Family Photos

 While I was in Canada I wanted to have same professional family photos taken. We have only ever had professional photos taken once and that was at my wedding. We were scheduled to take pictures the night before however a huge storm came through and we were unable to connect with our photographer. Fortunately Susan was able to refer us to Sherri with Capture It! and I absolutely loved her!!! She did such a wonderful job! Here are some of my favorites. Ready for a picture overload??

 The main reason for these pictures was to take some 4 generation photos. I just love this picture!!!

 Which is probably why I included it in both color and black and white.

 Ethnie and Great-Grandma Ida Heyden. Isn't she beautiful. I have always thought that my Grandma was gorgeous.

 Great- Grandma and Grandpa

 I have only seen my Grandpa in a suit once in my life and that was for my wedding. He looked so handsom it brought tears to my eyes. He is not much fro pictures but I was very grateful that he came. I sure do love that man.

 This picture makes my heart happy!

 I love Mom! She makes this picture!

 Don't smile..... It was super hard.

 They are so cute! This is what it's all about!

 Opa and Oma van den Berge

 Katlynn is so stinking photogenic it is insane! Golly that girl is stunning, and super sweet I might add! I have loved getting to know her throughout our recent visits.

 I love love love {love} this picture!!!

 When it came time for Chris to take his individual shots he smiled politely and said he wanted to take soe with Ethnie. He melts my heart.

 That's how we roll. I really wish Jakob was there for some pictures but that's okay. Once again a huge thank you to Sheri with Capture It! It was a pleasure working with you!

West Edmonton Mall

 When I first moved to Las Vegas all I heard everyone tell me was how fabulous the shopping was here. I'm not going to lie I had some pretty high expectations. Yeah sure the prices were okay, the first time I went to Meadows mall I was seriously disappointed I mean really... you call this a mall? I came from a city that has one of the largest shopping malls in the world. Even Fashion Show Mall looked like a McDonalds to me. Here are some fun facts about WEM.

 The owners are 4 brothers who came to Canada from Iran in 1964 with their father. The Ghermezian brothers turned the family rug business into the construction empire it is today. They turned undeveloped land into West Edmonton Mall in a series of 4 phases, the first one complete in 1981.  (source)

Unusual mall attractions include a skating rink, waterpark, bungie jump, miniature golf, an amusement park, indoor skateboard park and shooting range. There is also a marine animal park and sea lion exhibit with twice daily shows. (source)

 Until 2004 West Edmonton Mall held the title as the largest indoor shopping center in the world. As of now (November 2011) it is the largest shopping mall in North America, and fifth in the world. (source)

I absolutely love the pirate ship. I mean seriously how cool is that?

 Facts:
West Edmonton Mall holds records for:
World's largest indoor amusement park
World's largest indoor triple loop rollercoaster
World's largest indoor lake
World's largest indoor wave pool
World's largest parking lot
World's largest indoor permanent bungee tower

 (source)

  This is a new slide that drops you vertically down the slide! You stand on a trap door and you literally free fall down the tube into a loop. I'm just saying I would be freaked out!

 Mama doesn't like to show her braces but I totally love this picture!

 This beauty here is a fire breathing dragon. No joke! Once an hour he comes to life and blows out fire. H'es pretty cool.

Did You Know?
The length of the Mindbender is equivalent to 48 blue whales lying end to end
West Edmonton Mall's size is equivalent to 48 city blocks
Yearly visitation to the Mall is approximately 30.8 million
With more than 800 stores and services, it would take three 24-hour days to visit each one once. (source)

 I found a new hat shop while I was looking around! I fell in love with this leather top hat. If only I was a millionaire and $350 was equivalent to $15. It was beautiful and had a coordinating men's hat as well!

 Ethnie loved watching the skaters on the ice rink. 

It was a full day of shopping. We walked the whole mall and I only bought a couple of scarves. Now I'm sure one can understand why it's hard to compete with something like that... even in Vegas.

Our Trip Up North Part 1

Ten days in Canada really flew by. I'm going to be honest we didn't do much aside from shop, eat and do lots of visiting, I was surprised to have only taken 450 photos the entire time I was there.

The fruit was outstanding! Raspberries, cherries, blueberries and the list goes on! Ahhh the refreshing taste of produce that isn't imported to the desert.

This is Sheldon my High School Grad date. He is a handicapped boy who has the sweetest soul I have ever known. While at the farmers market out of no where I heard him call my name. I was so excited to be able to see him! He is such a gem!

 There was TONS of rain while I was there not to mention a few thunderstorms. Ethnie didn't mind the thunder one bit and she wanted to go play in the rain. Like I said, if it's wet she wants it!

