Day 305 - Newborn Photos... OH BOY!!!

While Jaco & I had a brilliant sleep in the trailer, Collet, Dave & Ezekiel did NOT. Little EJ was feeling pretty rough & spent most of the night fussing, crying & feeding. Oh dear. I was going to have to make it a swift & effective photo shoot. I started getting things ready - hot water bottles, blankets in the dryer, setting up props, checking exposures... For what, I'm not really sure.


We shot inside first. Lil' EJ cried every time he left his Mama's arms. He pee'd on the blanket, which ran onto the basket, which ran onto the box, which ran onto the carpet. Then he pee'd on Mama. Then he pee'd on Papa. Thank goodness I was holding the camera! :o) He was NOT loving any of this photo business. We thought we could get him to sleep & then simply shoot whatever we wanted. He had other plans.


It wasn't until we went outside, as a last resort, that he peacefully fell asleep in the warmth of the sun. He was as limp as a rag doll. I couldn't believe it! I didn't think I'd see the day! We managed to get some wonderful shots & I'm excited to have survived my first newborn shoot! Yay! I'm pleased with the results & excited to edit the shots & send them off to Mama & Papa... 


On a side note, I'll also know to bring Valentina with me next time. I had left her at home, as I didn't know if there would be any issues staying with Jenn's parents & of course, the new baby. Unfortunately, as soon as Harrison saw me, 'Tina?' was the first thing out of his mouth. And Ezra had been waiting all day to see 'Nini'. We had a near meltdown when he found out she wasn't with me. Whoops. Aunty Jill's bad. I've learned that lesson!


Jaco & I left for home about 1700. Only 3 hours behind schedule. But at least we got some fabulous photos! Yay! Tomorrow is round 4 - 1/3 of the way there! Amen to that! Here's hoping it goes smoothly! 


xxxxx
MJV

Big Brother Ezra helps out!

Introducing Ezekiel Jasher... Enjoy!

Day 304 - Family Photos... Oh Boy!

This morning we were supposed to take some family photos of the Burnetts. Jaco set his alarm on his watch, as I forgot my alarm clock at home. He then put his watch in the chest pocket on his sweater. He put his jacket on in the middle of the night when he woke up cold. I suppose it goes without saying that we didn't hear the alarm go off in the morning! 


Thankfully the Burnetts were roaring to go when we did wake up! Heidi had a rough night, thus Mike did too. He'd been up since 0700 with Harrison & well, nobody was chomping at the bit to say 'cheese'! Phew! We slowly got ourselves ready for the photo shoot. It was a challenge.


Trying to catch & maintain the attention of a 2 year old who is one hour past nap time is no small task! It was midday, bright sun & hot. What a great combo! In any case, I think we managed to get a few good shots! Not without a challenge! 


After Harrison was down for his nap, we wheeled Heidi out into the field for a few snaps of Mom & Dad. It was a brilliant blue sky day & the tall grass made for some fun shots...


Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so we had to pack up our things & head on down the road. We were off to Raymond to see Dave, Collet, Ezra & Baby Ezekiel!


Collet had her second son on Friday, in her home. She had a midwife help her out & she's now the proud Mama of Ezekiel Jasher! Excited to meet the new addition, Jaco & I were going to spend the night with the Stephan's. 


When we pulled up, Terri, the Midwife, was just leaving. She introduced herself & I was shocked at how young & beautiful she was. I guess I expected someone older? It was quite funny! We went in to find Collet all dolled up. The family was about to jet off to True Hope for a few errands. We went along, as Jaco hasn't been there before & it is an interesting place with a lot of good things happening. 


We met Edie, the gal who helps us with our orders. I've spoken to her on the phone, but never met her, so it was fantastic to put a face to the name. Collet showed us around the office & we met several of the TrueHope staff. We left the office just before closing time & headed home.


On the way, Jaco & I picked up a few corn cobs for supper & Dave bbq'd fish & added some garden fresh beet greens & kohlrabi to our supper spread. For dessert, Ezra & Dave baked some scrumptious flax & hemp cookies. I still need the recipe! 


We were all quite tired & called it an early night. Tomorrow will be a big day for photos... fingers crossed it goes smoothly! xxxx M, J & V

The Burnett's - rockin' it!

Lookin' good Burnett Bunch!

Yay! They are all smiling!

Heidi Jo - total sweetheart!

Perfect but for the stick!

Uh-oh!

Brotherly love

Too cute for words!

Kiss me!

Love

Day 267 - Hoedown.

Well, today the Stephans left for Ponoka. I was supposed to meet Dad for lunch, but a 'Personal Crisis' had him back in Saskatchewan. Good thing I didn't leave early! 


