Part of our Countdown

When we realized that we only had a few months left in Edmonton, we felt sad at all that we have had at our fingertips and neglected.  We found the multi-play pass (a pass to all the attractions at West Edmonton Mall) and got the 3 months package.  Starting at the end of January, we have been going to West Ed twice a week (unless out of town) and thoroughly enjoying it!  The kids have LOVED Galaxyland and the Waterpark.  They have gone down into the "Sea Caverns" and seen Penguins, sharks, sea turtles, penguins, lizards and many other kinds of fish.  We've caught the Sea Lion Show, gone Glow-in-the-dark-mini-golfing and plan on still doing more.  Bowling is on our agenda soon and bumper boats and perhaps ice skating.  My cousin has met us there with her little boy a few times and we've thoroughly enjoyed having them there as well.  As I have many pictures that have accompanied these many trips to the mall, I've gone through and picked some of my favorites!  I hope you enjoy the pictures even half as much as we've enjoyed the trips!!

At Galaxyland:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

   

  

One of the many perks - we go when there are absolutely NO lines.

We walk onto the ride and we're the ONLY ones on the ride!

  

  

  

 

And at the Waterpark:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

We're too cheap to spend $7 on a locker rental, so this is what we look like in the waterpark :)

It DOES get through....

You know how you teach, and teach and teach your kids, but you very rarely find it sinking in?  Well, kudos to Kienna's primary teacher.  You have penetrated that little mind.

Today as Kienna came in from playing outside, she took her hand out of her mitten and said, "Hey look!  My mitten is dead, but it's okay because look at its spirit" and wiggled her fingers.  Yep, she got it!!

My Favorite Things...

Perhaps I'm a little bit too much like my Mother, or I'm becoming more like my Mother-in-Law, but I get SO excited about a good deal.  I just needed to let everyone know how AWESOME of a sale is going on in Children's Place right now!

I just got a years supply of clothes (would have been $435.75) for $118!!  Some of it wasn't even sale price (tights and socks) and I still saved almost $300!!  PLUS I won't have to buy any clothes for a year (especially since my mom also just came back from the states ;) )   Can't wait to enjoy the loot!!

Seriously - we're talking $45 outfits for $9.99; $5 headbands for .50; $15 shirts for $2.99; $17 hoodies for $3.99.  IT was AWESOME!!  You should go check it out!!

My Little Groundhog

Yesterday I saw over 5 firetrucks in the afternoon all going in different directions.  When I saw #5 I said to Kaia:

"Wow, that's a lot of fires today!"
"Yeah - I saw some at recess today too!  It's kind of a good thing though."
"Really, why?"
"Well, if the sun is closer to the earth it makes things warmer and that might make some houses get on fire....and that means that spring is coming!"

Oh yeah, of course?!?  I didn't associate house fires with the coming spring.  I guess we don't need a groundhog anymore...

Our House

We are beside ourselves with excitement.  Yesterday, our house passed the inspection and we signed the official papers closing the "conditions" of our purchase of the house.  We're moving to New Brighton in Calgary, Alberta on April 16th and living in our very own house!  We can't believe how everything really just seemed to fall into place!

When we first found this house, we found another one that looked more like what we wanted, but we were going to be checking both of the houses out.  We were on our way down to Calgary to look through both of them and we got a phone call saying that the 4 bedroom house was conditionally sold and they weren't allowing anyone else to look. 

Jarett and I hadn't even reached the city limits of Edmonton, so we stopped and were going to turn around when we decided that we both felt like we should continue.  We went down and walked through this house and instantly fell in love.  We were the only people permitted to view the house because they were having a party that afternoon. 

They had 5 viewings set up for the next day and the house had only been on the market 1 day.  We didn't know about the additional viewings for the next day, but when my Dad saw how much we liked the house, he strongly encouraged us to make an offer sooner than later. 

We decided to make an offer, which ended up being a WONDERFUL decision because they were so generous and we were able to bring them down by $10,000 and get the possession date that we wanted.  They were especially generous considering that they had only been on market for 1 day and they had all these viewings set up for the day after.  The price was a VERY fair price as it was listed, we couldn't be happier.

 We have also been finding that the more that we learn about the community etc. the more excited we get.  It just seems as though this was the PERFECT location for us.  We back onto a park/playground/pond/tobogganing hill/field. 

They'll be building a middle school (5-9) in the field behind us and on the other side of the pond, they'll be putting in a K-4 school.  The playground is literally 20 paces behind our back fence and I can see it clear as day from the kitchen.

The house is made in 2003 and it is 1840 sq ft. PLUS a professionally developed basement.  It's almost all hardwood except in the bedrooms. 

It has 3 bedrooms up and 1 in the basement (once we put in a window), a bonus room and 4 bathrooms.  The kitchen has a DISHWASHER!! 

We have a GARAGE, a FIREPLACE, a STAND UP SHOWER, a PANTRY and MOLD-FREE windows!! 

 

  

  

 

We are just beside ourselves with happiness...