 I just love this bib that Oma bought Peanut from IKEA. (I totally wish we had one that wasn't 6 hours away from Vegas!) Full sleeves! Now that's what I'm talking about. I would also like to bare testimony of the Munchkin fresh food feeder. It's a little mesh bag that you can put fresh fruits and veggies in and Peanut can suck the juice out of them. It's wonderful!! Here she is enjoying a peach.

 There were raspberries galore! It doesn't get much better than fresh off the bush!

 While picking berries I got stung by my very first hornet! It sucked! I bet you can't even see it... it's on my ring finger and it didn't even swell very big considering how much it stung. Daddy made me put some mud on it. (A mans solution for everything: rub some dirt in it!) I suppose it worked a bit but that thing stung and itched for 3 days. Silly hornet!

 Aunt Katlynn and Uncle Jared got to meet Ethnie for the first time! 

 Ethers loves her baths! For some reason she wanted to keep her toes out of the water the whole time. Silly girl!

 Don't you love that cut on her eye? Yup she gave herself that beauty the day before we had our professional photo shoot.

Daddy enjoying some fresh Raspberries and ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Being in a house with 14 other people can be a little overwhelming at times. I had to run away to the park while Ethnie took a nap (got to love having free babysitters around all of the time!) I love the feeling of sand between my toes. I think going to the beach is next on my list!

G-pa watching the rain. He stood like this for over a half an hour. I love that man!

Rainy days are perfect for baking cookies.

Mama van den Berge says: The secret is in the jar that holds the rolled oats." This is one of my Great-Grandmothers jars. I love things like that!

Here's an 83 year old man crawling on the floor trying to teach Ethnie to stand up! 

Hurray!! We got it! I just love that little smile! Our post is to be continued! We had a lot of fun!!

5 Months

• Height: 25 inches 
• Weight: 17 lbs 
• Head Circumference: 43.5 cm 
• Nicknames: Peanut, Ethie, Ethers Great- G-ma an G-pa call her Snooks just like they did with me. Oma calls her Love Bug.

• She is a laughing machine now. There is nothing better in the whole wide world.
• She is an over the shoulder baby. She isn't very fond of being held in the "nursing position" unless she's being fed. She is so alert. If there's something going on she won't go to sleep. She wants to be part of the action!
• She is sooooo good! She'll have tired, red eyes from her rubbing them so much and she'll still smile for you. She doesn't hardly cry and she'll go with me anywhere. She's become quite the flier, usually falling asleep for take off and will flirt with everyone she sees. I am one lucky Mama!

• Ethnie spent the night in her own room for the first time on July 13th. It went fairly well. She woke up a few times but we just put her soother in her mouth and she went right back to sleep. Canada sort of messed with her sleeping schedule (let's be honest 14 people in one 3 bedroom home messed with my schedule too) but for the last two nights she's slept through the night waking up at 5:30 to be fed and beck to sleep until around 7:30! I'm crossing my fingers that this will last!

• She's learning to sit up pretty well. She still has some balancing issues but she's loving having more control!
• She's been having some rice cereal in a bottle before bed, I'm not sure if it's helping much but she seems to like it.
• She {loves} cups, bowls and spoons. She knows how they work and she'll try to drink out of the plastic cups we give her. Once she realizes their empty she'll hoot and holler until I put some water or tainted juice in them. She's ready for food. This month should be exciting!

• She likes to "talk" to people. Eye contact is key, if you're not looking at her she'll talk at you until you do. When Jakob puts her in bed with me in the morning she'll roll over and grab my hair until I open my eyes. She wants 100% of your attention.
• She {loves} music! She wiggles and smiles when I turn anything on and she'll laugh at me as I sing to her. 
• Those little hands like to grab anything and everything they can. I have to be careful while shopping because she's started grabbing items as we walk by. You especially have to watch out for your glasses, shes getting pretty quick!

• She knows what books are and knows which ones she can touch and feel things in. She's into the grabby stages and will no longer simply sit with me while we turn pages she wants to open and shut it on her own. We don't get much of a story this way but it makes her happy.
• She was working really well with both hands this month. Time will tell but I noticed that my Aunt Carolyn is a lefty too.
• She knows what a camera is be it my cell, the Skype cam, or my DSLR. She see's it and she wants to grab it. It makes taking pictures a little bit easier though.

• She can roll both ways now. She gets tuck on her tummy sometimes but she really enjoys flipping around.
• If there is water around she wants to be in it! She adores bath time and swimming! It's nice to be back in Vegas so we can actually swim!
• She still loves the mirror. She gets the biggest smile when she sees another little person. I don't think she understands that it's her reflection in the mirror but she likes it.

I am loving this stage of growth with Ethnie, she's more interactive and really loves to play with you. Everything is new to her and I love watching her learn and grow. She is such a sweetheart and I am so lucky to be her Mama!