I left the house around 1300, got fuel in Bragg Creek & said goodbye to Dave, Collet & Ezra at the Husky. I headed for Cochrane to purchase my business license/register my business. Yes, I'm finally doing something! Don't hold your breath. It will be awhile in the making!! :o) I'll leave it at that! 


I had quite the chuckle at the Registry. Some Chinese fellow was doing something with his license. The gal behind the desk needed him to do an eye exam. He couldn't understand English. She asked him to read a line & he would spout off letters & letters & letters until she would interrupt him & tell him there were actually only 6 letters in the line! He couldn't figure out where to put his head, after she told him three times - on the bar in front of you... Oh dear, as funny as it was, how on Earth with this chap know how to read road signs & drive safely?!?! Not cool!!!


I stopped in at Jenn & Mike's for a quick chat - Jenn was sleeping, as was Harrison. As soon as Harrison woke up & saw me, he asked for Tina! Too cute! Jenn woke up a little later & we had a quick chat before I dashed off to the city. I stopped at Winners to return something & when I was there, the lady came up to me, looking all flustered & said, 'I just have to tell you, you look like you just walked out of Cosmo magazine!' Wow! That totally made my day! Heck, it made my week! Thanks Stranger!


I stopped at Stampede to see Mom's friend, Gena LaCoste, who had an exhibit in the Artist's Pavilion. I sat & talked with her for awhile & she told me her son was in the city on a brief break from Training. He's a soldier in Afghanistan. He was doing some hectic training in the wee hours of the morning on the Red Deer River. It sounded pretty crazy. But I think she was pretty excited to see her son, if only for a little while. He's away a lot. Gena is a VERY talented watercolour artist. You should check out her work! Wow!


I also stopped to see Shawna Whiteside again. We had another little chat about health & cancer & chemo. She offered some wonderful tips to make the journey that much easier... I'm grateful for people like her who have traveled down the path & come out smilin' & swingin'! 


I visited the South African/Canadian couple again - I'm excited to keep in touch with them... If you want to check out their stuff - Casa by Meg - it's pretty fun stuff & they also help local children back in SA... Even better!


Another long day, I was looking forward to my bed & a nice relaxing day tomorrow... No more stampeding for me... My feet are killing me & this Cosmo girl is headed straight to bed... Yee-Awn.


And I forgot to mention - I called this post 'Hoedown', as I wore a different pair of boots to Stampede today & I think I pulled a groin muscle. This Hoe is Down for the count. No more Stampede for this chick!!!


Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxox

Gena's booth - showing off her artistic talents!

Day 264 - Another Rainy Day!

Today was another miserable rainy day in East Kananaskis. The Stephan's had wanted to visit the zoo today, but it was quite cold & it pretty much poured rain for the better part of the day. We took the day to do a whole lot of nothing. Well, not really.


Collet sewed frantically. She is working on a beautiful patchwork quilt for the wedding they are going to this weekend. She is one talented gal! 7.5 months pregnant & she's impossible to keep up with! Did I mention she also has a 2.5 year old son? Yeah, she's amazing! 


She worked on her quilt & I did my best to do laundry, clean up the kitchen, vacuum my room & clean the bathroom. Yeah, it took me all day. I'm pretty slow these days! And easily distracted! Collet decided to have a nap in the afternoon with Ezra & about then Jaco called. We had a chat for a while & then I had to run to town to get the mail. (I forgot to get water. Whoops.) 


Dave boosted Contemplate & found the fuse that keeps the 'door ajar' light on. I let it run for 1/2 an hour or so, but when I went to start it & run to town, she was dead again. Hmpf. 


Ezra played with 'Nini' until they were both pooped. He loves to play with her. It's quite entertaining. He'll take her toy, but when she gets ahold of the end of it & starts to pull, Ezra will stop & say, 'Help me! Help me!' Too cute.


Collet made dinner for us - she's a great cook too... Yeah, the list just keeps going on & on... We wanted to do some belly photos, but time ran away with us. I haven't been home much for any of my girlfriend's pregnancies, so I was really hoping to do some photos of Collet before the baby arrives. Tomorrow is chemo, so I don't suspect that I will feel up to it, but gosh darn it, I'm sure going to try! 


The best part of my day was when Dave & I were talking about Facebook pages & groups. He is making one or the other for True Hope & we were discussing the differences. We were looking at various groups & pages & at one point, I was on Suzanne Somers 'page'. Ezra walked up, saw Suzanne's profile picture & said, 'Grandma?' His Grandma, Peggy, is a gorgeous blonde. An honest error, but priceless! I had a great laugh! I hope she appreciates the compliment! 


