day. I wish the blooms lasted longer. I LOVE where we live! I feel very blessed.

On Thursday evening - May 11 - my youngest brother and his wife, Ken and Lana, had a new baby boy! They have two daughters, Santana and Sadie, and now a new son named Javin Seth. He is healthy and doing well, as is Lana. Lana was very brave and attended Santana's ballet recital two days after giving birth. We attended as well and Tana was adorable!

On the subject of new life - we are still hoping to find new homes for some of our kittens. Here is the first litter who are now getting old enough to be playful and fun:

There are six of them and they are just too cute for words!

Here is a new litter. The mom (Jetta) must have snuck in the house when we were on our way to a lacrosse game last weekend. We came home to find new kittens in Sierra's room. Sierra was thrilled (me...not so much!) There are four of these kittens and they are now just starting to open their eyes after a week. We've moved them into the garage near the older kittens. The older kittens come and snuggle with the newer ones when the moms are out. It's so cute!

And, one more sure sign of spring - trampolines and sprinklers! This is at my sister's house - her three boys and Sierra. Too much fun!

BTW - Brett's team came in fourth place over all in the bantam division in the Floorbuster's tournament - two wins, one tie and one loss. Brett scored a couple of awesome goals. Special thanks to Megan and Arlene who attended the morning game on Saturday morning. They probably saw a different side of me being a lacrosse mom. :-) It was a pretty intense game - our team was down three goals and came back to tie it in the last four minutes. Brett's goal was the first of those three goals that tied the game.

Also - thanks to my sister and brother-in-law Shelley and Wayne, and their three boys Jared, Logan and Adam as well as my Dad (Opa) for attending the afternoon game on Sunday. They squeaked by in a one goal win and it was a pretty intense game as well. Brett appreicated all of the support!

Floorbusters!

Brett will be in a lacrosse tournament this weekend, called "Floorbusters". Anyone who would like to come and watch a game is more than welcome. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 11 5:00-6:30 at the Labor Club
Saturday, May 12 10:15-11:45 at the Lethbridge Soccer Centre (East Field)
Saturday, May 12 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Adams Arena

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARRIN!

This picture was taken last night when it was still Sierra's birthday. Darrin just put in this hitching post in front of our house. It was a perfect evening for enjoying the horses, the dogs, the cats..... Darrin is 39 today by the way! You'll have to give him a hard time about that. :-)
In honour of this special day, here is a little "Darrin photo gallery":


This photo was taken this past Christmas when we had our pajama party in front of the fireplace downstairs for Christmas eve. Even the dogs were allowed to be part of the celebrations. Of course everyone who knows Darrin well knows what a soft spot he has for those dogs. They are never hurting for attention when Darrin is around.
To the right is Christmas morning with his new "Tony Soprano" robe and opening his new p.j.'s.

This photo was taken this past summer at a family reunion. Darrin is enjoying some "beverages" in front of the campfire with my cousin Vince.

To the right is also from the same family reunion. Darrin is such a great uncle. Our neices and nephews always know when "Uncle D" is around there will be some chasing, tickles, teasing - and other good Uncle -type activities.

Well Darrin - even though you are only one year from 40 - life goes on! :-) (I'm still 38 so I'm milking this for all it's worth!)

Have an amazing day! We love you and wish you all the best of God's blessings today and throughout this year.

Love, Lisa, Carlin, Brettin, and Sierra (and the animals of course.....)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIERRA!

Sierra turned 11 years old today! This is from this morning as she is looking at her new book from Mom and waiting for the bus. In honour of this very special day, here is a little "Sierra Photo Gallery":

Here is Sierra and her favorite teddy - Christmas 05.

To the right is at the campfire at a family reunion this past summer.

Christmas 06 - our fun Christmas Eve at the river.

To the right is probably my all time favorite photo of Sierra with Taco. Sierra loves animals and is always the first to help with them and give them lots of love and attention.

We are so proud of our daughter! She just had a note sent home from her teacher letting us know what a pleasure she is to teach, how helpful she is and how kind she is to other students. She has a wonderful sense of humour, an adventurous nature, and a sensitive heart.

Sierra - WE LOVE YOU!!! God bless you today and always.

Love, Mom and Dad, Carlin and Brettin (and all the animals which are too numerous to mention by name....)

LAX ROX!

Interpretation of this title for those who are not fluent in "lacrossese" - Lacrosse Rocks!

We are in full swing with lacrosse season again. This is the third year that Brett has played. It is his first year in Bantam and there is some pretty big kids in that age group! He plays for the Lethbridge team, "Paul's Flooring Gaits" and is number 16. They are the team in the red jersys in this picture. Brett is in the centre of the picture, although you can't see his number. So far, they have a record of two wins and two losses. This past weekend we were in Medicine Hat for two games. The first game they won 12-1. Brett got his first goal of the season as well as an assist. They lost the second game but did really well considering they only had a short one-hour break between games.

Our lives tend to revolve around lacrosse for most of May and June, but we enjoy it. Brett loves the game and it is really fun to watch! This coming weekend there will be a tournament in Lethbridge, called Floorbusters. We'll post times/locations of games and anyone is welcome to come watch if you'd like!

Sacred Heart Reunion

We had a great time on Sunday! Kevan and Leah surprised us by attending the service, along with Kevan's sister, Jenna, and her friend Dave. Since Kevan and Leah moved to Airdrie, we don't get to see much of them anymore. I guess you don't realize how much you miss someone until you unexpectedly see a smiling face walk through the door.... Thanks for the surprise guys - it made our day! You both have been so important to us and to Sacred Heart. We miss you!
We had a great lunch after the service at the Mongolie Grill. They give a discount for church groups there on Sundays. You are supposed to bring your church bulletin, but since we didn't have one we asked if it works that we brought our pastor. We got the discount. We were joined for lunch by Kim and her boys (as well as a friend), Chad and Sharon, Aaron and Megan, Arlene, Kevan and Leah, Jenna and Dave as well as Kevan and Jenna's brother Matt, Matt's girlfriend, and Matt's girlfriend's neice and nephew. Tavis and Chryslyn were off to Waterton after church.
It was a great day....