They are going to go to the zoo tomorrow, since it's supposed to be nice out & I'll be busy at the hospital for most of the day. Fingers crossed I'll feel up to a little photo shoot in the late afternoon, early evening... 


Wish me luck for tomorrow... It's going to be a long day!
Love & health hugs,
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Working hard on the quilt!

Ezra hams it up with the mullet wig

Ezra & Nini jump!

Sharing Nini's tent

Day 263 - Git Yer Yee Haw On...

Giddy up! I was excited for today - Mom & I were meeting my cousin & heading off to the Stampede. My cousin, Jori, is a teacher in Roswell, New Mexico & I can't remember the last time I saw her! She has been on a 'Western Canadian' tour, visiting the relatives here, there & everywhere. I knew we were going to have a fun day when we pulled up in the Safeway parking lot & her car looked like a ghost car. It was a big ol' silver Lincoln with black tinted windows. The best part was her license plate - 740 PMS. Ha ha. And she didn't even have to pay for personalized plates. Too funny!


Just our luck, we decided to hit Stampede on a wonderful stormy day. Apparently the weather hasn't been too great so far & today was no exception. Lovely dark clouds, downpours & some brutal hail hit the city this afternoon. Luckily we didn't get the hail! 


We parked in the City of Calgary parking lot & thankfully we didn't get towed. Supposedly after 5 p.m. it is a STARS parking lot & you can donate money to help out STARS. Mom didn't know that. We thought it was a STARS parking lot all day! Luckily the car was still there at the end of the day!


We were late (of course) for the rodeo, but we ended up going anyhow. We managed to catch a fair bit of it. It was a great time! Flint Rasmussen was the rodeo clown & Jori went to University with him. She also knew a lot of the barrel racers. Jori also had the good fortune of being affiliated with the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby - Mine That Bird. It was a very exciting time for my Mom's side of the family. Jori's Mom races horses & our Grandpa had a love of racing horses all his life. It was pretty amazing that someone in our family was in the Winner's Circle!


Meanwhile, back at the ranch... er, rodeo... We were entertained to no end. Flint was hilarious, the barrel racing was intense - it was pretty soupy in the arena after all the rain, and the bull riding was really good too! Of course, the end of the rodeo brought us the wild pony race, which has teams of 3 kids. They give the kids the halter shank and then let the horse out of the chute. They have to get one kid on the horse & ride it for 'a while'. In all that mud, it was VERY entertaining!


After the rodeo, we wandered through the BMO Centre to look at all of the exhibits. I enjoyed looking around at all the interesting displays. I found a 'blingy' belt that called my name & also met a couple from Victoria that sell Springbok bags. The husband is from South Africa, so I enjoyed chatting with them about my beloved South Africa. :o) 


I also bumped into Shawna Whiteside. She is the creator & owner of Sweet Iron Silver & was busy making the belt buckles for the winners of Stampede. I was excited to see her, as she has just finished her quest in conquering breast cancer. I have seen various Facebook updates from Shawna & she has sailed through her treatments with grace, humour & of course, a little attitude! She was very encouraging & I was so glad I bumped into her. She is amazing & an inspiration like no one else! She still has a few rounds of chemo left to do, but she shared with me the events of her last week. She had reconstructive surgery on Friday. Her appendix burst on Monday. She was out of the hospital at noon on Tuesday & setting up her booth at 1430 the same day. Stampede means she has 14 hour days for 10 days straight! Can you say 'Trooper'!!!??? Wow! What a gal! What an inspiration!


I was exhausted after a full day of walking around. Anxious to get home, Mom & Jori actually beat me home! I had talked for so long to Shawna & the South Africans that I left later than planned! I was given a boost when I hopped on the shuttle bus to take me down Spiller Road & the gal across from me commented on my haircut & how well it suited me. *grin* It makes my day when someone comments on it, as it is a big change! I love it, but it's always nice to be reassured that someone else out there thinks it looks good too! 


When I arrived home, I was happy to see the Stephan's camping in the yard. Collet & Dave were in limbo between a family reunion & a wedding. I told them to come & visit rather than pay camping fees elsewhere. Collet was still up & we had a quick chat before we both crashed. I was pretty excited to see her. Her belly is big & beautiful!!! We're going to do some photos before they go. I can't wait!!! 


Okay. This cowgirl's done & dusted. It's time to hit the hay... G'nite y'all...
xxxxx
Maria & Valentina

Best plates ever!

The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth!

Sorry Mom! You're on the fisheye film!

Checking out the heavy horse action!

The Bobsey Triplets!

**There were more photos, but I think I deleted them by accident. Smooth, I know.**